Happy Friday! How many times in the last few days have you been asked "Are you ready for Christmas?" My answer to that is always "no", but I'm not stressing it! And while I'm not a big snow person, I admit this fresh snow we got does make it look more like the holiday season. It's very pretty even if it does have problems that come with it!

Speaking of Christmas and the holidays in general there are a lot of fun things going on this weekend and through the new year. Wednesday we checked out the Winter Wonderland at the Fair on 4 and had a lot of fun. You can see more in our Instagram video here.

This weekend it's the last weekend for the European Christmas Market at Union Depot and Minnesota Merry Market at the MN State Fairgrounds, as well as the free Santa & Albert's Annual Holiday Play at Bachmans.

See a bunch more Christmas, Solstice and Winter happenings on our Events page and then there are even MORE in our new Minnesota Holiday Events Facebook group. And of course there are lots of options on our list of Holiday Lights in Minnesota.

Have a good weekend and I'll be back with another newsletter Monday. Until then, you can keep up with the latest at ThriftyMinnesota.com, on the Facebook page and also with our deals newsletter. Thanks for reading! It's appreciated!

Winter Wonderland in Oakdale

I'm sure the organizers in Oakdale are happy to see this week's snow just in time for Winter Wonderland!

On Saturday you're invited to get outside and enjoy the holiday season with horse-drawn hayrides, a bonfire with s'mores, holiday crafting, candy cane hunt, petting zoo, and more. It's a free event for all ages.

It all takes place at Oakdale Nature Preserve and Discovery Center.

Holiday Night Trains at Twin City Model Railroad Museum

Night Trains is a holiday tradition at the Twin City Model Railroad Museum in St. Paul.

The museum's collection of model trains are decked out for the holiday season and the building lights are turned down so you can watch the festive trains travel through their world that has been decorated for the holidays.

Extra viewing days have been added now through January 34d.
Read More and Get Ticket Info

Current Great Deals

Today is another freebie day from the KwikTrip Holiday Extravaganza with a free bag of Funyuns. (My pro tip - they pair excellently with the KwikTrip twin pack ham and cheese sandwiches that have been warmed in the microwave for a few seconds!) Also don't forget the 31 Days of Holiday game which is giving lots of free food and drink prizes, as well as gas discounts.

Speaking of food freebies/discounts there are a LOT of them going on at fast food/fast casual restaurants with 12 Days of Deals style promotions. They're near the bottom of our Current Great Deals Page in the "Restaurant Deals" section.

There are also lots of deals for gift cards right now to help the last minute shoppers! There are up to 20% off various gift cards on Amazon, Target has Deal of the Day today to get a $15 Target card free when you spend $100 on select gift cards (including the all-in-one type cards where the recipient chooses), and we have a whole list of ongoing gift card offers.

There's also still time to give the gift of a Minnesota Children's Museum Membership with our special coupon code (that also works on individual gift tickets)!

It's getting to be the end of the deal for the rock bottom Sam's Club Membership sale for only $20 too. That's 60% off!

Get the details on all of these and see lots more of the latest sales, freebies and deals on our Current Great Deals Page! Also, you can now stay up to date with our Best Thrifty Deals Facebook Page and via our Best Thrifty Deals e-mail newsletter. (You can see Wednesday's HERE). Sign up for future newsletters HERE.