Thank you for your patience while I was out of town and semi-without internet access.  My dad went home to heaven last Tuesday (Jan 20), and the memorial services, funeral, and burial were stretched out over 3 days of the weekend. We came back to South Carolina just in time to avoid the extreme winter weather up north.  With hosting guests and traveling, we had not even had a night to ourselves (when we hadn’t been traveling home) since before Christmas!  So we are definitely glad to be back!  We are so thankful for the kindness and sympathy everyone has shown in the recent weeks.  God has been so gracious and merciful to us.

I had hoped to do a little scouting out the shopping in my mom’s local groceries, but my dad’s health declined much more quickly than we had anticipated.  But it looks like there are quite a few great deals coming up around here!  Again, thanks for the notes, e-mails, and encouragement!

Just a short note to let you know that the Greenville deals may be slow in coming over the next few days.  The doctors do not expect my dad to live much longer (cancer), and I am visiting while I can.  I have been with my parents for the last couple of days, and may be here through the next week or so.  (Thanks to the many friends who have expressed empathy and prayerful thought.)  Though we grieve that he will not longer be present in body, we do not sorrow as many in this world do, and are rejoicing in hope.

With dial up internet,  I’ll post as I can; but don’t expect anything too grandiose!  I do plan to post the $750 Budget Week 2 update…

Meanwhile, Happy Saving!

Today only, January 14, you can sign up to have a coupon for a free bottle of Suave mailed to you.  Go here to get yours. I plan to use mine to raise my pre-coupon total at Publix to get a free mystery item!

If you are wondering if your vehicle is having transmission problems, you can get a free transmission inspection ($85 value, according to them) at Cottman Transmission with this coupon.  It’s always better to check up on things–a transmission problem can be one of the most expensive repairs (or rebuilds!) for your vehicle.

Greenville’s Cottman Transmission:

401 N Pleasantburg Dr, Greenville, SC

A good while back, I heard about Swagbucks, a way to earn points by searching the web.  The points are then redeemable for various items, and gift cards.  What caught my attention was that with 45 points, you can earn $5 as an Amazon.com gift code.

Last week, I finally decided to start using Swagbucks as a search engine and attempt to win some points.  I began on Monday, and now have 30 swagbucks (though I didn’t really search on Saturday or Sunday).  At this rate, I should get a gift card by the end of this week.

I used some helpful tips from Slickdeals, and it seems to improve my “winning” of Swagbucks.  Here are some tips:

• You are limited to 20 searches per day (that can win); try to spread them out throughout the day.
  • For instance, after you win, stop searching for a while.
• Try multiple browsers
• Search for some of these words:
  • swagbucks (has won several times for me)
  • swag code
  • wii
  • zune

Additionally, swagbucks often releases codes that you can enter for free swagbucks (none currently).  I also earned several this way.

I know that this has been mentioned on many blogs recently, but if you haven’t tried Swagbucks yet, you may want to sign up and try it today!  Go here to sign up.