I HATE to have competition, because I HATE to lose!

I am hesitant to share this idea with anybody, though it's not an original idea, because I don't want the competition. However, here I go.

I have been buying things on ebay for a little over a year now and saving lots of money!! I keep an envelope of coupons and gift certificates for restaurants that our family frequents in the car so that we can save money eating out. The stash of gift cards comes from purchases I make on ebay. I know there are certain restaurants that we WILL be going to over the next couple months and order gift cards from people who are selling them, for whatever reason, and get them at a discount. Sometimes, I only save $1 on a $25 gift card, but I'm not going to complain about saving a dollar. Are you?

You can make the whole deal sweeter by paying for your ebay auction though the ebay link on your UPromise account. You will earn 1% on your total purchase to be invested in your childs educational savings account.

I'll tell you some other areas I use ebay to save for if you check back another time. Happy bidding...just stay away from the things I want :).

Another Free Kid's Meal

As promised, here is some information about another restaurant that offers a free kid's meal to children on their birthday.

California Pizza Kitchen Kids Club (CPKids) will send your child a post card in the mail (a present in itself at my house) for a really great free kid's meal, including a tasty dessert. Click here to register your children. I usually take my child out of school right around their birthday (though not exactly on their birthday so I don't interfere with the cupcake celebration at school) for a birthday lunch date.

Free $10 Gift Card to Outback Steakhouse

Outback ran a Father's Day promotion in their restaurants, giving out $10 gift cards to patrons. The promotion is now also available to anyone who did not visit the restaurant on Father’s Day.

To request your $10 promotional certificate, send a self-addressed stamped envelope (VT residents may omit postage) to:

Outback Steakhouse Fathers Day Certificate Request

2202 N. West Shore Blvd.

Tampa, FL 33607.

All requests must be received by 07/05/2008 and certificates must be redeemed by 07/20/2008.

Click here for complete details. Limit: One (1) per envelope. One (1) request per day. Illegible, incomplete or mechanically reproduced requests are void. Not responsible for lost, late, damaged, delayed, postage due or misdirected mail/requests.

Free books

Free book offers seem to come out of the woodworks for the summertime, so I rounded up a few for you:

• 
  Send in one Johnson's Bedtime Product UPC and you'll receive a free copy of Goodnight Giant. If you are a CVS shopper, you may be able to get this product at a really great price. Then you would receive the book for the price of a stamp. You can also click here to get a coupon for $2/2 Johnson's Bedtime Products.

• Send in 2 Barilla Piccolini UPCs and receive a copy of More Spaghetti, I Say! There have been coupons for the Barilla Piccolini products in the coupon inserts in recent Sunday papers.

For details for either of these book offers, leave a comment with your email address and I will forward you the offer terms.

Dad wants Free Gas for Father's Day

$85 Back on a $100 Purchase of Dockers at Sears

Boy, was I excited to hear about this one! It appears that Sears is running a very frugal promotion through June 15th involving the purchase of $100 in Dockers brand clothing or accessories (belts, sock, pants, shorts, shirts, etc...but does excluse shoes.). When customers send in their receipt along with their entry form, Sears will give them a $75 gas gift card and also a $10 Sears Reward card by mail -- so a total of $85.00 back! And you can also be entered to win a hybrid Toyota Prius.

Entry forms can be found at Sears Department store point-of-sale posters between June 7th and June 15th, and can be found online here.

To enter, fill out the entry form in its entirety -- check the "opt-in" entry form box to indicate your desire to enter the sweepstakes -- and mail it to Dockers Gas Card Offer & Hybrid Car Sweepstakes, PO Box 1083, Grand Rapids, MN 55745-1083. Entries must be postmarked by no later than July 1, 2008 and received by July 8, 2008.

FREE FOOD for the kids

Did you know that you can register your kids' birthdates at Burger King's website and they will send a post card or email with a certificate for a free kids meal for each child's birthday? Click here to register your kids in the BK Kids Club and start receiving your free kids meal.

Plenty of other establishments provide similar freebies for kids' birthdays so check back regularly to see more links.