Gumshoe U

The GR Police Dept. is offering an interesting event on Saturday at 1pm. Here's a copy of the details..."If searching for clues and solving crime is your cup of tea, then come join us and put your investigative skills to work at the Grand Rapids Police Department. Sharpen those CSI skills as you are led into the GRPD Crime Scene Room in the hopes of figuring out “whodunit.” Officers will also give a tour of police headquarters and give you the opportunity to check out one of their police cruisers.
Space is limited. Free and open to the public. "

Grand Rapids Police Department
1 Monroe Ctr NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
988-5400 or visit www.grpl.org/itrain

Gluten Free Fair

Kuyper College on East Beltline is having this fantastic event! There will be Gluten Free Products to sample and purchase from many vendors. Restaurants and Support groups will be represented for information. Door Prizes are given away every half hour. Not bad for a FREE event.

May 2nd
10am - 3pm
Kuyper College
3333 East Beltline
Grand Rapids 49525

Making Comics Workshop

The Grand Rapids Public Library is offering a very unique workshop on Saturday. In celebration of National Comic Book Week, author/illustrator Ryan Hipp will provide a fun-filled, hands-on comics workshop, showing kids how to put words and pictures together to tell their stories. He will share valuable tips and secret tricks on how to make comics. For teens 12-18. Free and open to the public.

May 2, 2009
12:00 pm
Main Library
111 Library St NE

FREE Game Time

Creative Learning is a unique store for children that offers FREE game time any time their store is open. They have over 50 games that you can play with! They have a little cafe area that you can take your game and family to and have a staff member help you learn some new fun. They make a special time of this on Saturdays from 2-6pm but you're welcome to try them out whenever they're open.

Creative Learning
1200 E. Paris SE
Suite 4 Grand Rapids, MI 49546
Phone (616)-975-9019

Store Hours:
Monday-Friday 9:30 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday Noon - 5:00 PM

Outdoor Flea Market

'Tis the season of flea markets, farm markets and garage sales! On May 2nd you can head over to Coopersville for their Outdoor Flea Market at the Coopersville Farm Museum. This event goes from 9am-1pm and comes with a bonus. If you go to the museum that day the admission is only$2! I believe the normal price is $10!
Check out their future dates for the flea market here.


Coopersville Farm Museum
375 Main St.
Coopersville 49404
997-8555

A View of the Sun

This event is a little farther out than I usually blog about but it's pretty amazing. May 2nd at 7:30 pm, the public is invited to a free lecture at the James C. Veen Observatory, located at 3308 Kissing Rock Road in Lowell, by local astronomer Dell Paielli, whose groundbreaking asteroid research has earned him significant acclaim. Afterwards, visitors can view the skies through high-powered telescopes during the first Public Observatory Night.

Sample Time!

Here's the latest FREE samples!

Caress Skinwear Collection body wash/bar of soap
Degree Women Fine Fragrance Deodorant / body mist
Hellman's Light Mayo
Pond's Rejuveness Anti-Wrinkle Cream
Paraben Free Skin Care
Clairol Advanced Gray Solution
True Lemon
The Grime Fighter All Purpose House Cleaner
Head & Shoulders
Alterna Hair Care
Sensodyne
Tena Serenity Pads
Total Cranberry Crunch
Seeded Plantable Paper
Just Like Sugar

FREE Magazine Subscriptions

Here are the latest magazines you can subscribe to for FREE!

Log Home Living (possibly, not for sure)

Marlin

Motor Boating

Town & Country

Tennis

Clearly Caring

Boating Life

Restyling

Let me know if any of these don't work for you and I'll take it/them off.

Taking the Day Off + 1 Event

Hey everyone! I'm going to be taking today off from blogging and will return tomorrow. But before I leave you today I'd like to give you at least one event to go to. Tomorrow at 12:30pm the East Grand Rapids Library will be showing To Catch a Thief. This is a FREE event so it's a great way to start the weekend.

Dollar Skate Night

The Kentwood Fun Spot has a Dollar Skate Night on April 30th from 4-6pm. The cost is $1 admission and $2 for skate rental. This is a fun pastime that would be great to pass on to future generations.

