A tool with the power to Save $10!

I’m talking about an exclusive Vocalpoint promotional card you can use on any Craftsman^® C3^® power tool. Use it to buy that perfect Father’s Day gift. Use it on a C3 lawn tool for that gardener in your life. Heck, use it to get a gift for yourself and unleash your handy side.

Just make sure to get yours soon before they run out!

As a Vocalpoint member, I received information on Craftsman^® C3^® power tools sent by Vocalpoint, on behalf of Craftsman.

Ball Park Coupons

It's getting to be that time of year again - cook out time!  Ball park has two new offers today:

Visit Ball Park Franks on Facebook, 'like' them, and then click on the "Coupons" link on the left hand side to get a coupon good for $1.00 off ANY Ball Park product.  This is a Bricks coupon, so you can get 2 prints from one computer, and it has a 30 day rolling expiration date I believe.  (I printed today, 4/13, so it expires on 5/13)

And on Coupons.com , there is a 55 cents off any one Ball Park product coupon as well!  (Leave zip code blank) Same as above, you can print 2 from one computer, and it has a 30 day rolling expiration I believe.  This will be even better at Giant Eagle than the $1.00 coupon, as it will double to $1.10!

The Factor Tree - BzzAgent Campaign

BzzAgent recently added The Factor Tree to my list of campaigns, and having a daughter who will be starting kindergarten this fall, and a son in 6th grade, I thought it would be a fun program to try out.

The Factor Tree is regularly $20 a month.  But you can get a free 2 week trial for you own kids, using promo code BZF

After signing up, it was easy to add both my son and daughter, and choose the correct level for each child.  From there you can dive right in!  I sat with my daughter and my 2 year old son and started on some of the kindergarten curriculum.  There are topics such as shapes, beginning to tell time, and counting.

We started with shapes.  Even my two year old could do this one!  A shape is shown on the screen, and you much choose from a list what the shape is.  Later we did time telling and counting, both of which required typing in the numbers.  So this is definitely not a program where the younger kids can sit and do the tasks themselves.  I was in charge of reading and clicking during the shape task, and later on typing in numbers.

Most of the tasks did seem very age appropriate. My daughter did have some problems with sorting numbers from smallest to biggest - but it opened a discussion on numbers and how to start with 1 and work up to 10, looking for the numbers.  There is no 'instruction' with this program - it's only quiz like tasks to help reinforce what they already know or to help you teach while going through.

I had fun introducing time telling.  It gave me an easy way to show my daughter to look for the hour hand and minute hand, and since they are all whole hours, she quickly learned to look at the hour hand number and then say "O'clock" for the minute hand.  Her face beamed with pride as she got more and more confident at saying the times for each question.

When my son gets home from school later this afternoon, I'll ask him to check out the 6th grade curriculum.  He'll be able to tell me if it's close to what they are learning in school or not.  There is also a placement test that I'd like him to check out for me and give his opinion on.

Update on Savings with Technology

Over the last couple weeks, I've been using Checkpoints and Shopkick any time I ran errands. 

I found the checkpoints rarely had stores available that I actually frequent often.  But, they do have points available for many of the small businesses in the area, which I think is great!  While trying to use the app at Target, it completely froze up and took me quite a while to figure out how to exit out of it and get back to my home screen.  But I keep trying, it takes only a couple seconds to enter the app and see if my location is available.

Now Shopkick on the other hand, I'm having a lot of fun with!  There's a bit of a learning curve, and you have to get over people looking at you strangely while you scan a package of cheese (for example) to get bonus kickbucks!  But I was happy to find not only checkin points for my favorite stores, like Target and Giant Eagle, but just this Sunday I was surprised to find Rite Aid on my list now, and bonus kickbucks inside too!

Now to the topic of rewards.  When I originally signed up for Checkpoints 2 weeks ago, there was an option to redeem 300 points for a $1.00 Amazon gift card.  It claimed that prize was temporarily out of stock - as I tried several times to redeem my original bonus points.  Now that prize is completely gone, and only a $1.00 Home Depot gift card is left at the 300 point range.  Next prize tier is 600 points, and that's for a $2.00 CVS gift card.  After that, you pretty much have to get 3,000 points to get up to the $10.00 gift card range.

And with Shopkick, you can donate your kickbucks with as little as 3k (k=symbol for kickbucks, not thousand here) or Facebook credits starting at 25k.  Gift Cards don't start being available until 500+k depending on the retailer.  Best Buy cards start at 500k, but a Target card doesn't become available until 1250k!  But, they do have some high end rewards available, like a Coach bag or a Sony Bravia!  Or even a cruise for a mere 6,250,000k!  That's a lot of cheese scans!

And finally - a bit of advice with Shopkicks.  I didn't realize that you have to scan the barcode upright for it to work and totally missed out on a 75k bonus scan for Philadelphia Cooking Creme one day at the grocery store.  It wasn't until several days later that, while scanning some bonus makeup UPCs, that I realize it only accepted the barcode if the number were at the bottom and right-side up.  So it doesn't work like a price-checker or the checkout scanner, you can't be scanning UPCs all willy-nilly!

