My son is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout, and we have to keep track of all the nights he camps, and which of those are in a tent, and how far along he is on the Eagle-required merit badges, and how many non-Eagle merit badges he has, and how many hours of service he performs, etc. That should be complicated and overwhelming. But it’s not.

I am getting into the habit of journaling, and I like to journal whenever I think of it, sometimes with photos — like when I’m watching my 3-year-old swing at the park or when I visit my Dad in the hospital, etc. Using the same tool that I’m using to track my kids’ educational accomplishments, awards and extra-curriculars, I can journal from my phone, or from my laptop, or from a computer at the library. I can include pictures and I can then incorporate any or all of those memories and milestones and photos into a newsletter that I can mail to friends or family, or simply print for my own keeping.

What’s all this about? It’s AboutOne! I first wrote about AboutOne here when I started my subscription last fall. At that time, I was simply using it to start documenting my kids’ extracurricular activities and awards. But as the months have passed, I’ve come to use it more and more. Now, I access the site the site everyday.

AboutOne is a family management Web site that enables you to manage just about every aspect of your life in one place, including:

• Education records, awards, grades and test scores, organized by grade level and school. This section lets you document things by typing in entries, attaching files or photos, and/or uploading scanned documents. I’ve scanned letters of commendation and uploaded pdf files and attached them to entries that document my daughter’s extra curricular activities, etc.
• Medical/Health records and information including places to keep track of allergies, procedures, doctor’s appointments, illnesses, medicines, immunizations, and contact information for medical professionals. Like education, items can be uploaded and attached to entries. For example, I can document an immunization and date and any reactions that my child might have, and scan and upload her immunization record, allowing me access this record from any place where there’s a computer and Internet access).
• Vehicle records, including date purchased and maintenance records.
• Emergency contacts.
• Home records, including everything related to a home purchase, maintenance and capital gains.
• Volunteer Hours
• Contacts, and you can upload your contacts from other programs such and your phone or email contacts.
• Memories and milestones (which, as I said, can be typed in on the site or emailed form your phone or computer).

Here’s the amazing thing: Once you have entered information such as educational records and volunteer hours, you can generate reports from the information you’ve entered. So I can choose a time frame for my daughter — like her freshman and sophomore year for the NHS application — and print a report that includes everything she did, was honored for, accomplished, volunteered at, etc, for those two years. That made filling out her NHS application a snap!

I really, really love this site and I keep finding new uses for it. For example, a few weeks ago I stayed with a family member who is having some health issues and who lives out of town. It occurred to me while there to scan some documents related to his health issues and medications, including contact information for his physicians and neighbors who live nearby. Now, I can access from any computer these records in case of an emergency. And if this family member eventually needs my family to be more actively involved in his health care, we will have a place to store records and information that my husband can access from work, or I can access from my Smart phone, etc. It made me think that if siblings caring for aging parents live in different cities or part of the same city and share responsibilities for aging parents, this would be the perfect way for all of the to have access to records regarding medications, doctors, etc.

The memories and milestones part of the site is by far, my favorite. I find myself sending emails to the site from my phone all the time with just a few words or phrases. These emails arrive in my AboutOne Inbox and are waiting for me the next time I sign into the site. They act as writing prompts for me, helping me journal about our lives, and the site allows me to attach photos or documents to those memories. It’s so FUN!

AboutOne costs $5 per month or $30 per year for unlimited storage of your documents, memories, photos, health and education records, and home and vehicle receipts and documents. The site is adding new features all the time. You have GOT to try it, and they will let you try it for free for 17 full days. Check it out here and be sure to watch the videos here.

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Until now – until I found AboutOne.com, a family management Web site.

I am stealing this sentiment from a fellow blogger who introduced me to AboutOne, but I am not exaggerating when I say that I have been looking for this resource for most of my adult life. And let me say the next part in all caps:

IF YOU HAVE KIDS AND IF YOU EVER PLAN TO FILL OUT FORMS FOR THEM TO PLAY A SPORT OR ATTEND A CAMP OR APPLY FOR COLLEGE OR A SCHOLARSHIP OR AN AWARD, YOU WILL WANT TO BEGIN CAPTURING ALL THEIR INFORMATION ON ABOUTONE.

