Monday, March 29, 2010

Quick! Write reviews and earn credit!

EXPIRED ...but feel free to check out the store and the great products they offer!

I have participated in a few promotions where you write reviews on products and get a free gift card, but at Franklin Goose you get a store credit of $5 for EVERY review you write. They sell organic toys, clothing and more for kids. (If you have never considered cloth diapers, please check out that section, you may be surprised!) And there is no limit on the amount of reviews you write! WOW! This is only good until the 31st so get to writing!
Here is their blog that will answer many questions. They have been overwhelmed because of the amount of people wanting to take advantage of this offer. So please, do this poor company a favor and decide to "bank" your credits for awhile so they can get caught up. Your order may not be in stock anyways until things settle down!
You should write something more than, "I like this product." or it will get removed and you won't be credited. They only want legitimate reviews on products you have used. You need to register first. Your reviews will be prosessed before your credit will show, so give it some time. Remeber, you only have a few days left to act on this awesome deal!
We used cloth diapers and love the natural toys so this will be great to use for holiday gifts this year for my son, nephew and niece!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Free Samples

Hey, who says nothing's free? Not me! I like to keep small sized lotions & shampoos on hand for travel or just to hold us over until the next awesome sale. They are also great to throw in a basket for a baby shower gift (for the baby or mom-to-be!). My mom also loves getting a "sample" basket for holidays full of goodies that didn't cost me an arm and a leg! You could also do a "sample swap" with friends for example your diaper samples for their pad samples.

The free samples I will be posting here will not require you to buy anything but may require a quick registration. If you aren't a member of Facebook, I highly recommend it. There are often samples that are only available to Facebook fans. I also suggest starting a new email account exclusively for junk mail. I will try my best to only include reputable sites as well. Offers usually limit 1 per household.

Walmart always has free samples listed so bookmark it and check back weekly!
Right now they have listed- Tide plus Febreeze, Rachael Ray dog food, Crest 3D white strips & Benefiber Orange.

Baby Barn is offering a 2.5 oz bottle (each) of baby body and hair wash and baby lotion. The scents listed of the wash are Fragrance Free, Lavender Avocado and Honeysuckle Orange. (Note- you have to click the confirmation link in the email they send before they ship. The other samples listed in the email require you to complete sponsor offers.)

L'Oreal Paris has samples listed on their site for EverStrong for beautifully strong hair and EverPure for color-treated hair, as well as coupons for some of their other products.

Pureology- Choose between- SuperSmooth Relaxing Serum - Light serum to smooth out stubborn frizz or SuperSmooth Smoothing Cream - Styler for smooth red carpet curls.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Coupons 101 - Lesson 2 - Organizing Coupons

Now you have all these coupons but they are taking over your house, huh? Well, its time to organize those babies! There are many methods of doing so. I suggest you try a few and see what works for you.


  • Binder & baseball card organizers- This involves clipping of the coupons. So steal your husband's old card sheets and have at it.

  • Clip when needed- A lot of the sites for specific stores will tell you the date the coupon came out as well as the insert brand. I have started doing this since I get 2 (on average) papers a week meaning lots of coupons! Clipping each is a hassle for me.

  • Clipping only what you will use- This method isn't recommended unless you are very brand loyal. You never know when the shampoo you usually can't afford will be on sale & free after coupons!

No matter what approach you choose you can keep it very neat by organizing into categories. I also have a few tips for that.



  • Find a filing system- for loose coupons or ones you have clipped to use that week. It can be by grocery category, expiration date or aisle. Just find something that doesn't overwhelm you or sticking to couponing will get old fast! Trust me, I have went on strike and gave away all my coupons once!

  • File coupons ASAP- "I know I have a coupon for that now where did I put it?" This has came up at my house more than once. To ensure everything stays neat keep on the ball about filing them the day you get them.

  • Find a coupon wallet- or shoe/recipe box, binder, ect. Just something you can grab to hold your coupons while you shop. For the record, if you have your 1 year old hold them they may get ate! (Yes, another personal experience!)

  • Purge expireds- But wait! Don't throw them away! Did you know that some military families overseas can use expired coupons up to 6 months out of date? Note- They can only use manufacturer coupons. If you know a family on base send them there. Otherwise, there are sites that list bases that need them. The Coupon Tree is looking for a base to adopt, so if you know of one personally please let me know.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Coupons 101 - Lesson 1 - Finding Coupons

If you want to save money, one of the first things you need to do is learn about coupons. Even if you have used coupons you may not be aware of all the places you can find them. There are tons of coupons to be had if you know where to look. Such as-
  • Newspapers-Usually the Sunday paper will have coupon inserts such as Red Plum, Smart Source & Proctor & Gamble.
  • Magazines- Lots of women's and parenting magazines have manufacturer coupons from time to time.
  • Instore- Sometimes people will lay coupons on the shelf they won't use. Often you can find tearpads and "blinkie" dispensers hanging next to items.
  • On/In products- Peelies can be located on the outside of the packaging and some manufacterers put coupons inside their boxes.
  • Online- There are tons of internet printables around the web like here and here!
  • Manufacturer- See if they have a website, many times they offer printable coupons under special offers. You can also contact the company (by mail, phone or email) to ask about coupons. Some companies will send you coupons if you have a compliment or complaint about the product. I have had lots of luck with this, often getting high value or coupons for free products!
  • Junk mail- Be sure to look before you toss it!
  • Store loyalty mailings- When you sign up for a loyalty card many store will send you coupons.
  • Ebay- If you are looking for multiples of a certain coupon they can be found on ebay to purchase. Sometimes a deal is worth it.

I hoped you learned a lot. There are more great posts for beginners coming soon!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Search and Win with Swagbucks

So, it looks like my first post is going to be about Swagbucks. If you know me, that's no big surprise. I am addicted to it! I bet you strangers are wondering what the heck I'm talking about. I will explain it to the best of my ability.

Swagbucks is a search engine. (like Google or Bing) The difference is that you can win "digital dollars" that you can redeem for prizes. There are several ways you can get Swagbucks. I have listed the easiest options but you can see their website FAQs for more info.


  • search the web

  • complete special offers (at least 1 swagbuck awarded daily)

  • find swagcodes

  • download and use the toolbar (at least 1 swagbuck awarded daily)

  • invite friends (when your referrals win by searching you get the amount matched up to 1000 swagbucks per referral)

Now, on to the goodies-the prizes! They have tons of stuff listed in their store you can redeem your Swagbucks for. I think the best deal available is the $5 Amazon gift card. You can use more than one gift card on a purchase so it would be great to save up for a big purchase (birthdays, holidays, ect.) . Amazon often offers free shipping over $25. So, if you had 5+ gift cards it could make for a totally free purchase.


You can join me here!

Welcome to The Coupon Tree

I am a stay at home Mommy to a 2 year old little boy. That being said, I love finding awesome deals and free stuff. I hope you will enjoy this blog and learning how to be thrifty with me.
Here are some helpful tips for along the way-

If you see a word underlined in blue (like this) you can click on it to take you to the site being discussed.

You can click the follow me button on the right side of the page to keep up with this blog.

Also, on the right side of the page you will see a handy search box and a blog archive to navigate through older posts quickly.

At the bottom of the page you can tweet the site with Twitter or share it with Facebook.

I will be updating things and adding more tips as I go. Enjoy!