July Calendar

Sorry this is late. :( Bet you didn't know there were so many "Days" on the calendar did you? :) Have fun this month doing things that cost little or nothing. Most of all have fun spending time together! I love summer with my kids!!!

(Don't miss my post below for some awesome deals at Albertson's this week)

July 1 ~ National Picnic Month ~ Take a picnic to the park for a fun family activity. While you’re there take a family picture together.

If you can’t go anywhere have a picnic in your backyard.

July 2 ~ 4th of July Activities ~4th of July flower pots: http://familyfun.go.com/decorating-ideas/gardening/feature/famf0603_proj_plant/Uncle Sam hat treat holders for your July 4th barb-b-que: http://crafts.kaboose.com/uncle-sam-hat-treat-holders.html 4th of July hand-held ribbon streamers: http://crafts.kaboose.com/patrioticribbondancealong.html

Decorate bike and wagons for the fourth of July parade.

July 3 ~ 4th of July Activities ~ Make Balloon Fireworks:http://www.marthastewart.com/article/balloon-fireworks?lnc=f5472a16e77ee010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=taxonomylist_crafts_crafts-for-fourth-of-july

Make Paper wind streamer:http://www.marthastewart.com/article/paper-wind-streamer?lnc=f5472a16e77ee010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=taxonomylist_crafts_crafts-for-fourth-of-july

Fireworks fans:http://www.marthastewart.com/fireworks-fans?lnc=f5472a16e77ee010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=taxonomylist_crafts_crafts-for-fourth-of-julyLaterns:http://www.marthastewart.com/article/h-is-for-holiday-lanterns?lnc=f5472a16e77ee010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=taxonomylist_crafts_crafts-for-fourth-of-july

July 4 ~ Independence Day ~ Teach your little ones why we celebrate the 4th of July. Find news articles that show how the US is an independent country. Find a country that is not independent.

Have a 4th of july block party with kids games, food & fireworks.

July 5 ~ National Recreation Month ~ Participate in a recreational activity with the whole family.

July 6 ~ Webmaster Day ~ Visit 3 different kinds of websites, ie game, information, store.

July 7 ~ Make corn on the cobs cupcakes ~http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=b413c840f02f8110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy_kw=corn%20on%20the%20cob%20cupcake&rsc=header_1

July 8 ~ Father Daughter Take a Walk Day ~Take a walk with your dad or someone else you love.

July 9 ~ I Forgot Day ~ Did you forget to do anything yesterday? Do it today. LOL

July 10 ~ Take Charge of Change Week ~ Want to change something about your city? Write a letter to your mayor with your ideas.

July 11 ~ Cheer Up the Lonely Day ~ Make a card and send it to someone who needs a friend.

Take a flower or plant to your neighbor.

July 12 ~ Paper Bag Day ~ Write a play, make paper bag puppets, and perform the play for family and friends.

July 13 ~ Gruntled Workers Day ~ In the newspaper find a happy worker and an unhappy worker. Be a happy worker today.

July 14 ~ Anti-boredom Day ~ Make a list of 3 fun activities you can do and do them.

July 15 ~ Respect Canada Day ~ Is Canada in the news? Find out about our Northern neighbor.

July 16 ~ American Dance Week ~ Make up a dance with your friends and perform it.

July 17 ~ National Ice cream Day ~ Make homemade ice cream and have the neighbors over for icecream.

July 18 ~ Family Movie “Theme” Night ~ Buy or rent a family movie & pair it up with costumes (even just hats) & food that match the movie.

July 19 ~ Stick Your Tongue Out Day ~ Eat things that will turn your tongue different colors.

July 20 ~ Moon Day ~ Find out what the phase of the moon will be tonight. Go out and observe the moon.

July 21 ~ National Blueberries Month ~ Look for things that are blue in the newspaper. Make blueberry muffins.

July 22 ~ Ice Day ~ -Make frozen finger paints...and paint outside during the hot weather!http://funmajors.blogspot.com/2008/05/freeze-frame.html

-Play with ice! Bring a big bowl or more of ice, some extra bowls, plates and utensils outside and let your child play with the ice. It will cool them down, keep them happy and ignite their imaginations!

-make pudding pops or other type of popsicles with juice

July 23 ~ Travel Day ~ Plan a pretend trip. What will you need to pack?

July 24 ~ Amelia Earharts Birthday ~ Learn about Amelia Earhart born July 24th 1897:

http://www.ellensplace.net/eae_intr.html

Talk about the history of aviation. Make and fly paper airplanes. Go to the local municipal airport and watch planes take-off and land.

July 25 ~ National Salad Week ~ Think about foods you could use to make a new kind of salad. Write a recipe.

July 26 ~ All or Nothing Day ~ Few situations are "all or nothing." Find stories in the news of compromises.

July 27 ~ Fingerprint Day ~ July 27, 1858, the first use of fingerprints as a form of identification. Make a fingerprint craft:

http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/handprint.html

July 28 ~ National Hot Dog Month ~ A show-off is also called a hot dog. Look for both kinds of hot dogs today.