AboutOne is a place that lets me upload and store all of the following:

• Records of immunizations, school physicals, dates and details of doctor’s and dentist appointments, medications and reactions, allergies, locations of where prescriptions were filled, blood types, heights and weights, emergency contacts. And much of this information automatically flows into printable caregiver sheets that I can create with the touch of a button to give to a sitter or a grandparent who’s staying the weekend, etc.

• Education information on schools attended, dates, GPAs, copies of report cards, standardized test scores, honors and awards, extracurricular activities and volunteer/service hours. Again, all of this information flows into a printable that I can use to fill out award, scholarship, job or college applications.

• My address book, which I can then enhance by adding information to the contacts including birthdays, Web sites, a gift log, labels (to make it more searchable) and attached files. I can also attach photos to contacts and connect contacts to other things on the site. So, if I’m looking at my daughter’s medical record, I can see a picture of her pediatrician, all his contact information, and click on a link to his practice Web site. In other words – my whole life is INTEGRATED.

• Memories. I’ve been trying to get into the regular habit of journaling, but I just can’t seem to get into it. AboutOne changed all that. I can type in memories or daily thoughts or comments on a family event or one of the kids’ activities right on the site, then attach it to a family member and upload a photo and even a file if appropriate. If I want, I can mark it to be included in a monthly newsletter that the site will generate for me. Then, at the end of the month, I can generate the newsletter with the click of a button and email it to friends and family. It’s a great way to stay in touch. And, I can add memories/milestones from my PHONE and even include pictures as attachments. My plan is to get my family  members in the habit of sending milestones and pictures to the site (wish me luck).

Check out this two-minute video on AboutOne:

Other things to LOVE about AboutOne.

• It’s very affordable – you can try it for free for 15 days and when you LOVE it (which you will), you can subscribe for $5/month or $30/year.

• It’s EXTREMELY secure – This was my first concern. After all, I’m uploading photos, medical records, school records, etc. I talked at length with the folks at AboutOne and they reassured me. You can read all the security information that they shared with me at the end of this post.

• You can click on the “live help” link on the site and get live, online help to learn to use the site most efficiently.

Now the fun part. AboutOne is giving five of my readers a free, one-year subscription. Here’s how to enter the contest:

Giveaway Guidelines:

To enter the contest, you MUST leave a comment below on the video. Then you can gain additional entries by doing any or all of the following (but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do):

1. Follow AboutOne on Twitter
2. Like AboutOne on Facebook
3. Blog about this contest
4. Share your favorite winter road trip or “must have” winter essentials
5. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can do daily tweets, but leave a comment each time you do)
6. Follow @MyMidasGuy or “like” Midas on Facebook
7. Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
8. Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.
9. Post a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time December 3, 2010.  Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If  any winner does not claim the prize by December 6, 2010, she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

SECURITY REASSURANCES  FROM ABOUTONE

We are as concerned about data security as you are. After all, everyone at AboutOne uses AboutOne, and we don’t want the hackers, phishers, scammers or anyone else including other members or our own team reading our private information either.

So, what are we doing about security? A lot. We use the same technologies and practices that banks and other financial institutions use to protect customer information. We even scoured the globe looking for the strictest security standards, and used them as the basis for how we store and transmit your information.

Here are just some of the things we do to keep your information safe and still easy to access from anywhere:

Data Center Security

• We use a state-of-the-art data center with firewalls, redundant hardware, redundant power sources, redundant battery backups, redundant cooling and redundant cabling, and video surveillance.
• Entrance is controlled by biometric authentication (things like fingerprint or retina scanning) & key card access and staff must pass these two-factor authentication points no fewer than three times to access data center floors.
• Facilities are nondescript and have no published address.
• They are built with military grade perimeter control beams in addition to other natural boundary protection–think ‘Fort Knox for the Internet.’

