FREE Valentine's Movie Rental from Redbox!

Use the code BEMINE at checkout to get a free movie rental this Valentine's Day! Code valid until midnight tonight.

Remember to return your movie by 9PM the following day to avoid getting charged $1 for renting the movie for another 24 hours.

Find a Redbox kiosk HERE

New Blockbuster Express Code

BBExpress is offering a free movie rental if you visit one of their kiosks. Just enter the code 21CHD3X at checkout for the free movie. You don't need a membership to take advantage of this deal, just a credit card to swipe (if you don't return the movie by 9PM the next day, they charge you $1 to rent it for each day it's late). Code valid until 1/28.

Plus, if you sign up for e-mail alerts, you get a code for another free movie!

More Free Rental Codes from Blockbuster Express!

BBExpress is offering a free movie rental if you visit one of their kiosks. Just enter the code MRC37H at checkout for the free movie. You don't need a membership to take advantage of this deal, just a credit card to swipe (if you don't return the movie by 9PM the next day, they charge you $1 to rent it for each day it's late). Code valid until 2/25/11.

Use this code in addition to the two others:

ESU11B valid until tonight at midnight

14CHD2X valid until 1/20

Plus, if you sign up for e-mail alerts, you get a code for another free movie!

Free Movie Rental from Blockbuster Express

BBExpress is offering a free movie rental if you visit one of their kiosks. Just enter the code ESU11B at checkout for the free movie.

You don't need a membership to take advantage of this deal, just a credit card to swipe (if you don't return the movie by 9PM the next day, they charge you $1 to rent it for each day it's late). Code valid until midnight tonight.

Plus, if you sign up for e-mail alerts, you get a code for another free movie!

Easy Soup Recipes for Winter

Last week, we were all about soups. During the winter it's my favorite thing to make because they're filling, easy and cheap to make. Last night we made cream of tomato soup:

1 lb of tomatoes
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
1 can of tomato sauce
1 potato diced
1 liter chicken or vegetable broth
6 basil leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup of milk

Dice onion, tomatoes and garlic and saute with a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat until tomatoes soften. Add diced potato, chopped basil leaves, sugar, tomato sauce and chicken broth (the sugar is to counteract the acidity in the tomatoes). Let simmer for about 25 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through and soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. Immulsify with a hand blender while adding milk (if you don't have a hand blender you could also use a potato masher or put soup in a blender before returning to pot).

That's it! Start to finish, this recipe takes about 40 min to make and serves 6. Grilled cheese goes extremely well with this soup :)


Click HERE to check out my recipes for Cream of Mushroom Soup and Butternut Squash Curry Soup

New Free Rental Code from Blockbuster Express

BBExpress is offering a free movie rental if you visit one of their kiosks . Just enter the code SHTZFR1 at checkout for the free movie.

You don't need a membership to take advantage of this deal, just a credit card to swipe (if you don't return the movie by 9PM the next day, they charge you $1 to rent it for each day it's late). Code valid until 1/10.

Don't forget there's also ANOTHER free code XU14A valid until 1/7.

Plus, if you sign up for e-mail alerts, you get a code for another free movie!

Free Movie Rental from Blockbuster Express

BBExpress is offering a free movie rental if you visit one of their kiosks and enter the code XU41A at checkout. You don't need a membership to take advantage of this deal, just a credit card to swipe (if you don't return the movie by 9PM the next day, they charge you $1 to rent it for each day it's late). Code valid until January 7th.

Plus, if you sign up for e-mail alerts, you get a code for another free movie!



Free Movie Rental from Blockbuster Express

BBExpress is offering a free movie rental if you visit one of their kiosks tomorrow or Christmas Eve. Just enter the code THANKU at checkout for the free movie. You don't need a membership to take advantage of this deal, just a credit card to swipe (if you don't return the movie by 9PM the next day, they charge you $1 to rent it for each day it's late). Code valid 12/23 and 12/24.

Plus, if you sign up for e-mail alerts, you get a code for another free movie!

Dinner with Friends (Plus, of course, another money saving idea)

Tonight, my boyfriend and I were able to host a mini dinner party with some close friends for the holidays. It was a lot of fun and a great way to catch up and laugh without spending money! We got lucky and were able to repurpose some leftovers from the night before and able to turn it into a lovely meal. Life can get crazy with work, school, or whatever else you've got going on so make sure you make time for your friends. These are important relationships to cultivate and it doesn't take too much effort (or money!) to see your good friends from time to time.

