Free General Admission (Free Tuesday) At The Dallas Museum Of Art

General admission to the Dallas Museum of Art is free on the first Tuesday of every month. Enjoy thematic art-making activities, story times, performances, and gallery activities.  The summer schedule is as follows:

June 5: Summer Days
July 3: Howdy, Texas!
August 7: Animal Kingdom

Kids activities are from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. in the Center for Creative Connections (C3).  Click HERE for the schedule of children activities for June 5th.

 Please remember you will have to pay for parking (I think it's $5, but shaded).  And, if you'd like to continue your adventure frugal style, pack a lunch.  There are many beautiful shady spots to enjoy a snack in downtown Dallas.

Cinemark's Summer Movie Clubhouse = $1 Movies!

Looking for some summer fun ideas?  Be sure to mark your calendar for Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays at Cinemark.  All kiddo "movie club" movies are $1 each, or you can purchase a ticket in advance for all 10 shows, for only $5.  Start off by clicking this Cinemark link, and find your local theater.  Then, print off the summer movie schedule and mark the dates in your activity calendar.  Schedules might be different per location, so if you live near two locations (like me!), look over both schedules for a bit of selection on your Thrifty Tuesdays.  Movies start at 10am.

For additional savings, sign up for the weekly concession coupons, via e-mail.

For my readers in the hot south...this is a perfect activity to fill the 10am -2pm "heat of the day".  The hours we here in our house avoid the sun.  :)

Make it a fabulous summer!

Buy And Sell Boxes Of Outgrown Kid's Clothes (And Toys) With thredUP

Swapping on thredUP is all about getting great new clothes (and toys!) for your kids while getting rid of stuff they no longer use. Pick up a box of gently used children's clothing or toys when you join today - it's Free to join and you can now earn cashback for your outgrown kids clothes, gently used toys and books on thredUP. Earn up to $10 for every great box you send to another mom. If you have clothing your children have outgrown, thredUp will send you free postage paid boxes and even arrange for them to be picked up - it couldn't be any easier!

 

I'd love to hear about your personal experiences with thredUP.  Leave me a comment below!!  Happy Halloween!

Wizard Of Oz, 70th Anniversary DVD, for under $6!

Love this price, had to share!!  :)

$2 Cavas Halloween Tote Bags From Vistaprint, Plus Cheap Shipping Too!

For $2 you can choose from over 50 Halloween designs ranging from cute to creepy (or hundreds of other designs) to customize your Halloween Tote Bag. While you're shopping, check out the other Halloween products that are on sale!  This pirate tote is my favorite!



Shipping Starts at $4.41. Free Shipping on order over $20, or choose discounted shipping on faster speeds.

Happy Halloween!!

Last Day For A FREE 8x10 Photo Collage From Walgreens

Today, Saturday, November 27th, 2010 is the last day for this freebie! HURRY!

Just enter promo code "THANKSGIVING" at checkout! Here's a link to the Walgreens Photo Center.

These photo collages make awesome gifts for the holidays!! Just grab a frame and you're all set. For even more frugal gift ideas, check out my eHow article on exchanging great gifts on the cheap.

Have a great (and relaxing) weekend! :)

Get Special Savings With The Home Depot Newsletter

Sign up for Home Depot Savings Newsletter and receive access to special savings via an email newsletter. It includes a sneak peek at the local ad!

Also, the Home Depot's FREE Do-It-Herself workshop is next week. It will on Thursday, January 14th from 7:00 pm until 8:30 pm and the topic will be "Bathroom Updates". Just click the cute tiny Do-It-Herself banner for more info or to RSVP.

$1 Pulled Pork Sandwiches At Dickey's

Every Monday in January and February, Dickey's Barbecue Pit will have Pulled Pork Big Barbecue Sandwiches for only $1! Limit 2 per customer. Click here for more details.

Are you a Dickey's fan? Have you joined the Yellow Cup Club yet? Members get insider information via email (like the $1 Pulled Pork deal) and a special surprise on your birthday (my guess is a cool coupon).

Another thanks to my friend Allie for this deal! :)

My Last Goodwill Trip For 2009 Was A Success

I thought I'd share my most recent trip to Goodwill with you. It was a good trip overall, but nothing was on sale so I paid a bit more than usual out of pocket. I could have done way better if I hit the New Years Day sale yesterday, but I can't win them all! I went ahead and went on New Years Eve so I could drop off a couple of boxes to donate. It was the last donation day for the 2009 tax year and it was worth the extra $10 or so I probably spent.

On the left is what I got for my kids. My son ended up with a pair of Gymboree jeans and two GAP shirts and my daughter got a cute pair of "like new" shoes for next year. I spent a total of $11.86 on them (with tax).

On the right is my pile of eBay goodies. I spent another $24.52 on eBay, including tax. I am guessing I'll bring in about $160 from it, once it all sales. That's like a 650% mark up! :)

Here's what I snagged for eBay:

Pair of Mickey Mouse glasses

3 Mugs

Cookie Stamp (new with tag)

Christmas plate

"Teacher" aroma pot thingy (new in box)

Breast Cancer/Pink Ribbon tie

3 kids designer sweaters (Talbots, Gymboree, Hartstrings)

Boys Talbots shirt

Vintage Lacoste sweater!!

Plus-sized Christmas sweater

So overall, I spent $36.38 at Goodwill. Not considering the "Goodwill" part, $36.38 for just 3 designer items and a pair of shoes is an awesome deal! Do you have any great thrift store trips to share? I'm a thrift store addict and would love to hear about them, email me!

Homemade Christmas Gifts In A Jar For About $2 Each

Yesterday my kids and I made our teacher gifts, aren't they cute? We decided on the Hearty Soup Mix in a jar from the Mason jar gift idea e-book that I told you about in my previous post. I had a few of the ingredients at the house and "borrowed" some jars, lids and rings from my mom. I told her they weren't coming back. Anyway, overall I spent $10.65 on supplies and made 5 jars, that just $2.13 a jar. I have a bit of everything except some split peas leftover, so we can make a batch of soup here at home too.

We cut Christmas cards in half (to make them post card style) and taped the soup directions on the back. This is a great way to recycle old cards. Although for this craft my daughter picked out a pack of 8 new cards from the $1 bin at Target. It was super frugal and she has 3 left over. We also found lots of ribbon and cool ornaments in our Christmas supply stock. I save everything! So, attached to each jar was the directions (on a cute card), an ornament, and a gift card.

Other ideas are attaching a wooden spoon, a cute dish towel, a pack of recipe cards, etc. to the jar. Also, you can use cute holiday fabric on the top, between the lid and the ring. My kids just added bows (free from CVS), since I forgot to "borrow" holiday fabric from mom. All in all, this was an awesome idea for holiday gifts since the kids were able to do a lot of it. The whole thing means so much more to both the giver and the recipient when the kids worked on it themselves!!

What items are you hand crafting this year? I'd love to hear about them!!

Holiday Recipes & Gift Ideas Using Mason Jars

Would you like to make your own holiday gifts, but have no idea where to start? Check out this free eBook I found featuring 34 holiday gift ideas using a Mason jar, just click here! Personally, this came along at the perfect time since this weekend, I had already planned on crafting something for all the teachers on my Christmas list. I thought a "jar" gift would be cute, easy and pretty inexpensive. Maybe bath salts, soup mix or layered cookie mix?

Free eBook – Mason Jar Recipes: 34 Holiday Ideas for Gifts in a Jar

Two of my favorites are the M&M Cookie Mix in a Jar on page 12 and the Hearty Soup Mix in a Jar on page 21.

Have a great weekend!

Super Cheap Firewood Near Wylie, Parker, Allen & Murphy Texas

Hey there local readers, anyone live close to Southfork Ranch and need firewood?

Condren Tree Service has a GREAT deal on firewood. It's $40 (plus tax) a pick-up load. You have to stack/load it yourself, so bring gloves. And, you can only fill up the bed, level to "the top". So, you might need to load neatly.....but it's only $40! Sure beats those $20/stack stands that are popping up all over town. We guess it's about a 1/2 cord of wood with a pick up full. You can still load up your SUV or car trunk if that's all you have.