Server Security

• We use Verisign 128-bit SSL encryption to make your data impossible to read by anyone but you.
• We hack our own site daily. We scan our ports, test for SQL injection, and protect against cross-site scripting and we also use McAfee SECURE to continuously test AboutOne with the latest hacker tools and techniques to make sure we aren’t vulnerable.
• We apply bank-level data security standards. This includes encryption, auditing, logging, backups, and safe-guarding data.

Data Security

• Your information is backed up every hour. These back-ups are encrypted
• Passwords and account numbers are encrypted at rest so no one is able to every ready your password.
• To top it off, we have taken strict precautions to make sure that even AboutOne employees don’t have access to your information.  We also never share anything you enter with anyone unless you authorize it.
• We take all of this seriously, which is why we have hired TRUSTe to make sure that we honor our commitments to you.

Still not convinced? Fill out the contact form on the site  and AboutOne will  have a security specialist get back to you and answer all of your questions!

For more information check out our Privacy Policy.

DISCLAIMER: This product review was made possible by the Double Duty Divas.  I received a trial subscription for review purposes; all opinions are 100% mine.

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO KRISTI, BROOKE, ALEX & CHRIS!

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I honestly cannot believe that it’s already time to start thinking about snow and ice, and I know some of our neighbors to the north have already done some shoveling. I’m not the best about preparing my car for the winter, so I found this video helpful.

To help you prepare your car for winter, Midas has created a Midas Winter Safety Kit which can be stored right in your car for any of those winter road emergencies! And they want to give one — valued at $100 — to one of my readers. The winer will receive:

• $50 Midas Gift Certificate
• Jumper Cables
• An Emergency Thermal Blanket
• First Aid Kit
• An Ice scraper/Snowbrush
• A Flashlight
• Storage bag
• Water

Giveaway Guidelines:

To enter the contest, you MUST become an email subscriber to Lipstick to Crayons. The subscribe button is in the upper right corner of the site. Once you subscribe (or if you are already a subscriber), leave a comment below telling me you did so, and make sure the email address you provide is the one you used to subscribe. After completing this mandatory first entry method, you can gain additional entries by doing any or all of the following (but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do):

1. Blog about this contest
2. Share your favorite winter road trip or “must have” winter essentials
3. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can do daily tweets, but leave a comment each time you do)
4. Follow @MyMidasGuy or “like” Midas on Facebook
5. Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
6. Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.
7. Post a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time December 10, 2010.  Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If  winner does not claim the prize by December 13, 2010, she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

USA residents only please!

NOTE: I received this prize package to provide to my readers from Midas.

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATS TO SHELLY, COMMENT #112.

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“Between price-comparison search engines, the power of social networking, and specialty sites catering to every need, there are more ways than ever to save on purchases made online,” said Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart. “If you know where to look, it’s easy to cut costs on virtually anything, and ShopSmart will point you in the right direction.”

ShopSmart’s “6 New Ways to Save” features tips on bagging bargains for almost any product, cool new tools to locate special deals (including apps that run in the background of your computer while you shop to alert you to better prices before you buy), strategies to outsmart Internet thieves bent on nabbing your personal info, and a step-by-step guide to zeroing in on the best deals on the Web. Below is a sampling of some of ShopSmart’s advice.

Money-Saving Strategies for Shopping on the Web:

1. START YOUR ENGINES: Price-comparison search engines are a great savings shortcut.
– PriceGrabber.com: ShopSmart found the lowest prices on six of the
eight items on its shopping list here. Also, the site calculates tax
and shipping when you enter your zip code. The results are easy to
read and include seller ratings.
– Bing.com: Click on “shopping,” choose a product category, then a
specific product. Pages of photos and specs will pop up: click on
“compare prices” to see what deals are out there–those with a “free
shipping” tag offer just that.

2. PINPOINT LOCAL SALES: Local search engines find the best price in your area.
– Milo.com: This site is great for checking local inventory at national
retailers such as Target and Barnes & Noble, and at mom-and-pop
stores, too. You can sort by products on sale, and price- and
in-stock alerts are nice.
– TheFind.com: This site has deep listings for a huge range of items,
and the clothing and home categories are a good place to start. The
clean interface lets you sort results by location, store, brand,
color, price range–even items with coupons or special promotions are
attached.

