New Years Eve - Last post of 2009!

Another year has come and gone. For me, it had its ups and downs. I finally graduated university, and I got to travel around Europe. The downside is that I am  still unemployed - darn this recession! Is anyone going to make new years resolutions? I think mine will be to try to eat healthier and be more active. If you are going to party it up tonight, remember to stay safe and don't drink and drive! BC Transit will be free tonight starting at 5pm. We have the Winter Olympics to look forward to in February (I have a part time job during that time) and hopefully more great events! Here's to more shopping, deals and freebies next year!

I hope everyone had a great 2009, and here's hoping for a fun-filled year in 2010! I'll see you next year! ;)

The House of the Dead: Overkill - Game Review

I picked up House of the Dead: Overkill for the Wii during the boxing week sale at Best Buy. The game is going for only $14.99 right now until January 3, 2010. My sister and I just finished the game tonight, it only took us two nights! It's a good shooting games, great for those people who used to play House of the Dead games at the arcade, or anyone who is a fan of the series. I haven't played the other Wii games in this series, but it's probably quite similar. I found the game to be too short though. It only took about 15 minutes to finish each chapter, and there were only 7 chapters. You are able to play by yourself, or partner up with someone else. After you complete the story mode, you unlock the director's cut, which is the same story but harder. There is guts and gore and a lot of swearing, especially f-bombs, so this game is definitely not recommended for younger children. I enjoyed the game even though it was too short, but at that price ($9.99 after using my $5 Nintendo coupon!) I can't complain! Go pick yours up now!

FREE Amazon Gift Cards & Other Prizes!

This month so far I have been able to cash in for $25 in Amazon.ca gift cards on Swagbucks! Woot woot! It would have been enough to get a Rock Band 2 drum set, but unfortunately Amazon.ca raised the price by $10, and now it's sold out too! Grr.

But anyway, please sign up for Swagbucks using the link below, and you will get started off with 3 swagbucks of your own! Woot! It's easy to earn swagbucks to redeem for prizes, ranging from gift cards to game consoles (Wii, PS3, NDS)!!! I have already cashed out for $65 in Amazon.ca gift cards!

Of course, Irazoo is another great search and win site, but they only give Amazon.com gift cards to Canadian users. If you live in the states, then they also offer awesome prizes like game consoles, ipods and cameras. You only need 3000 points to redeem for a $5 gift card, and you can earn a maximum of 300 points a day. That means every 10 days, you get $5!!! I've cashed out for $50 so far.

More Shopping!

Sister and I went shopping again yesterday and today. Yesterday we got up at 8 and headed out early to go to church, then went to the mall. Sis had to pick up some aquarium stuff that was on sale. Then we went into our first mall, but didn't find anything interesting. Drove over to the next mall, where sister got two pairs of shoes at Payless Shoe Source. One was on sale for only $13, the other was regular price. I used my SPC for an additional 10% off! Then we had to head back to the aquarium shop for my sister to buy another filter. Got back at about 5:30. That's FIVE malls in two days - a record!!

Today we got to the mall at about 10 to do some returns. Dad decided that we will get a better blu-ray player later on, since we don't even have an HDTV yet. LONG lines. Sister returned some stuff at Futureshop and I went to Best Buy. While there, sister picked up the last copy of Dragon Age: Origins for PCs on sale for $29.99 and a copy of Norton 360 3.0 on sale for $29.99. I caved in and got House of the Dead: Overkill for the Wii on sale at $14.99 minus a $5 coupon. Walked around the mall for a bit, but didn't find anything else of interest so left at around 4.

Three days of intense shopping and I'm bushed. My feet and shoulders hurt and my legs are tired. But now it's time to enjoy all the purchases we made! Woot, can't wait for boxing day next year! :D

How did you make out on Boxing Day? Lots of deals?

