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Here's What's New - HUGE List of Free Homeschool Curriculum & Resources
- Free ebooks: Just Enough, Organic Gardening, Running Free, Plenty, Friendship
- Free one-year subscription to Popular Photography magazine
- Moo.com: 10 free business or mommy cards with free shipping
- How to Shop Yard Sales… for Free!
- Starbucks: Grande Iced Tea, Coffee, or Refreshers for just $1 (Friday, June 7, 2013)
- Get a large one-topping pizza and a movie from Redbox for just $5.55!
- National Doughnut Day: Free doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, Lamar’s, and Tim Horton’s
- $3/1 Huggies Diapers printable coupon
- Natural & Organic Deals & Coupons
- Printable coupons: CoverGirl, Right Guard, Snuggle, Kikkoman, plus more
- 16 Free Educational iTunes Apps (today only)
- Free can of Sheba cat food
- Kroger: Free bag of Tostitos Chips or Dip e-coupon (today only)
- 3 Ways to Prevent Summer Boredom
- Why I Think You Should Break the Blogging Rules
- Starbucks: Grande Iced Tea, Coffee, or Refreshers for just $1 (Friday, June 7, 2013)
- Target: Up & Up Hand Soap for $0.39 each
- Walmart: Free plus overage Tai Pei Asian Garden Entrees
Guest post from Stephanie of Joshua and Stephanie I have become addicted to yard sales this spring, and it's probably because I have found a way to do it for free! It is no small matter for me to get out of bed extra early and then to get all my kids fed, dressed and out the door with my wonderful, supportive husband, so it really takes something special to do all this just to go shopping. I started out this year with $20 of birthday money, and I told myself this was all the yard sale money I was going to have this spring, so I'd better make it stretch. I started picking up extra items at the yard sales that were particularly good deals, and then I would resell them for a profit. In this way, I was able to get several items for us for free. I made it a goal that however much money I spent at yard sales, I had to sell at least enough to cover the cost of that trip… so I always had at least $20 and I was still getting all sorts of useful things for my family like clothes, toys, gifts, camping supplies, etc. As of now, after shopping for 7 weeks I have upwards of $60 cash! There is nothing like being able to go shopping on Saturday mornings with my family and not feel like I'm breaking our budget. Here are some tips to yard sale shop for free: Make it worth your gas. Neighborhood yard sales where you can drive around to many houses close to one another. Fund raisers — we have one that raised money for poverty and everything was donated, so it was all super cheap. Church yard sales where a lot of people set up tables. I find my yard sales on Craigslist and Yard Sale Treasure Map. Find a niche that you know really well. Make sure you know what a good bargain is and how much you can resell the items for. I am in the baby/toddler stage right now, so I know what these things go for. This way I can pick out a good bargain when I see one. My sister-in-law is great with young women's clothes and goes to warehouses and yard sales and knows how to find a good deal for things like that. So find your niche and stick with it. Be intentional with your shopping. Have a list of things you are looking to buy, and then ONLY buy things you know you can resell with a profit. I tend to buy things I can make at least $4 profit on to make it worth my while. Find a local place where you can sell your items. Craigslist, Facebook swap groups, or some sort of consignment sale are your best options. I personally love to sell my things on a local Facebook swap site where I can create an album and upload pictures of everything I have for sale with the price and description. Then people comment on the pictures and I can know who is interested and arrange a pick up. I have a friend who saves items to sell twice a year at a big sale but I don't have the space to do that and I would rather have a quicker turnaround. My sister-in-law sells things on Etsy or eBay and that works well for her as she has a wider audience. Don't go out of your way to meet people when you are selling things or it isn't really making a profit when you count in your time and gas. I usually look at my week's schedule and when somebody wants something, I tell them a couple centralized locations that are close to where I will already be. That way if someone is a no show you haven't wasted gas. I also prefer not to give out my address to everyone. When I go to meet up with people it helps to give them a cell number so they can contact me if they are going to be late. I also try to courteous to others and let them know when I am running late. To sum things up, find a category of items that you know a lot about, find an avenue of selling those items, and it is very possible that you could spend your summer finding all sorts of wonderful treasures at yard sales for free! Stephanie is wife to Joshua and mother to three little ones. Managing her home and caring for her family is a full time job and she enjoys yard sale shopping. She keeps up a blog at www.joshuaandstephanie.blogspot.com and tries to post updates on her yard sale adventures weekly.
photo source Make 2013 your most disciplined, productive year ever! Get 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life today! 