3. TRY A SPECIALTY SITE: From books to electronics, there’s one for every kind of product.
– Alibris.com: Scours independent booksellers to deliver top bargains in
new and used books, DVDs, and rare first editions. Check out
the 99-cent book section and subscribe to the site’s e-newsletter
to get money-saving coupons.
– Retrevo.com: Not only does Retrevo pull up the best buys on computers,
TVs, cell phones, and more, it also give you user reviews, detailed
specs, and downloadable manuals. And it’s easy to search.

4. GET IN ON GROUP DEALS: “Group buying” sites offer hefty discounts.
– Groupon.com: Posts limited-time deals for local services and
merchandise. Available for 65 cities across the U.S., a recent deal
slashed $20 worth of food and drinks at a restaurant by half.
– LivingSocial.com: As with Groupon, a minimum number of people must
click the “buy” button, or the deal is off. Available in 56 cities, a
recent deal offered half off a salon haircut.

5. DIAL UP SAVINGS: Both smart and regular phones offer several (free!) shopping apps.
– Yowza.com: Follow a few simple steps to tag your favorite retailers,
and you’ll get a notification every time they post a coupon.
Available on the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Palm Pre.
– Point Inside: This mall navigation app tells you exactly where your
favorite stores (and the bathroom and the up escalator) are in
hundreds of shopping malls nationwide. Available on the iPhone,
Android, iPod Touch and iPad.

6. MAKE FRIENDS: Get feedback on your shopping decisions through social networking.
– Blippy.com: A mashup of Twitter, Facebook, and your credit-card
statement. Every time you make a purchase, you can post what you
spent and where you spent it. Friends can “like” or comment on your
purchase.
– Friendshopper.com: Shop with a friend in real time. Say an online
sample sale is starting in 10 minutes. Add the “bookmarklet” to your
browser and sign in to the IM chat with your friend, share images of
the dresses you’re considering adding to your cart, and get an
immediate response on whether she thinks it’s for you.

About ShopSmart magazine:
Launched in Fall 2006 by Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, ShopSmart draws upon Consumer Reports’ celebrated tradition of accepting no advertisements and providing unbiased product reviews. The magazine features product reviews, shopping tips on how to get the most out of products and “best of the best” lists. ShopSmart is ideal for busy shoppers who place a premium on time. ShopSmart has a newsstand price of $4.99 and is available nationwide at major retailers including Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Borders, Kroger, Safeway and Publix. ShopSmart is available by subscription at www.ShopSmartmag.org.

ShopSmart is now available 10 times a year. Subscribe at www.ShopSmartmag.org

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Lay Off the Starbucks = $160 savings over next few months

A tall coffee at Starbucks approaches $2.00. If you drink one of those every weekday, you’re spending $10 a week, $40 per month and roughly $520 per year. (And this is one of the cheapest items at Starbucks!)

If you absolutely need a caffeine fix every day, consider making your own coffee. After about $15 to buy the coffee maker and the filters, a bag of coffee only costs $8 and will keep you awake for weeks.

If you’re not a coffee drinker, see what other “daily luxuries” you may enjoy. Whether it’s micro-brewed beer, gourmet chocolates or a Ben & Jerry’s addiction, cutting back — or substituting a cheaper alternative — can easily buy a few gifts for the family.

Bottled Water = $78 savings over the next few months

Water is one of those things that you should try not to pay for. With 2/3 of the world covered in water and filters that convert “tap water” to filtered water (such as a Brita) for about $20, you should stick to filling up a water bottle rather than shelling out $1-2 for bottled water. If you buy bottled water a few times a week, you can save over $200 a year and about $80 by the time Christmas rolls around.

Gas = $87 savings over the next few months

BillShrink.com found that gas prices vary as much $.50 per gallon in the same neighborhood. This means that by simply driving to a nearby gas station, you can save $260 a year. Use BillShrink’s gas comparison tool to find the cheapest gas on your commute for the next 4 months and you could be looking at an extra $87 bucks in your pocket.