My sister and I woke up the earlier ever to go boxing day shopping this year. Got up at 3am, and was out the door by 3:30 (already late!). Sis dropped me off at Best Buy, and I was early enough that I got to wait inside, away from the cold! My sister went off to line up at Futureshop. Doors opened at 6am, and I picked up an Insignia Blu-Ray player for $79.99. Also got two Nokia bluetooth headsets with charger for $19.99 each. Mine is the BH-105 model. Sister got Samsung Blu-Ray, James Bond Quantum of Solace blu-ray movie for $9.99.

Then off to Zellers at 6:40 to see if I could get Just Dance game for Wii at 50% off...unfortunately, they don't even stock it!! GRRR!!! So I check out Toys R Us for Super Mario 64 Nintendo DS Lite game on sale at $24.97. It's such an old game, but I've never seen it on sale until now! Regular price is $39.99. ONLY, Toys R Us wasn't even open! *grumble* I then rush over to Superstore to see if I could score some half price chocolate, but everything good seemed to have been snatched up already, plus this year they didn't even have a lot of discounted candies!

Next stop was Old Navy, where the sweaters my sister and I were eying were discounted to $14. There was a 25% off any item coupon in the flyer, but I didn't have one, so I asked my cashier if I could still get the discount, and she asked the manager who said okay, so woot woot!! Sister wasn't so lucky though :S But she did use her $5 gift card she won last week from the Ferrero Rocher mall tour!

Afterwards, we headed to Lush to check out their sales. It was buy 1 get 1 free boxed set or buy 1 soap/holiday item get 2 free. We picked up 3 bath bombs. Then we went to Mcd's to refuel and get breakfast! Mmm, big breakfast. Before we left, we went to Black's Photography to get our free camera phone lens cleaner, a $19.99 value! Woot!

We jumped into the car and headed towards Walmart. Sister got a few dvds for $5 each, one for $2.97. Got The Love Guru, Premonition, and Lady in the Water. She also got a DS game, Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon at $14.83 minus a $5 Nintendo coupon. A 4 litre jug of chocolate milk was also discounted for $2 since it expires end of the year, so sis and I got a jug.

Then we went next door to Pet Smart to use my 3 free Purina Pro Plan dry cat food coupons. (They have a BOGO sale atm, so it will be cheaper for those without any coupons). Sis had to buy a snail to get the computer system to let the tax be taken off. Starbucks was next to warm up with a mocha, bought using my points from my Starbucks Duetto Visa. Yum, free coffee!

Popped over to our 2nd Superstore next, where we picked up Live by Jennifer Lopez perfume. Apparently designer perfumes were going for 75% off, and there was a huge crowd, but they didn't seem to be that discounted to me.  Also got a triangular box of mini Toblerone chocolates at half price! We gave that to our grandpa. We then went to another mall to check out the Walmart there. Sister wanted to see if there were any DVDs. Didn't really find any good deals, but did get a few boxes of seashell chocolates that mum can use for gifts. After that, we went to yet another mall to check out the Zellers there for Just Dance - no luck. I had the cashier call 2 other Zellers near me, but nothing. I don't think any of the Zellers in BC had this game in stock! False advertising to lure people in the store! Humph. Ended up getting a Glysomed 3 piece gift set on for 50% off, for $9.99 - 10% SPC discount. Sister also found a 3 movie in 1 DVD with cartoon movies she liked.

We headed home after that. There wasn't as many good deals as there we last year, but I hope everyone was able to at least find something the liked! Remember, there are still pretty good sales going on for the rest of the week, so if you missed out today, go tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

I just want to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I hope everyone gets to spend time with their family and friends and just relax and eat good food!

Are you ready for BOXING DAY???

Yes it's that time of year again...no, not Christmas. The day after Christmas - Boxing Day!! Boxing day is every frugal shopper's dream, with the mad sales on everything. My sister and I look forward to this day every year! Most people look at big ticket items at electronic stores, such as cameras, laptops, and tvs. There are also large appliances on sale as well. If you've been meaning to buy that new fridge or dishwasher, boxing day/week is the day to do it! You can save a TON of money just by shopping on boxing day. Many retailers extend boxing day sales to week-long sales, though there will only be a limited quantity of door-crashers, and you'll have to be quick. That means starting to line up at your chosen store early in the morning. And I mean early. Some people sleepover night, while others start lining up in the wee hours in the morning. I believe the last couple of years, I went to Best Buy before 5am, and still the line was pretty long.

