Are you looking forward to Mother’s Day?  What special things do you have planned?  Traveling to see family?  Staying home and having a day off from cooking?  Well, whatever your plans are – I hope you have a wonderful day!

For this week’s Frugal Family Fun post Tracy has a nice recipe and a super cute Flower craft to help you and yours enjoy Mother’s Day.

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With summer around the corner, Hollywood is about to roll out a slew of sequels, blockbusters and indie films sure to satisfy most people’s craving for easy entertainment. Before making your summer selections, however, you should consider how best to spend your movie money.

According to TIME Moneyland, ticket prices are expected to increase this year thanks to lackluster sales in 2011 — and that’s not including the exorbitant cost of concessions. Don’t let the inflated cost of the cinema deflate your family’s desire to catch the season’s best flicks on the big screen.

Follow these 11 tips to avoid blowing your movie budget.

1. Join AAA
The automobile club offers $8 tickets to Regal, United Artists and Edwards movie theaters. The catch is that you have to go to one of their offices to buy them.

2. Buy Movie Packs
This is the way to go for families. You can buy a four-pack of tickets from Costco, good for a variety of theatres, for just $34.99 and a 10-pack for $82.99. There’s no expiration date and you can use the tickets seven days a week. BulkTix.com also saves you an average of $2 to $3 off a ticket’s face value for seven different chains.

3. Attend Second-Run Theatres
There are several chains that show movies a bit past their prime. If you can wait to see the latest iteration of a Marvel comic, you’ll pay anywhere from $3 to $6 for the same movie.

4. Ask for Senior Rates
If you’re 60 or over, you’ll get a discount from select locations of AMC Theatres. And Cinemark offers Seniors Day every Monday at some locations for seniors 62 and older. Ultimately, it helps to ask the cashier or one of the theatre managers about available discounts for seniors. Just be prepared to show your ID.

5. Skip the Concession Stand
Eat before you head out to the movies so you won’t be tempted by the many treats on offer. Granted this is how theaters make their money, but it’s also how you double the cost of your ticket.

6. Use Discount Gift Cards
Save 10 to 30 percent by purchasing discount movie theater gift cards from such sites as GiftCardGranny. In addition to saving instantly on ticket prices, you can cut the cost of concessions if the smell of popcorn is too tempting to overcome.

7. Swipe Your Plastic
Credit card companies and banks have increased their reward perks over the last few years and some of those include free passes to the theater. Visa Signature offers their credit card holders two-for-one movie tickets via Fandango on Fridays. Deutsche Bank Debit Card users can get one free pass for every one ticket purchased through BookMyShow.com. Ask your credit card or bank about such reward perks and take advantage of the discount.

8. Be Loyal
Kerasotes Theaters has the FiveBuckClub, which sends weekly emails with a list of movies members can see for $5. AMC Theatres offers points toward discounts, concession upgrades and more if you join their Stubs Rewards Program. Check with your local theatres to see if they provide similar deals for loyal customers.

9. Daily Deal It
Though daily deals for restaurants and spa services overwhelm your inbox, you have good reason to search through the clutter. Sites like Groupon and LivingSocial have featured movie theater savings of up to 50 percent, and will likely offer similar promotions this summer. The vouchers typically expire within a couple months so make note of the date and use them up before then.

10. Early-Bird Deals
Matinees can save you anywhere from 30 to 50 percent off prime-time ticket prices, leaving more money in your wallet for warm summer evenings.

11. Say Something
Have you ever watched a movie where the sound system was off enough to drive you crazy? Perhaps you ended up surrounded by a swarm of teenagers who shouted at the screen throughout the film. Don’t be afraid to ask for a voucher or your money back if you have a bad experience. You may be surprised how often theaters will accommodate a polite request.

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What will you do to celebrate Cinco De Mayo?  Are you headed out to eat at your favorite restaurant?  Having some fun at home?  Well, for this week’s Frugal Family Fun post Tracy has gotten together some great recipes, ingredients for the current Publix ad, and some FUN crafts that the whole family is sure to love!

