If you’ve got kids, then you’ve got batteries. Lots of batteries. If not, then, well, you’ve probably got piles of non-working toys and a screaming-around-the-clock kid. We go through batteries like water in our house (and we drink a fair amount of water, y’know). Well, now’s the perfect time to stock up on batteries, thanks to a huge coupon at none other than Batteries.com:

35% off your online order at Batteries.com
Use coupon code 4TH.
Excludes closeout and clearance items.

There’s no known expiration date listed, but from my research, I’d gather the sale ends either Saturday or Sunday this weekend. So use it… or lose it!

So yesterday was our 9-year wedding anniversary. Normally we don’t do much on our anniversary except go out to a nice dinner. No cards or presents. At least we really haven’t the past few years since having kids. But of course I had to get wifey something she’s been craving for months… a Cuisinart Soft Ice Cream Maker! Her birthday’s not until August but I figured I’d give it now as an anniversary present so she could really enjoy it this summer. Needless to say it was a big hit (and miss of sorts) with her and the boys.

The neat thing about it is besides making soft ice cream that comes pouring out of the machine just like at your local Carvel’s (and tastes just like it too!), you can add a number of toppings directly into your ice cream. Through 3 tubes on the side of the machine, you can put in sprinkles, chocolate chips, etc. and as you pour your ice cream into a bowl, the toppings come out of the same tube. But Cuisinart really needs to put a warning on this thing… DO NOT USE NON-PARELLS! You know, those tiny little candy balls (the white dots on Sno-Caps candy). My wife does a lot of cookie decorating so she has an arsenal of sprinkles, sugar things, non-parells, you name it. Since they were tiny and colorful and my kids loved em, she figured she’d put them in. That didn’t go over too well, as they’re round. And round things tend to bounce. So while some went into the ice cream, a lot of them just bounced off the bowl and onto the table. Didn’t help any when she took the tube off the side, put it on the table and my 4-year-old proceeded to accidentally knock it over, spilling the little balls… well, EVERYWHERE. Vacuum was nearly useless as these were sooo tiny. We literally sat on the floor with a dustbuster, sucking up each and every ball individually. Sigh. Live and learn.

Anyways, next time we’ll know to just use sprinkles (which worked great)! We’ll try again this weekend. But despite the mess, this machine rules. It’s always fun getting your own soft-serve ice cream, and the actual making of the ice cream was fairly quick and painless.

Personally, I picked up the machine at my local Bed, Bath & Beyond, using a 20% off coupon they had mailed to me. Base price was $99, so I got it for only $80. Not bad at all. It seems to be $99 pretty much everywhere, so I suggest finding a coupon for BB&B and hitting there. But if you really want to order online, I found a decent coupon for Chef’s Catalog:

Shop at CHEFS Catalog through Shop.com and save:
$5 off a purchase of $50+ with coupon code SHOP5.
$10 off a purchase of $100+ with coupon code SHOP10.
$25 off a purchase of $250+ with coupon code SHOP25.
Do not use Guest Checkout if you want to use a coupon!
Valid through: August 31, 2007
You MUST use this link to use the coupon. It will NOT work at ChefsCatalog.com.

Some of my earliest memories of life are sitting in the quite sterile waiting room of our dentist’s office. I must’ve been 6 or 7 I’d guess. The walls were pretty bare, just white with a few boring paintings hung up. Chairs were red cushioned and then a few tiny yellow plastic ones for kids. But besides that horrible dentist office smell, the one thing that really sticks out in my mind is grabbing the latest issue of Highlights magazine and trying to find all the hidden pictures.

I’m glad to see they’re still making Highlights, and now they’ve turned the Hidden Pictures game into a full-fledged magazine itself! And it rocks. We actually get it for our 4-year-old son and he loves it. Instead of circling the hidden pictures, each spread of the magazine includes stickers of the hidden objects that you take off and stick right on the pages when you find ‘em. Pretty spiffy keen. Anyways, if you’ve got kids, grandkids or just love hidden picture games yourself, I can’t recommend it enough. But the Highlights site has more than just a magazine or two (they’ve got plenty of those and more), they’ve got lots of kid-oriented games, toys and whatnot. And with a few coupons currently available, now’s the time to look!

$10 off online orders over $75 at Highlights.com

$15 off online orders over $100 at Highlights.com

$20 off online orders over $150 at Highlights.com

Click each link to get the coupon code and specific details.
All coupons are good through June 30, 2007
Cannot be combined with other Highlights Catalog discounts or offers. Subscription products including Highlights Magazines or Highlights Clubs do not count toward the minimum purchase total.

You don’t need to cut off any body parts to become a famous artist. You just need to practice. A lot. Oh, and you need lots of paint and paper or canvas or something to write on. And if you’re as bad an artist as I am, you’ll need a LOT of materials. Good thing there’s a coupon for art supplies at one of my favorite online art supply store thingies:

20% off online orders at Dick Blick
Use source code CCAS in the Source/Promotional Code box.
Valid through: June 28, 2007 11:59pm CT
Cannot be combined with any other promotion. Not valid on gift certificate purchases or factory-direct items (noted as FOB).

