FREE Cherry Lime-Aid on Saturday, 8-28 DALLAS/FORT WORTH ONLY

***PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS A DALLAS/FORT WORTH AREA FREEBIE ONLY***

Yay! There was a nice break from the heat for about, 16 hours, but now the index is going to go back up just in time for the weekend. Boo!

What should we do in the mean time? How about go to Fire House Subs, at any point in the day, and get a FREE 32 ounce CHERRY Lime-Aid - NO COUPON REQUIRED!!! (Note - yes, that is a legitimate email. I just screen-shot it so I could edit out my real name and email.)

I don't know what I love more - the fact that this is a freebie, the fact that it's a DFW Area freebie only, the fact that it's couponless so we can use other discounts if we've got them, or that Fire House considers a 32 ounce drink a medium.

Oh, wait. I like them all!!!

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!! (wow, I just had a billy mays moment.) If it's your BIRTHDAY on Saturday, just flash your id or drivers license and you'll get a FREE SUB, just for having been born! (Well, that's truly an everyday birthday freebie, but if your bday is on Saturday then you can really make out like a bandit and get a free meal!) ((But I guess that you August 27th and 29ers could also give it a shot at getting your birthday sub too.))

Last thing about Fire House then I'll go - sign up here to get on the email list as to be alerted if the owners in your city decide to do something similar - and in doing so you'll get a coupon for a free drink with the next purchase of a sub!

~~~

Are you new to couponing or Internet freebies? Sign up for a free email address here (so your real address won't be flooded with offers and junk everyday!) and then go here and here to have even MORE fun!

~K

Starting Out Series - Lesson 3 - Organizing Your Coupons

Lesson 3

Organizing Your Coupons

~~~

You're probably mad at me for spending so much time talking about the background prep and not showing you how to save yet, and I'm sorry about that. I just want to make sure you can hit the ground running and not get so frustrated to where you give up. (But honestly, start collecting coupons now. Save the inserts from your paper, look for blinkies at the store and find them online. Just make sure that you're ready before you go out and give it the old college try.)

So, Organizing.

There are many methods and schools of thought to this, but it's whatever works best for you. I actually employ two or three of these myself and you may find that you like bits and pieces of other ways as well.

Here we go!

~~~

1) The Binder

This is exactly what is sounds like - people get a binder, then put their coupons in it and lug it to the store. Don't be ashamed by how full it is - I've seen people with 6 inch binders that were over flowing. It may get heavy, and it's hard to balance in a cart, especially if you go with your kids who need to sit in that seat. BUT, you're never with out your coupons, as its hard to forget the binder. Plus, there are some pretty fancy binders out there with all kinds of pockets and zippers, especially after the Back-To-School clearances. But how does one organize a binder? You Can -

A) Cut out the coupons you want or know you'll use (both exact brands and competitors) and put them into pockets (like baseball card sleeves) where the pages are then organized alphabetically or by types of products (like "cleaning products" or "kids snacks") or by aisle or however you want. (I have a binder that I don't really use all that often but it's an old CD binder - I LOVE it because it has bigger pockets which makes it easier for my fat hands to get in and out of.)

• Pros - you know exactly what page to go to when you need to find that shampoo coupon; you're not lugging around too much extra stuff (like scissors and all of your inserts.); a binder can fit into a tote bag so if the day is just sucking you don't have to pull it out; if you get a real binder and not use my cd binder idea you can add and subtract pages at will.
• Cons - you're cutting out soooo many coupons, statically more that you'll end up not using than using; if you only bring the coupons you cut at home/the office to the store, you may come across some fabulous yet unblogged/heard about deal, only to not have coupons for that item with you; if you save the rest of your inserts they'll start looking really ratty after you've been cutting them up so; if someone on a blog or message board references a certain coupon by saying which insert it was in but you've cut it out, you may forget that you have it or where you put it or if you've already used it; you have to constantly go through it and toss what has expired.

B) Keep the pages intact and put them in whole page protectors, like what you'd use in school or at work. (Inserts aren't stapled and are printed on both sides, so cut the pages on the center creases and insert them into whole page protectors, then you can see both sides and keep them in booklet order, if that's important to you. You can also get rid of advertisement pages.) You can put a tabbed divider in between the weeks (to separate the inserts that you got on Sunday, August 8th from the ones you got on Sunday, August 15th) and can even write directly on the pages with a grease pencil if you know of an upcoming sale or paper clip stackable store coupons to the specific MRF page.

• Pros - This method works well if you buy/subscribe/get multiple inserts every week; just match up all the page 1/2's and put them in a sleeve; same thing with 3/4's, 5/6's, 7/8's, and so on; if you are in a store and come across a stellar deal, price or sale, you can pull out your smart phone, go to hot coupon worlds online database and you will find out with a few short clicks in which insert to look.
• Cons - Your binder will get very full, very fast; To store "found" coupons (peelies, in-box, mailings, etc) you'll need to add some baseball card sleeves or a 3 ring zipper bag or something; if you don't have a smart phone or the Internet while you're out you may have to rummage through tons of pages to find the coupon you need or are looking for.

2) There is also the Envelope Method

This is also exactly how it sounds. You cut the coupons you want and put them into an envelope (either a small white one or a reusable pouch or a small coupon "file" or even an index card sized box) and then go to the store. You can organize them by how you go through the store, through the stores aisle set up, by family member and then when you get to a great sale you think "oh, there is a coupon for that in Josh's tab", whatever makes sense to you.

• Pros - you can keep it with you at all times in your purse or car; you can set it up to have just the coupons you want to spend on just that trip OR you can keep q's for items that you know you're always buying, so if a surprise sale or instant substitute pops up you're ready.
• Cons - you can keep it with you at all times. I can't tell you how many times I've looked into my very fancy, very expensive purse and thought, if only the snooty people at the store could see that I have 3 envelopes of coupons in my $850 purse they'd cry.

3) The File Method

This is a little out of the ordinary, in that you do most of the work at home and leave the rest of it there. (Unless you get a portable file, like a cart or one of those cute file bags, but if get/buy/find 6+ copies of each and every Sunday paper, which at most contain up to 6 inserts each, that's somewhat overboard.) This method is one where you plan out what you're buying (by stalking the message boards and blogs) and finding what q's you need from the paper or online, etc, then putting it all together before you go to the store (by putting them in an envelope or paper clipping them, whatever). You can either file the inserts in a little cart or in a filing cabinet in file folders or by binder clipping the same weeks worth of inserts together keeping and then keeping them together in a tote bag or in a stack; Whatever you decide to do, I find it easier to write the date on each cover in sharpie, in case one individual insert or week gets out of order.

• Pros - your inserts are a lot more sane - if you only go after the deals that others tell you about, then you're sure to have the q's; if you read that you need to thumb through the 8/1 RP to find a q, then you have an 8/1 to thumb through instead of looking through your crazy binder or envelope/box;
• Cons - if you come across a hot sale or deal, you can't act on it 'cause the rest of your coupons are at home; you may need to invest in a lot of file folders, binder clips and even a file cabinet; its hard to keep up with the "found" coupons you collect.

~~~~

I guess that's it for organizing - the next lesson will be about Coupon Rules and the Lexicon.

(I swear, we're really getting closer and closer to actually talking about finding and using coupons. I'm not counting you as stupid or incapable of learning, but I feel like if I were to give you that info first you'd take off and would never come back, like giving a kid a bicycle before telling them the rules - of course they aren't listening because they are too excited about the bike! If I were you, I'd be bike-excited about couponing. BUT you can start looking for and collecting coupons, and now you can experiment with organizing them!)

Until Next time

~K

Starting Out Series - Lesson 2 - Mind think

Mind Think

This post will help you understand how you can save oodles by tweaking your current shopping habits.

~~~

I like to know why something exists. Usually new inventions are due to solve some sort of problem, and coupons are no exception. First used as an advertising ploy to get people to try new or existing products, coupons are now used as a form of currency by some people (ie - us) and we should be ever so thankful for that. However, to fully maximize the effectiveness of coupons, we need to change how we do some things. (And seriously, if you can start this way now then you'll catch on quicker, because what happens to everyone, including me, is that your first shopping trip you'll save $10 from coupons - and get so excited about it! - BUT then end up spending an extra $20 because you didn't know what you were doing.)

Think of how you currently shop. Are you the weekly list maker ("I've got my weekly list and we're sticking to it!"), the run in-er (my fiance would run to the store every day in college to get what he needed for that meal and or snack and it drove me nuts!) or the aisle grazer ("humm... that looks good. In the cart!")? What about the stores in which you shop, or the brands that you buy? Are you stuck in your ways or are you willing to make a change to save some green?

We're going to throw those aside and think of grocery shopping like purchasing air fare, playing poker, making new friends and stocking up for some catastrophic emergency crisis, all at once. Here's How:

Price Watching -

When booking a flight, you usually pay the least amount if you book wayyyy in advance, like, more than six months. You have a lot of choice as to when you want to leave, where you want to sit, etc. Starting at about 5 months with that same flight you'll see the prices starting to increase slightly. Like, a dollar every few days. Then about 3 - two months out it'll increase by a few dollars every day until you're about 3 weeks away and you'll suddenly have no choice but to pay the highest possible fare. (Unless there are still seats on the plane and it's less than 10 days until departure - you *might* be able to find a good deal but you probably won't have your choice of seats or options of flight times.)

Now, a jar of Peanut Butter won't increase 900% in six months, BUT if you start watching the price of that PB over the same six month period, you'll notice price fluctuation, sales and coupons to match, some of which over lap from time to time, and you'll also be keen on when the best time is to buy peanut butter. It might vary by brand and store, but you can guarantee that back to school time and around the holidays are good times to buy this item. But more on this in a bit.

Knowing When To Play Your Cards -

Peanut Butter is normally like, $2 a jar, and that's an alright price, I mean, I'd rather pay that than $3 or $4, but we go through a lot of peanut butter, like, a jar a week sometimes - I like to cook with it, eat it, feed it to the dog - and it's just me, the fiance and the dog. $104 on PB a year for 2 people is like, a little crazy if you think about it. However, (the brand I like) on sale right now for $1.60 a jar - thank.you.back.to.school.time - AND I have a coupon for $.60 off, so now my total is $1 a jar.

This is how couponing is like poker - you have to know when to play your cards, err, coupons. The sale (it's $1.60 at Target through Sat, the 28th) and coupon both coincide to match back to school time BUT there are plenty of times when the retailers know what coupons are coming out (because the manufacturer tells Corp. waaayyy ahead of time) so they'll adjust their prices accordingly. Yeah, Target or Walgreens will make money if you buy their brand couponlessly, BUT if you do buy the national brand (which is more expensive than the store brand) then the store makes more of a profit (because the margin is higher than the generic) AND the store get reimbursed the total amount of the coupon PLUS $.08 cents for every coupon used by you and me, so that's 3 ways the store earns money when you buy a Brand name item with a coupon vs when you buy a generic.

But back to poker. New coupons come out every day, week, and month. Sometimes it's worth it to wait a week or two for an item to go on sale, but sometimes you just can't wait - you may need diapers or hair spray right now. However, if you do have the time to wait, and the product doesn't go on sale, and it's something you want and will use, then what is the waste of waiting to use the coupon, it's not like the price will go up.

Leaving Your Comfort Zone -

My parents love Tide, the laundry detergent. The only problem I have with Tide is that they are the leader in the laundry market and they know it, so there is rarely a sale and the coupons they put out are sort of crappy. I have found soooo many better deals on countless other brands - great, amazing brands, that are all natural or are 5x concentrated so the bottle is half a pound to pick up rather than 10 - but still, they stay with Tide. My point is this, if you are willing to try other brands, you may save more. They like Bounty, but Brawny is on sale and I have a coupon. So in situations like that, where I can get the same product (so the paper towels) for way less, I'll buy what I can with the coupons I have and then let that hold me over until I can switch back to what I like. But there is also an upside; shopping by buying the brands for whom we have coupons introduces us to new products, different flavors, and sometimes better features or qualities. And that I like.

It's not hoarding, I swear -

I'm sure what I've been saying has struck a cord with you, but how do you go from saving $1 a week to thousands a year? The answer - Stockpiling. It makes since, but to start out and get a good "pile", ugh. You have to have focus and organization, and also space, but once you get going and you see that you can pay $.12 for pasta and can get 100 cans of soup or free you'll be hooked. One of the bloggers I L-O-V-E is a mom to 4 out of Boston and here is the link to her stockpile posts. Is it sad that I just love to look at her pictures for inspiration? She knows when to play her cards, she isn't brand specific and she knows the most important rule with her stock pile: FIFO - First In, First Out, meaning that she first uses what she purchased first, that way nothing goes to waste by spoiling. The second most important rule with 'piling - only buy what you will consume (eat) in 6 months. (Unless the item in question has a super long shelf life, like canned veggies or sauces, or you plan on donating the extras. Why buy extras? Sometimes you get paid to buy extras, but that's a later post.)

So take my Peanut Butter example again. It's great that I got a jar for $1 right now. But what happens when I need to go out and buy more peanut butter? Simple. I am going to buy as much as I can right now when it's uber cheap and I'm going to save the difference. Like, I have 20 coupons. If I were to buy 20 jars over the next however long at $1.92 a jar, that's $38.40. But since I have 20 coupons, I might as well get 20 jars for $20 bucks. That's a savings of $18.40, and all I did was take a few extra minutes of my day to get 20 coupons to "play" them at the right time.

~~

We'll get deeper and deeper into everything, I promise, but I also want to go back to the shopping styles - you can still be a grazer, a runner and a list maker - as long as you add the element of having a coupon for EVERY item that you're buying, you'll be saving money in no time. And I understand that sometimes you can't wait to get something, I do. But shopping is exactly like buying last minute air fare - if you lack the foresight to plan ahead, you're going to pay the highest price. If you research and give yourself time (to wait on a sale or to order coupons online), then you'll come out a winner every time.

Back to the point I left off in the "air fare" analogy up at the top

• don't just watch the shelf tags; read the weekly ad circulars and make your list or gather your coupons based on those on-sale items.
• Visit store specific message boards and blogs, as other like-minded people will point out deals and "match ups" (match up = when there is a coupon to go along with a sale price) for you so you can focus on just the gathering portion and not spend so much time calculating and what not.
• Also shop with the "seasons"; I've said probably twice that now is an amazing time to stock up on peanut butter, because it's back to school time, but other "times" and "seasons" prompt great sales and match ups as well, like, the holidays are the best time to stock up on baking supplies (like flour, evaporated milk, chocolate chips), New Years is the best time to find nutrition and healthy items (like individual frozen meals and "healthy cereals") and so on.
• And lastly, sales are cyclical. What is on sale now should be on sale again in six to eight weeks - the price may not always be as great (so the $1.92 pb that's on sale for $1.60 now may only go down to $1.75 in six to eight weeks) but it will go on sale again, so I don't need to buy 400 jars and make 2000 PB&J's to freeze to hold me over until next year when its back to school time.

So, those are the points I wanted to bring up about how we can succeed in winning at the store. It may take some time to build a great stock pile (in fact, it will, so don't give up if you don't succeed in the first two or three shopping trips; even if you don't want to stock as aggressively as some people do, it still will take you time to build up a good coupon pile/file/binder/folder and then it will take you time to figure out when to use those coupons to score big) but once you do have however big a pile you want it to be, you'll be so proud of yourself.

~~

Alright, I think that's it for this post. Next up - How to Organize Your Coupons

Starting Out Series - Lesson 1 - Email

Alright, this is going out to all the friends, students and internetties who are just starting to coupon.

There are more people out there who have explained everything much better than I ever could, but I am going to try to break it down into more manageable lessons built around the way I teach it to those in person so if I have given you tips, you can come back as sort of a "professors notes" type thing.

So, Lesson 1!

~~

Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life. (Not really, but it sometimes feels that way.)

~ The first thing I always tell everyone is to register for a new, FREE, "junk email". And honestly, if you wanted to get really down and dirty with it - register for two or three so you can easily sort through all the crap super easily. Any place where you sign up to receive their emails can and will email the crap out of you. When I first started doing this, I signed up for every offer and news letter and club and now that junk address nets about 75 emails a day.

Email is honestly one of the best ways to learn about sales and get coupons but you also need to give out your email address to get anything from legit offers to free samples to online clubs. There are some companies who are pretty cool and will only bug you when they have something awesome to tell you about, but there are more who act like that long lost friend you recently found on facebook who just won't shut up. (Seriously, and Neiman Marcus? I have tried several dozen times to get off of your DAILY subscription and nothing is working.)

If looking at a super full inbox just drives you nuts, sign up for two different address (but make sure you remember the names and passwords); keep one for Food (IE - restaurants and coupons for consumables or food related clubs, like "Kraft First Taste") and another for everything else (malls, clothing stores, online clubs that you actually want to keep using, like Sephora and Swagbucks, etc.) If you want to get extra anal, make a third email dedicated to just the junk - and this is going to be the offers that sometimes look less than legit (Remember - NEVER give your credit card info out for a "freebie") AND to give out to the companies to whom you just want their free samples. (Like, independent wholeistic pet food retailers and pyramid sales companies like Advocare.)

You don't have to go this route - as Gmail (the free email I recommend) has an excellent search feature - but couponing requires a good deal of organizing so why not sort everything out at the bottom.

Also a good thing to get a second of? Facebook! Advertisers are starting to realize the potential of this new medium thus ushering in a whole new wave and location to find coupons. If you're like me, you don't want to advertise to your friends list via your news feed that you just "faned" or "liked" Pampers, Totinos or San Luis cigars. So, what do you do? Make a second facebook! Just don't friend anyone on that account and keep the info minimal - like don't include your city or school - and no one will know about your habits.

~~

Now that you have your junk email in check and your second facebook set up, go check out the posts here, here and here and start signing up! (TIP - wait a few days inbetween signing up for anything food related be it from the bday list or the freebie list - that way you'll have more than two weeks to collect on offers.) ((I'll also work on posting more facebook freebies.))

Next up - Mind Think

Confession!

I have a confession - I love gadgets; anything related to cooking or domestication that I can get my hands on I will find a way.

I couldn't justify spending $40 on a Swiffer Sweeper Vac - since it's kind of like the broom I already have and the $550 vacuum that I want - HOWEVER, P&G are making a commitment to reducing their carbon footprint and have now started to sell the entire Swiffer line (the sweepers, mops and dusters) boxlessly; so now you go to the cleaning aisle and the mop is already put together and hanging on a hook instead of in a bulky box with Styrofoam.

What does that mean for us?

Take your P&G Home Made Simple Booklets with you the next time you stop at Target because all of the "old packaged" boxes are on sale - up to half off - at some stores RIGHT NOW!

It's kind of hard to see but the original price was $38, the clearance price is $19 and change AND after the $5 off coupon from the booklet, I got mine for $14! What what?!

And that's not all - my store had a TON of the duster "extend a cleans" on sale for $3 something AND there were a few wet mops out there as well. Oh, and huge bottles of Dawn with hand renewal - I know you can get them for free at CVS this week with the $1 off from the booklet, but try target first because the free bottle is like, 7 oz vs the clearance 32 oz for $1.72. (and if you don't find it at target, then go to CVS.)

The funny thing? The new packages are two aisles away from the clearance end caps and are still full price. I saw a couple putting the exact same vac in their cart - I told them about the clearance and even offered an extra coupon and they were like "no thanks, we're good." Seriously? 'Cause I'm buying the same thing and saving like, $25 bucks. Suckers.

And with that, I end this post. Good luck to you and I hope you find a P&G bargain of your own!

Anniversary Freebies!!!

I'm honestly not sure what you'll get out of these, as I don't yet have a date to call an anniversary, BUT, these places ask for a date so why not fill one in? Feburary 29th it is! (On another note, when I find out what they are i'll update.)

~~~

Abuelo's - sign up link.

Brio Tuscan Grille - E-Club.

Buca De Beppo - sign up here.

Macaroni Grill - look on the bottom left of the page; fill in your email and then you'll go to a second page to fill in the rest of your info.

Maggiano's - here!

The Melting Pot - club fondue.

Texas De Brazil - and the sign-up is here!

Sign-Up Freebies

We all know about the loyalty programs that offer a free *something* on our birthday, but what about all the times when it's not our bday and we just want a special, free treat?

I'm in the process of signing up my parents for EVERY bday promo I can find and I realized that no one has made a cohesive list of all the free things you get JUST for signing up for loyalty programs. So I am going to try. (Right now I have listed places that that may or may not be specific to just the DFW area. If you find any more let me know and I'll list them!)

Tips: 1) space these out when signing up, just to give yourself more than 10 days to collect on all of them. 2) you will get tons of email from these places, so go here and make up a new "freebie" email as to not get advertised to death in your real email. AND 3) don't forget to enter your bday if they ask!!!

Ready? Go!

~~~

Abuelo's - Free Entree on your next Visit. (Eclub!)

AMF Bowling - $5 off PER PERSON up to four people. (not sure if it's per game or just one game.)

Applebee's - Free Appetizer

Arby's - Join Arby's Extras and get an email for a free offer; Mine was for a free Regular Roast Beef Sand which when you buy a drink. (Expires 7 days from date sent; You can only view it once so make sure you are ready to print when you open the offer.)

AuntieAnnes - Join "Pretzel Perks" and get a BOGO coupon; expires 2 weeks from sign-up date.

Aveda - Make an account here and you'll get an instant "thank you" in the form of a printable offer that you can redeem in an Aveda store. (note, not all salons participate because not all are company owned. find a location here and call before you go. Also note, The "Aveda Stores" will always accept them, like Stonebriar, Willow Bend, NorthPark and the institute across from NorthPark.)

Ben & Jerry's - (please note that this is for the scoop shops, not for pints at the store.) - sign up here and you'll get an email for a FREE single scoop in either a cup or a cone. Yum!

Bone Daddy's - join the VIP club here and get an email for a free appetizer. (4 locations - Arlington, Austin, Dallas and Grapevine.)

Brio Tuscan Grille - join here for a complimentary appetizer.

Buca di Beppo - sign up here and you'll get a free small appetizer.

Caribou Coffee - sign up here and get an email for $1 off any larger "Wild" Beverage and free shipping on an online order over $40.

Carino's - sign up (at the bottom of the main page) and get an email for 1/2 off any entree.

Carrabba's - Complimentary Appetizer!!! (FYI, I'm typing this at 1:30 in the am and now I'm jonesing for the calamari that is pictured in this email that I can't have because they are closed. And I should be in bed.)

Chili's - join here and get an email for free Chips & Queso.

Chuck E. Cheese - (BAR TRIVIA!!! Did you know that the E. stands for Entertainment? Fun!) Ok. Sign up here and you'll get an email with 4 coupons - one for a large 1 topping pizza, 4 drinks and 30 tokes for $19.99; the 2nd is for a Large 1 topping, 1 Medium cheese, 4 soft drinks and 35 tokens for $29.99; the 3rd is for 100 tokens for $15; and the last is for 175 tokens for $25.)

Corner Bakery - get an email for a free cookie, no other purchase necessary!

Cotton Patch - join the e-club here and you'll get an email for a free appetizer.

Dairy Queen - Join the Blizzard Club here and you'll get an email for a BOGO 12 or 16 oz blizzard.

Dave and Busters - join HERE and get an email for $10 in free game play. (coupon for free play expires 30 days from date of registration.)

Denny's - join the rewards club here and get an email for 20% off your entire check.

Dickey's Barbecue Pit - Join the Big Yellow Cup club here and you'll get an email for a free drink, no other purchase necessary. (These things are huge. Also fun? Add Ice Cream to the cup before you get your drink. Just sayin'.)

Dippin' Dots - join the "Forty Below Zero Club" and you'll get an email for 10% off AND a free Mug OR cell phone charm with your first online order. (who orders dippin dots online?)

Einstein Brothers - sign up here and get an email for a BOGO breakfast or lunch sandwich.

El Fenix - sign up here and get an email for a BOGO entree!!

Firehouse Subs - They changed the way they offer Birthday Subs (now just present your photo id instead of waiting for a card in the mail) BUT join their email newsletter program and get a coupon for a free Large Fountain Drink or Bottled Beverage with purchase of any sub.

Fish City Grill (AND Half Shells) - Join here (for fish city) and here (for half shells) and you'll get an email for $5 off your next visit.

Fox and Hound (also Bailey's Sports Grille) - Join the Pub Club here and get an email for a free app.

Fuddruckers - join Club Fudd and get an email for a 1/3lb Burger, Fries and a soft drink for $7 flat.

GAP Inc. - sign up here and you can subscribe to Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Piper Lime updates, alerts and offers all in one swoop. (just make sure you select what you want to hear about - so don't check baby gap if you don't care about baby gap.) ((*you'll get an instant free shipping offer from Banana, same thing with Gap, a $ off when you spend $X at Old Navy and free shipping from Piperlime.))

Great American Cookies - join here and you'll get an email for a BOGO regular cookie.

Houlihan's - click here and get an email for a free appetizer.

Joe's Crab Shack -Join and you'll get an instant email for a free appetizer.

La Madeleine - get a free cup of soup or a small salad - just for signing up!!!

Malls - Ok. This one is tricky. Go to this page to find your favorite GGP property and this one to find a mall owned by Simon. These are the two main players, as together they own and opperiate more than 70% of the shopping centers in this country. Anyway, find a mall that you frequent (or two or three) and sign up (in your junk email, because they WILL email you, about every super big and very small sale) for that malls club or eblast or whatever they've named it; you should find something about it on that malls "page", which is linked off of the propriety site. I can't guarantee that you'll get something from every mall (or malls) you do choose, but I got an email for "a free $10 gift card when I spend $75 from Stonebriar", so there's at least that. (And if you don't find your favorite shopping haunt on one of those pages, google - or *bing* - it and I'm sure with a little surfing you'll find some place to enter your email on that centers website.)

Marble Slab Creamery - B1G1 Ice Cream Combination. (Expires 2 weeks from sign-up.)

Maggiano's - sign up and get $10 off your next meal. (bottom right of the main page.) Click HERE to fill in more info, like an anniversary and bday and stuff.

The Melting Pot - join "Club Fondue" and you'll get an email for a free pot of chocolate fondue.

Mimi's Cafe - FREE breakfast entree (with purchase of another entree.) ((*3 area locations, Allen, Arlington and Grapevine.)

Mooyah - dallas/fort worth people - what is up with the EXPLOSION of burger joints poppin' up as of late? I'm not saying I hate it, but I am saying that I haven't consumed this much beef in a while. Anyway, this one is a text-message only kind of deal, and you can only be "connected" to one location to get their specials and deals and what not. Opt in by texting "MOOYAH" to 89686 and then you'll get a text saying something along the lines of selecting your fav location. SO, if you love the location by work, enter that one, but know that those deals can't be applied to the location by your church/house/mall/gym, etc. I'm not sure how often they'll text you, but I'm sure never more than 4 times a month AND you can always opt out at anytime.

On The Border - join here and get an email for free Queso or Sopapillas.

Outback Steakhouse - join Outback Rewards and get an email for a free "Aussie-Tizer" (I see what they did there) when you buy two entrees.

Papa Murphy's - go here and look for the "eClub" box near the bottom left; fill in your info and once you confirm the email, in the 2nd window confirmation screen you'll be able to print a B1B1 half off coupon. (expires two weeks after sign up.)

Patrizio's - click here to sign up; get an email for a free appetizer.

Philosophy - create an account here and you'll get a free gift with a purchase of $25 or more.

Qdoba - sign up here and you'll get an email for free chips and salsa.

Quiznos - join the Q-Club and get an email for $2 off a regular or large sub.

Raising Cane's - *this one requires you to get a membership card* Step 1 - go to an RC, get a "Caniac Club" Card. (Totally free, you don't even have to order anything. Just run in or drive through.) Step 2 - Go home (or the office, but you can't do it from your iPhone, because I tried it) and REGISTER your card HERE. AS SOON AS YOU'RE done, you will see an offer for a FREE Box Combo! (That's 4 fingers, fries, slaw, bread AND a DRINK. Not too shabbs for the extra work.) Don't forget to hand your card over every time you buy a combo - for every 10 stamps/points/punches/combos purchased you'll get another FREE box combo!

Red Hot and Blue - sign up here and get an email for a free prok barbeque sandwich.

Red Robin - join here and get $3 off your next purchase.

Romano's Macaroni Grill - enter your email address on the bottom of the homepage and you'll then go to a second page where you fill in the rest of your info. Once you confirm your email subscription (via an email) you'll get a SECOND email with a coupon for $5 your next purchase of 2 Entrees. (expires a month from sign up.)

Ruby Tuesday - join the "So Connected" club and get an email for a BOGO entree, up to $10. (expires two weeks after sent.)

Schlotzskys - Join the "Bun and Fun" club you'll get an email for a ___ but be careful!!! They have one of those fancy email stalker things that only lets you view the offer once, so if you don't print it right then, then you're out of luck.

Smoothie King - join "The Kingdom" and get an email for a BOGO 20oz Smoothie!

Souper Salad - join the Souper Fresh Club (click the bird) and you'll get an email for 20% off a Lunch of Dinner Buffet.

The Spaghetti Warehouse - Sign up here and you'll get an email for a free appetizer.

Sonny Bryans - enter your name, email address and DOB in the lower left-hand "email sign up" box on the main page and after submitting you'll be redirected to a confirmation page; that page will list a coupon for 25% off your first ONLINE order meant for TAKEOUT. (PS - if you ever plan to visit Dallas you HAVE to stop by this place for authentic Dallas BBQ. It's been around forever - the original is here and this is where Rachel Ray goes to get her meat kick when she's in town.) *Update* About 8 days after I signed up I got an email for their "monthly offering" which was for a FREE entree! So even if you can't use the online take out offer, still sign up with them as you'll get something FREE monthly!!!

Sweet Tomatoes (and/or Souplantation) - sign up for Club Veg and get an email for b1g1 half off.

Texas de Brazil - sign up here for the club and you'll get an email for 25% off of your full price dinners. (but not your water or soda. sorry.)

Texas Roadhouse - sign up here to become a Texas Roadie VIP and you'll get an email for a free appetizer.

Victoria's Secret Pink Nation - "Pink" is the collection/brand targeted to college age girls BUT anyone can join. Go here and sign up to get a freebie - the offer changes every 6-8 weeks but in the past it's been things like free panties, body lotion, tank tops (valued at $19!!), tote bags, bracelets, etc. Usually you do have to make a purchase first, but look for inexpensive things, like clearance and sale items, travel sized lotions OR lollipops (yes, the candy - still counts and is priced at $1) BUT from time to time it's just a straight out free item. Make sure to fill in your bday AND physical address when signing up because you'll get mailings for MORE offers - like money off your next in store or online purchase AND MORE FREE panties, often times at No Purchase Necessary! (I know I'm talking too much about this but whatever.) OFTEN TIMES there will be in-store specials - like a free pair of panties or tote bag or flip flops - with any Pink purchase that also with work WITH these printable coupons; you could literally walk in there, buy a lollipop, use the printable coupon for the free whatever AND get the in -store promo, NO questions asked! (last one and I'm done.) And this is from my personal experience and may be a gray area - You don't need a vaild email address to sign up. The coupon appears after you first sign up - so you don't need to go check your email for the offer; so in the future if you see a coupon that says "for new members only", just make up a fake email when registering and you'll get the new offer! But shh! Don't let the cat out of the bag too loudly or else they may go and change this on us. (PS - thanks to this program I haven't purchase underwear outright in Lord knows how long.)

Wendy's - sign up for Wendy Mail (do you think that's a play on e-mail?) and instantly get a coupon for $1 off a premium burger.

Which Wich - Join their "Vibe Club" and get an email for a free regular 'wich when you purchase a large fountain drink.

World Market - join here and get a $10 off your next $30 printable. Yay!


~K