Kentwood Fun Spot
14 52nd St
Kentwood MI 49548
534-8106

Chateau Estates Garage Sales

Thursday April 30th will be a great day for garage saleing. Chateau Estates in Wyoming will be holding a neighborhood sale from 6-8pm. This will give you enough time to hit the Del Mar Farms sale and then head over to Wyoming. The Chateau sale will go Friday and Saturday as well from 8am-5pm. They will have over 55 houses participating in the sale. They are located off Burlingame between 44th and 52nd St. Watch for the signs.

Del Mar Farms Garage Sale

Tonight at 5pm you should check out the Del Mar Farms Garage Sale out in Grandville. There will be 55+ garages participating in this sale. Their hours tonight are from 5-8pm and tomorrow from 8am-3pm. Del-Mar Farm is located in Grandville near the intersection of 56th Street and Wilson just north of the Wilson exit of M-6.

FREE Pass to Loeschner's Village Green

I just got my Advance Newspaper yesterday and decided to give it a look see today and found a coupon for a FREE pass to the miniature golf place called Loeschner's Village Green. If you want to take the family but only get the one paper, you could always ask your neighbors or friends who also get it. I found it in the Recreation Guide section. I don't see an expiration date on it either!

Loeschner's Village Green
4521 Chicago Dr.
Grandville, 49418
632-9124
www.villagegreen.8m.com

2 FREE Movies at Library

April 30th will be a great day to check out the Wyoming branch of KDL. At 1pm they will have a showing of the movie Big with Tom Hanks. This event is for adults. At 3:30pm teens can come and watch a movie of their own. I called to find out which movie it would be but the only person that knew wouldn't be around until this evening. So you can try and call ahead if you like.

3350 Michael Ave. SW
Wyoming, MI 49509
(616) 647-3980

FREE Bread Bowl Pasta at Dominos

This is totally last minute since this promotion is happening right now! But in case you get this right away and can make it over to a Dominos, here's the scoop - From 11am until 2pm you can get a FREE Bread Bowl Pasta at Dominos Pizza. Not all locations are participating though. Here are a couple of locations that are. Please call ahead before trying to get this deal. I'd hate for you to waste your gas.

3649 Byron Center Ave Sw
Wyoming, MI 49519

1602 Leonard St Nw
Grand Rapids, MI 49504

$10 Coupon at Dots

Right now there is a special survey you can take to get a $10 coupon to Dots. The great thing about this coupon is that there is no minimum purchase required. I tested it out yesterday and got a cute little black dress for my sisters graduation. The dress cost $9 and I only paid $.54 cents which covered tax. Not a bad deal for a brand new little black dress. If Dots isn't your kind of store you can still use this coupon to get gifts for someone. Maybe a purse or jewelry for your mother on Mother's Day. Or just start stocking up for Christmas or birthdays. Early bird gets the worm right?

FREEBIES for Puppies

There are several puppy freebies out there and here's the latest one I've found. The Pedigree Puppy Program is FREE to join and you can do it online. When you sign up for this program here's what you get:

-Over $10 in instant savings
-A subscription to the PEDIGREE® Puppy Scoops® e-newsletter
-A downloadable Puppy Care Guide
-A special gift for your puppy when he reaches adulthood

Readers Thrifty Finds

I love it when I hear from readers about thrifty finds around Grand Rapids. One of my most recent e-mails shared two thrifty finds around town that I wanted to pass on. I'm going to just copy and paste the e-mail so you can get all the juicy details yourself...

"Something free for gardeners from Starbucks - I did not know about this until the other night when I was in Meijers. Starbucks gives away coffee grounds at the end of the day - limit 2 bags. I'm not a Starbucks frequenter, but I just happened to notice this, and took a bag for my garden. Way better than trying to gather up enough from the one pot of coffee I make a day!

...there is a thrift store on the southwest part of GR in the Wyoming/Grandville area called Nice Twice that is pretty good. It's clean, and very well organized. They currently have women's clothes BOGO. Everything is pretty reasonably priced from what I could see. They even have a bunch of wedding dresses - I didn't really look at them, but I noticed one was priced @ $35, which is pretty darn cheap! They advertise with Sudden Values and always seem to have a coupon for $5 off any purchase of $15 or more. I signed up to be on Nice Twice's email list through Sudden Values, and they emailed me another coupon for $3 off of any purchase! Right now they have tons of organic plant food for $3 a tub, so I'm going to take my coupon in and get a free tub of plant food! Their website: http://www.nicetwice.org/about.html They don't seem to update their website, so I'd call to see what their specials are if you don't normally drive by that area."