Today is National Doughnut Day (June 7, 2013)! You can get free doughnuts at the following places: Krispy Kreme: Stop by Krispy Kreme to get a free doughnut of your choice. No purchase necessary. This freebie is available at any U.S. or Canadian store locations. For more details head over here. Lamar's Donuts: Head to a participating LaMar's to score a FREE doughnut, no purchase required. This freebie is good for any regular doughnut. LaMar's Bars, Bizmarks, fritters and other products made without a center hole are exempted. Tim Hortons: Use this printable coupon from the Tim Hortons US Facebook page to snag a free doughnut with any purchase on National Doughnut Day! Limit one coupon per guest per transaction. Dunkin' Donuts: Get a FREE doughnut of your choice with the purchase of any beverage at participating U.S. Dunkin' Donuts restaurants. While supplies last.
Thanks, Freebie Finding Mom! Make 2013 your most disciplined, productive year ever! Get 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life today! 
Here's a round-up of current Natural & Organic Deals and Coupons, with thanks to Andrea from The Greenbacks Gal: Natural and Organic Coupons: $1.50/1 Annie’s Homegrown Organic Rising Crust Pizza, $1.00/2 Earthbound Farms Organic Products, $1.00/2 Maple Grove Farms Products, $2.00/2 Kashi Products, $1.00/1 Kiss My Face Moisture Shave Lotion, $1.00/1 Canyon House Gluten Free Bread, $0.80/1 Mean Green Cleaner, $1.00/1 Woodstock Organic Tofu, $0.75/1 Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Ice Cream, $1.00/1 Whole Foods Market Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies For a full list of Natural and Organic coupons, go here. Get $40 in Natural and Organic Products for just $13.99: Vitacost has new Be Box Sample Boxes available for the month. Get $40 worth of products for just $13.99. To save even more, new customers can get $10 off their first order of $30. 
Luna S’Mores Bars Just $0.82 Each Shipped: Luna S’Mores bars are on sale at 38% off. Select Subscribe & Save to save an additional 5% and pay just $0.82/bar shipped. Save 25% off Adagio Tea Gift Cards: Adagio Tea Gift cards can be purchased for 25% off the card amount. This offer comes with free shipping and is just in time to Celebrate National Iced Tea month! Get a Free Subscription to Health Magazine: Earn 270 Recyclebank points with their “Fresh Approach to Paper” program and cash the points in to get a free subscription to Health magazine. Free Amazon Kindle Books: Amazon currently has 5 Healthy Cooking eBooks available for free download including: Healthy Homemade Kale Recipes, Salad Cookbook, 70 Healthy Habits, It Starts with Food Cookbook, and a two book bundle Coconut Flour and Almond Flour Cookbooks. Andrea has been married for 21 years and has two teenage daughters. On her blog, The Greenbacks Gal, she hunts down organic deals, finds the best green steals, and shares recipes for whole food meals.
Make 2013 your most disciplined, productive year ever! Get 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life today! 
Copy and paste the following link into your browser and you’ll be able to sign up for a free can of Sheba cat food: http://www.startsampling.com/sm/Sheba102813
Make 2013 your most disciplined, productive year ever! Get 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life today!  
Summer is here. School is out. Schedules are often more laid back. And some days it can feel like there are a lot of hours in the day and you’re running out ideas to keep your children occupied. If this is something you struggle with at your house, here are some ideas that we’ve implemented at our house: 1. Create & Follow a Routine One of the things I love about a creating and following a routine is not only that it gives us order and structure in our day, but also that it keeps me from having to constantly be figuring out what everyone is going to do next. When there are set parameters for our day, we can just follow these and it nips a lot of possible boredom right in the bud. In addition, a routine helps us to limit screen time. Our kids know movie time is from 5 p.m. until dinner time and only if you’ve done your chores, assignments, and had a good attitude during the day. Everyone knows these are the rules so people aren’t asking to turn on a movie earlier in the day since they know it’s not even an option. 
Mom I’m Bored Jar (plus free printable!) from Somewhat Simple 2. Have Pre-Planned Options Available We have a few hours of free time in the afternoons, but I don’t expect my children to automatically have ideas for filling this time. I want them to be creative, play make believe, do art projects, read, and build things. But if they are having trouble coming up with ideas on given afternoon, I always have a few suggestions and options available — books and audiobooks from the library, art projects, a game, an idea for something to play in the back yard, etc. I don’t want my children to feel like they need to constantly be entertained, but I also have no problem with giving them a gentle nudge in a direction if they are lacking inspiration. I might say something like, “Why don’t you build a LEGO castle and listen to that new audiobook I got from the library?” Or, “Oh! I’ve got a great idea! Why don’t you pretend you have a restaurant and see what things from nature you can use for food in your restaurant kitchen in the back yard?” Usually just a few ideas will get the wheels in their brain turning and pretty soon they are engaged in some project in their room or the back yard. If you need some ideas and inspiration, check out my Fun & Frugal Summer Activities Pinterest Board. You can also look through my 4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun series. 