As long as we're on the subject, I thought I'd share with you a tradition my family has had that combines socialization with replenishing your savings account. Every year, my parents get their group of friends together and have a round of dinner parties lined up, once a month, for the entire year. They draw names out of a hat to determine who will host during which month. Then, at each dinner party, the same 11 people (the 12 in the group minus the host of that particular dinner party), "pay" the host a pre-determined amount. This can range from as little as $50 to $200, depending on the group's decision. This goes on until each person has had the opportunity to host, and in turn, receive their "party fund". When it's your month and you receive the money, you're basically receiving back the money you're putting in throughout the year. The difference is you have the social incentive to pay yourself each month and the benefit of getting one lump sum to put into your savings. This is a tradition in Bolivia, where my mom is from, and is called a Pasanaku. I promise I'll try and find an Americanized name for this and welcome any suggestions!

Currently, my boyfriend and I are set to receive our money in January. Some people would prefer to get December so they have money to pay for Christmas presents in cash, or in March or April just in time to pay their taxes. Now, you don't have to have 12 people in your rotation - you could do 5 or 6. And you could split the money with someone else. My boyfriend and I are currently a part of my parents pasanaku but since their "buy-in" is $150 a month, we count ourselves as one person and each put in $75 a month. You could also just mail in your checks each month to the person whose turn it is to receive it but what fun is that? Have a cocktail and celebrate that you will put hundreds of dollars in your savings account or even something for your fun fund.

Groupon: 3 Movie Rentals for $1 from Redbox!

Lots of free movie rentals this week! Today's Groupon, valid until tomorrow, is 3 movie rentals for $1 from Redbox. Redbox is exactly like BBExpress - rent a movie from their kiosks found in grocery stores and pharmacies for $1 a day. Go here and purchase the deal! It will take you to the Phoenix page but don't worry - since this deal is online, anyone can buy it. Groupon is valid until March 10, 2011. Not valid for Blu-Ray or video games. Must return by 9PM the following day in order to prevent a $1 late fee (per day that it's late).
 
Read more about Groupon

UPDATE: Groupon has extended this deal through the end of today (12/13) so get on this deal ASAP!

Free Movie Rental from Blockbuster Express

BBExpress is offering a free movie rental if you visit one of their kiosks by January 7th. Just enter the code  XU14A at checkout for the free movie. You don't need a membership to take advantage of this deal, just a credit card to swipe (if you don't return the movie by 9PM the next day, they charge you $1 to rent it for each day it's late).

Plus, if you sign up for e-mail alerts, you get a code for another free movie!

Blockbuster Express - Free Rental Until Midnight

BBExpress is offering a free movie rental if you visit one of their kiosks by tonight at midnight. Just enter the code 2BBXM at checkout for the free movie. You don't need a membership to take advantage of this deal, just a credit card to swipe (if you don't return the movie by 9PM the next day, they charge you $1 to rent it for each day it's late).

Plus, if you sign up for e-mail alerts, you get a code for another free movie!

Free Movie Rentals!

Looking for a cheap date night or a night in with friends? Check out Blockbuster's new Blockbuster Express kiosks (found in supermarkets or drugstores). These are basically the same thing as Redbox - movie rentals for $1 a day. However, if you go to their website and sign up for email alerts, you get your first rental free. Just remember to bring back the movie the next day before midnight to avoid getting the $1 charge per day. Also, BBExpress releases codes every 2 weeks or so for free movies, which of course I'll be posting- so forget about paying $4.99 for renting a movie!

On a personal note, I'd like to thank my friend Amy for the work she did to create the new logo for the blog. Thanks Amy, the new layout looks great :)

Cheap and Easy Dinner

I enjoy cooking. I know, I'm a dying breed. I actually find it somewhat fun and relaxing. Don't get me wrong - there are days when I come home from work and I'm so lazy tired I can't be bothered to make something decent to eat (don't knock frozen pizza or Pasta Roni). But when you want a dinner that doesn't have an entire day's worth of calories and one that cooks itself, a slow cooker is a great thing to have in the kitchen. Literally, you just drop your ingredients in there in the morning, turn it on, and by the time you come home it's ready to go. I bought mine at Rite Aid for $20. Aside from the time saving aspect of the slow cooker, it's great because you can buy cheap meat (usually tough cuts like chuck) and have it come out as tender as an expensive cut.

Last night, we made a really easy stew that's a variation on a recipe from my friend, Melody. Just put some stewing meat in the slow cooker, a jar of Mexican salsa, cut up some potatoes and carrots (or whatever vegetables you want) and turn on the cooker. That's it. We made some quick white rice to serve with it. All in all, morning prep was probably 5 min. and making the rice at night took about 15 min.

Trust me, it was good.