Have you heard of Sauvenomics? Click here to find out more...I think you will be pleasantly surprised to hear what Suave has in store for freebie lovers!

My longtime readers know that one of my very favorite blogs is Happy to be at Home! It is a haven of inspiration and encouragement for women who enjoy making their houses homes for their families. H2B@H is the labor of love of three bloggers Kate, Toni, and Joy (of A Simple Walk, The Happy Housewife, and 5 Js). They are planning a relaunch of their fabulous site, complete with a whole new look and some additions to their site.

One such addition is the team of fourteen, yes 14, contributing writers. All fourteen will focus on a different aspect of home life. And I am pleased to say that I am one of them! Each week I will share a weekly roundup of fabulous freebies and coupons that will help you stretch your budget dollars. My little contribution will be posted each Thursday over at Happy to be at Home.

And here are my teammates in this new endeavor, who will each write on their topic of expertise:

1. Erin from $5 Dinners - Kitchen topics
2. Lisa from Crazy Adventures In Parenting - Mommy & military life
3. Rachel from Keep It Simple - Frugality
4. Carri from The Peterson Clan - Large-family mothering
5. Sherry from Lamp Unto My Feet - Recipes/kitchen
6. Susan from Susie’s Homemade - Crafty, D.I.Y. stuff
7. Amy from The Finer Things in Life - Mommyhood
8. Shannan from Chubbie Chica - Weight loss
9. Niki from Free 2 Be Frugal - Weekly coupon and freebie round-up
10. Author Tricia Goyer from Triciagoyer.com - Inspiration and parenting
11. Niki from Organizing Connection - Organizing and simple living
12. Sonshine from Glimpse of Sonshine - Homeschooling
13. Jenna from Food With Kid Appeal - Healthy food for kids
14. Amy from Mom’s Toolbox - Travel

So be sure to head over to Happy to be at Home starting January 1st for an all-new approach to making house and home!

Monday's code for a FREE rental at Red box is:


545DZ9

Sorry that I fell off the face of earth, frugal friends! In the rush of holiday madness I plumb forgot I was doing a giveaway this week.

The winner of the case of personalized Fruit Roll-Ups is:

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ValueMags and SpaKist bring you a free subscription to SPA Magazine. Learn how to pamper yourself at home, the latest on advances in beauty and self-care, or plan a luxurious retreat.

With the economy taking a tumble there are more and more comapnies that are planning some store closings to keep them afloat. Others are completely shutting down business due to bankruptcy.

If you have gift cards to any of the following stores you may want to spend them quickly before you have difficulty finding one near you:

Ann Taylor
Circuit City
Linens 'N things
Mervyn's
Eddie Bauer
Cache
Lane Byrant, Fashion Bug, Catherines
Talbots, J. Jill
Gap
Foot Locker
Zales, Piercing Pagoda
Disney Store
Home Depot
CompUSA
Macy's
Hollywood Video
PacSun
Pep Boys
Sprint/Nextel
J.C. Penney
Lowes
Ethan Allen
Wilson Leather
KB Toys
Dillard's

Start Sampling wants to give you a free subscription to MORE, the magazine for women 40+.

I just thought I would add that even though I am only in my twenties, I still thoroughly enjoy this monthly read. It's kinda like girl-power for grownups.

Kudos to Amy over at Mom Advice for filling everyone in on Redbox free codes, even days before the biggest holiday of the year! I tip my hat to her because I am busy, busy, busy making last minute holiday preparations. I almost forgot about this weekly bonus 'til my friend called and asked if I had seen Fred Claus yet? I guess we know what I'll be doing as I finish wrapping later today....

Thanks to reader Jenny for sharing this tip:

Did you know that many grocery stores often put Green Giant veggies on sale for $1? And if you print out this 50 cents off coupon you can get them for really cheap (or free if your store doubles coupons)? Just wanted to share!

Since it is just before a holiday newspaper coupons take a break. No coupons?

Before you go fretting over a lack of coupons, head on over to Kingdom First Mom to find out where to get some coupons this Sunday.

Frugal Food & Fitness

Magazines
Dog's Life

Cookies are a staple in our house around the holidays. I love having a baking day with my son and trying out different cookie recipes. My son loves being the official cookie taste tester. He takes the job very seriously!

The internet is chock full of recipes, and sites like Allrecipes will even let you do a search for a recipe based on which ingredients you already have on hand. Pop on over there and see what you can come up with and start baking!

Need a last-minute gift? How about a free one, or two? Use the following codes for FREE 8x10 photo prints from Walgreens.

FREEGIFT

FREEGIFT2


But hurry, these codes expire December 20th!

Coming January 1st at Free 2 Be Frugal: another 30 Day Spend Fast!

Remember when I participated in one last summer with My Simpler Life? It was wonderful. It really helped me find some creative ways around spending money. Just like last time I will only spend money on groceries (the necessary stuff, not junk) and gasoline for the car. That's it!

Join along with the fun and see how much money you can save. This is the perfect time to do it, right after the holidays when your wallet is feeling overused.

What's Christmas without sugar cookies? I have tried tons of recipes over the years and found this one to be the easiest. I personally loathe rolling out dough and using cookie cutters so this simple recipe lets me churn out 4 dozen cookies quick and easy. Just scoop up some dough and roll it up!

SIMPLE SUGAR COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Sprinkles, if desired (or more white sugar)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; blend into the creamed mixture. Roll dough into 1" balls and gently dip in a shallow dish of sprinkles or roll them in sugar. Place them 1" apart onto cookie sheets. Flatten each ball slightly.
3. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once again Rocks in My Dryer is hosting their weekly edition of Works for Me Wednesday. It is chock full of great tips from other mom bloggers. What's better than great tips from moms for moms? I can't think of anything else at the moment...