Head here to see this week’s Frugal Family Fun post!

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Ever seen a coupon online that you want to get but you are not hooked up to your printer right now? This happens to me all the time because I am on my laptop, and I am lazy at that second and don’t want to walk all the way into the office to the printer and connect. This is when I figured out I can still get the coupon even if I am not connected to the printer.

(Warning: Your Milage May Vary. The steps below are ones that work for me but I would test your computer on a coupon you don’t really need first just in case.)

1. Print the coupon as you would normally, not hooked up to the printer
2. After it says you’ve printed it, try waiting 5 to 10 minutes and hook up the printer. Your coupon should then print!

What happens is if the computer can’t print the page, it keep the item in que to print the next time you connect to the printer. This works as long as you don’t shut down your computer before you print. If you shut the machine down, the items in que disappear.

Try it now! Head over to Coupons.com and see if this works for you. Print the Spectracide coupon and get it FREE at Walmart. 

Another time this helps:

When you are out of ink and haven’t made it to the store but there is a HOT coupon you want to print before it is gone!

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Whitten Dee born April 7th

I am so happy to finally post the pictures of our new little guy for all of you! I had an amazing photographer, and ESM sponsor,Megan at Clarity Photography come to the house and work her magic on my children! She came up with the most gorgeous pictures of the two of them and I am the happiest I have ever been after having professional pictures done. I can’t wait to share all the details with you guys, here it goes!

I don’t know about you, but I HATE taking professional pictures. Before when it was just my daughter, it was so stressful when we took her to several places to have good pictures done. She never wanted to do what the photographer said to do, she would clam up and be shy, and it always ended in lots of frustration from me and many times the photographer as well. This time, Megan who is the owner of Clarity Photography did something that had never been done with us before. She got to know my daughter BEFORE the shoot, she talked to her, read to her, and became buddies with her before starting to snap shots like a paparazzi. This made her attitude towards the pictures totally change and the poses and photos turned out amazing because of it!

I had never had newborn photos done before, but it seems to be such a staple these days I figured we would have them done with our second child since he will be our last. Megan at Clarity Photography started planning the photo shoot about 3 months beforehand with a small consultation. Then about a month before when I was put on bedrest we had a long meeting where we pulled together all of my ideas for the kids poses, and ideas she had compiled as well! Along with that, she wanted to know any props that I had envisioned and if I didn’t have them she would see if she could find them for me. How amazing is that!

One of the photos I wanted to do was my daughter reading to him our favorite book, Pat the Bunny. Megan found an adorable Bunny hat, since he was born the day before Easter, that happened to match the Pat The Bunny book exactly. See how great the picture turned out?!

Clarity Photography offered two options: we could go into the studio and take the shots or Megan could bring her stuff to the house and we could do the pictures here… free of charge! Being that Whitten was only going to be 5 days old at the shoot we chose to have the photos taken at home. I was totally worried about my house being a disaster and the pictures looking like they were taken in our not-so-photo-perfect home, but instead they look like they came out of a magazine! Take a look, and may I add that we DO NOT have hard wood floors. This is a prop that Megan at Clarity Photography brings with her to make it look like a fancy house!

That's not my floor!

The most surprising thing about the session is that it is totally affordable for the every day person! I always thought newborn photos would cost an arm and a leg, but nope not with Clarity Photography! There were so many extras in our package along with the digital files for us to print ourselves on demand. Contact Megan at Clarity Photography to describe what pictures you are wanting done of your little ones or family and she will tell you all about her fabulous deals! She even offers holiday mini-sessions that book quick, so don’t wait another minute & contact her today!

Looking to learn to take pictures yourself?