So my opinion is that I'll definitely be using Shopkicks a lot.  I'll keep Checkpoints on the back burner, but unless they offer more of my local shopping haunts, and remain consistent with their rewards, I may stop using them all together.

Saving with Technology: Checkpoints

Checkpoints:

Checkpoints has partnered up with Swagbucks - so now you can earn swagbucks while you earn checkpoints!  You'll get 20 SB for downloading the app and using the bonus code "swagbucks" to register.  You'll see the credit in about 2 weeks.  Then, every month that you scan at least one product, you'll earn an additional 6 SBs.

In addition to the 20 SB you'll get for using the promo code, you'll also get 300 CheckPoints (enough for a $1 giftcard) and you'll get 2 pulls on their bonus slot machine.

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Here are the directions from the Swagbucks Blog to ensure you get credit for signing up:

Getting CheckPoints and earning your SB is simple:
1. Download the app from Apple by clicking here.
2. Register for your account in settings->My Account with bonus code: swagbucks
3. Enter your Swagbucks Username in settings->My Loyalty Programs (if you’re not sure what your Swagbucks Username is, go to Swagbucks and check under “Account Details”)
4. Use the app to checkin and scan products while shopping!

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I found the app in the Android App Market on my phone by searching for Checkpoints.  Signup was fairly simple, and I received the 300 checkpoints, and won 40 checkpoints with my 2 bonus spins on the slot machine.

I'm looking forward to trying this app out soon!

Saving with Technology: Shopkick

Shopkick:
 After you download the app and sign up - enter the promo code : cheetah5090 : to get bonus kickbucks for both you and me! 

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shopkick is the first mobile app that gives you rewards and offers simply for walking into stores, for scanning products, and for signing up friends. You can collect kickbucks and bonuses at millions of stores and restaurants in America. That means at many places around you.

Walking In: Collect kickbucks just for WALKING INTO Best Buy, Crate & Barrel, Macy's, American Eagle, Sports Authority, Target, Wet Seal and major Simon malls, in 18 major markets: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and Atlanta, Boston, D.C., Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle, and St. Louis.

Scanning: Collect kickbucks by scanning products with your phone at 250,000 different stores in America.

Redeem your kickbucks for rewards! Get cool rewards like iTunes gift cards, restaurant vouchers, Best Buy/Target/Macy’s/American Eagle/Sports Authority gift cards, Facebook Credits, movie tickets, and more. You can also donate your kickbucks to 30 different causes!

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I haven't tried this out yet, but it sounds like a fun way to earn free giftcards any time you run errands.  Reviews on facebook look mixed, so it may be something you have to try for yourself and see if it works on your phone properly.

P&G Everday Savings $110 in Savings Coupon Book (from Facebook)

If you were lucky enough to get through the day P&G offered the $110 in Savings Coupon Book on their Facebook Page, here is what you'll be getting:

Over $35 in Savings for Jan-Feb (all expire 2/28...doesn't give us much time to use these!)
Over $35 in Savings for Mar-Apr (all expire 4/30)
Over $36 in Savings for May-June (all expire 6/30)
There are no "start dates" on these coupons, just the different expiration dates.

Here are the coupons - There are 3 of each, 1 in each section:

Tide - $1.00 off any 1
Gain Detergent or Fabric Enhancer - $1.00 off any 1
Downy - $1.00 off any 1
Bounce - 50 cent soff any 1
Dawn - 50 cents off any 1
Cascade - $1.00 off any 1
Gain Dish - $1.00 off any 1
Swiffer Wetjet - $3.00 off any 1
Swiffer Duster/Sweeper - $1.00 off any 1
Swiffer Refill - 50 cents off any 1
Charmin MegaRoll - $1.00 off any 1
Bounty Towel, 6ct+ - $1.00 off any 1
Pampers Diapers - $1.00 off any 1
Luvs Diapers - $1.00 off any 1
Duracell Coppertop, 8pk+ - $1.00 off any 1
Pringles - $1.00 off any 2
Iams Dry Dog or Cat Food - $1.00 off any 1
Pepto-Bismol - $1.00 off any 1
Metamucil product - $1.00 off any 1
Always product - $1.00 off any 1
Tampax 20ct+ - $1.00 off any 1
Crest Toothpaste, 4oz+ OR Liquid Gel (excludes Crest Cavity, Baking Soda, Tarter) - $1.00 off any 1
Crest Mouthwash 946mL+ - $1.00 off any 1
Oral-B Manual Toothbrush - $1.00 off any 1
Olay Facial Moisturizer - $1.00 off any 1
Pantene Shampoo AND Conditioner - $1.00 off wyb BOTH
Herbal or Aussie produdct - $1.00 off any 1
Head & Shoulders Shampoo AND Conditioner - $1.00 off wyb BOTH
Clairol Hair Color - $2.00 off any 1
CoverGirl - $1.00 off any 1
Olay PCC or Body Lotion (UM) - $1.00 off any 1 (No idea what those abbreviations mean)
Venus Embrace - $1.00 off any 1
Secret - $1.00 off any 1
Old Spice Deodorant - $1.00 off any 1
Old Spice Body Wash - $1.00 off any 1
Zest Bar/Bodywash OR Safeguard Bar/Liquid Hand Soap - $1.00 off any 1