Ease Up on Eating Out = $520 savings over the next few months

Eating at home is not only healthier, but it is also much cheaper. When you eat out, you are paying a mark-up for not only your meal and drinks, but also for the service that comes with it. Try staying in two nights a week and save about $30 a person. If you continue this until the holidays, you’ll have saved $520 – enough to treat the whole family to a nice Christmas dinner.

If cutting out dinner is too hard, try packing your lunch rather than going out and dropping $6 during work. This will also save you about $30 a week and by combining the two, you’ll double your savings and have some delicious leftovers to bring for lunch the next day.

Quit Smoking = $347 savings over next few months

The cost of smoking is not getting any cheaper with an average pack costing between $4-6. If you smoke four packs a week, you’ll pay over $1000 a year. Since quitting smoking is easier said than done, it may be worth it use some of those savings on nicotine patches or gum to help you quit.

The caveat of this strategy is that you’ve got to want to quit smoking in order for this to work. While you can save some money doing this, you’re not going to be able to use that as motivation alone. You’ll need to weigh the other benefits of quitting as well and determine the reason why it’s time for you to quite now.

Turn Down the Monthly Fixed Costs = ~$200 savings over few months

According to BillShrink, most people are overpaying for their cell phone plan. By simply visiting BillShrink or other comparison sites, you can quickly analyze your wireless, credit card and cable plan. If you’re paying for more cell minutes or texts than you need, you could be losing $420 a year and the same goes for the cash-back rewards you could be missing out on from your credit card and the extra channels you pay for that you never watch on your TV. By only paying for what you use, you could save nearly $200 over four months.
If you already have the best plans for you, feel free to call up your phone or cable provider and try to negotiate a better price. Since it is cheaper for them to retain current customers than get new ones, they want to keep you from leaving and keep you happy. See if they have any specials that will entice you to stay.

And if you still find yourself short of Christmas cash, just remember: you can always sell things on eBay. After all, getting rid of old stuff is the best way to prepare for this year’s new stuff.

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Target Shopping 101

Shopping at Target is like a sporting event for me. You need to know how to play by Target’s rules and have the tools at your fingertips to be successful. I have taken many of my original blog posts and put together a running list of tools, links and need to know info to help make your shopping trip much easier on your budget. Here goes…
There are many ways to save at Target and it begins at the front door.
- Use an ad. If you don’t get the Sunday paper you can access it according to zip code at the Target web site.
- If you are lucky enough to have a Super Target, you can access the coupons for the grocery section from the site.
**Remember you can use one Target coupon and one manufacturers coupon per item and stack the savings.
- Next, you should become familiar with “Perimeter Shopping”. This means going around the outer most aisles and cruising all of the endcaps with clearance merchandise while peeking down the interior aisles for clearance tags.
There is nothing more satisfying than finding an item in the grocery or HBA section marked down and having a store and a manufacturer’s coupon for that item. You feel like you have SCORED!

Your homework is to set up some bookmarks, find out how to access and use the ad on the site if you don’t get a Sunday paper and get a notebook to take some notes. There is a lot more info to come.

Markdowns
Below are some of the basic tips to maximize your shopping trips to Target.
1. Stick to the outside walls of the store (perimeter) and always check the endcaps (ends of the aisle shelving). This is where all the markdown merchandise is usually relocated after the price is reduced. However, as you go around the outer aisles, peek down the aisles and look for clearance there too. This will save some time and steps.
2. Markdowns are typically done Monday thru Friday. It makes sense to hit Target on Tuesday since Monday’s are used to deal with the weekend returns and have time to work the markdowns for the week.
Monday – Electronics, Kids Clothing and Stationary (Cards, GiftWrap, etc.)
Tuesday – Domestics, Women’s Clothing, Pets and Market (food items)
Wednesday – Men’s Clothing, Toys, Lawn & Garden, Health and Beauty items
Thursday – House Wares, Lingerie, Sporting Goods, Shoes, Music / Movies, Books, Decor and Luggage
Friday – Auto, Cosmetics, Hardware, and Jewelry
3. Markdowns take place every 2 weeks. Target will continue to mark down unsold clearance merchandise every two weeks until sold. After that you can bet the clearance merchandise will end up at your local Goodwill Store.
4. If an item is damaged and you can repair it or don’t mind the blemish, then be sure to ask the cashier for a discount. Cashiers are authorized to give you a 10% discount.
5. Check near the dressing rooms for carts of opened or unused items from nearby departments, etc. Every store will have its own little spots for great deals of shopworn merchandise.
6. Know how to read markdown stickers. These are the little orange stickers like in the picture with this post. The original price at the top right corner plus a code: 15A, 30A, etc. This is markdown percentage.
Holiday Deals – Target always slashes prices on seasonal merchandise.
Clothing prices drop like a rock during their after-holiday clearance. Look for seasonal t-shirts and sweatshirts and get huge discounts.
Their holiday markdown schedule is usually as follows:
(Note: Christmas markdowns tend to be larger to start)
50% off the day after holiday for three days
75% off the fourth day after holiday for three days
90% off the seventh day after holiday for 1-2 days.
Cautionary notes about Target shopping:
If you find an item at 75% off, and you want it, don’t let it get away!
Target rarely marks non-holiday items down past 75%
If it the price ends in the number 4, it is probably your last chance to buy.