Start thinking about other events and people you have to buy gifts for throughout the year. Is someone's birthday coming up? Mother's day? Housewarming gifts? Boxing day sales are a cheap way to stock up on gifts for other occasions. There will be many sales that are 50% off or even more. Buy those games, movies, music, clothes, electronics or books NOW. Why wait until later in the year when you have to pay full price on the same item? You can be saving hundreds on dollars just by planning ahead and picking up gifts for others on boxing day.  

Be prepared though. Do your research - start looking through boxing day flyers now to decide what you want to buy (mostly for big ticket items). You can find your flyers delivered to your door with your local newspaper, or online if you know the specific store you want to go to. Some popular stores are Best Buy, Futureshop, Walmart, Zellers and even Superstore! Superstore usually offers 50% on all of their chocolate and holiday items. Stock up on chocolate if you're going to eat them. Or save them for gifts! Chocolate usually doesn't go bad for a few years.

So dust off those gloves and set that alarm, because those sales aren't going to wait! The savings that can be found on boxing day/week are unbeatable and for anyone trying to save money in these hard economic times without sacrificing the quality of their gifts. Hope everyone has fun and manage to snag a few good deals. I would love to hear what you were able to pick up! I'll be seeing you in the lines and crowded mall! ;)

Princess Books: The Stepsister Scheme and The Mermaid's Madness - Book Review

I have been reading some awesome books by Jim C. Hines. This is a new series by the author about fairytale princesses we all know and love. Except totally twisted. These are kickass princesses who don't get their happily ever after (except Cinderella). Two books are out so far, The Stepsister Scheme and The Mermaid's Madness. I read it out of order, so I just finished the 2nd book yesterday and am currently reading the first book. They are SOOOO good. The stories center around Danielle (Cinderella), Snow (Snow White - Snow is just her nickname, her real name is long and I forget), and Talia (Sleeping Beauty).

Danielle marries Prince Armand and gets her happily ever after. Snow killed her mother, who killed the hunter who was supposed to kill Snow, but fell in love with her and lived with her for a year. Snow fled her kingdom after that. Talia and her family gets put into 100 years of sleep, only to have her uncle try to take the throne. The prince that hacks his way through the thorns into the castle kills Talia's family, then rapes her. Talia wakes up from labour pains! She flees her kingdom too and learns all sorts of kick ass fighting skills. Now Snow and Talia serve Queen Beatrice, the queen of Lorinder, where Danielle lives.

In the first book, Danielle's stepsisters kidnap Armand...then try to steal her child before he is even born! The trio of princesses set out to rescue him in Fairyland, where they think the stepsister's took him. That's all I got up to in the book so I can't tell you what happens next, sorry. You'll just have to read it yourself!


In The Mermaid's Madness, Queen Beatrice gets stabbed by The Little Mermaid, who has gone crazy because she killed her prince. The three princesses have to set out to sea to find the mermaid's grandmother, who made the knife.



A third princess book, Red Hood's Revenge, is coming out next year in 2010 focused on Little Red Riding Hood, who is an assassin.

It's Complicated - Movie Review

Yes, once again, I went to an advanced screening of a movie, It's Complicated, starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. But this time, I won these tickets from Tribute.
The movie was hilarious! I was laughing throughout the whole thing, and half the time, everyone was laughing so loud I couldn't even hear the dialouge anymore (which was a little annoying). Streep and Baldwin play a divorced couple, with Baldwin being married to a younger woman (Lake Bell, from Boston Legal). Things aren't going well with their marriage and Streep and Baldwin's characters end up having an affair. Steve Martin plays Streep's architect, who falls for her.
The acting is pretty solid, as expected from such huge stars. The ending did leave a little to be desired though (to me anyways, my sister thought it was fine). I definitely recommend this movie if you want to go out and have fun! 3.5 stars out of 4!

