Mir at Want Not details a great price on Organic Valley milk boxes:

But look what I just discovered—they’re running a special on Organic Valley milk boxes right now! Packs of 24 are marked down to $25, plus you can use coupon code VALLEY55 to get another 20% off, so you’ll get 24 boxes of organic, aseptic milk for $20 (that’s about $.83/box).

“Deal”icious Mom posts about a free subscription to Kiwi Magazine, that also happens to come with $5 in Earth’s Best coupons. Seriously, don’t ever pay for a magazine subscription, okay? I get Kiwi, Wondertime, Family Fun, and Readymade for free, and so will you if you hunt around long enough.

And on the topic of Earth’s Best, they are offering a rebate deal right now for coupons, samples, toys and more, exactly the moment when I am no longer spending $100 on their products each week! It’s great to be done with formula, of course, but I could have gotten a lot of free stuff if they had started this promotion any earlier.

Bought anything at a cosmetics counter before you knew all the crap in conventional makeup? Like me, you’re probably entitled to some free products! Check out the list of products and then look at Skin Deep, the cosmetics safety database, to find something with ingredients you can live with. I’m looking at the Clinique Moisture Surge, myself. Here’s more information:

To be eligible for the money, you must “currently be a resident of the United States who purchased department store cosmetics in the United States between May 29, 1994 through July 16, 2003.”

For a list of which stores are involved in the suit, and how you can redeem your $25, visit the official lawsuit website at http://www.cosmeticssettlement.com/.

A day late, but because of some newly posted deals, certainly not a dollar short!

Grab a free sample of Barbara’s Bakery organic cereals and join the consumer panel for more sampling opportunities.

My home-away-from-home BeCentsAble beat me to reporting that Mambo Sprouts has their new online coupons up. Mambo Sprouts also promises more deals if you follow them on twitter! BeCentsAble also links to some great coupons at eatingwell.com. I could use extras of the method and Organic Valley coupons if you’re printing any of the others and won’t be using them

The new Whole Deal flyer (PDF) is out with Mambo Sprouts manufacturer’s coupons, too. I’ll be detailing all that can be found in there later this week. So much good stuff, generally combined with Whole Foods sale prices, making it all the more a value!

Additionally, Lynn at Organic Mania passes along a great rebate deal for organic baby food at SuperTarget:

Now when you buy any 4 Mom Made Meals or Munchies at SuperTarget by January 19th, you can redeem your UPC codes for a $9 SuperTarget gift card plus special savings codes from GDiapers and Bebe au Lait! Grab your rebate form and all the details here.

I broke couponer’s rule #1 this weekend and paid the price for it: We ventured on the spur of the moment to the bigger Target south of our neighborhood (the one near us is very small, sort of a glorified Walgreens) and I didn’t have my coupons with me! If I’d had my little binder, I would have saved even more on Earth’s Best baby food and had my Target gift card with me as well.

I went back today, since the baby food is surprisingly (and somewhat disturbingly) cheaper than Whole Foods and I certainly had all of my money saving accessories with me this time! Earth’s Best food is not cheap at all on Amazon, unless you’re like me and happen to have a use for 24 jars of Peach Oatmeal Banana for only $15.60. I’ve seen that variety, and only that variety, at that price more than once now. If only they’d discount the triplet favorite, Green Beans and Rice, then we’d be talking (and ordering in bulk).

I have to admit, I’m pretty glad I went back, because I stacked a bunch of coupons and even got paid to walk away with some cat food, which doesn’t happen to me often because of the kind of things I’m usually buying with coupons. And I scored big at the 90% off Christmas clearance, with packs of Hanukkah cards (16 cards, ready for 4×6 photos) for $0.69 a box and some pretty snowflakes for decorating or gift tags for $0.03 each.

I need to get better at keeping my coupons with me, since my time is so precious these days I really can’t be shopping twice in a week at stores 6 miles from my house. Any ideas to help me remember them (and my reusable shopping bags, too)???

It’s been a long couple of days away from the computer, so I’m going to put a few things out there, in no special order…

It seems like every once in awhile, one of the many blogs I read does a round up of all of the current printable coupons for organic groceries and baby stuff. The latest is from Green Mom Finds. Enjoy!

I read this entire article on Depression-Era posters and modern remakes in Readymade with great interest. The posters these are inspired by are from my favorite exhibit at the Smithsonian American History Museum. As an American History major in college and a constant student of political communications, they’ve always appealed to me. The new ones are excellent, and some how I managed to miss… free to download!

Skip to My Lou rounds up more free downloads — all sorts of adorable gift tags, including some especially for for handmade gifts.

Eco Child’s Play has a bunch of links for quick, thrifty and eco-friendly Christmas crafts to do in the waning days before the holiday. I especially love the idea of Lego ornaments and will be filing that away as teacher and grandparet gift potential for next year. And as soon as we’re clearing off the mantel, I’ll be making some of the cool holiday card puzzles featured at The Crafty Crow (which has had a pile of nice Hanukkah crafts lately, too, although as you can tell by the picture from my living room, we believe any project can be a Hanukkah project around here…)

What are you making with your kids this week?

The Horizon milk deal is back at Amazon! Baby Cheapskate has all the details:

18-packs of 8 oz. Horizon Organic Reduced Fat Milk (plain, chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla) boxes are $22. Save 15% percent when you use Subscribe and Save (it’s easy to cancel your subscription online after one delivery). Save an additional 20% off that with code HORZNORG. Your price will be $14.96 with free shipping. That’s .83 each. Good through the end of December.

I really, really don’t need this, but don’t my son’s dolls need a triple stroller? It’s currently about 60% off and there are 20% off coupon codes out there, too.

Grab a Dockers Organic Cotton Henley for less than $25. It’s a great gift for a hard to shop for brother or uncle.