Clearance
You have a craving for a Target clearance. You don’t have the foggiest clue as to what you may find marked down. You WANT to know. Well, now you can from the comfort of your own home before you ever leave your computer. Visit these two sites:
http://tinyurl.com/2y8lauhttp://tinyurl.com/2oyfxw
Still want to know if the local store has what you want in stock? Okay, now you can.
Target Search Store Inventory by local zip code: http://tinyurl.com/2few6h
The 9 digit numbers next to the items are the DPCI numbers. The DPCI can help you check the price/availability in the store. You can check w/ the in-store price scanners. Some stores have scanners that allow you to type in the DPCI numbers. You can also check if an item is in-stock or what the price is by taking that DPCI number to the Guest Services. They can also check if other stores in your area have it in-stock.
**Note- If the DPCI number is not available on the clearance list sites, try locating the item on Target.com to get the DPCI number and then plug into the Search Store Inventory link.

All markdowns are ideally done at the same time in all stores. But anyone that has ever gotten the above info and gone into a store will eventually see that this isn’t a perfect world for clearance either. So, how about trying to make nice with an employee in one or two departments and see if you can get inside info on how your local store does markdowns and if they are strict or lax on the markdown schedule.

When Target pulls their clearance merchandise from the sales floor, it is donated to Goodwill Industries. They have done this for years. I’ll be honest, in some cases I know that the lowest Target price is less than what Goodwill sells it for. Not always, but sometimes it is. So it is important to know your prices and be aware this can happen.

Using Coupons Effectively @ Target

Step 1 – Know Target Coupon Policy – Print to take with you.
Dear Target Guest,
Thanks for asking again about using coupons at Target. Coupons are a great way to save even more when shopping at Target, andwe make it easy to use them at our stores. But because of the variety of coupons available to our guests, we do have some guidelines for how coupons can be redeemed at Target:
-We accept two kinds of coupons: Target-issued coupons and manufacturer-issued coupons.
-We’ll accept one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon for the same item, unless either coupon prohibits it.
-We can’t give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item; in that case, we’ll adjust the value of the coupon to equal the price of the item.
-We can’t accept coupons from other retailers, or coupons for products not carried in our stores.-All valid coupons should be presented to the cashier at the time of sale.
In addition, Target empowers the store to limit the number of items a guest buys with coupons. We reserve the right to limit purchases to reasonable family-size quantities. Have questions or want more information about using coupons at Target? Check with a Guest Services Team Leader at your local store. You can also give us a call at (800) 440-0680, or visit us on Target.com. Either way, we’re here to help!
Thanks for shopping with us. We’ll see you again soon at Target.
Sincerely,
Larry
Target Guest Relations
www.target.com