Condren Tree Service is located on Parker Road in Allen (technically) and is about 1/2 mile west of Southfork Ranch, on the north side of the road. I like to think that's it's "eco-friendly" too. Since it's a tree service and all, they are selling the wood from trees they've trimmed or removed.

This was an edited repost from last year, but Condren's is selling firewood again! Yippee!! We picked up a load last week and have been enjoying fires ever since.

$5 Magazine Subscriptions At Amazon Make A Great Gift

Magazines are a great gift idea for a few reasons. First off, they are "shipped" for you. Second, it's the gift that keeps on giving, month after month. Lastly, a $5 subscription is quite the steal and I love frugal gifts that don't look frugal to the recipient. I guess my opinion is also based on the fact that I also love getting magazines in the mail! :)

Amazon currently has magazines subscriptions on sale for the holidays. Here's a few of my favorites that are priced at only $5:




Happy Shopping!!

Having A Fun (And Frugal) Thanksgiving Weekend

I've been having a great Thanksgiving week. I guess it all started Monday night when I gave in and bought Twilight . The first novel in the way too popular Stephanie Meyer series. I say "gave in" because, well lets face it, I'm in my 30's so I've already done the whole vampire thing back in the 90's with Anne Rice. Plus, Stephanie Meyer's books have way too many screaming tween and teen fans (mostly due to the movies, I'm sure). Anyway, I couldn't put Twilight down once I stared reading it in the store. I loved it! Which is saying a lot. I love to read but I am very picky at the same time.

I finished reading Wednesday afternoon while cooking our Thanksgiving dinner. My husband worked on Thanksgiving Day, so we planned ahead for dinner on Wednesday. By the way, I used the Slow Cooker Turkey Recipe (2 ingredients plus 8 hours) and it came out awesome! We had just a few sides and a pecan pie, since it was just the 4 of us. It was so relaxing to hang out together without any stress to clean or have dinner ready at a certain time.

On Thanksgiving Day we lounged around in our pajamas (well 3 of us did, hubby was off to work), watched the Macy's parade and ate leftovers. I'll have to say the best compliment I've ever received on my cooking is when my son asked for turkey and sweet potatoes for breakfast! Anyway, then we headed out to my in-laws. The kids got to play with all their cousins. It was lots of fun and the weather was so beautiful. Then, we drove by my parents and visited them for a bit. We are so thankful to have so much of our family, living so close. :)

Friday...well, I'm not a Black Friday shopper. At all. The whole getting up really early and fighting large crowds to save a few bucks does not appeal to me. I'm more of a sleep in and shop on the Internet at my leisure type. I'm already done shopping for my kids via the internet, free shipping on everything (Santa and I shopped Toys R Us and Amazon). So yesterday, since I was afraid to go out with the crowds just for a new book (New Moon...second in the Twilight series). I stayed home again and blogged. It was so nice to devote a few hours to it, I had lots of fun. And, I opened a new checking account that will pay me a $121 bonus! More on that at the end of this post.

Today, I had to get out and get the next book. First I dropped of eBay stuff at the Post Office (yay!). Then, I picked up my free 8x10 Walgreens collage (expired offer-saved $3.99) and got a free Redbox (promo code: DVDONME, I used a new debit card- saved $1). Finally I got to Target and got the book. Last, I planned a trip to Chick-Fil-A. I saved $2.89 there using a coupon. The kids got to play while I started to read. It's already sucked me in and now I'm wondering what I'm doing blogging right now, I need to be reading!

Also, I need to say how much I love the new Wylie Target. I forgot to use a few coupons (guess I was giddy about the new book) and ran back in after loading the car. The lady at customer service was SO nice about it. They love couponers at the Wylie location! Oh and a deal alert, they have 1 lb. cartons of strawberries for $.99!!!

