Super Saturday Savings! Movies!

Up here in Ohio, it is cold, snowy and well, depressing at times! Unless you are going to bundle up to go sledding ( which is fun ), indoor activities are the thing. But, as January rolls into February...and February creeps into March, you begin to wonder if you will ever see sunny days again. Believe me, it is a LONG stretch after the Holidays until spring arrives. And, as each weekend arrives, we find ourselves struggling to find fun things to do in the winter.

So, once again, the weekend was upon us. But, this weekend was a little different. We were not in the mood for going somewhere and a lot of activity. My husband had been out of the country in Germany all week, so we had not seen him. And, he was exhausted from the time change, flight and working all week. So, we wanted to keep it low key and enjoy the time together at home.

And, what better activity then renting movies! We could rent child appropriate movies for an early showing, and movies appropriate for the parents later. And, that is just what we did! And, by the way, we really like Gone Baby Gone! So, quick little plug for the movie. :-) Of course, it doesn't hurt that I have had a crush on Ben Affleck since college. Anyway, off topic!

Now, we have found three wonderful ways to get movies for free. So, take notes.

First, the library. I know many of you know you can go there to get free movies. And, I knew this, too, but never did it. Why? Because I didn't want to drag the kids there, looking for a movie we wanted, just to have it rented out already. But, thanks to my neighbor, Kecia, I found out I didn't have to do this.

At our library, you can go online with your library card, search for your movie and put a hold on it. So, what I now do is look at one of the local movie rental store sites ( Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, etc ) to see what the new releases coming out are and immediately go put a hold on the movie. Of course, you may end up at 100 on the list, BUT you then just sit back and wait for them to notify you when it is your turn. No need to try and get there and hope you will be the next to get it. AND, it usually isn't as long as you would think before your phone is ringing.

So, check out your local library and see if they run a similar program. Some might, some might not. But, if they do, it is a great service.

The second method is Redbox. They often have free codes available for free movie rentals. To read more about Redbox, visit Andrea at Mommy Snacks. To get Redbox codes for free movies in your state, check out Inside Red Box. You should be able to get free movies for a long time to come, thanks to this site.

Finally, we rent through Blockbuster.com or Netflix. How is this free? Well, we only sign up for these companies when I am doing an online offer. Since I pay the monthly fee in order to get $500-$1,000 free, we view these companies as Cost of Revenue ( excuse my accounting lingo ) and, thus, we actually get paid to rent these movies.

So, once again, I hope you had an enjoyable weekend like us! Stay warm, relax and have fun!