Step 2 – Using Store and Manufacturer Coupons
After reading 100’s of posts on various message boards it seems you should be aware of these things:
1- Print a copy of the corporate coupon policy and take with you in case you are treated poorly. You will have exactly what corporate says is allowable as well as corporate’s phone number (add to cell phone!)
2- Any store manager has the right to refuse quantities. Don’t abuse the coupon savings by buying hoards of items and you should get what you want just fine.
3- It has been mentioned that you can “spoon feed” your coupons to the cashier if you’d like as the items go through the scanner. I see this as something you’d do if you have a really tough store to deal with.
4- I have also seen it mentioned that you should avoid unfriendly cashiers with a chip on their shoulder. Try to find a friendly one. If you like the cashier, you might try asking what days they work so you can visit their line again. You know as well as I do that some cashiers think the coupon savings comes directly out of their paycheck. Engage in chit chat early, get them smiling and talking. Any cashier will treat you better if you do. I know, some are just hags or man-hags. LOL
5- If your purchase comes out free, don’t set off any bells and whistles. Just purchase something you need to go with it. DO NOT END UP WITH A NEGATIVE BALANCE!!!!!!!!!
6- The goal is to get a reasonable amount of items on sale with a coupon, not have a negative balance, keep the cashier happy (while finding one that isn’t a coupon Nazi). Don’t get the manager involved because they are known to be jerks.
7- Target.com coupons at one time said “Super Target Coupons”. Now they simply say Target Web Coupons and if a non-super size store has the item, they should accept the coupon.
8- If hassled whether your coupons are printed or copied, lick your finger and smear it on a spot to show them it was printed.
9- if you are shopping in a store that is paranoid that all of your Target Coupons are fraudulent, just print them and do NOT cut them out. Just present the entire sheet of coupons with the Target Coupon page URL still intact on the bottom of the sheet. It is a bit more expensive to print in this manner but if you have problems, it may just solve the problem.
10- If you have complaints go to these and be heard.
Where to complain or compliment:
http://www.planetfeedback.com/
Target Corporate phone number : 1-800-440-0680
11- You’ll find Target coupons on Target.com, in magazines of all sorts, on company web sites that have large promotions going with Target, in mailers, the Sunday newspaper, on the coupon generators on Coupons.com or RedPlum.com, on product peel off coupons (peelies) or hanging on the neck of some products (hang tags). During the 4^th quarter, they release toy coupons in a small toy catalog.
Also, you can now sign up to receive mobile coupons via your cell phone. Once you have your account set up, you can access those coupons on your cell phone by launching the Internet browser on your phone and typing in/bookmarking http://target.com/save
Target Coupons – Print them from Target.com
Target Coupon Policy – Rules for using any coupons at Target
Target Return Policy – In store purchase
Target Return Policy – Returning a Target.com purchase to the store
Target.com Price Matching Policy
Target Store Low Price Promise (in-store price matching/adjustment)

Many thanks to Michelle for asking me to guest post today. I love her blog and info she brings to us. I hope you will drop by one or both of my blogs to find some deal info to help you stretch your budget. I blog at both AttentionTargetShoppers.com and FrugalInAlabama.com

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The new photo scanner requires no PC to convert print photos into digital images. Users simply press a single button to scan photos as small as wallet-sized up to 8 ½ x 11, and the device is not a whole lot bigger than large tube of tooth paste, so I plan to keep it packed in my laptop bag.

This fun gadget was literally “plug and play.” I took it out of the box, inserted the small memory  SD card that came with it into the back, plugged it in, and began scanning photos from my kids’ baby books. Then, I used the USB cord and plugged it into my laptop, and transferred the photos onto my computer. But, if you want, you can insert the SD card loaded with full-color JPEG images into your computer to upload the photos to your favorite photo site like Snapfish, or  take the SD card to a Walgreens or CVS and have your photos printed directly from it — no PC or laptop required. You also can insert the card into a Pandigital digital photo frame to immediately view the images. (I wrote about my Pandigital photo frame here).

The best part about this Pandigital scanner is that it’s so FAST. My printer acts as a scanner, but it’s really slow. First, you scan the photo . . .slowly.  Yawn. Then it’s converted into a JPEG  image on the computer . .  yawn, then I find it . . . yawn. It’s a process. I scanned about 50 photos in about 20 minutes with this dealy. I’m going crazy.  First, I’m scanning all the photos from the childhood of my oldest kids. Then, I’m going to scan my photos from my early marriage, and then move my way backward to college, then high school. Facebook, look out!! I’m armed with an easy to use scanner. Here are some of my scans from this evening:

My oldest (now 15) with Santa

My middle child (now 12) getting the last of the soda.