It's Complicated comes out Christmas day.

Mario & Luigi - Bowser's Inside Story - Game Review

I finally finished playing the newest Mario NDS game, Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story! It took me over 32 hours to play it! I enjoyed it, but I had to look at online walkthroughs all the time, there were just so many secrets and tips I didn't want to miss! I definitely recommend this game for Mario fans! One thing I didn't like was that you had to go to a separate screen to fight the enemies. I like straight forward stomp-on-your-enemy type fights. There are secret levels that Mario, Luigi and Bowser can unlock if you fight enough and their level goes high enough. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to reach it before I finished the game. Apparently something special happens if you do reach it - I wonder what it is!!! You would have to fight everything you see to reach those levels though, I suspect. I found that I just wanted to avoid the fights later because they took so long! Anyway, great game, lots of fun hours and interesting story line! I think I will play Zelda (the older one) next! Stay tuned!

Last minute Christmas presents? Don't want to spend a lot? How about FREE boardgames?

Kelloggs has been putting tons of great coupons on their cereal boxes lately. The newest one is for $10 off any Hasbro^® , Parker Bros^® , Milton Bradley™ and Cranium games. And of course, with Christmas coming around the corner...you guessed it, there are lots of sales on board games! All you need to do is pick up specially marked boxes of cereal (I like to find the ones on sale, then use a coupon on them!), cut out the coupon, then go get your free board game! There are lots of games that are $10 or less!

Here are some of the games I can think of from the top of my head:

Superstore 
- Clue - $10
- Clue Carnival - $10
- Yahtzee - $9.99
- Candyland - $7
- Hi Ho Cherry-O - $9

London Drugs
- Partini - $9.99 (good for adults)

Canadian Tire & Walmart
- Monopoly - $10

Of course there are many more board games that are in the $10 range, or close to it. Toys R Us and Zellers also carry games with great promotions. I believe there is a $5 gift card offer at TRU right now, and Zellers has a Buy 1 Get 1 50% off promo happening. This is an AWESOME coupon, and perfect for Christmas gifts! I already picked up 2 cereal (Cocoa Krispies and Frosted Flakes - YUM, sugar! Sale $3.49 a box - $2 coupon = $1.49 ea) and got 2 board games for free, wrapped them up, and delivered them! Woot!

$1 Chenille Socks @ Old Navy - Today Only!!

Old Navy has been having great sales for the last month, and for December, they are offering different one-day sales. Today's is warm and fuzzy chenille socks for only $1!!! They retail for $5 at Old Navy. I have a few pairs and these are SOOOO cozy, I love them! They are great for wearing around in the house. My sister and I are going there first thing this morning to pick up a bunch for ourselves. These would make great stocking stuffers as well! Go pick yours up now!

Did You Hear About the Morgans? - Movie Review

I went to watch an advanced screening of Did You Hear About the Morgans?, starring Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker last night. It was a pretty predictable romantic comedy. Hugh Grant plays his usual role very well, as the charming English bloke. Sarah Jessica Parker, however, I found extremely annoying. Plus her hands look really old. That's all I could focus on during the whole movie, her hands. And her annoying voice. Ack.

Anyway, the movie is about a couple who are separated, but they witness a murder, so they have to be taken into hiding in Ray, Wyoming. Hilarity ensues, and they end up back together, yadda, yadda, yadda. For those who enjoy any okay rom-coms, this one is for you! For those that like more substantial movies, pass on it. I give it a 1.5 stars out of 4.

Did You Hear About the Morgans? comes out Christmas day. For trailers, click here.

FREE Amazon.ca & .com Gift Cards!!!

Yes, you read that right. FREE amazon.ca and amazon.com gift cards (among other prizes). All you have to do is sign up for these search and win sites:

Swagbucks - this site is a search and win points site, and there are TONS of prizes you can choose from. I have redeemed $10 amazon.ca gift cards already and only a few days away from another $5.



