I am not usually one to advocate the buying of coupons. I know there are tons of sites out there, I'm just not sure which ones are legitimate. Or if the coupons are real and not doctored up by some scam artist. Or if the stores will in my area will even accept them.

But I have one exception to this rule. Every year my family buys The Entertainment Book. If you buy it the fall before it comes out, it typically goes for $30 (retail is $35) if you buy it as a fundraiser for school or the like. You can start using the coupons right away! (Of course as the year goes on it, you can find copies for even cheaper than $30, but that is a whole different post).

But I digress...the book is full of coupons for grocery stores ($5 and $10 off coups even), clothing shops, movie tickets (a mere $5-7 per ticket, depending on the theatre vs. the usual $10), and 2-for-1 meals at restaurants. You will save at least 50% with any given coupon from the book. And there are literally thousands of coupons in the book. Plus, when you register your book online you'll get access to exclusive printable coupons for your area. Virtually every area of the United States has a local book.

P.S. I do not have any sort of affiliation with The Entertainment Book, nor have I received any compensation from them. I am merely a fan!

People who hear about my stockpiling habits have told me time and time again that they don't have the room.

"I don't have a pantry."

"My kitchen cabinets are all spoken for already."

"We don't have a garage."

Well, sometimes you have to think outside the box! I have been stockpiling ever since I got my first apartment back in college. Here are a few unexpected placed you might store your goodies you stock up on when you find a great deal:

• in plastic under-the-bed bins
• in your linen closet
• in rolling carts in the coat closet

Do your kiddos have to wear uniforms to school? Nowadays most schools who do the uniform thing go for a particular combination of solid colored tops and bottoms. But you don't have to pay top-dollar for them at uniform stores. Nope, that is the last place you should go!

Try these stores for uniform separates on the cheap:

• Old Navy
• Forman Mills
• Childrenwear Centre

And don't forget about thrift shops! This time of year the thrift shops are swarming with donations from parents whose kiddos outgrew last year's uniforms. Spend under three bucks a piece.

Time again for one of my favorite weekly memes, Frugal Friday, over at Life as Mom. The weekly question? How do YOU do to save money?

Are you avoiding getting into shape because your budget won't allow a costly gym membership? What if I told you that you could join for FREE? It's not widely known but many health insurance providers will pay for your gym membership. The premise is that if they help people get fit they will ultimately spend less later on health problems.

Call your provider today and ask what their terms are. Some require you to go to certain gyms, while others let you choose your own. And some send you a reimbursement once you show proof of payment, while others are a little more hard-core and require you to send in an exercise log to prove you actually attend. You'd be surprised how many insurance companies actually participate in this; even my not-so-great hmo does it!

Every now and then you find some fabulous, absolutely free software. And not those annoying offers for free trials that you have to remember to cancel later. Real, honest-to-goodness free!

Do you shake your clothes out before tossing them into the dryer or do you heave the wet pile straight in? If you are doing the latter then you are costing yourself extra money. Shaking out each shirt and pair of pants before drying increases the surface area to be dried which ensures quicker, more even drying. If you try to dry balled up apparel, towels, and blankets it will take much longer to dry, sometimes even more than one cycle.

Lots of ladies ask me how I manage to spend so little on groceries. They want me to tell them all my "secrets" so they, too, can cut their grocery bill in half. Well, unfortunately that does not happen overnight.

Baby steps, ladies, baby steps.

So here is my advice to you newbies. Figure out what you've spend on average for groceries, say, in the past month. Now as scary as that number may seem, try to stick with it for the next couple of weeks. Try to identify which area you are spending the most on and work at lowering spending in that category. Don't overwhelm yourself trying to figure out how to pull off every darned trick in the book (or blogosphere!) In a couple weeks try another category. Little by little you will lower your grocery budget and will be ecstatic with the results!

Would you like more points for Pampers Gifts to Grow?

Try entering these codes today:

Do you love a good deal? Are you are a couponer at heart? Then you need to be on Groupon!

Would you like more points for Pampers Gifts to Grow? It is an awesome program where you punch in codes you find on packages of Pampers products and earn points to redeem for gifts. Plus there are always plenty of codes floating around online that you can use to build up your points without buying a thing! Free 2 Be Frugal posts them regularly right here; subscribe to the blog and never miss another one.

Try entering this code today: GTG5FREEPTS0810

Tired of the same ole site you always check for coupons? A little bird recently gave me a few hints on finding coupons online, so I just had to share!

I am a Google girl, through and through, and these tips work in Google searches I know for sure. As for the other search engines, you will have to give it a whirl.

• inurl:coupons (will find any site with the term "coupons" in it
• coupons inurl:forum (will find any coupon site that has a forum)
• intitle:coupons (will find titles of pages with the term "coupons" in it

Would you like more points for Pampers Gifts to Grow?

Try entering this code:

Smithsonian Magazine offers a ticket for 2 each fall to a participating museum.This year's event is set for September 25th, so mark your calendars and print your ticket.

Breakfasts

Peanut butter baked oatmeal, milk

Salsa scrambles, wheat toast, juice

Eggy sandwiches, juice

Lunches

Ham and cheese wraps, sliced Jersey tomatoes

PBJ on whole grain bread, yogurt

Grilled cheese, soup

Hot dogs, pickles

Dinners

Daddy sandwich night

Dinner at my MIL's house

Chili (new recipe..if it works out I'll let ya know)

Barbecue chicken, corn, baked beans

Tuna noodle casserole, salad

Corned beef hash, eggs over easy, wheat toast

Family movie/pizza night

Snacks

Popcorn

Cheddar cheese with whole grain crackers

Guacamole with tortilla chips

Peanuts

Desserts

Sugar-free Popsicles
Sugar-free Jello

Sugar-free Pudding

Don't forget to head on over to

Organizing Junkie

for hundreds more recipes!

Welcome to the first installment of a new feature, How Can I Save On...?

I learned about Swagbucks from Money Saving Mom. All you do is register (it's free) and use their search engine for all your internet searching. Certain searches can win you some Swagbucks, in demoninations of 1-5, 10, 20, 50, or 100. Swagbucks can be traded in for gift cards to great places.

Since joining I have earned over $700 in gift cards! As a frugal gal I had to give up my guilty pleasure of overpriced java, but with free gifts I can indulge at Starbucks. I also like to redeem my 'bucks for Amazon gift cards to score cheap/free books. And with Restaurant.com gift certs I earn, I can take my family out to dinner on the cheap!

Click here to sign up today. And once you join up you can refer friends and earn even more Swagbucks. How great is that?

Hey there, frugal friends.