How to Get Free Crazy Bread From Little Caesars Every Wednesday During Hockey Season

Are you a hockey fan looking forward to the 2021 NHL season? Do you enjoy pizza crusts sold on their own, masquerading as a separate food item? If you answered yes to both of those questions (or at least the second one), you may be interested in a new promotion coming to us from Little Caesars.

In exchange for securing the naming rights to your living room, the Pizza-Pizza chain will supply you with free Crazy Bread every Wednesday through the rest of the NHL hockey season. Here’s what to know.

How to take advantage of the offer

To get your hands on that free Crazy Bread, simply fill out and digitally “sign” this contract, granting naming rights to whichever room in your home is used to watch NHL hockey games. Once you do that, Little Caesars will begin sending you weekly emails with a codes for a free order of Crazy Bread (with the purchase of a pizza; Crazy Sauce not included), as well as what’s sure to be a tasteful branded sign to hang in your recently renamed room.

Other requirements include following Little Caesars on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, and hanging the sign they sent you in your hockey room. And speaking of which, the contract includes other specifics about the name thing:

From the signing of this contract, your room will officially be renamed the “Little Caesars® NHL® Hockey Room”. At any point after the signing of this contract, you must refer to that room by its new legal name. For example, if you were arguing with your roommate about cleaning the living room, you’d contractually be obligated to say: “I cleaned the Little Caesars® NHL® Hockey Room last time. You always do this. It’s your turn to clean the Little Caesars® NHL® Hockey Room, okay? I’ve had it!”

In addition to the sign and food deals, the first 600 people to sign a naming rights contract will receive:

An official copy of their naming rights contract
A $50 NHL.com shop gift card to show support for your favorite NHL team
A free ExtraMostBestest pizza with purchase of any pizza, every single Wednesday for the remainder of the season
A VIP lanyard you can wear while watching hockey in their official “Little Caesars NHL Viewing Room”
In order to be eligible to sign the contract, you must be at least 18 years of age and a legal resident of the United States. You can sign the contract and take advantage of this offer between April 7, 2021 and May 11, 2021. The last day of the 2021 NHL regular season is May 8, 2021. For more information, read the full terms and conditions of the contest.

April 5, 2021 by The Frugal Father Categories: Deals, Food, Free Leave a comment

Pick Up a Free Gardening Kit at Lowe’s Every Week in April

After a long winter—especially if you live with kids—everyone in your household is probably ready to get outside. And if your family got into gardening last spring while stuck at home, you may be looking for some new projects. In fact, according to a survey conducted by Cinch Home Services, 54% of homeowners indicated that they would be making improvements to their property in 2021, with 35% of those being in their backyard.

This spring, home improvement chain Lowe’s is looking to take advantage of our interest in spending more time outside. “Spring just feels so metaphoric this year. Sort of this coming out of our winter, literally and figuratively,” Marisa Thalberg, Lowe’s executive vice president, chief brand and marketing officer said in an interview with USA TODAY. “We’re already seeing that interest starting to really build quickly as the weather is starting to get warmer in different parts of the country.”

To get new and existing customers to the store (or at least curbside), Lowe’s is giving away a different gardening kit each week in April. Here’s how to get one (or four).

How to get a gardening kit

This giveaway takes a little preparation—which is why we’re telling you about it now. You can’t just roll up to a Lowe’s and grab a free gardening kit; first you have to register for one. Registration for the kit-of-the-week (via Lowes.com) begins one week before each giveaway. So, the first kit will be available on April 8th, and you can register for one beginning on April 1st.

Here is the weekly schedule of what’s up for grabs in April:

• April 8: Recipes from cook and food stylist Amanda Frederickson
• April 15: “Mystery Garden Piñata” with mystery seed packets
• April 22: Free tree saplings for Earth Day
• April 29: Supplies to create a butterfly garden

It’s one of those “while supplies last” situation, so if you have your eye on one (or all) of these freebies, you’ll probably want to register early. The good news is, you won’t even have to go inside to get yours: the free Garden-to-Go kits will be available for curbside pick-up.

March 29, 2021 by The Frugal Father Categories: Deals, Decor, DIY, Free, Home Improvement Leave a comment

Get Hulu for $2 a Month as a College Student

In case you weren’t already swimming in streaming service subscriptions, Hulu is offering a discounted $2 monthly plan for students. However, note that if you’re long past college and happen to have an .edu email address, that won’t be enough to qualify as a “student”—Hulu is verifying that you’re actually attending school.

The new student plan 

The ad-supported plan offers two simultaneous streams that allow you to watch on-demand content, which includes original programming like The Handmaid’s Tale and Palm Springs, as well as content from ABC, NBC, Fox, Bravo, USA Network, FXX, and other channels. That’s $4 cheaper per month than you’d normally get with the plan. The offer—which currently has no end date—will undoubtedly attract more on-demand users who can later be upsold to the more expensive live TV service plan.

If you’re a current subscriber while also enrolled in a U.S. Title IV accredited college or university, you’re eligible to switch to the student plan—for that, log into your Hulu account, then go here and click “GET OFFER” to apply student discount pricing to your existing ad-supported Hulu subscription.

The plan includes Hulu’s new Watch Party feature, which allows subscribers to watch and chat about content in groups of up to eight people. For more on how that works and how to set it up, check out this Lifehacker post.