Making Homemade Flubber
3. Replace Discontentment With Gratitude I want to raise children that understand how blessed they are. When they complain about being bored, I try to listen to their heart. Are they just communicating that I need to do a better job of investing in them or are the communicating to me that they are struggling with discontentment? I don’t always hit the nail on the head, but I do try to ask some questions to probe a little deeper and see where their “I’m bored” statement is coming from. If your child is moping around regularly about how life is boring, it might be time to have a heart-to-heart discussion on contentment and to put forth some effort to teach and nurture them to develop more of a grateful spirit. Maybe to have them think of three things they are thankful for every time they say they are bored… or to find a way a to bless someone else? You’re their parent so you know what’s best for your child and where their heart is, but it’s something to consider. What are your best tips for busting summer boredom? Make 2013 your most disciplined, productive year ever! Get 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life today! 
A friend emailed me a few weeks ago distraught over what she should do as a blogger. She wants to write. She loves writing. But she was feeling so frustrated and stressed over all the stuff she felt like she “had” to be doing in order to keep up her blog. She didn’t want to have to invest most of her time in updating Facebook, posting pictures to Instagram, interacting on Twitter, networking, writing guest posts, and trying to figure out Google+. She just wants to write and live her life. I get that. While I love my community on Facebook, have met incredible people on Twitter, and have recently discovered I really love Instagram, I’m not a rule-follower. I don’t want to be chained to a blogging and social media schedule. I want to live my life and write as I’m inspired. Because if I spend most of my time trying to crank out posts and feed the social media beast, I have no life. Just a blog that rules my life. I want this blog to be a blessing to my family, not a burden. I want my blog to be an outpouring of my life instead of blogging to be my life. The only way I’ve found to do this is to break the blogging rules. Seriously. Chuck them out the window and find the freedom that comes from not being tethered to your laptop. It’s a beautiful thing! In place of the long held rules, here are two of my mantras that you are free to adopt: 1. You Don’t Have to Do What the Experts Say There are a thousand and one things you are “supposed” to do if you want to grow and monetize your blogging platform. These can be helpful. These can work well. But you are in no way under any circumstances obligated to do them. And you know what else? There’s no stinkin’ way you can do them all — unless you want to drive yourself crazy and have a physical breakdown. I think it’s easy to forget that the bloggers who blog often and have lots of different sections and tools on their blog didn’t start blogging yesterday. They’ve been at this for years (usually). They’ve put in a lot of hours, gradually added parts of their site, learned how to do things more efficiently, set up a lot of things that run themselves, and brought on people to help them with all the details that pertain to running their site. So if you’re a newer blogger, please don’t let the seasoned bloggers intimidate you. Also, don’t compare your blog to theirs or feel like you have to be doing exactly what they are doing if you have a shot at succeeding. Pick the things you love and that work well for you and stick with those. Leave the other things be. Your blog will be just fine without them. And I guarantee you’ll end up enjoying it a lot more, too! 2. You Don’t Have to Do What the “Cool Kids” Do Can I just say this? I sort of despise Pinterest. Back when I started blogging, I had a white background, a text header, and a free blog template on Blogger. My pictures — when I actually posted them — were atrocious. But here’s the thing: nobody cared. I had thousands of readers on that plain white blog and they never complained. Why? Because there wasn’t this almost-impossible-to-reach standard set up where you had to have a snazzy blog design, magazine-worthy photos, and maybe even a graphic design degree in order to blog. You just wrote because you were passionate about your subject matter. And people listened. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m inspired by the mouthwatering photos and incredible ideas on Pinterest, but most of them are far beyond what I could accomplish myself. I pretty plain Jane and most days I’m doing well to get some posts written and a few photos on a few of my posts. But people still come here and read. So I’ve come to the conclusion that while I won’t ever win Best Photography Award, it’s okay to be me. It’s perfectly acceptable to write about whatever I’m passionate about. To share less-than-perfect posts and photos. To not always get my posts up in a timely manner because real-life trumped blogging. Instead of having a perfectly timed post with an amazingly-put together photo shoot, people seem happy to read about what’s on my heart whenever it is that I get it posted. So I’ve stopped worrying about what the cool kids are doing and have just started being who God created me to be. And I’ve been a whole lot happier that way.  Photo Credit: dearsomeone via Compfight cc Make 2013 your most disciplined, productive year ever! Get 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life today! | 
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