Welcome to my weekly Free Photo Fun post! And, I am combining this as my Method Madness Marathon post for the day. Sorry to be boring, but I need to get to it sometime, AND I was doing this post anyway. :-) Why not double them up!
I actually calculate my Free Photos as a money saver, BECAUSE this is an expense I would be paying anyway. As much as I would love to say cut out taking pictures or having them developed/printed if you are on a tight budget, I just simply can't! Photos are something I highly value and think are a must.
Our children will grow up before our eyes. In fact, two days ago, I left the bus stop after my 6 year old got on ( he is in 1st grade ) and my chest tightened. Now, I have been taking him to the bus for a year and a half now. And, everyday it is a routine. But, every so often, I find myself feeling a bit, almost like claustrophobic ( hard to describe ) and seriously, pressure on my heart ( heartache, I guess ) at the thought that my first born is flying away from me already.
Each of my children has a special place in my heart, there is no doubt. But none of them will ever share what he did with us. He was our first. He had our full, undivided attention and love for almost 2 years of his life. He is and was my pride and joy, my first venture into motherhood! He will always hold something special and dear that is a bit different than the others. ( as they each have their special place, of course )
So, those are the times I come in from the bus and actually want to weep that he is not toddling around my family room like the baby. Where did the time go? Why is he in 1st grade? How did that happen?
So, I bet you understand a bit why I view photos as such an important aspect of being a mother. To have those memories in visual form are so dear and special to any family ( and to that child someday ), that it is an expense that my family, at least, will pay!
BUT, that does not mean you need to pay an arm and a leg either. There are CONSTANTLY deals on photos. Constantly!
The first place to start is to register with the different companies. Click here for a full list. Most of them will give you free photos when you register. Right off the bat, you are getting very cheap pictures ( most of the time, you still need to pay shipping, so I count that as price of the photos ).
But, once you are registered ( set up an email or use your "deals" email ), you will begin to get coupon codes and they will run specials. If you keep your eyes peeled, you will find offers quite often. My goal is to try and pay 6 cents or less per photo. I will go up to 10 cents, if I am desperate to get some printed.
In addition, if anyone is running good specials on Photo Books, etc, I will take advantage of those deals as well.
As always, you can click on the Free Photos in my left menu bar to take advantage of any current promotions. This is a great way to get photos printed for cheap or free! And, we all know we have pictures piling up on our cameras, right?
This week I have a couple different companies to highlight. So, let's begin.
First, Kodak Gallery has extended their 75 Free Prints for new members. They normally only give 20 free prints away, so this is quite the deal. I highly advise jumping on this deal while it is still active! And, remember, you can have photos shipped to your local store to save on shipping. Click here.
Second, Shutterfly is giving a free Photo calendar ( $19.99 value ) away to everyone! No special email this time. This is a promotion thru Target ( it was in the Sunday paper, in case you missed it ). Simply log into your account and enter promo code by January 18th: FREECALENDAR Click here to login or register with Shutterfly. Bonus, if you are a new member, you also get 25 free prints.
Third, new and current Shutterfly members get another 30 prints free for taking part in their free Share site. It is simply to participate. And, if you actually load free photos to your share site, you will get another 10 free prints each week. Click here to login or register. This runs thru February 2nd, so you will probably get reminders on this deal each week in my weekly Free Photo Fun post.
Finally, big thanks to Mommy Snacks for sharing here. Right now, thru January 20th you can get a free photo book ( $34+) for free from Hooray. You will pay s&h of approx. $7.99. Still, that is quite a good deal. Click here to register and use code bzzalbum at checkout.
And, I think those are all the highlights for this week! And, stay tuned for my wonderful bloggy giveaway regarding Digital Photography!
11 comments:
love free photo stuff!!!!
Carrie,
I have some questions about your process for photo books: how do you decide what to make a photo book about? Or, in other words, how are you prepared to make one when the deals come around?
I gave (free!) photo books to family members for Christmas, but I'm pretty sure that next Christmas, they'll want pictures that I haven't taken yet this year.
What's your plan and process?
Thanks for all your help!
You know, I do photobooks for two different occastions so far, and that is it.
I always do a vacation photo book ( becuase there are enough to fill all the pages )
And, I always do a Christmas photo book ( or two ) because I use the photos from all month. Our trips to see Santa. Our trips to the Festival of Lights, etc. We do alot of activities during December and capture them all on film...ooppps...I mean digitally. :-)
If photo books come out other times of year, I have still had enough vacation and Holiday pictures left over...or I make the same book as a gift then.
In Shuterfly which is the free calendar? I see there are Posters, Classic and Collage. Thanks
My understanding is that it was the Poster, but I could be wrong.
Anyone else know?
I blogged about these great photo deals. Thanks, as always, keeping us all in the loop.
whatacoolidea.blogspot.com
I totally agree w/you on the photos. No matter how tight our buget this was never a question. Thanks for the sharesite tip. I didn't want to open one cuz I thought .. one more thing to keep up w/.. but free pics.
I went to Shutterfly, made a calendar, and then tried to use the promo code in checkout, but to no avail. I then called Shutterfly and they said that this offer was only available to certain customers who hadn't placed an order in a long time and were in a certain data base. in addition, they said that the promotion ended on the 12th. I was surprised because I have seen this promotion talked about on several blogs. Any thoughts?
Tutti,
There was a code out there last week that expired on the 12th for just certain members.
But, the code above was in the Newspaper last week saying it expired on the 18th...sponsored by Target.
I think the person you talked to may have had the two codes confused.
Make sure the calendar you created is a POSTER calendar. That is what the code is good for, I am pretty sure. I don't believe it will work on the normal calendars.
Is that what you did?
I would call them back and say that you are talkiung about the Target code for the free calendar that expires on the 18th.
Let us know.
Okay, I made a mistake in that I made a traditional calendar. Once I made it a poster calendar, the promotion code worked and I was able to only pay the shipping ($5.40). Thanks for clarifying!
I just wanted to let everyone know that last night I did the free photo book at Hooray with code bzzalbum. I accidentally ended up with 2 books in my cart, so I also used code FREEPHOTOALBUM I found on the website and it worked! I got 2 free photo albums worth $69 for free! And it was just 7.99 shipping for the first book and an extra $1 for the second. I don't know much about the 2nd promo code- when it ends? I found it when I was registering. HTH!
Bobbi
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