I mentioned I opened a new account that will pay me a $121 bonus. It's an ING Direct Electic Ornage checking account. I've been an ING saving account holder since 2003, and it's the best savings account I've ever had. So, yesterday when ING had a Black Froday offer for their checking account, I jumped on teh offer. Read yesterday's ING post for all the scoop. Here's the best part, the offer was extended for today! I have no idea when it expires exactl, so please hurry if $121 in free money sounds good to you! It's a "Black Friday" deal so it won't last long.

Okay, I'm off to post a few more things and then stick my nose back in New Moon. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and remember all that you're thankful for!

1 Year D Magazine Subscription For Only $10

Here's a "hot" holiday special for you fans of D Magazine. Get a 1 year subscription for only $10!!

D Magazine Special Offer

If anyone is shopping for me, I really like this magazine. Hint...hint. :)

Super Deal On NFL, MLB & College Team Crocs, $9.99 Plus FREE Shipping!

Check out the Deal of the Week at Crocs.com!! These cute team Crocs are only $9.99, combine that with the free shipping offer below, and you have Crocs shipped to your door for only $9.99. WOW!! The holidays are right around the corner folks and these would make the perfect gift.

Visit Crocs.com to take a peek! Which pair is your favorite?

P.S. The $9.99 sale will end soon, since it's only a Deal of the Week. But the FREE ground shipping or 10% off offer will last until December 31, 2009.

The Toys"R"Us Game Sale Is Worth Checking Out this Week

Here's a toy deal deal I couldn't help but post! It's an in-store deal at Toys"R"Us. This week (until Nov. 14th) if you buy $25 of participating Hasbro Games you'll get a $10 gift card in return. Combine that with the Hasbro Games rebate and you can score a pretty good deal!

Here's a great scenario:

Candy Land $3.99
Chutes & Ladders $3.99
Memory $3.99
HiHo Cherry-O $3.99
Scrabble $9.99

Total $25.99 - $10.00 Gift card back - $11.00 in rebates and it's like getting 5 games for $.99 each.

Games are a great holiday gift idea for grandkids, nieces and nephews, and they're perfect for a toy drive donation! Another idea is to buy the games now and hold them back for birthdays throughout the year.

The rebate is valid until Jan 31st, 2010. But, the $10 GC is the in-store only part and it expires Saturday.

I'd love to hear other pre-holiday deals you have found!!

Free Shipping Plus $5 Off The 2010 Entertainment Book

For the entire month of November 2009, get $5 off and free shipping when you purchase the new 2010 Entertainment Book. Are you new to the Entertainment Book?

The 2010 Dallas Passbook Entertainment Book has over $18,800 in savings!

• 530 Dining Discounts
• 160 Attraction Discounts
• 224 Shopping Discounts

• Over $15,000 in Travel Discounts
• Movie Ticket Discounts
• And Much More...

The books vary per city so if you type in your zip code here you can see a list of some of the coupons your book would include. For instance I noticed 8 FREE food items listed on the food page in Dallas...

Boo On Ballard In Wylie Texas Re-Scheduled For Friday

Due to the chance of rain today (Thursday), Boo On Ballard has been re-scheduled for tomorrow. It will now be on Friday, October 30th from 6-8 pm in downtown Wylie, Texas. It's a free event perfect for the whole family!

So, looks like we'll do our pumpkin carving tonight. First, I'll have to go grab some pumpkins. I went to Kroger a couple of days ago (awesome trip....spent $45 and saved $85 with lots of free food!) and forgot to grab them. Anyway, I'll have the kids pick a pumpkin carving stencil from the big list I posted. Last year, I carved Cinderella's castle and hubby did a cute Jack-o-Lantern face. We also have a "Mr. Potato Head" Halloween set that the kids worked on. Check out our cute Halloween 2008 handy work here. :)

Now that Halloween is almost here, what are you doing to make the holiday fun?

Boston Market Chicken Meal Deal For Only $1

Boston Market $1 Meal Deal Coupon, expires Nov 1, 2009.

Thanks to my friend Julie who sent an e-mail about the deal and a huge thanks to Lisa at Drugstore Divas for the link!! :)