Megan is penning a new e-book being released this Summer called “Camera Moms“! Inside the book she will teach you how to set up pictures yourself that look like a professional did them. She will also give you her secrets on creative ways to create backdrops and props. Also, she gave me a preview of the “Perfect Camera Phone Pictures” chapter. I don’t know about you but I use my Iphone to take pictures more than our big camera. She showed me ways to take the pictures with my Iphone to make them turn out amazing!

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When was the last time you had a party for no particular reason at all?  Well, we have all sorts of things to celebrate – our wonderful families, a good day, the sun shining, and so much more!  Well, for this week’s Frugal Family Fun post Tracy has given us some great ideas to have a party – just because!  She has even tossed in some great deals at Publix that are sure to make your PARTY a success!

Head here to check out this week’s Frugal Family FUN!

Have Fun!

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Earth is April 22nd and it’s almost here!!  There are lots of ways to celebrate and get the family involved in celebrating and learning more about Earth Day.

For this week’s Frugal Family Fun ideas Tracy has gotten together a great list for us to enjoy!  Head to here to check them all out.

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Head here to get your Frugal Family Fun!

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Image courtesy of Google

Feel like you have been listening to the “BEEP” of the register scanning your coupons forever? If you are a Publix shopper as we are, boy do we have a method for you! No “thank you” notes necessary after this tip that we learned after talking to a few cashiers. Here is the order in which to hand your coupons to hurry your lane along and get out of the checkout in record-breaking time:

1. Dollars-Off Coupons ($5/$25 coupons or other $$ off coupons you may have that your store accepts)
2. Competitor Coupons (Target, Winn Dixie, or whatever competitor coupons your store accepts)
3. Publix Store Coupons
4. Clipped/Printed Manufacturer Coupons
5. Walgreens Register Rewards (If your store accepts these)

How do I know what competitor coupons my store accepts? Customer Service or the cashier should have a coupon policy printed out with the competitor coupons accepted listed on the back.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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How do you do Coupons.com like a pro?

Coupons.com is a site we talk about A WHOLE LOT on EasternShoreMom.com. However, it can be very complicated to know how I find all these coupons, how to print again, where are the coupons I just printed, etc. Let me help you with a little Coupons.com 101:

Entering a Zip Code

When you are on Coupons.com, the coupons that come up are based on what zip code you enter. You can enter ANY ZIP CODE YOU WANT, there will be no indication on the coupon that it is only valid in the area you selected. What are some HOT zip codes?

• Try selecting “no zip code” (in my experience, this brings up EVERY coupon any of the zip codes bring up)
• 90210
• 30306
• 12345
• You can also go to USPS.com and use their zip code finder to find other zip codes. Usually big city zip codes have better coupon selections.

Printing the Coupons

You want to select “Clip this Coupon” to print. But as you know, you can print (most) coupons twice on Coupons.com! However, when you go back to the page that coupon was on it is no longer there. Where did it go and do I have to scroll through all 18 pages of these coupons to find it?

• Once you have printed a coupon once, when you go back to print again try the last few pages on coupons. Usually when you print a coupon they send it to the last page to hang out, letting you know you have either “reached your print limit” or you are almost there.

When do the Coupons Expire

Once you print a coupon from Coupons.com, the coupon should expire 30 days from the date on print.

When do the Print Limits Reset

So once you have printed a coupon twice, it gives you the “print limit reached” message. But when can you print it again? At the beginning of every month, Coupons.com will reset and allow you to print again. That is, if that coupon is still available. At the beginning of the month Coupons.com also reloads with new coupons and gets rid of some of the old coupons.

• Be sure on the last day of the month to scroll through and print ANY coupon you might want because tomorrow it might not be there anymore. If it is still there, you will be able to print it an additional 2 times, ending up with 4 of the same coupon!

When Should I Check Coupons.com for New Coupons?

Be sure to head over there once a day to check and see if there are new coupons to print! EasternShoreMom.com also puts of Catch of the Day posts to alert you of new coupons, but you never know what you may find! Download the FREE ESM Toolbar for a quick link to Coupons.com to remind you each day to check.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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