July 29 ~ Hot Summer Fun Day ~ Go swimming at your community pool, or enjoy a wading pool at home.

July 30 ~ Beach Day ~ Go to the beach and make sand castles. If you do not have beach nearby go to a sand volleyball court and make sand castles.

July 31 ~ Car Wash ~ Wash cars together at your house!

More fun ideas:

Pick weeds together.

Plant a tree

A yummy pasta salad for your outdoor picnics/barb-b-ques: http://healthycooking.suite101.com/article.cfm/ranch_bacon_pasta_salad_recipeStrawberry fruit pizza for your outdoor picnics/barb-b-ques: http://healthycooking.suite101.com/article.cfm/strawberry_fruit_pizza

Check for FREE movies in your area.

Make alphabet letters/card out of sandpaper...great for the child who needs extra sensory input!Take some fun family photos, cut out around each figure (no space in the background) and glue them to some magnets. Now you have a fun, personalized magnet toy for your child to make lots of scenarios.

Have a lemonade stand/cookie stand/etc

A few great deals at Albertson's

You may or may not know about these. All these deals were found on www.pinchingYourPennies.

This is week 2 of Albertson's Epic Promotion. Many products are buy 10 get $5 off instantly.

Deal #1

By far the best deal is Starkist Tuna Pouches. They are $ .75 when you buy them as part of a 10 item set. Most of the stores have pads of coupons for save $1.50 when you buy 3 pouches making them $ .25 a pouch. Look for these as tear pads on the shelf or go ask customer service. Some stores also have them at the checkstand. Ask around. To make the deal even better when you buy 5 you get a $1 on your next order that prints from the Catalina machine. It prints for every 5 you purchase in the same transaction so you could get a lot at once. This can be used to purchase anything and is like cash back. So here's the math:

I found for the best savings I had to buy 30 pouches.

30 pouches @ $1.25 each = $37.50
- $15 for epic savings
-$15 using 10 $1.50/3 coupons

= $7.50
Earn $6 OYNO

You just purchased 30 tuna pouches for $1.50 or .05 cents a pouch

These have been in huge demand because they are almost free and thus becoming hard to find. Call before you go if that's the only thing you need so you're not disappointed.

Deal #2

Skippy Peanut Butter has an in-ad coupon this week for .99 cent/jar limit 6.

Purchase Skippy Natural with the brown lid and for every 2 you purchase you get $1 ONYO from the Catalina machine. If you purchase your limit of 6 you will get 3 $1 Catalinas back making the peanut butter .49 a jar.

Deal #3

This is an unadvertised deal at Albertson's right now. Buy Honeymaid Grahams, 6 pack of Hersey's Milk Chocolate and Kraft large Marshmellows and get $3 off instantly from Hersey's.

This deal is even better when you use coupons from your Sunday inserts.

For each set of 3 items you can use:

Save $1 on Honey-Maid Grahams, any 14 oz. or larger when you buy (1) Jet-Puffed Marshmallows, 10 oz. or larger AND (1) Hersheys Milk Chocolate, 6-pack (9-6-09) Smores
SS-5/17

and

Save $1/2 Hersheys Milk Chocolate, Hersheys Milk Chocolate with Almonds and Hersheys Special Dark Chocolate, any 6-packs (9-30-09) SS-6/28

Here's the math when you buy your smore's stuff in sets of 2

2 Honeymaid Grahams $6
2 6 pks of Hersey's bars $6
2 bags marshmellows $2
= $14
-$6 intantly from Hershey's
-$2 on Honeymaid Grahams
-$1 on Chocolate
= $5 total or .83 cents for each item.

I noticed at the 20th and Harrison store in Ogden they had a whole smores display in the back of the store with a tearpad for $1 off all 3 ingredients if you don't have inserts or not enough insert coupons. The $1 off all 3 cannot be used with the $1/2 Hershey's.

Awesome Deals at Old Navy

3 Days Only.

In-store and online.



http://oldnavy.gap.com

Top Coupon Myths revealed

From www.PinchingYourPennies.com :

Myth #1~ It takes too much time to clip and organize coupons. Yes, there are some coupon users who prefer to clip ALL their coupons and have them with them while shopping; however, Pinching Your Pennies has simplified the process. With detailed shopping lists for local stores, including a dated listing of each corresponding coupon to each sale item. Also, there is a sortable coupon list that tells you when each coupon was published. Together, this system takes about 95% of the drudgery out of couponing! And the best part is that Pinching Your Pennies is FREE and will always remain FREE! All one needs to do is save your newspaper coupons each week, then when a HOT sale happens, you clip the noted coupons from a PYP list and save. With this system, I can prepare for a grocery shop in about 30 minutes, spend about 30-45 minutes in the store and save at least 50-60% each week. Most weeks more!

