My Frugal Year

Oh folks, deliciousness awaits!! MyBlogSpark and Betty Crocker teamed up for this fabulous promotion highlighting a fun new dessert. Fun and full of yummyness! Betty Crocker provided me a terrific prize pack through MyBlogSpark so that I could try the new Mississippi Mud Supreme Bars and tell y’all about them. The pack included a box of the mix and a great 8 x 8 metal pan to bake them in.

You have GOT to try these!

Well, let me tell you…you have GOT to try them. Now I am a fan of your basic brownie so I was a little hesitant on this one. I am so glad I tried them and we will absolutely be making them again! They were quick and easy to make and our whole family just loved them – especially my soon-to-be teenage son. He helped me make them. It starts out with a crumbled cookie crust on the bottom, then the chocolate center with mini-marshmallows and sprinkled cookie crumbs on top. When they came out of the oven they smelled SO good, it was hard to wait for them to cool. FINALLY it was time to try them. I cut into it and the crust stayed together nicely and didn’t crumble. The taste was fabulous and the the bars didn’t last 24 hours in our house. Not even close!

So – the great news is that Betty Crocker through MyBlog Spark is allowing me to give away a special prize pack to one of you lucky folks! If you want to try these bits of chocolate heaven, here’s what you have to do:

Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite quick and easy dessert is. How easy is THAT??

The winner will be selected by random drawing from all entries on July 28

You can also get up to four additional entries by doing any or all of the the following:

Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this blog post, then leave a comment on this post that you’ve done so.

Follow me on Twitter @EclecticWAHM, then leave a comment on this post that you’ve done so.

Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post and leave a link to your blog on a comment on this post that you’ve done so.

“Like” my new Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/EclecticWAHM/101535743232800 and leave a comment on this post that you’ve done so.

Thanks for reading and enjoy those Mississippi Mud Bars!!

Great news from MySurvey! They’ve always been one of my favorite online survey companies. They always pay fast, my checks always came very quickly. NOW you can get paid via PayPal too! Also, they’ve added tons of other prizes, gift cards, Amazon.com certificates and all sorts of wonderful things. If you haven’t signed up yet, I highly encourage doing so.

I just signed up for a FREE sample of Purex Complete 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets. It’s detergent, softener, and anti-static all in one powerful sheet. You can sign up at: http://www.trypurex.com

I can’t help it. I suppose that’s fair considering it’s our first family vacation. Circumstances over the years just haven’t allowed it before, but that’s all over and here we are a few months out from our fabulous Disney World vacation. I did get a great discount – 40% off the hotel room and picked the best time to go – when I’d already be in Orlando for a business conference so my airfare was covered.

SO…with summer coming up, I figured I’d go looking for some ways to save money for vacations and good vacation discounts out there to share with you!

First of all, I’m a fan of online surveys. As I’ve said before, you won’t get rich doing it, but every little bit helps, right? For over a year now I admit I’ve been horribly lazy about completing surveys, so the income isn’t what it could be. Still, last year I earned over $500 and so far this year close to $200. Here are some of my favorites:

Those are my favorites and ones I get checks from regularly. Now of course, there is MyPoints. While they don’t pay cash, you can trade in points for great vacation stuff like airline miles, Marriott certificates, restaurant gift cards and all sorts of wonderful things. You earn points by clicking on links from emails and shopping through the links on the site if you choose.

Now for some travel savings:

Expedia is a great place to shop for flights, hotels and such:

Priceline lets you set the price you’ll pay:

Southwest is running some great deals right now!

So there are some vacation savings ideas for you. I’m already throwing my spare change in a jar to plan for a real vacation next year too!

The Couponizer is having a Mother’s Day special! You can get 10% off your order:

10% OFF

on select items with coupon code SAVENOW at checkout!

Hurry, coupon code expires May 31st!
10% off all Couponizer products
minimum purchase $19.95 for code to apply
expires: May 31, 2010
(excludes already discounted combo offers)

Click below to go to the site and start saving!!

One of my favorite sites, $5 Dinners, has a great coupon database. If you’re looking for coupons for specific products, this is a great place to search. I love this site – she always has great, inexpensive recipes to try. I’d highly recommend subscribing to her feed!

Here’s the post about her coupon database: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2010/04/coupon-database.html. Give it a try!

YUMMY! I love Jamba Juice, but it can be pricey. Here’s a great coupon – they’re celebrating 20 years and this coupon is good through April 25. Check it out! Jamba Juice 20th Anniversary Coupon.

It’s always frugal to get free stuff you’ll really use! I found a great giveaway at 3 Crazy Monkeys blog. Bisquick! Mmmmm – who doesn’t love pancakes?? Check it out and enter the giveaway!

It’s been quite a frugal year around here and I’ve been terrible about blogging it. So here I am, ready to get back on the horse again and do a better job of tracking the savings. One thing I did learn was that an event like a car accident or illness can derail the best laid plans. But enough about the past…on to the future of frugality and savings…with a NEW GOAL!

Something we were able to accomplish this year was to save enough to be able to take our first ever family vacation. We’re anxiously awaiting our departure this summer for Walt Disney World! It’s been so much fun doing the planning and plotting to make this a fantastic vacation. I’m happy to report that I found us great savings and are able to stay on property at a deluxe resort for our 5 night/6 day Disney extravaganza.

So…the new goal…now that we have a taste of what a real vacation is like – we need to plot and plan and save so we can do another vacation next year! Woo hoo!

Through a great Disney-related message board, I found a terrific budget board and joined a “Coupon Train.” Ever done this? It’s where each week you clip all the coupons you can find – set aside the ones you will use, then send the ones you won’t use along to the next person in the train. Each week you receive a lovely envelope stuffed with coupons in your mailbox. I’ve found this to be very useful as folks in other areas of the country get different coupons sometimes than we do here, so I’ve gotten some great ones to use and have been able to pass along some great savings to others.

Grab some of your own coupons here: