My Minivan is My Purse

Have you ever been to a baby shower or something where they played a "what's in your purse" game? I never win that game because I don't carry a purse. My minivan is my purse (but you can't bring that in to a baby shower).

To be sure, my minivan might look like something exploded in it (hey, I have 5 kids!), but I have just about everything you might need in there, and it's come in handy more than once! Some things were put in the minivan as a precaution, but most of it has become standard equipment because we "had a situation" (or more than one. . .).

Remember when we needed clean pants and underwear for G's muddy mishap? Not a problem!

And there was the road trip where F choked on a pretzel and threw up--then we needed a bucket and a change of clothes, countless wipes, napkins, and kleenex, plastic bags, and hand sanitizer afterwards!

I've got everything I can think of in my minivan. Kleenex, wipes, diapers, changes of clothes and socks, hats, sunscreen, bug spray, hand sanitizer, water bottles, snacks and containers, pens, CDs, magazines, books, toys, bags, an umbrella, emergency supplies, first aid kits, toilet paper, Tylenol, napkins, a bucket, a beach towel, a stroller, a baby carrier, jumper cables, and more!

What do you have in your minivan or car? Is yours as clean as a whistle, do you have everything under the sun, or are you somewhere in between?

Free Redbox Code

It's been a long time since we've had a free rental code from Redbox! Get a free one-night rental from any Redbox kiosk when you select "Rent with Promo Code" and enter code CHANCEMONOP.

This code can be used once per account and your credit/debit card will not be charged as long as you return your DVD on time.

UPDATE: This code didn't work for me--did it work for you? I'm wondering if it will only work at McDonald's redboxes, since it seems by the code that it has something to do with the Monopoly game.

Double Swagbucks Today!

I was just on Swagbucks to do the Daily Poll and click on the Trusted Surveys and NOSO, and I got 2 Swagbucks EACH for a total of 6, instead of the normal 3! Let me know if they are doubled for you today, too.

Then I did 2 quick searches and on my second try I won this funky Swagbuck! If you aren't already signed up with Swagbucks, I encourage you to do it. You'll get 30 Swagbucks just for joining! I've been redeeming my Swagbucks for $5 Amazon gift cards and saving them up for Christmas gifts that I can easily have shipped to relatives who live out of state, saving me time and money!

Roundy's Coupon Matches (Pick 'n Save, Copps, Rainbow)

Roundy's stores (Copps, Pick 'n Save, and Rainbow) double 5 coupons up to $1 per $25 order every Wednesday AND Saturday. There are several deals this week, so here are some printable coupon matches to help you make your list. Check your coupon stash to see if you can find more matches. For printing tips, click here. Questions? Feel free to email me!

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$1.00/ea: Mentos Gum
$0.55/1 Mentos
Better than free ADC
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$3.50/ea: Oscar Mayer Carving Board Meats
$1.00/1 Oscar Mayer Carving Board Meats
$1.50 ADC
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$3.99/ea: Litehouse Apple Cider Gallon
$1.00/2 Litehouse Products
$2.99 each ADC
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$0.55/ea: Yoplait Original or Whips! Yogurt, 6 oz
$0.40/6 Yoplait Yogurt cups
$0.40/6 Yoplait Yogurt cups
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$2.00/ea: Yoplait Delights
$0.50/1 Yoplait Delights Yogurt Multipack
$1.00 ADC
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$2.50/ea: Lactaid 16 oz. Cottage Cheese
$1.00/1 LACTAID Supplement Product
$0.50 ADC
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$2.00/ea: Frigo Ricotta Cheese
$0.55/1 Frigo brand cheese
$0.90 ADC
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$2.00/ea: Shedd’s Spread Country Crock
$0.40/1 Shedd’s Country Crock Product
$1.20 ADC
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$2.00/ea: Dannon 4-6 Pk. Activia, DanActive, Light & Fit or 32 oz. Yogurt
$0.55/1 DanActive 4-pack
$0.75/1 ACTIVIA 4-pack
$0.50/1 Light & Fit 4-pack
$0.75/1 32 oz. Yogurt Product
As low as $0.50 ADC
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$5.00/ea: Wanchai Ferry Frozen Entree
$1.50/1 Wanchai Ferry Frozen Entree
$3.50
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$2.00/ea: Muir Glen Soup
$0.75/1 Muir Glen product
$0.50 ADC
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$2.00/ea: Mom’s Best Naturals Cereal
$0.75/1 Mom’s Best Naturals Product
$0.50 ADC
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$3.79/ea: Nabisco Family Size Triscuit, Wheat Thins or Chicken in a Biskit Crackers
$1.00/2 NABISCO Cracker Products
$2.79 each ADC
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$1.00/ea: Totino's Pizza Rolls
$0.60/3 Totino's Products
$0.60 each ADC
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$1.00/ea: Betty Crocker Hamburger, Tuna or Chicken Helper
$0.75/3 any flavor Hamburger Helper
$0.50 each ADC
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$2.00/ea: Chex Mix, Bugles, Gardetto's or Cheerios Snack Mix
$0.50/1 Caramel OR Chocolate Peanut Butter Bugles
$0.50/1 Gardetto's Snack Mix
$1.00 ADC
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$1.00/ea: Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits
$0.30/2 Refrigerated Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits
$0.70 each ADC
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$1.66/ea: Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Dinner Rolls, Cinnamon Rolls, Pizza Crust
$0.40/2 Pillsbury Italian Meal Breads
$0.50/2 Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls
$0.40/2 Pillsbury Sweet Rolls OR Grands! Sweet Rolls
$0.50/2 Pillsbury Rolled Refrigerated Pie Crusts
As low as $1.16 each ADC
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$2.50/ea: Pillsbury Ready to Bake Cookies, Pie Crusts or Sweet Moments
$0.50/2 Pillsbury Rolled Refrigerated Pie Crusts
$1.00/2 Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookie Dough
$1.00/2 Pillsbury Refrigerated Holiday Cookies
$1.00/1 Pillsbury Sweet Momentsâ„¢ Refrigerated Desserts
As low as $0.50 ADC
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$3.00/ea: State Fair Corn Dogs
$0.55/1 State Fair Corn Dogs
$1.90 ADC
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$2.50/ea: El Monterey Tornados
$1.00/1 El Monterey Product
$0.50 ADC
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$2.00/ea: Lean Cuisine Meals
$1.00/2 Market Creations
$1.00 each ADC
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$3.00/ea: Tilex Cleaners
$1.00/1 Tilex Mold & Mildew Remover
$1.00 ADC
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$2.99/ea: Seventh General Cleaner
$1.00/1 Seventh Generation Product
$0.99 ADC

Mailbox Monday--New Freebies!

Here are some new freebies for your mailbox!

• Get a free sample of Garnier Moisture rescue cream from Target.
• You can also request a free sample of Tide Acti-Lift from Target.
• If you haven't already, you can get a free tub of Cottonelle wipes for you and a friend.
• If you haven't already, you can send a free Kleenex Brand Share Package to a friend.
• Get a free sample of LiftOff Energy Drink.
• Request a sample of Crest Pro Health Toothpaste.
• Request another free sample of Garnier Moisture Rescue Cream from Walmart.
• Sam's Club members can get a free sample of Aleve.
• BJ's members can request a free sample of Dove Clinical Protection Deodorant.
• Request a free sample from Food Storage Chef.
• Request a free sample of Beyond BodiHeat Pain Relieving Pads.
• Request a free sample of Scotch Blue Painter's Tape with Edge-Lock when you like them on Facebook.
  

Weekly Groceries--$57

This week I did 4 transactions at Roundy's. I did 2 on Wednesday, and then went back to do 2 more on Saturday because my family wanted more Keebler FlipSides Crackers! :-) I was willing to oblige because we had room in our budget for the week and they were $0.82 per box after the promotion and milk catalina (which I count toward the crackers, since I buy the milk anyway)--a great deal in my book and no coupons needed!

All together, I spent $57.08 for the week, and I still have a $3 off milk catalina for next week.

These items were less than $1: 16 boxes FlipSides crackers, 2 packages Keebler cookies, Dannon and Yoplait yogurts x 24, bananas, Skippy Naturals peanut butter x 2, eggs, FREE Pillsbury Biscuits x 2, and FREE M&Ms.

I also bought 2 boxes pancake mix, Fruitables juice boxes, 5 gallons of milk (I made yogurt this week!), 3 lbs of grapes, caramels, and 4 All laundry detergents.

I am well stocked on laundry detergent for awhile because for some reason those seem to go on sale a lot. Why can't dishwasher detergent go on sale like that? Then I'd be all set!

CSN Review

CSN contacted me about doing a review for their websites. They provided me with a gift code to go shopping at any of their online stores. There are A LOT of things to choose from, so it was difficult to narrow it down! They have a drop leaf table, organization products, picture frames, Melissa and Doug toys, ink cartridges, and more. Ted just wanted me to pick something, already!

One thing I really liked about using the CSN stores website was the ability to easily search and narrow down my choices by so many options. We were looking for some end tables, but space is limited in our family room. So I could narrow down the incredible (almost overwhelming!) selection of end tables by selecting a width of less than 18". Then I could narrow it down further by price or color or other dimensions or shape, you name it!

Because we've been using our carseats continually for the past 7 years, we decided we needed a new carseat more than we needed end tables. We ended up ordering this really cute carseat that F (and later J) will be thrilled about using! F's current carseat is gray, which isn't a bad thing, but with so many girly-girls in our family, a pink carseat will add some excitement!

Unfortunately, when the box arrived, it had a gray carseat in it. I called CSN and explained that we had ordered a pink one, and that the invoice said it was supposed to be pink, but it wasn't. Brett was VERY nice (probably one of the most upbeat customer service representatives I've talked to!) and said it was a packing mistake. The pink one was shipped right away and we received it about a week later. Yay, a pink carseat! Thanks CSN!