news and notes

Photo by DartVader

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m always finding great one-day-only deals or giveaways that I want to take advantage of, and then I inevitably forget all about them before the date arrives!

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one it happens to, and that’s why I’m excited to tell you about a feature on the Deal Seeking Mom Forums that both Tara and I are both really excited about.

The Freebies & Giveaways Calendar features all the great deals, freebies and giveaways we know you want to remember. Rather than clutter up your email with dozens of reminders that you may or may not want, you can simply click on the events that you want to take advantage of and select “Request Reminder for this Event.” The system will send you an email reminder before the scheduled event, and you can even choose when you want it to arrive to be sure you don’t miss it.

Find the calendar here, click on the calendar icon in the media box to the right, or simply use the Resources dropdown menu on the forums. You’re welcome to browse all of the great coupons, deals and freebies as a guest, but you’ll need to take just a minute to register in order for the system to send you calendar reminders.

See you there!

It was another great week on the Deal Seeking Mom Forums. We’ve got amazing members who are helping to build a valuable Deal Seeking community!

We’ve announced quite a few new features, and we’re continuing to roll out more every week. We’d love to hear from you if there’s a feature you think we should consider adding.

This week, we held our first weekly contest for the member who had the most helpful or valuable post. It was so hard to choose, but the five winners each contributed a variety of great freebies, coupon matches and more. Be sure to read the contest announcement for more information on how you can be one of FIVE members to win TEN coupons, each valid for one FREE Stouffer’s Corner Bistro Stromboli or Flatbread Melt up to $3.29 (exp. 2/28/10).

We’ve got a growing list of stores being covered on a weekly basis in the Grocery Deals forum. If you’re interested in covering one not already on the list, please register and PM Mandi, our Forum Administrator, so she can get you set up!

This week, Mandi shared how her family is able to enjoy Starbucks Frappuccinos for less, and our contest winner, Sati769leigh, posted tons of great freebies in the Freebies forum.

Whether you’ve got deals and freebies to share or are just looking for great deals, we hope to see you there!

Tonight is the first ever Mom’s Nite Out celebration, and I’m looking forward to taking part with some of my best bloggy friends.

I’m headed to Dayton, Ohio with my good friend Marcy of Stretching a Buck to meet up with these other ladies:

• Emily and Jenny of Mommin’ It Up!
• Andrea of MommySnacks.net
• Erin of $5 Dollar Dinners
• Amy of AmyinOhio
• Luann of I Want MK
• Tricia and Cortney of Onceamonthmom.com
• Casey of Moosh In Indy

The Mom’s Nite Out concept was developed by the fabulous Maria Bailey of BSM Media, and you can read all about her vision.

If you’d like to follow the fun, you can watch the live stream of the event at the following URL from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST tonight.

https://www.momtv2.com/DaytonOH.html

You can also follow us on Twitter using the hashtags #MNO-09 #Dayton.

Thanks to all of the fantastic sponsors for their amazing generosity. Just a few are Unilever, Little Debbie, Cuervo, Welch’s, and Build A Bear. And thanks to Subway, Pizza Hut, Kroger and Frito-Lay for providing the food and beverages for the event.

Hope to “see” you all there!

I’m off again . . . this time to Bentonville, Arkansas to speak at the Mind of Moms Summit. This is my first time speaking in a presentation rather than a panel format, so wish me luck! Things should settle back down around here for a few weeks at least after I return on Wednesday.

In the meantime, feel free to hang out and chat in the forums!