Irazoo - another search site, but this one is super easy to get points. It only takes TEN DAYS to get a $5 amazon.com gift card!! I have redeemed for about $55 already and just redeemed for another $15 last night! Woot woot! All you have to do is search for w/e you want and then rate and comment!

Nine - Movie Review

I went to see an advanced screening of the movie adaption of the musical, Nine. I haven't heard anything about this movie, despite its star-studded cast - Daniel Day Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Fergie (from Black Eyed Peas), Kate Hudson, Marion Cottilard and Sophia Loren headline this movie. Daniel Day Lewis plays Guido Contini, a director struggling to write his next film. He tries to balance about a bajillion relationships with all the women and he loses his wife to all the lies and affairs. The songs are catchy and anyone who is a fan of the Broadway musical should go see it!

Nine comes out in theatres Christmas day. For more info on the film, check out the website here.

Shoppers Bonus Redemption

Last week was Shopper's Drug Mart's Bonus Redemption weekend, where BC residents get an extra $20 on the maximum (75,000 optimum points) redemption. Whoop de doo (sarcastic). Just last year, Shoppers used to be fair and give all the provinces across Canada an extra $50 on bonus redemption day. That brings your redemption level from $150 to a whopping $200!! This was just when I started collecting Optimum Points seriously, and wasn't at the top redemption level...and when I finally was, they lowered it! ARGH! They haven't brought it back up to $200 ever since, enough though I know a lot of people sent in complaints. I know provinces like Alberta and Ontario and a lot of the other Eastern Canada provinces still receive the $50 bonus. It's not fair that we get ripped off and only get an extra $20. T____T It's not like Shoppers has cheap prices either. It's actually WAY overpriced. If it wasn't for their Optimum Points program, I would probably never go there. Anyway, I redeemed my points last weekend anyway, grudgingly, because I don't want the higher ups yanking my points away, like I know they like to do sometimes (I know it has happened to some people before). Bleh.

Lego Rock Band - Game Review

Sister and I opened up our copy of Lego Rock Band for the Wii last night. Sooo much fun! It's definitely a lot more fun than Rock Band 2 because we actually know some of the songs! My favorite is So What by Pink. Hehehe. I played it again this afternoon. There is a tour option where you can make your own band and everything. This game is great for kids and adults too. The songs are more contemporary, unlike Rock Band 2 where all the songs seem kinda old. I'm going to play it some more later! :D

For more info on Lego Rock Band, click here.

Please sign up for Swagbucks & Irazoo!

I'm in desperate need of referrals for these 2 search engines. The Rock Band 2 drum set has decreased in price on amazon.ca and I'm not sure how long the sale will last. Please sign up!

The Light Before Christmas - Movie Review

During the weekend, I went to see the IMAX film, The Light Before Christmas. It's a stop motion film (which takes forever to make!) which was very impressive, because the movie looked great. The movie was only about 30 minutes long, with a behind the scenes segment after the movie, telling you how stop motion films are made. That part was very interesting to watch. It's basically the Night Before Christmas poem. Great for kids to watch, but maybe a little too kiddy for adults. It's good for getting into the Christmas spirit though!

For more information on this movie and for showtimes, click here

Sunlight Green Clean Laundry Detergent - Product Review

Thanks to the good people at Urbanmoms, I had a chance to try out the newest Sunlight laundry detergent. They sent me a full sized bottle to test out. They come in 4 scents - I received the Orchid Blossom scent (mmmm, smells sooo good)! I tested it out during the weekend doing my 2nd load of laundry (first load I used Greenworks - see posts below) and I must say, my clothes did come out of the wash smelling great. You only need a tiny capful for your whole load too! I believe they are offering a $1.50 coupon for the bottle right now, you just order it online. They are also going on sale next week for about $5!!! Go pick yours up!

To learn more about Sunlight Green Clean laundry detergent, go here.