Pandigital’s award-winning line of scanners have been acclaimed for their ease-of-use and excellent performance. The scanner does not require any expensive or confusing software and employs a new twin-roller feeding system to ensure that the photos are scanned evenly each time.  Further optimizing the quality, images are scanned at up to 600 optical dpi for resulting scans that have a crisp and clear 3800×7200 24-bit color depth resolution.  In addition to being able to scan images onto the included SD memory card, the scanner accepts other popular memory cards (SD, MS, MS Pro, MMS, XD) and can also be connected directly to either a Mac or PC computer via its mini-USB port.

The Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter weighs in at less than a pound at only 13.79 ounces and measures only 10.59(L) x 1.73(H) x 2.32(D) inches. It is available for now for a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $149.99 here.

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My teen is working as a life guard this summer, and she was home with me when the accident happened, immediately going into “first-aide/life guard mode.” While I wrapped my hand around my toddler’s ankle (not yet knowing the extent of the injury), got her on her back and lifted her foot in the air, my teen grabbed the first-aid kit, tore open a large gauze bandage, handed it to me, then grabbed a long piece of cloth that is actually a cooling cloth but that we used to secure the bandage around my baby’s ankle and slow the bleeding. Then we loaded her into the car and headed to the emergency room. Here is a picture of our “battle field” dressing.

Now here’s a picture of her injury. Don’t look if you’re squeamish.

She got stitches. It was all a little “traumatic” at first, but the E.R. at Missouri Baptist Medical Center is the BEST at handling kiddos, so we’re all good. And the stitches will come out before we leave for our Florida beach vacation, so that’s a relief.

But back to the first aide kit. My teen was a little critical of the contents of our kit, so I’m re-stocking. We had what we needed, but we did use our last bandage. Here’s a high-value coupon off any Johnson & Johnson Red Cross brand product. ($2 off). That should make a package of bandages pretty cheap.

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The Koala Pouch ($14.95 at www.momcepts.com) – A stylish eco-conscious shopping organizer that fits securely over any shopping cart handle to hold EVERYTHING the grocery shopper needs. It has:
•A dedicated pocket with index cards to keep coupons and shopping lists organized
•A roomy see-through pocket for easy access to your mobile phone
•A pocket with two stylish and spacious reusable bags so you’ll never forget them again!
•Enough space for a List Caddy, Koalabiner, keys, money, debit/credit cards etc.
•A pen/pencil holder

The Koalabiner Purse Hanger ($4.95 at www.momcepts.com) – This is a must-have accessory for all purse toting grocery shoppers and moms. The Koalabiner is a super sturdy carabiner that clips purses securely to any shopping cart or stroller handle to free up cart space and provide easy access for the shopper, and difficult access for kids or purse snatchers. It also is a great for securing reusable bags while shopping, and for clipping full grocery bags together to prevent items from spilling out.

The List Caddy ($1.99 at www.momcepts.com) – This is a sturdy list, coupon and pencil holder that snaps onto shopping cart handles and attaches to refrigerators for easy list and coupon management.

These items have made my recent larger grocery shopping trips much more organized. The items are certainly affordable, but Momcepts is offering one of my readers a set for free, so enter the giveaway below for your chance to win.

Giveaway Guidelines:

To enter the contest, you MUST become an email subscriber to Lipstick to Crayons. The subscribe button is in the upper right corner of the site. Once you subscribe (or if you are already a subscriber), leave a comment below telling me you did so, and make sure the email address you provide is the one you used to subscribe. After completing this mandatory first entry method, you can gain additional entries by doing any or all of the following (but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do):

1. Blog about this contest
2. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter
3. Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
4. Stumble this post
5. Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
6. Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.
7. Post a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time June 29, 2010. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Winners will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If any winner does not claim the prize by July 1, 2010, he/she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

USA & Canada residents only please!

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO JULIE, COMMENT #56.

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