Save on Glade Candles at Target

Glade Holiday candles are on sale at Target. Candles are $2.50 and when you buy 5, Target will give you a $5 gift card. Combine this deal with the coupons and it makes for a sweet deal. Here is what I did at my Target yesterday:

10 Glade Holiday Candles $2.50 each
- 5 $1.50/2 coupons from recent insert
Total: 17.50 (subtract $10 in Target GC and only pay $7.50 oop for 10 Glade Candles)

Harris Teeter Triple Coupons!

Good morning, all!

I survived Harris Teeter triples with minimal economic damage! I have way too much shampoo, fabric softener, dish soap, rice, and cat food then any sane person should have.

Now there are rumors going around that Harris Teeter will have Super Doubles starting 11/18. For those of you not familiar with Super Doubles, Harris Teeter which normally doubles up to $0.99 will be doubling coupon values up to $1.98. I will try and confirm this as soon as I am able!

Cats can catch Swine Flu???

A 13-year old cat in Iowa is now confirmed as having swine flu.

http://www.avma.org/public_health/influenza/new_virus/

CDC Recommends 3 Actions to Fighting Flu

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm

Quick Preview:

Flu is a serious contagious disease. Each year in the United States, on average, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized and 36,000 people die from seasonal flu complications. This flu season could be worse because there is a new and very different influenza virus causing illness called 2009 H1N1. CDC expects both 2009 H1N1 flu and seasonal flu to cause illness, hospital stays and death s this season and is preparing for an early and possibly severe flu season.

Check the link for 3 Important Ways to help combat the both the seasonal and swine flus.

New Favorite Magazine- Children's Health

DH and I have each been following Men's Health and Women's Health, and they have finally collaborated to produce Children's Health magazine. Below is one of the most eye-opening articles of their debut issue: The New American Diet.

Quick preview: Exposure to pesticides and toxins during pregnancy and early childhood can set up children for obesity later in life. The ways babies and kids are exposed to these pesticides is shocking.

Children's Health Magazine : Babies : The New American Diet

You might want to think twice about visiting Wal-Mart for awhile...

ISS - Wal-Mart's stingy sick-leave policy may contribute to swine flu's spread

"Wal-Mart's policy of punishing workers for taking sick leave risks spreading swine flu.

So concludes a new report from the National Labor Committee that finds that employees of the Arkansas-based retail giant -- even its food handlers -- feel they have no choice but to work when they're sick. That's because the company gives workers demerits and deducts pay for staying home when they're sick or caring for sick children.

Said a worker at one Wal-Mart supercenter:

Plenty of girls are coughing their brains out. But they cannot go home because of points. Everyone comes in sick. You can't stay home and God forbid if you leave early.

The report found that the only time the company is removing sick workers from the food section is when they are coughing too loudly or violently -- and then the person is merely transferred to another department rather than being sent home.

Wal-Mart's sick-leave policy conflicts with recommendations for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls on employers to advise workers to be alert for symptoms of flu-like illness and to stay home if they are ill. The CDC also asks employers to allow workers to stay home to care for sick family members.

According to the NLC report, a senior vice president for Wal-Mart sent out a memo nationwide to all employees on preparing for the flu season. It told employees to "cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze," "wash your hands regularly" and "avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth":

Not a single word was said about the critical CDC recommendation that workers with "any signs of fever and other signs of influenza-like illness...stay home if they are ill."

The memo goes on to tell employees to familiarize themselves with the company's sick leave policy. But as the NLC notes, that policy is the problem.

Wal-Mart has a demerit system that punishes workers who cannot come to work due to illness. Employees who miss a day due to sickness receive a one-point demerit and lose eight hours of wages.

Employees with more than three absences a six-month period face discipline, and a fifth absence -- even for a sick day -- will result in what the company calls "active coaching" by management.

A sixth absence leads to what Wal-Mart calls "Decision Day," when a worker can be either terminated or put on a year-long trial period during which time he or she can be fired for any infraction and cannot be promoted.

The situation is particularly difficult for Wal-Mart workers who are single parents. The NLC reports on an instance in which an employee got a call from her four-year-old's preschool telling her to pick up the child, who had a fever of 103 degrees F. Despite the fact that the employee had already worked for four hours that day, she got a demerit point for leaving and lost her wages for the rest of the day. The report says:

Parents have no choice but to load their children up with Motrin and Dimetap to mask their symptoms so they can go to school.

The NLC is calling on Wal-Mart to immediately end its demerit and wage docking policies."

Great Holiday Traditions

My favorite time of years is coming up. I love the holiday season! Getting together with family and friends is something I look forward to every year. I thought I'd start off by sharing some great holiday traditions. Most of these are courtesy of some lovely people at Hot Coupon World, so enjoy!

1. Give a gift to charity

We all look forward to seeing the joy in our family members’ faces when they open a great gift we have given them, but in the holiday shopping frenzy that encompasses the entire month from Black Friday to Christmas Eve, it can be easy to overlook those who may not receive any presents this year. Make a donation to charity in honor of the holidays, or sponsor a toy drive for a local charity such as Ronald McDonald House. Kids can get involved by donating toys they no longer play with, which can teach them valuable lessons about giving and social responsibility.

2. Bake some Christmas cookies

Gingersnaps, snicker doodles, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and butter cookies in the shape of little Christmas trees were my favorite holiday cookies. I loved helping my grandmother put them in tins to give to our mail carrier, favorite bank tellers, and good friends. This is a great activity to do with kids- they can add sprinkles, icing, and help use the cookie cutters. Just make sure they don't eat them all before you get them out!

3. Give a Christmas ornament

Specialty craft shops always have lovely ornaments to decorate your tree. Picking out an ornament to give as a gift is not only inexpensive, but also personal, as you can include why you chose that ornament for the recipient in the accompanying card.

4. Listen to a great Christmas story

Old Time Radio had a series called "The Cinnamon Bear". Listen to one episode each night from December 1st through the 24th to see if Judy, Jimmy, and the Cinnamon Bear will find the silver star needed for their Christmas tree. It was stolen from their attic by the Crazyquilt Dragon. (The series can be ordered from Amazon.com).

5. Indulge in a Christmas Movie Marathon!

Spend some time enjoying a Christmas movie with family. Popular choices include Miracle on 34th Street, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Prancer, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, White Christmas, A Christmas Story, and (my favorite) a Charlie Brown Christmas!

Feel free to leave a comment and add your own favorite holiday traditions!