Just a friendly reminder that time is running out to sign up for my next coupon class on Nov. 21 at Meredith College here in Raleigh.

Come learn about saving money using coupons, how to do rebates and meal-planning to maximize all of your frugal buys.

Faye Prosser, author of "The Smart Spending Guide," will join me for the half-day seminar.

Registration is open to subscribers only until Nov. 4 and then it will be opened up to everyone after that. The final day to register is Nov. 18. Click here to register!

Don't dally! 

If you've ever seen a coupon printed from a Web site and wondered if it was legit, here's a little trick. Most of the major coupon printing Web sites use special coding for each coupon that is printed. It's a bunch of numbers and is called the Veri-Fi code (most coupons also have a little Veri-Fi logo on the right hand side). You can go to this Web site and enter the code from a coupon and find out if it's real. If it is, the site verifies it as authentic and even tells you what the text on the coupon should read. Pretty cool! 

In general, remember that coupons for totally FREE items or really high-value coupons (like say $6 off a bottle of Tide) are probably fraudulent, and many stores now refuse to take any Internet coupons for FREEs. (BOGOs are still OK in most cases, check your store's coupon policy.)

Here's another good rebate that you should file away as you shop in November.

Buy 10 participating items (Nabisco crackers 7 to 16.5 oz, Easy Cheese, or Planters nuts 9.25 oz to 21.25 oz) and get $10 back by mail. The purchase window has already started, so if you have receipts from earlier this month, those would qualify. You can make purchases through Nov. 30.

Download the form below. And go to this Web site for a printable Nabisco cracker coupon.

Just a reminder that my new Triangle Pricebook contest is still going.

Enter 25 items in the pricebook between now and Nov. 15 and you will be entered in a random drawing to win Clue: Secrets & Spies. There will also be a prize for the person who makes the MOST entries during the contest time period.

So go on and enter a few items and help others to save!

You can find the pricebook at www.newsobserver.com/business/pricebook.

Lysol is running a sweepstakes in which you could win $1,000 in school supplies.

The contest runs through the end of the month and you can enter daily. There are also daily prize winners.

Here's the link. 

Today's coupons have been added to the database. There was a Smart Source and a Red Plum this morning.

And of course, the new Excel version of the database is available below.

Happy clipping! 

If you missed this morning's Work & Money section, do take the time to give it a read. I teamed up with Mary Cornatzer to write about how you can give to area charities this year, even if you are on a budget.

Of course, I wrote about how I donate items I get for free to area charities. Some of my personal favorites include the Raleigh Rescue Mission, the SPCA, Tri-Beagles, Safe Haven for Cats and the Food Bank.

Here's an invitation to share your favorite charities and the items you donate to them. Maybe we will inspire others to give!

If you're a fan of Banana Nut Cheerios, there's a really good matchup this week at Food Lion.

The cereal is buy one get one, and there's a $1 printable coupon HERE. You should be able to print it twice (if you've never printed coupons before you will have to install software). Combined with the sale, that should make the cereal roughly $1 a box.

There's a new batch of coupons up on the Target Web site. They expire Nov. 17.

There are some good ones, including a couple for bags of Halloween candy. Those are awesome for two reasons. First you can "stack" them with one of the manufacturer's coupons from recent weeks for a double discount. And second, they will be good for clearance candy deals on Nov. 1.

Here's the link. (You can also find them by going to target.com and clicking "coupons" under "Target stores" at the bottom of the page.)

If you have kids who are fans of American Eagle or its sister store Aerie, tell them to go ahead and make a holiday wish list for both stores.

Why? Because both stores are running a holiday sweepstakes where 10 lucky winners will get their entire wish lists for free.

It can't hurt to try, right?

Here's the link for American Eagle, and here's the link for Aerie.

Lather Hair Salon in Raleigh is celebrating its one-year anniversary by offering a 20 percent discount on all products and salon services from Oct. 26 through Oct. 31.

The salon is located at 8521 Cantilever Way.

Call 919-792-0715 to make an appointment.  

There's a rebate/coupon promotion out there called the Real Meal Deal, where you can send in to get $5 in coupons on items like Hungry Man, Mrs. Paul's, Van de Kamp's, Duncan Hines, Aunt Jemima and Lender's Bagels.

Buy five qualifying products between Oct. 11 and Nov. 9 and send in the receipts and UPCs to request your coupons. 

You can find the details and the form for the offer here.

It's Friday, so let's do freebies!

*If you're going to Barnes & Noble tomorrow, you can use the coupon on this Web site to get a free cookie and kids size hot chocolate for free. Oct. 24 only, in store only.

*There are a few coupons and a sample of L'Oreal EverPure available here.

*You can request a Truvia sweetener sample after registering here... 

*And this is not really a freebie, but you can request $4 in Bausch & Lomb coupons by filling out the form here.

This evening, the Junior League of Raleigh will host a fund-raiser event at the Raleigh convention center. The event will celebrate 1985, the first year of the League's A Shopping SPREE! fund-raiser.

The event will feature a Saks Fifth Avenue runway show and more than 130 exhibitors.

It will run 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

As part of Cameron Village's ongoing 60th birthday celebration, I was sent a couple of photos of what the shopping center used to look like.

They were so cool that I had to share...

Do you have a favorite Cameron Village story? Please share it! If I get enough responses thre may just be a random prize drawing!

Click read more to see the rest of the photos. I tried to make them as big as I could...

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