Just a reminder that there are freebies to be had today!

Dunkin' Donuts is giving doughnuts to kids under 12 in costume until 6 p.m. today, and Chapel Hill Comics is giving away comics to folks who show up in costume and allow them to take a photo for their Web site.

Taco Bell is giving away Black Jack Tacos from 6 p.m. till midnight.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Have a fun (and safe) time tonight! 

On Friday, I heard from reader Deidre, who is looking for a place to order a deep fried turkey for Thanksgiving.

I don't know of any off the top of my head, but I am sure such places exist!

So help Deidre out... do you know of a store that does deep fried turkeys? And do you know what they charge? Maybe we can find her a deal while we're at it... 

The folks at CouponShack.com are at it again.

They've issued a list of tips to help shoppers save on Thanksgiving travel and expenses.

The list is full of good ideas, including this one:

If you are going to have a turkey for Christmas too, go ahead and get it during the Thanksgiving holidays and freeze it. Turkeys are cheaper during Thanksgiving than Christmas.

To view the full list, click here.

Here's a heads up on a couple of Halloween freebies that you could collect tomorrow (along with your candy, of course).

*Taco Bell stores will be giving away free Black Jack tacos from 6 p.m to midnight.

*Dunkin' Donuts stores will be giving away a free doughnut to any child age 12 and under who comes to a participating store dressed in a costume (click Read More below for the list of stores). From noon to 6 p.m.

*And Chapel Hill Comics will give people who come to the store in costume a free comic. Warning: part of the deal is that they get to take your picture for their Web site, so think carefully when selecting your costume. The comic selection includes Popeye, Betty, Star Wars, Casper and Little Lulu. The store will close at 6 p.m.

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It's Friday...

*You can sign up to receive samples of John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Liquid Shine Illuminating Shampoo and Brilliant Brunette Liquid Shine Illuminating Conditioner HERE.

*Educators and librarians (ONLY!) can request a copy of the second Chronicles of Narnia book here.

*The Nescafe Taster's Choice instant coffee sample is back. You can find it HERE.

*And for those of you that collect Coke Points, you can get three of them by watching a preview of a new show from ABC called "V" HERE.

Clemmy's Ice Cream is now being distributed to Harris Teeter stores, including those in our area.

For those who are unfamiliar, Clemmy's is a premium ice cream that is all-natural and sugar-free. It's on sale at Harris Teeter right now for $4.49 (with your VIC card, of course). And since I'm so nice to you all, there's a $1 coupon to download below. (You can also find the coupon on this Web site.)

Starting Nov. 1 (that's Sunday), some of area Dunkin' Donuts stores will be participating in a "Coffee for Our Troops" promotion. Through Nov. 17, customers will be able to send a pound of coffee to troops overseas for $4, which is definitely discounted from the regular price. Customers who buy a pound of coffee will also be able to write messages to the soldiers, which will be displayed in stores.

At the end of the promotion, the coffee and messages will be packed into care packages sent to soldiers by Support the Troops, Inc. The participating Dunkin' Donuts restaurant that collects the most coffee will receive a flag ceremony and challenge coins – both military honors.

One of the best parts about my job is that I get to see things before the general public. I've just returned from a preview visit at the new Trader Joe's store in Raleigh, which will open at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Workers are still stocking shelves and putting the finishing touches on things, but I think all the Joe's fans out there will be pleased. There is plenty of Two Buck Chuck wine (OK, $2.99 wine) and all the other Trader Joe's goodies you've come to know and love.

Tomorrow, I will be tweeting from the grand opening. You can follow my tweets right here on Taking Stock (in the scrolling box on the left-hand side of the page).

Bed Bath & Beyond has started its fall Internet clearance sale.

Discounts run up to 75 percent off.

Here's the link.

(And don't forget to go through Upromise to get 2 percent of your puchase back. Not familiar, read my Upromise primer)

ConAgra has an online game called the Recession Payback game. If you play online, at the end you will be given the opportunity to register for offers from ConAgra as well as instant access to a couple of coupons for ConAgra brands. Those would include Hunt's, Manwich, Reddi-Wip, Marie Callender and Chef Boyardee.

If you have a couple of minutes, it might be fun and worth it for the coupons.

Here's the link...

These will probably go quickly so I wanted to post them before Friday Freebies.

The Beinggirl Web site is offering two new samples:

*One for a sample kit including 2 Tampax Pearl Tampons, 1 Compak Pearl Tampon, 1 Always Infinity Maxi-Pad, 2 Always Pantiliners, and 1 Always Feminine Wipe. You can find that one HERE.

*And one for Tampax Pearl HERE (scroll down, the sample is at the bottom). 

Just a reminder that each Wednesday, my colleague Andrea Weigl posts a new recipe on our Mouthful blog using items that are on sale that week.

This week's recipe: Tuna-artichoke paninis. Yum!

Here's the link! 

This week, I would say it’s an average deal week, with some very big highlights.

I have to mention of course Halloween candy, which is on sale just about everywhere. Please take advantage of the buy one get ones, buy two get ones, and the coupons that are out there. There’s a good $2 Internet printable coupon from Nestle on coupons.com that you can use with some sales to make the candy less than $1 a bag.

There are also some good deals on diapers this week and on some staple items. There are a number of items that are free after coupon or free after coupon and rebate, especially at the pharmacies. And if you have not yet checked out the Kroger Mega Sale this week, it is a really good one.
 
Deal of the week: I'm going to stick with the Kroger Mega Sale for this week’s deal of the week. The deal is that you get a $5 discount when you buy 10 qualifying items. So that works out to a 50-cent discount on each of your 10 items. Hormel Chili cans are $1.29. Then apply the 50-cent discount and it becomes 79 cents a can. That’s already a good deal. But if you buy three, you can use that great Hormel $2 off three coupon from Oct. 18. And that will make it 37 cents for THREE cans of chili. If you had three of those coupons, you could buy nine cans for $1.11 and then you’d just need one other item to make your 10. (If you have the Bumble Bee tuna pouch coupon from Sept. 13, that will be FREE and would make an excellent 10th item!)

Click “Read more” to see the list! And remember, if the store has a loyalty card, you’ll need it to get the sale price.

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Well, if there are two expenses most people have trouble cutting, it's gas and groceries. So here's a way to save on both.

Betty Crocker is hosting a contest where the grand prize is $5,000 for gas and groceries. There are daily prizes as well.

You must be registered on bettycrocker.com to enter, but that's worthwhile anyway. By signing up, you will start getting the e-mail alerts when there are new Internet printable coupons available on the site.

Here's the link to the contest.

It looks like there are some new printable coupons at coupons.com, including a super great 75-cent coupon for Del Monte whole pineapples.

These have been on sale lately, and if you're at a store that doubles coupons, that's a good discount!

Here's the link...