Okay, so beauty is only skin deep. We got that. But exactly how deep IS skin anyways? If you’re overweight, is your skin thicker? If so, then the heavier you are, the more beautiful you are, right? Yeah, biology was never my strong suit. So let’s move on and save some money on beauty products:

20% off your order at Lancome.com
My Lancome members also get free shipping on orders over $50.
Use coupon code NEWLANCOME at checkout.
Valid through: June 30, 2007

Okay, I can’t take credit for that one. I’ll admit it and give props to Garfield. Yes, Garfield, the lasagna-eating, fat, lazy cartoon cat. I remember seeing that on a book or pin or something when I was younger and just thought it was pretty darn funny.

Seeing as how it’s officially summer and the weather is crazy warm (at least here in NY), beach season is well underway. Which means… ugh, tight bathing suits. Time to hit the gym, tone up, watch what you eat, etc. So to help battle the bulge, here’s a few current offers from some of the leading diet programs out there:

Two Free Weeks of Food when you use AutoShip at Medifast
No code necessary, just use the above link to sign up. With your 1st AutoShip order you’ll receive one free week of food and a free Medifast book. With your 2nd AutoShip order you’ll receive another free week of food. On your 3rd and subsequent AutoShip orders you’ll get a 5% discount.
Your AutoShip orders must total at least $250 each and must be consecutive with no interruption or cancellation in your AutoShip service. Orders over $200 get Free Shipping.

FREE week of food with a 28-day NutriSystem Nourish Program
The free week of food offer is intended for new NutriSystem customers.

Free Diet Profile (Diet Needs Analysis)
Get a free Diet Needs Analysis from eDiets. They offer a ton of different diet programs based on your needs, including Atkins, Cholesterol lowering, Blood Type diet, High-Fiber, Healthy Soy, Vegetarian, Type II Diabetes, etc.

Actually, these days I think it’s MTV that killed the video star, seeing as how they never show videos anymore… But just a quick note to show off the fact that we’re currently spreading across radio airwaves nationwide. Woop!

Sure, you may have to be listening in the middle of the night, but in case you don’t happen to come across it, you can listen to our current 30-second commercial right here: UC Radio Commercial Click the link to hear it in your browser, or right-click the link and do a SAVE AS to save the file to your desktop. It’s in mp3 format, so you can listen to us in your favorite mp3 player. Aww, you CAN take us with you…)

Anyways, back to our regularly scheduled couponing…

I don’t know what made me think of it, but Hewlett-Packard just doesn’t sound as fun as Happy Platypus does it? And speaking of platypuses (heh, say that 3 times out loud), the male platypus actually has a small venomous barb on the back of its hind paw. There’s your obscure mammal fact for the day!

Now back to the computer-company HP… I’ve been a Dell man myself for the past few years, but when I’m ready to upgrade to my new system (hopefully later this year), I’m pretty sure I’m switching over to HP. I’ve just been hearing some really great things about them and not too many negatives. Plus, they have a pair of great coupons if you’re looking for a solid desktop:

$200 off any customized HP Pavilion Desktop PC configured at $799
Valid online only. Use coupon code DT9910.

$300 off any customized HP Pavilion Desktop PC configured at $999
Valid online only. Use coupon code DT9830.

Both coupons are valid through: July 2, 2007
Terms: Valid online only. Limited supply available. Limited to three uses per customer; one coupon per checkout. Not valid with Instant Rebates. Restrictions apply. (For complete conditions, see “Coupon Information” in the Customer Service section of the HP Home Store.) Coupon discounts are not combinable with instant rebate(s) or free gift offers. HP will apply the higher of the two discounts.

It’s true. Go ask your dog what he thinks about coupons. Or your cat. She’s probably a big fan. Fish? Not so much. But now you can save a few bucks on your next pets purchase at Petco thanks to these 2 handy dandy coupons:

$5 off any size order at Petco.com
Use the above link to activate the coupon or use promotion code affreg if there’s a problem.
Valid through: June 28, 2007
Valid online only. Excludes dog food, cat food, cat litter, live aquatics, purchases of out-of-stock items, donations, gift certificates and gift cards; merchandise purchases through Bottomless Bowl & More subscriptions; shipping and applicable taxes. One use per customer only.

$10 off an order of $75 or more at Petco.com
Use the above link to activate the coupon or use promotion code PETCOEA if there’s a problem.
Valid through: June 28, 2007
Valid online only. Excludes dog food, cat food, cat litter, live aquatics, purchases of out-of-stock items, donations, gift certificates and gift cards; merchandise purchases through Bottomless Bowl & More subscriptions; shipping and applicable taxes. Additional exclusions may apply and will be noted on the product detail page. One use per customer only.

What’s the worst part of marriage? Wait, let me rephrase that. What’s the worst part about planning the wedding? No, not the anticipation, the sweats, the worry, writing the vows, manipulating the seating chart like a carefully planned military operation so Aunt Ethel isn’t sitting anywhere near Uncle Jack… Uh uh. The absolute most-painful, horrific, scary part of getting married is… picking out the china! Ahhhhhhhh! Sooo many patterns. Soooo many styles. And once you do pick a style, then you need to pick all the pieces. And the number of each piece… It just never ends.

Anyways, it is a necessary evil, though. Assuming you do register for china dishes. And speaking of china, Lenox puts out some of the nicest china out there, ranging across the board from affordable to crazy fancy expensive. They also have a ton of other really nice items like bowls, vases, picture frames (Great wedding or engagement gifts!), and even jewelry. And right now you can save a few bucks in the process with one of these rare coupons.

$10 off online orders over $75 at Lenox.com
Use the above link to activate coupon.
Valid through: June 25, 2007
Cannot be combined with other offers, and cannot be applied to past purchases