Frugal Families: Deals Around Town

Here are five great deals that your frugal family can take advantage of this week:

1. Don't forget your Valpak inserts. Don't throw that blue envelope away without checking the deals out. Recently, Rita's offered a buy one, get one free (BOGO for those in the know) deal, and the Academy Theatre at Beltway Plaza had great concession deals.

2. Get a free kids' book from Barnes and Noble. After reading eight books and recording them in the special journal, kids can get a free book. It's a great incentive to get your kids reading.

3. A viewing of "It's A Wonderful Life" will be shown for free on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in downtown Washington, D.C. It will be introduced by the daughter of Donna Reed, who co-starred in this family favorite with James Stewart.

4. Get a free bird watching kit. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology wants as many responses as possible to its Celebrate Urban Birds project. You can register online and have the materials sent to you or just download them directly from the website. The kit includes posters for identifying birds and all the tools you need to participate. Sounds like a great family project.

5. The has re-opened. They've got events going on all week. Check them out for some giveaways.