Ouiser's Freebie Round-Up 6/5/12

Ouiser here and I'm scouring the web today to find all the best freebies, samples and coupons for you! To start things off here's a PERFECT one for Father's Day:

Free Card (no shipping!) at Cardstore.com when you get to the check out after creating your Father's Day card enter "LUVDAD2" in the promo code spot and your card is FREE. I already created one for the Wee Man to give to Hubby and it should be here in a few days just in time for the 17th.

Free Wild Poppy Nourishing Cream from Bodycology

I LOVE Bodycology, especially the body sprays. I've never tried the lotions so I'm pretty excited to try this one out.

If your have furry friends try this pate topper from Meow Mix (they also send a 1.00 off coupon)
I've gotten lots of neat things from Start Sampling so anything they tend to offer is totally worth the few minutes it takes to fill out the forms.

(copy and paste this in your browser):
http://www.startsampling.com/product.iphtml?item=40376

Free Sample of 5 Hour Energy 

Okay why is this thing jacking up my text...seriously. Okay there we go. That took forever and a day...Anyway. I've received the 5 Hour Energy samples before and used them. Given my addiction to Monster Energy Lo-Carb though I couldn't actually tell you if they work or not. But, I work in a convenience store and we sell a metric assload of these and people swear by them. You'll get a random flavor but usually either Berry or Grape (I got lucky and got a Pomegranate one last time)

http://find-your-bliss.com/treatyourself.php

I just signed up for this one (I chose the dozy night dreams) so if I get it I'll obviously let you know how it goes.

Free Coupon for Small Sub with Purchase at Quiznos

I love Quiznos but haven't been in years. This offer expires on June 8th so don't delay.

AirCraft ScentSticks

I love smelly stuff (provided I'm not allergic to it), simply like them on Facebook and pick three scents to sample. I chose Night Orchid, Deep Wood and Summer Rain.

I will continue to look around today and see what pops up and post it on our FB page and here in bloggy format. Please note that I get a LOT of these links from other sources as well as my own personal research. In our next installation, I'll be sharing some of the freebie sites that I frequent.


xoxo
Ouiser
  

Tonight's Dinner: Delicioso

It's kinda Mexican. It's kinda awesome. It's Delicioso. =) Yea, my lame butt just came up with the name. So if you are looking for something scrumdiddlyumptious, try this out. =D

1. Take any thin cut beef...in the past I used thin sliced sirloin tip...today they had some thin sliced milanesa (i have no clue what it is other than beef, but it looks like it will be super tender!) on markdown, so that's what we are going with. there is 1-1.5 pounds of it...hopefully will feed 6 people and have some leftovers. Anywho, take your meet and cut it into strips roughly 0.5 in by 2 in...don't worry too much...just as long as it is fairly bite-sized, you are fine.

2. Toss your sliced up meat into a bowl. Top with a can of Rotel. I used original today. This recipe was originally created by throwing random things from my pantry together, so this marinade is just what I have tried. Originally I added, in addition to the Rotel, Frank's Red Hot and Tony Chachere's. Today I did Rotel, Frank's Red Hot, black pepper, and garlic powder. Just browse your cabinets and go with what feels right. Put saran wrap over the bowl and stick the whole kit'n'kaboodle in the fridge. Let it sit a little while...I think I let it sit for an hour the first time I made this. This time it will be in there 1-2 hours. If your meat is tough, let it go longer.

3. Get your pan smoking hot. Dump the entire contents of the bowl on in, juice, tomatoes, and all. Cook the meat until it's done, of course.

4. This next part is also a guideline of what I have done. Raid your cabinets and let your tummy and taste buds lead the way. What I do is take a 10 in whole wheat tortilla, heat it up, and spread filling on, then meat, then cheese. The first time the filling was black beans and brown rice that I had leftover from the other night. The cheese I used was Kraft singles. AND IT WAS DELICIOSO! Tonight I will be using black beans and refried beans as the filling and maybe some shredded cheddar cheese. The filling i usually cook in the meat's pan together when the meat is done.

Enjoy! Time for me to go wrangle the youngun and get to work on dinner.

<3
Truvy

Part 2: Friends

Yes, this seems like a strange topic to touch on in a money-saving series, but hear me out! When I was single, pretty much all of my money went into my friendships...gas, food, events, movies, shopping, you name it. While friends are amazing, they can be a huge financial drain. After I had Lil Bit, I had a friend in particular where everything it seems we did involved money.

Because of my personal experiences, I have found that friends that drain your bank account aren't always the best to have around for reasons other than budget concerns. If you can find a few friends who are more than happy to just come over and chat and do other free activities, chances are these will be the people you can count on in tough times also. But online friends can be even better.

When I was pregnant I joined a mommy website with a big community. One night when I was maybe 7-8 months pregnant I did a random "who's up and bored?" web chat with a bunch of girls, some of which I consider dear friends now over two years later. The lovely Ouiser is one of those dear friends. =)

We have been through a lot together. They are always there when I need them, and I return the favor whenever I can. After a life of having friends that always seemed to need a little more than friendship, this was big for me. I have a group of girls I can depend on without shedding a dime. If I ever do spend money on them it will be a grand meet-up vacation so we can finally see each other face-to-face.

I do have offline friends too, of course. After weeding out the toxic friends, I am left with a handful of people who "get it." Even if we rarely get to see each other, we can call each other up to chat and pick up where we left off a couple of months previous.

And I can't write a post about friendship without mentioning my hubby. =) He makes me laugh. He "gets" me and all my eccentricities, and he embraces them. We can have fun together just sitting home and playing video games or watching one of our shows. The other night we were watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and having a blast talking about the performances. Sometimes I can't stand him, but at the end of the day, he is my best friend. =p

So the point of this post...

Recognize when you are in a toxic friendship. If someone only wants to hang out when you have the money to do something, please examine that relationship to make sure they are really wanting to be there for you instead of looking for someone to do something with. If they understand that you can't go out to eat because you just paid rent or your electric bill without giving you a bunch of grief, that is someone you can benefit from having in your life.

Sometimes it is ok to be selfish. That was one of the biggest lessons in life that I had to learn. And when you are a mommy, you have to be selfish for your kiddo too.

Cherish the friends you can be your true self with without holding back...even the weird, gross, somewhat disturbing you. ;)

<3
Truvy