You can’t fake being a student

It’s an open secret that people use their .edu email account to qualify for student discounts years after graduating from college, but Hulu is actually verifying your status. In partnership with the party-pooping verification service SheerID, you’ll have to provide the name of your college or university. Per Hulu:

Offer valid for new and existing Hulu-billed subscribers enrolled at a U.S. Title IV accredited college or university who meet verification qualifications. Verification performed through SheerID; enrollment information (e.g. first name, last name, college/university name, date of birth) must be shared with SheerID for verification purposes. Automatic re-verification performed annually.

If the last time you went to college was during the Obama administration, it looks like you’re out of luck.

January 20, 2021 by The Frugal Father Categories: Deals, Money Management, Saving Money Leave a comment

How to Apply for Emergency Rent Assistance

If you’re struggling to pay rent due to COVID, make sure you take advantage of the just-launched $25 billion rental assistance program, which is part of the relief package passed last month. If you can prove hardship, up to 15 months of your rent could be paid for.

How rental assistance works 

Funding is currently being doled out by the Treasury to state and local governments, which should receive all of the funds by January 26. These governments then act as grantees that provide assistance to eligible households through existing or newly created rental assistance programs.

Eligible households may receive up to 12 months of assistance, plus an additional three months if the grantee determines that the extra months are needed to ensure housing stability. Funding will be prioritized for those whose rent payments are in arrears and are facing eviction.

As Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), says: 

While $25 billion in emergency rental assistance is clearly not enough to meet the estimated $70 billion in accrued back rent or the ongoing need for rental assistance to keep families stably housed, these resources are essential and desperately needed.

How to qualify

Per the Treasury, an “eligible household” is defined as a renter household in which at least one or more individuals meet the following criteria:

• Qualifies for unemployment or has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19.
• Demonstrates a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability.
• Has a household income at or below 80 percent of the area median.

To demonstrate a risk of homelessness, you might need to include a past due rent or utility notice. Additionally, while you can’t qualify if you exceed 80% of your area’s median income, states have been directed to prioritize applicants who fall at 50% or lower, as well as those who’ve been out of work for 90 days or more.

In the meantime, an eviction moratorium has been extended through the end of January, and will possibly be extended further by President-elect Joe Biden once he takes office on January 20.

Where to apply

This is where it’s a little bit more tricky, as each state, city, or county will have their own patchwork of rental assistance programs, some of which are in the process of being set up right now. Per CNBC, you can see if a rental assistance fund already exists in your area here. Otherwise, you can contact your state’s housing department, local government websites, 211/311 helplines, or local housing groups to inquire about how you can apply.

Photo by HiveBoxx on Unsplash

January 20, 2021 by The Frugal Father Categories: Money Management Leave a comment

How to Clean and Sanitize Your Humidifier, Because It’s Probably Gross in There

Humidifiers can make breathing and sleeping more comfortable in the winter, giving off a gentle mist that can help with everything from dry sinuses and bloody noses to cracked lips and skin. But if you’re not cleaning your humidifier regularly, it can breed mold or bacteria, and make you feel worse—especially if you (or someone in your household) has asthma or allergies.

In fact, dirty humidifiers can make people sick even if they don’t have asthma or allergies. This is because breathing in air contaminated with bacteria and/or mold can cause flu-like symptoms or even lung infections, according to the Mayo Clinic. Here’s what you need to know about cleaning and disinfecting your humidifier so you can reap all the benefits without the gross stuff.

Types of humidifiers

Though some homes have a central humidifier built into the heating and cooling system, the humidifiers we’re going to focus on here are the portable kind you can get at the drug store. There are several different types of those, including evaporative humidifiers (which blow air over a wet wick filter), steam humidifiers (which use electricity to create steam that cools before leaving the machine) and cool-mist humidifiers (which emit room temperature water). According to the Mayo Clinic, evaporators and steam vaporizers may be less likely to release airborne allergens than may cool-mist humidifiers.

How to clean a humidifier

First, check to see if your humidifier came with any specific operating and/or cleaning instructions that you should follow. If not, use this method—which was put to the test by the team at Better Homes and Gardens:

Supplies

• White distilled vinegar
• Soft-bristled brush or toothbrush
• Liquid chlorine bleach
• Water

Step 1: Take the humidifier apart

Unplug it, empty the water tank and detach any removable parts (including an air filter, if yours has one).

Step 2: Clean it

Per Better Homes and Gardens:

Pour enough white vinegar into the humidifier tank to cover areas that most often come in contact with water. Depending on the size of your humidifier (and how long you’ve gone between cleanings), you can also choose to dilute the vinegar with warm water for a less concentrated cleaning solution. Place smaller pieces, such as the tank cap, into a large container filled with vinegar to soak. Wait at least 20 minutes to allow the vinegar to break down any scale buildup.

After that, empty the humidifier and use a soft-bristled brush (a toothbrush works!) to clear away any debris or residue.

Step 3: Disinfect it

Mix 1 teaspoon of liquid chlorine bleach with 1 gallon of cold water, and fill the humidifier tank about halfway. Swish the solution around to coat the inside, then let it stand for 20 minutes. This should kill any lingering bacteria.

Step 4: Rinse and dry

Rinse each piece of the humidifier under running water several times until you can’t smell bleach anymore. Then let the parts air dry before you put the humidifier back together.

Clean your humidifier at least once a week while it’s in use, and then once (thoroughly) before putting it away for the season.

January 4, 2021 by The Frugal Father Categories: DIY, Home Improvement, PSA, Safety Leave a comment