Thanks gnome for the great info! If you have a great deal that you'd like to share just e-mail me at savedfromwaste@yahoo.com

FREE Miley Cyrus Poster

Teen Vogue is giving away FREE Miley Cyrus posters when you register at their website. You have to fill out a form and they also give you an offer for 2 years of Teen Vogue for just $10. Not too bad but I'm used to getting my magazines for FREE now. You do NOT have to subscribe to the magazine to get the poster. You can just click no. If you do get the subscription they'll also throw in a tote bag with your order. If your girl is really into it but you don't want to spend the $10 you can just check yes to getting their newsletter instead.

$.31 Cent Scoop Night

Baskin Robbins has a great night planned on Wednesday the 29th from 5-10pm. You can stop by any Baskin Robbins and get a small scoop for just $.31 cents. You can only get 3 scoops at that price. The great thing about this cheapie is that they are doing it to honor the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC)National Junior Firefighter Program by giving them a $100,000 donation. If you'd like to read more about the event or cause just go here. To find a location near you then click here.

Redbox FREE Rental

Today's code for a FREE Redbox rental is 4cw33n.

FREE Audio Books

Barnes & Noble is offering a sweet deal on 9 short story audio books. They are completely FREE! These are great if you're going on a road trip. Just click here to get started.

FREE MP3 download + more!

For any fans of the christian music group Hillsong this is a treat for you. Click here to sign up to get a FREE download of their new song No Reason to Hide. You sign up and they immediately send you an e-mail where you can not only download the mp3 but also the chord chart and ringtone. Not a bad deal for FREE.

FREE Subscription to Motor Cyclist

This offer is only good to the first 15,000 people so it may be gone already. But why not check it out if you're interested. It's a FREE one year subscription to Motor Cyclist. If there are still some available it's only a good offer until May 1st so check it out right away.

DIY Paper Bag Scrapbooks

If you're into recycling or being environmentally friendly than you'll love this one. The Plainfield branch of KDL is offering a class to teach teens in grades 6-12 how to make scrapbooks out of paper bags. This event requires registration and is happening on April 28th at 6:30pm. All the materials will be provided so no need to bring anything with you. That seems almost better than FREE??

2650 5 Mile Rd. NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
(616) 647-3930

Return of the Living Dead at Wealthy Theatre

This isn't one I'll be seeing just because I'm a scaredy cat. My husband, however, thinks this is fantastic. The Meanwhile Film series continues at the Wealthy Theatre with a showing of Return of the Living Dead on April 28th at 8pm. The movie costs $5 to get in.

1130 Wealthy SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506

FREE College Tuition

Lots of people in Michigan know about this but in case you haven't heard...Michigan has a program called No Worker Left Behind. This is a program that offers up to two years of FREE tuition (up to $5,000 a year) at any college, university or even places like Everest. To be elegible for this program you must be unemployed or layed off, have a family income of less than $40,ooo per year, be at least 18 years old, have not graduated high school within the last two years and are not a full-time college student. You can find out more at a Michigan Works! service center. You can also call 1-800-285-9675. You can find out more about the program here.

FREE Movie Download

Go here to get this FREE movie download from Blockbuster. If you'd like to see more about the movie first just go here.

FREE Notepad & Pen

Competitive Society is giving away this FREEBIE. Just click here to sign up for it.

FREE Oakley Sketch Pad

I'm not sure if they have any of these left but it's worth a try. You can check it out for yourself here.

FREE Portrait at Sears

Print this coupon and take it to your session at Sears and you can get a FREE 10x13 portrait and there's no cost for your session either. Go here to find a location near you.

FREE Piece of Grilled Chicken

April 27th is unfried day at KFC. They aren't giving away a free combo or anything but you can get a piece of grilled chicken for FREE. Go here to get your coupon for it. And you can go here to find a location near you.

Rumors of FREE Iced Mocha or Latte

I have heard rumors that McDonalds is giving away FREE iced mocha's or latte's on the 27th from 7am until 7pm. I haven't confirmed this yet so go at your own risk.

Family Movie Night

The Wyoming branch of KDL is having their Monday Family Movie Night on the 27th. The movie starts at 6pm and I'm not sure which it is. You can call ahead to find out before you drive over.

3350 Michael Ave. SW
Wyoming, MI 49509
(616) 647-3980