We love Einstein’s Bagels! They have nice turkey sausage egg sandwiches. Yum! Free? Yummier!

So what’s green about a $5 off coupon to True Value? CFLs, weather stripping to save energy, rain barrels, compost bins… It’s a long list. And according to BeCentsAble, Lowe’s and Home Depot honor competitor coupons, so you should be able to find a store near you to take advantage! Expires December 7.

Ecobunga shares some coupons for Earthbound Organics Products. You have to take a short quiz, but you will also reciece a pocket guide to buying organic produce and the first 9000 respondents will get Horizon Organics coupons as well.

‘Tis the season for lots of free (plus shipping) photo deals. Get the 8×11 book featured on Oprah from Snapfish by the end of the day today, or the free digital scrapbook from Inkubook available through Simple Mom. You can also get a free 8×10 family portrait from JC Penney.

Project Organic Eating has a nice round up of currently available manufacturer’s coupons for natural items.

Coinstar has to be one of my favorite things. You take the change that’s cluttering up your house, car, bag, whereever, toss them in, and get giftcards back to great places like Amazon, Starbucks, and iTunes. From Mommy Making Money:

Find a Coinstar in your area that does E-certificates or Gift Cards (click on “Search for Specific Products” on their locator). Your coins are counted FREE when you choose one of these options; choose a store for your holiday shopping (Amazon, Old Navy, Lowe’s, etc.). Right now they’re running a promo where you mail in your receipt for an extra $10 e-cert when you change $40. You’ll see the details at the bottom of your e-cert printout.

“Deal”icious Mom has the details on a free subscription to Plenty, a green news and lifestyle magazine.

Just like Oprah did last week, the New York Times looks at couponing today. And speaking of, I got 3 of the $5 off Whole Foods coupon on to one page (pdf) to make it easier to print, to save paper, and to encourage you to use them so the company thinks it’s a good idea and does it again! There is also a new Walgreens coupon out, too.

Have you joined Freepeats? It’s another brainchild of Angie, who is behind BlogCoach and the oft-sourced Baby Cheapskate. It’s in dozens of cities and, for my time, a better stop than freecycle in terms of quick pick ups. Speaking of Baby Cheapskate, readers have submitted deals on two brands of cloth diapers. That’s 3 this week alone. Has cloth diapering tipped?

What is it with me and dollhouses lately? They just keep catching my eye. This recycled cardboard one from the MoMA Store (via Green Deal of the Day) is so bright and modern. For $35, it would be a nice thing to keep at a grandparent’s house or to gift to a classroom or daycare for the holidays.

Ecobunga shares an additional 15% off already low prices can be had right now at Amazon on Amy’s Organics soups. You might think 12 cans is a little much, but it’s just the beginning of the soup season and I bet chili, refried beans, cream of tomato, or cream of mushroom would be great stock up items for practically any pantry. I’m thinking the Thai Coconut could live in my desk at work for those days I can’t scrape a lunch together.

As I’ve mentioned before, my 6 month old triplets haven’t been exclusively breastfed since they were a few weeks old. I’m a lactivist at heart, but a realist since I know that each family has to make it’s own choices based on very individual circumstances. I am, however, always on the hunt for the best price for organic infant formula, and I imagine I’m not the only one!

Here are the best practices I’ve found for saving on this incredibly expensive product, that you can use whether you are full time formula feeding or supplementing just occasionally:

• Know your price per ounce (PPO). If you don’t know how much you pay on a regular basis, you can’t really tell if you are getting a deal when you are talking about multiples of 25.7 or 12.9 ounce containers. Because I am an absolute dork, I devised my own spreadsheet:

By calculating your everyday best price (in this case, I was basing it off of the Diapers.com price for a case (4-25.7 ounce cans of Earth’s Best, highlighted in purple) divided by the total number of ounces, you determine the price to beat (again in this case, $1.05/ounce).

• Use your online resources wisely. Armed with your everyday best price, look for anything that will help you cut that cost. Visit Baby Cheapskate for the weekly diaper and formula specials updates. Bid on lots of formula or checks/coupons on eBay. Trade formula checks you won’t use for brands that you will on craigslist.

This is where knowing your PPO is essential. It doesn’t make sense to bid up a lot of formula beyond the price you could get it in the store (and don’t forget to add shipping!). With my spreadsheet, you can plug in different prices to determine what your maximum bid on a lot should be. If $1.05 is your standard, you can determine what PPO you’re willing to pay. You might then bid up to $1.00 PPO, and if you get outbid at that point, you know it’s just not worth it.

• Love your manufacturer. Get on Similac’s mailing list for formula checks. Email Baby’s Only and tell them how much you love their product. I have gotten the most, and the highest value, coupons from contacting companies directly. Give it a shot, you have nothing to lose!

• Ask your retailer. I am currently paying less than $90/case for Earth’s Best formula (about $0.85 PPO!), before coupons (of which I have many, from contacting Earth’s Best, buying them for pennies on the dollar on eBay, and by being at the right place at the right time for a pile of store coupons). How am I getting organic formula for the price of conventional? Whole Foods special orders for me by the case! If you talk to your store’s grocery buyer, they might be able to help you out. At Whole Foods, it’s standard practice, and you get a 10% case discount to boot.

Want the spreadsheet? Shoot me an email and I’ll send it to you. (It’s a Google Doc, so no software necessary.)

Want to get started swapping formula checks to save money on your own? I have a small pile of Enfamil checks (4 x $5, nothing earth shattering!) that will go to a random commenter. Of course, you could use them for yourself, or, preferably, as currency for a trade for Similac checks to buy Similac Organic. Comments will be open until 9PM central Friday (Oct 3) and then I’ll use the random number generator to pick a winner!