Free Folgers Coffee Sample

Head on over to www.folgerscoffee.com to sign up for a free sample of instant coffee. At my house, coffee and breakfast are synonymous. I'm sure the samples will go fast, so I wouldn't delay in claiming a free cup of Joe. 

Discovery Place at the Kansas Museum of History

One treasure Topeka has to offer is the Kansas Museum of History. The Museum is located at 6425 SW Sixth Avenue, Topeka, Kansas 66615.

In honor of Kansas Day, on Tuesday, January 29th, admission to the museum will be free from 9am-3pm. Normal admission to the museum is $8 for adults, $6 for students and children under 5 are free.

Kansas Museum of History

www.kshs.org or call (785) 272-8681 (ext. 414)

Honestly, it had been years since I had visited the museum. A couple of weeks ago on a cold, snowy day, my daughter suggested we take a couple of the grandkids to the museum.  What I didn't know, is the museum offers a children's play area called the Discovery Center which is absolutely free. That's right, you do not have to pay the museum admission to visit the children's discovery area which is located  inside the front door immediately to your right. The area is designed for children up to age 9.

And, the Discovery Center can be reserved between 9am-1pm for playgroups or parties.  There is a charge for parties but you can visit during the public hours of 1:00-4:30 for FREE.   How fabulous is that?

The Discovery Center includes a Laura Ingles Wilder inspired play area. My grandson was fascinated by the miniature cooking stove.  The area also includes kid dress up clothes. What little girl doesn't look adorable in a prairie dress and bonnet?

A dollhouse, barn, farm animals and tractors provide a popular play area.

Or, put on your own puppet show....

Visit the tipi....

Play general store....

Have a Oz themed tea party.....

 Play a carnival game...

Ride a Horse....

 Conduct a train...

Or go inside the museum and visit the GIANT train (admission required)....

Or one of the many other Kansas inspired exhibits.

The Kansas Museum of History is a great winter activity and way to get the kids out of the house. I highly recommend it!!!

How to Get Inexpensive Juice at Apple Market through January 8

This week I went to Apple Market to buy some chicken breast.  I thought Apple Market had advertised skinless chicken breast for $2.49 a pound but I found these two packages labeled for $1.68 a pound. One package cost $3.11 and the other was $3.48.  

Just an FYI, hamburger seems to always to be cheaper at Apple Market than any other store in Topeka. This package was $2.99 a pound.  Most other Topeka grocery stores are charging $3.99 up.  The meat department at Apple Market is one thing that keeps me coming back.

I had to blog about one really good deal at Apple Market this week.  With coupons, you can get some really cheap juice this week.  How?

First, Old Orchard Juice is on sale for $1.25 a bottle at Apple Market this week which in itself is a great price.  The same juice at HyVee this week is on sale for $1.99.  It's not uncommon  for name brand juice to cost $2.99 on up.

First, you will have to join the Old Orchard Fan Club.  Go to the companys website at www.oldorchard.com. You will see the link in the upper right hand corner labeled "Fan Club". Once you have joined (only takes a couple of minutes), go to the link labeled "Promotions" at the top of the page.

Under current promotions are several coupons you can print. I was able to print a coupon for $1 off two bottles of  Healthy Balance Juice and one coupon for buy one, get one free. All together the four bottles of juice pictured above cost a whopping $2.75 or an average of 68 cents a bottle. The coupons were only good for the "Healthy Balance" juice, not the regular juice. Coupon or not, I am thinking of returning and stocking up on some $1.25 a bottle juice. 

There is also a link on the website to enter a giveaway. The company is giving away 2,013 free bottles of juice. These are the kind of contests I frequently win.  I received coupons for several free items last year.

On the website, you can also accumulate reward points to earn free products and swag.  You earn points by playing games, taking surveys and entering codes off specially marked products.  I have already earned enough points to earn a coupon for a free can of frozen concentrate. You can't beat free!

How to Download Free Music From the Topeka & Shawnee County Library



I bought my first car, a cream colored 1968 Ford Mustang in 1982, right after I graduated from High School. In 1982, the car was only 14 years old.  At some point, someone had installed an 8-track player in it. By the time I bought the car, 8-tracks were already old technology, though you could still find places to buy them. I really wanted a new stereo but couldn't afford one so made do with the three 8-tracks I owned.

 

To this day, I am quite confident I could belt out any song from Supertramp's "Breakfast in America" or Carly Simon's "Boys in the Trees" albums. It's true...the songs you listen to in high school are the songs you will be listening to in your retirement years.

 

 

So, in my lifetime, I've gone from 8-tracks to cassettes to CD's to Mp3's. It gets expensive to be constantly buying the same old music in different formats.

 

For our anniversary, my husband bought me a Google tablet, which I love. I wanted some music on it but hated the thought of spending a lot of money. This is when I discovered I could download songs from the Topeka and Shawnee County Library's website.  Here's how it works:

 

Go to the website located at http://tscpl.org/.  On the banner across the top of the library's home web page, click on "Find Stuff," which is the first item listed on the top left side of the home page.

 

After clicking on "Find Stuff," you will see the above page with a link to "Downloads".  Under Downloads, click on "Music Downloads (Freegal)".

 

Once you have registered with freegal, you may download three songs a week for free. You log in using your library card number and library password and then can search for songs by title, artist, album or composer.

 

Not all artists or albums are on freegal.  You will find a lot of newer artists, seeking to build an audience and a lot of older music. That's fine by me because I love me some Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Judy Garland and Dinah Shore. To date, I've downloaded almost 40 songs. These are songs I probably would never have gone out and bought but still enjoy listening to...like my bagpipe music or classical instrumental cowboy theme songs.

 

I once had a boss who had moved to Topeka from out East and was unfamiliar with our town. One of the first thing he did was have all the employees in his department make a list of the ten best things Topeka has to offer. My list definitely included our library.

Free Arby's Sandwich on September 6

You can't beat Free!

Mark your calendars for September 6th and get a free Turkey Roaster sandwich at Arby's between 11am-1pm.  

Topeka Westlake Ace Hardware Free Paint on August 4, 2012

Free Quart of Paint at Westlake

To claim your free quart of paint, go to http://www.westlakehardware.com/paint-free-quart. Print off the coupon, fill out and take to your local Topeka Westlake Ace Hardware to claim your free quart of paint.  This offer is only good on AUGUST 4, 2012.  There is a limit of one quart per customer.  You can't beat free!

Free Kid's Haircuts at JCP

In today's JCP advertisement, it states they are offering free kid's haircuts all August (K-6th). I imagine there are very limited haircut spaces available so if interested I would immediately call 855-JCP-KIDS and make an appointment.