I've never seen an O Magazine offer this low and I've been a subscriber for 2 years. I just called customer service (O Mag, not Amazon) and asked if I purchased two separate offers would that give me 2 years. The woman told me I'd more than likely get double issues for one of the months but if I call back they could blend the two subscriptions together. Woot!

*The offer ends this Saturday 12/19. Affiliate link.

Great Find: How I Used the $5 off Hallmark Gold Crown Coupon

CLOSED*If you're in So Cal, don't forget to enter my holiday meal giveaway: a spiral cut ham dinner for 6 people!*CLOSED

I got a pretty sweet deal when I went to the Hallmark store today and wanted to pass it along. Several blogs I read posted about a great coupon for $5 off a $5 purchase a Hallmark Gold Crown stores.

I went intending to pick up a few cards since they have a pretty good selection of .99 ones. When I got to the register, they had a small display of Christmas CD's marked down as their 'deal of the week.' I put four of the cards back and got Barry Manilow and Cheryl Crow CD's instead. Barry was $1 and Cheryl $3. With the coupon I paid .43!


I know most, if not all, Hallmark stores are franchised so this could only be an isolated deal but it's definitely worth checking out. I have 4 more coupons left and I told them I'd be back tomorrow to take advantage of the offer again. The CD's will be good stocking stuffers and teacher gifts.
From what I've read, the $5 coupon is now in 10 different magazines:

* Better Homes and Garden
* Country Living – December/January, after Page 96
* Family Circle – after Page 48
* Martha Stewart Living – December, Page 74
* Oprah – December, Page 119
* Parents – between Pages 84 and 85 ($10 off a story book)
* Real Simple – December
* Southern Living – December, insert after Page 62
* Taste Of Home – December/January, insert after Page 42
* Woman’s Day – December, Page 33

Hope you're able to take advantage of it!

*Thank you Couponing to Disney for compiling the magazine list! Sorry for the bad photo, I wanted to get the deal up before family game night.

Works for Me Wednesday: Frugal Valentine's Day 2010

I got the idea to post this tip from one of the comments on my Valentine's Day picture. Stephanie thought they were all my Valentine's Day gift. Only one of the boxes (the big one with the ribbon center) was a gift. Hubs gave it to me last year. I got the others during my time as a Godiva employee.

Aside: Yes, I loved being around chocolate all day, no, I didn't get tired of chocolate and yes, we had to eat it all the time. I know, tough life, right?

 
We got a killer discount even on sale merchandise so I started collecting them to use as part of my decorating. Most people don't know that you don't have to fill the heart with Godiva pieces. You can purchase just the empty heart box and it becomes a neat keepsake.

I wanted to make sure I got one of this year's designs because it's really pretty. I bought an empty heart then filled it with the hubs' favorite candies. I did the same thing last year. It might become a tradition. He doesn't like "fouffy" candy and most of what I buy comes from the dollar store and See's. (shhhh, don't tell Godiva)
  
Buying an empty heart is significantly less expensive than buying a pre-filled one, but those tend to go really fast since most people prefer to customize their gifts over buying the pre-filled hearts. We had so many customers bring in their empty hearts year after year to be filled. It was awesome to see some of the designs from years ago. 

Another option is to take a chance and wait until the day after Valentine's Day. If there are any pre-filled heart boxes left in the stores they'll be half off (and since Godiva is now $40 a pound that's an excellent deal!). You'll have the keepsake heart and the chocolates. Bonus!

But, unless the economy is hurting sales, people will be lined up waiting outside the store the day after a holiday to snatch up anything left over. The day after Valentine's Day is the the most popular time to hit the store (at least that was my experience years ago). The hearts are shipped to the store in their own cardboard box so make sure to ask the staff if they have any left over. They're perfect for storage.

 

Do you have any Valentine's Day traditions?