My Frugal Year

Just spend $10 and get a $20 gift card for Barnes & Noble. Can’t beat that! Use online or in store:

I love a simple, easy snack. It seems that a lot of folks do use Pillsbury Toaster Strudels for breakfast, but in our family they really are more of an afternoon or evening snack. Especially these days with all the cold and snow we’ve been getting – the kids love to come home from school and pop a Toaster Strudel in the toaster and have a warm, delicious snack.

Right now, you can enter to win a month’s worth of Toaster Strudel deliciousness here http://strudelsmiles.pillsbury.com/. You’ve got until Monday, February 7 to enter!

Also, visit Pillsbury on Facebook to have fun with decorating your strudels and finding out about what else is going on at Pillsbury.

Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark sent me a great prize pack to try, and now YOU get a chance to win one, too!

Prize Pack provided by Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark

This time, the very FIRST comment on this post will be the winner. Just post a comment with your favorite flavor of Toaster Strudels, or if you haven’t tried them yet, which one do you want to try?

When they sent the prize pack, which included a coupon for a box of Toaster Strudel, my kids were thrilled! I grabbed the stress ball, my son loved the mug and my daughter thought the Pillsbury Dough Boy was hilarious! The product, prize pack, information, and giveaway were provided by Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark. Be the first to comment and grab your prize pack today!!

One of my goals this year is to stop just dumping all of our digital photos into random folders on my computer! It’s time to get prints of the good ones and do some scrap-booking! Snapfish has a great deal right now – you can get 50 free prints! Gotta love free stuff!

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I also love their photo books. Maybe you don’t have time to crop photos and make scrap books, but it’s sure easy to use their online system to make gorgeous, affordable photo books. They’re so versatile! Make books for special occasions, vacations, school years, individual family members – the possibilities are endless!

Ugh. I mean really, what could be less fun than getting ready for tax time? Whether you expect a nice refund or not, doing taxes is a pain. So many little things to collect and organize. As I’m getting ready to file for 2010, I’m also trying to look ahead and make 2011 easier. Last night I set up a 2011 file to collect pay stubs and receipts. Already added a couple receipts for medical expenses. Gotta love starting the year off being sick. Woo hoo.

I’ve been using Turbo Tax for years, and it makes a painful process much easier than it would be otherwise. E-filing is so simple and the refunds come quickly. They have products for whatever situation you’re in from the simplest tax situation to business income and investments. If you haven’t tried it – go for it. You won’t be disappointed!

I’ve never been one for New Years Resolutions. Too easily made and easily forgotten. This year, I do have some goals for the year and one of them is to get back to regular blogging on frugality, saving money, making money and in general making wise decisions around money.

2009 and 2010 brought some unexpected hurdles for our family, and some unexpected blessings too. Sadly, I let all that derail my blogging. My husband being rear-ended by an irresponsible driver in 2009 really started a chain of events that affected our family in many ways. My best laid plans for budgeting and finance were blown to bits as we struggled through his being unable to work for six months. All that is joyfully behind us now – he’s well and back to work and we’re getting back on track. In 2010 we were even able to take our first ever family vacation which was incredible.

My hope for 2011 is to learn a lot and share my finds here.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Our first view of Cinderella's castle at Walt Disney World

Sorry for the delay! We have a winner chosen by Random.org. Comment # 6 was Cheryl W. Sending you email now! Congratulations!

I’m a fan of Mexican food, and so is my family. Tacos are one of our favorite frugal meals. We were thrilled when MyBlogSpark and Old El Paso teamed up for this great promotion! What is better on a chilly fall night than tacos?? Old El Paso has a great line of products that help you put together a fabulous Mexican feast! A fabulous prize pack was provided to us by Old El Paso through MyBlogSpark, and our family enjoyed a great taco night!

We enjoy lots of the Old El Paso products from taco shells, seasoning mixes, enchilada sauces, salsa and more. For a fun twist, we sometimes do Fish Tacos and they are delicious!

Visit Old El Paso for news and great tips, recipes and more. Take a minute to share family fiesta photos and videos from your taco feast on the El Tacodor Family Spotlight!

Want to have your own taco night? Enter to win this Old El Paso prize pack which includes a packet of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning, a Cactus Chip & Dip Serving dish, a set of 3 Fiesta Chili Pepper serving dishes and a $10 gift card to purchase your taco fixings. from Old El Paso and MyBlogSpark.

You can receive multiple entries into the drawing by doing one or more of the following:

- Leave a comment on this post with your favorite Mexican dish (an extra bonus entry if you leave the recipe!)
- Post about this giveaway on your blog, then leave the link in a comment on this post.
- Tweet a link to this post, and leave a comment on this post saying you’ve done so.

Winner will be selected in a random drawing on November 23, so get your entries in quickly!

Here’s a great article from Woman’s Day magazine on using coupons effectively. 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Coupns. While you’re there, check out the great giveaways at Woman’s Day too! There are three pages of all sorts of giveaway contests from household products, appliances to family and romantic trips!

Check out this great Yoplait Giveaway: http://eclecticwahm.com/2010/09/17/yoplait-splitz-a-yummy-treat-and-a-giveaway/. Get a coupon for Yoplait Splitz and enter the giveaway!

TODAY ONLY – print a coupon for a FREE* package of Nabisco cookies when you buy one package of Nabisco cookies and one gallon of milk. Visit the “Cookies & Milk” tab to print the coupon and redeem by September 24th! Coupon offer ends 9/6/10 at 11:59 PM ET. (*Restrictions apply.) http://www.facebook.com/nabiscocookies?v=app_344901331467