Myth #2~ I joined a paid website subscription or follow a little green self-proclaimed guru; therefore, the service must be superior. FALSE! No other website has much condensed information about couponing, is simple to follow, has the best supportive and ethical community on the net. Stick around and you will be a coupon pro in no time.

Myth #3~My family does NOT use the products that have grocery coupons. We don’t eat processed foods. It is not true that coupons are only available for processed junk food! In many instances, there are coupons available for dairy, eggs, milk, cheese, meats and even produce at times. (Just tonight, I saved $4 on fresh produce with grocery coupons!) See Horizon Organic Milk for coupons, for example. Also, coupons are following food trends, so we are seeing more organic coupons. See Organic Valley for coupons on organic items that change monthly. Plus, there are TONS of coupons available for health, medicines, beauty, laundry soap, toilet paper and cleaning products. Household cleaning products ranked as the largest single coupon category distributed. (see link #1 below)

Myth #4~ It isn’t worth my time to use coupons to only save $ .25. Most of us would pick up a quarter IF found on the ground, and the truth is the average coupon is worth $1.18 in 2006 (see link #1 below). In 2006, food coupons had an average value of $ .82, while non-food had an average value of $1.42. Definitely money in my pocket to me!

Myth #5~ Why use grocery coupons? It is cheaper to buy store brands. Yes, there are times that a store brand item can be the better deal. This is especially true if you need the item and the comparable name brand is not on sale. However, I have never gotten store brand items for FREE! This happens all the time using grocery manufacturer’s coupons and combining store sales on name brands.

Myth #6~ To truly save money, I have to hit every store and every sale. Not so! Grocery sales at most stores cycle every 12 weeks and each store will see similar price points on many items. Simply pick your favorite store and shop there. If you do this and use the Pinching Your Pennies shopping methods (see Coupons 101 to get started), you will to see an increase in the quality AND quantity of food you are bringing into your house for the same or less than you previously were for MORE money by week 12.

Myth #7~ I don’t have time to coupon. Oh how false this is! Back when I started couponing 12 years ago, there weren’t great FREE sites like Pinching Your Pennies that does all the research for you. Never has couponing been so easy and a time saver. On average, I can get $200 worth of groceries for $75 or less. A CASH savings of $125 is worth my time of about 2 hours/week or around $65/hr. Most part-time jobs don’t pay that well and it is still a game to see how much I can save, too.

Myth #8~ Only poor people use coupons. Just the opposite! Shoppers with household incomes of $150,000 per year or more tended to use coupons most frequently. (see link 2) And over 80% of grocery shoppers with household incomes between $50,000 to $75,000 use coupons. Obviously using coupons is a smart way to pinch pennies, for all of us!

Myth #9~ I can save just as much at Wal-Mart or a warehouse club (Costco or Sam’s Club) as I can using coupons. FALSE! I truly believe that many consumers shop at Wal-mart simply because it is easier and a habit. Wal-mart does NOT always offer the best prices, nor best quality food, espcially produce. Instead by shopping around town and supporting our local markets, we are creating competition amongst stores that keeps grocery prices lower, overall.

Myth #10~ To save anything substantial, I must get a newspaper subscription. While most coupons still come in the Sunday inserts (Smart Source, Red Plum & Proctor & Gamble), technology has enabled consumers to use Internet Printable (IP) coupons, check out coupons and store promotions to see real savings. For time tested ideas about this, check out Heidi's blog entry. But a newspaper is still a good idea. See here for multiple subscription rates/deals in Utah.

So if you are ready? Check out PYP’s forums for shopping lists, tips, strategies and ideas on how to stretch your food dollar. Data cited from the following sites:

http://www.adscope.com/news/07192006.htm

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=230074

Free Disney Christmas Carol Train today only

Today at the Union Station until 7 pm you can tour Disney's Christmas Carol Train. I plan on going around 2 pm if anyone else wants to go. :)

Update on the Salt Lake Connect Pass

I posted here about the Salt Lake Connect Pass back in March. They have changed the program and now 3-6 year olds have to buy a child's pass. Up until last month 0-6 year olds were free. I find this a total bummer.

One improvement is the passes are now available year round. They were only available June -August.

Ogden Staycation!

Here's a good deal if you want stay really close to home.

This price is $160 for a family of 4. I am not sure on pricing for larger families. It says children under 2 are free so I don't think they'd count towards your 4 people.

You get:

* 1 night hotel stay at Best Western High Country Inn, Comfort Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites or the Marriott Ogden.

Admission to:

*The Treehouse
*The Dinosaur Park
*The Ogden Nature Center
*The Union Station
*Hill Aerospace Museum
*iRock

*Fat Cats Package - includes bowling (one lane for 75 minutes); shoe rental; one large, one-topping pizza from The Pizza Factory; six bread twists and two pitchers of soda .

*A 50 percent discount for the best reserved seats at an Ogden Raptors baseball game.

*A 25 percent discount to experience iFLY indoor skydiving and Flowrider indoor surfing.

Here is the link with phone numbers and additional info:

http://www.ogdencvb.org/content/view/54/289/