On with my tip this week! You know what works for me for the holidays? Writing and keeping a To NOT Do List. Yes, you read it right. Most people have To Do Lists. Not me. I like to keep a written account of what does not work out for my family, things that add stress instead of joy, names of recipes gone bad, etc. I keep it in my decoration box so that the minute my holiday drive kicks in I can remind myself how to avoid driving myself crazy.

I have to take a moment to give my mom some props here on this idea. She is the one who started this idea, though she writes her lists in her yearly planner. Each month she writes down what she wants to try the next year that will work better than the mishaps of holidays past. Isn't it ingenius?

Here's a look at what is going on my To NOT Do List for next Christmas:

1. Do NOT try lots of new cookie recipes in the throes of the holiday season. Limit the holiday baking to one or two kinds of tried-and-true cookies only. It is much easier to double dough recipes to make more cookies than trying to fuss over 4 different types of doughs.

2. Do NOT use those colorful, round non-pareils on the sugar cookies. Not only do they make a mess like any other sprinkles, they also bounce and roll far, far away from where you are decorating which makes a bigger mess than necessary.

3. Do NOT mail out gifts to out of state friends past the first week in December. They will not arrive in time.

4. Do NOT not mail out any cards. Apparently those people who used to get them look forward to receiving them. They will rebel. And complain. And bring it up multiple times. If you are too busy or strapped for cash, send out cards for New Years or Valentine's Day when all the holiday hysteria dies down and life returns to normal.

5. Do NOT buy any decorative items until you first check with Goodwill first. They have a huge selection of gently used stuff, not to mention all the new in box stuff leftover from Target last year. Clearance from Target goes to second-hand heaven when it doesn't sell.

As the mother of a preschooler, class room mom, Sunday school teacher, and a MOMS Club officer, I am always on the lookout for kids' treats that are unique and fairly inexpensive. I am becoming a fan of the single parting prize over a goodie bag full of plastic junk and cheap candy. Goodie bags just aren't practical, frugal, or green. It is wasted money and excessive trash. Instead I am liking what many schools and mommies are doing nowadays--sending each kid packing with one nice treat to take home.

How cool would it be to give out personalized Fruit Roll-ups at your next celebration? The My Fruit Roll-ups site lets you create a one-of-a-kind snack with photos, messages, and hundreds of graphics. It couldn't be easier to do! And a carton of 30 Fruit Roll-ups runs $29.99. One dollar a piece is not too shabby for a party goodie. The site even has suggestions for how to present the treats and send them home for various themed parties.

I recently had the opportunity to try this neat site and order my own carton for my little guy, thanks to MyBlogSpark. Always thinking ahead, this mommy ordered some to commemorate my son's 4th birthday (this spring). It was fun looking at all the options and now it is one less thing I'll have to worry about when party planning.

Guess what the best part is? They want me to give a free carton away to one lucky reader! Hurray! To enter, please visit The My Fruit Roll-Ups site and then return here to leave a comment telling me how you would design and use these custom treats. Easy peasy! For a second chance to win, please subscribe to Free 2 Be Frugal and leave a separate comment telling me that you did.

Good luck! A winner will be randomly selected on December 22nd.

For a free movie rental today, visit your local Walgreens Redbox and enter code: 9WAG27

To find out if your Walgreens has a Redbox go here.

Are you thinking about trying a new cookie recipe this holiday season? You just have to give these Candy Cane Snowballs a whirl! A Simple Walk is one of my regular daily reads and has many, many recipes on my to-try list.

I have cookie fever this week so I made 8 dozen of these yesterday and they were very tasty. Although I am a peppermint freak so I think I will use peppermint extract instead of vanilla next time to see if I can get them a bit mintier. Yum!

Mmm, mmm, mmm! I do love a good quality piece of chocolate. Due to health concerns I spare the amount of treats I indulge in so when I want chocolate, I want it to be worth it! And Ghiardelli never disappoints.

SheSpeaks recently sent me a box of their Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Filling Squares and let me tell you--they are divine. The chocolate is wonderfully creamy and the peanut butter is deliciously smooth. It was like eating a grownup version of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups I loved as a kid. One thing I would love to see in the future is this particular candy made in a dark chocolate. That would be perfection...

Though I wanted to eat the whole box myself I did manage to make myself share with a friend and her husband and they both thoroughly enjoyed the treats. They wished they contained a bit more peanut butter filling, but I was happy with the amount myself. The best part was that SheSpeaks blessed me with some coupons which I stacked with a sale and store coupons at Walgreens. More delicious Ghiardelli for me!

There are some great coupons from Coupons.com this week. And you don't even have to leave this page to get them! Simply scroll down and look for the yellow box on the left. You can print any coupons you choose to help you save money on groceries, all the while helping out Free 2 Be Frugal.

Just in the nick of time, there is no shortage of coupons for all your baking needs from Pillsbury and Betty Crocker! And there are even coupons for Kodak and VistaPrint if you need a few last minute personalized gifts.

Every year as the holidays approach I get a hankering to try a few new cookie recipes in addition to the tried and true. True to form, I tried Frugal Upstate's recipe for Brownie Crinkles this past weekend. They were yummy!

Mine did not come out quite as pretty as Jenn's but they were tasty nonetheless. Mine spread out a bit more and were both crunchy and chewy all at once. Brownie crinkles are perfect with a cup of tea. Mmmmm.

I should worn you that 1) These are messy to make and 2) These are very rich and I could only handle one at a time. Happy Baking!