Season of Giving

There are soooo many blogs hosting some awesome giveaways lately. I can't hardly keep up with them! Most will give you an extra entry in the drawing if you blog about them. Here's a few I'm signing up for this week!

The Centsible Sawyer is hosting a week of giving. I'm hoping to win some cute shoes for my son, a mattress cover, and a $50 walmart card. She has more that that, and more to come, so check it out!

Keeping the Kingdom First is giving away a $50 Walmart card as well!!

Coupon Cravings is also giving away a $50 Walmart giftcard!!

Awesome Walgreens day

My plan was to get all this and walk out without paying a dime and having 8 extra register rewards. Well, there was a bit of RR mishap at the cash register and I ended up paying $3 and walking away with $4 in register rewards. I'm not complaining.
Check out what I scored for just $3, using 2 transactions, register rewards and rebate-gift cards. Only $3 came out of my bank account!


Here's the list:

• 2 gallons milk
• 3 -12 packs soda
• 6 boxes cereal
• 2 16-ct benefiber packs
• 3 Robitussin
• 4 Pert Plus
• 1 Maalox
• 1 Theraflu warming liquid
• 3 packs of cups
• 2 packs of paper plates
• 1 styrofoam bowls
• 1 Airwick freshmatic air freshner
• 1 pumpkin carving kit
• 2 candy corn

2 Days Only!

There is a new $5 off a $25 purchase coupon at Walgreens. You can use it today and tomorrow the 17-18 only. I've found you can print these off multiple times and use them in multiple trasactions.

If you want some good Walgreens deals and scenarios, check out Money Saving Mom or Centsible Savings. This week is a good week to stock up on all that cough syrup and cold medecines you'll be using this winter!

Indiana Jones

You can print a $10 rebate form from Orvill Redenbacher's for the Indiana Jones, Kingdom of the Christal Skull dvd that just came out yesterday. Woohoo- I'll be using this one!

Giveaways Galore!

Blogs these days are full of giveaways. Sometimes I sign up and try my luck. Sometimes I pass them by, because I know I won't win!

Centsible Mommy has been giving away tons of great stuff!! I signed up for a few of her giveaways last night, and posted about them on my family blog. Today she's giving away your choice of See Kia Run little kid's shoes. They're adorable! Check out her blog for details on how to enter.

Most blog giveaways give you a second or third or even fourth entry if you do mention them in your blog, put one of their blog buttons on your page... etc. This one will give me a Fourth entry if YOU sign up and MENTION MY NAME AS A REFERRAL!!

Good luck. I hope I win. My son really needs some new shoes!

What I bought at Wags

I went to Walgreens without a shopping list, because my son tore it to pieces. Usually shopping without a list is a very bad idea for me, but there were such great deals ending this week, I couldn't pass it up. I think I did pretty good!

This originally costs $24.99

I got all this for $19.29. (a $62 value!)

You don't even have to do math to see that I scored some awesome deals today!

I would have had to pay absolutely NOTHING out of pocket, but my rebates from last months purchase somehow got a little mishandled, so I didn't have any money on my rebate gift card. I called them today, and I'm still getting all my rebates, it's just going to be a SLOW wait for them. I'll probably get all last month's money next week. So I did have to pay some cash today, BUT... I will receive $18.00 in rebates through Walgreen's Easy Saver Rebate program.

So I basically got all of this for $1.29! I'm so super excited to install this automatic shower cleaner! woohoo!

FREE Scrubbing Bubbles Cleaners

Walgreens has some great deals on scrubbing bubbles bathroom products. I plan on stocking up tomorrow while they're FREE!

-Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner is on sale for $19.99, through this Sat. 10/11. In the October Easy Saver Rebate program, there is a $10 rebate for this product. Use this $10 Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner Starter Kit and you'll get it for FREE! This is a $20-$25 value!

There are quite a few other Scrubbing Bubbles product coupons at the Right at Home site. Print these off and combine them with Walgreens sales for this week (ending 10/11), along with Walgreens' rebate program and you can get most of these for free, or even make a few extra pennies with your purchase.

Get the Most out of your Coupons

First of all, I know it's a little late, but don't forget to pick up your Sunday paper!!

Alright, I was asked a question this week, which I thought I'd answer in more detail for everyone who is wondering.

"Can you use a store issued coupon for the same item as a manufacturers coupon?"

The answer is usually YES. Here are some great coupon scenarios for you to try and take advantage of.

Many stores issue their own "store specific" coupons. You know it is store specific if it says the name of the store directly on the coupon. Some stores also issue "manufacturer's coupons" (manu for short), so if it says "manu" at the top even if it was issued from Target, you can use it anywhere you want.

99% of the coupons you'll clip from newspapers/magazines/online/etc will be manufacturer's coupons.

PLEASE DO stack your coupons!! I have yet to find a store that does not allow this. Stacking coupons means using more than one coupon for one purchased item. There are many ways you can do this, and many ways you can not.

Most manu coupons will say something similar to "not to be used with any other offer"... this means it can not be used with any other manu coupon, but does not limit it to using it on top of a store coupon.

So if you have a $1 off coupon issued from the manu( ie: proctor & gamble), then you have a $1 off coupon issued from the store(ie: walgreens) you can save $2 on that one item by using both coupons.

Okay, now take it further. Try not to use your coupons unless the sale option is really great. You could use both of those coupons and save $2 on some make up... or you could wait until the store has a B1G1 (buy one get one) free sale on that make up. Now, you are saving $2 AND getting a free item.

OR better yet... use those $2 worth of savings when the store offers you money/register rewards/coupons/etc back for purchasing the item. CVS and Wags (walgreens) are great about this. Buy something for $4 get $4 back to use on your next purchase. So essentially the item is free. Use both your coupons worth $2 and *WHAMO* you've just made a profit of $2 by purchasing this item!!

If you have a $/$$ (ie: $5 off a $20 purchase) entire purchase coupon, you should be able to use it at the very end after all your other store and manu coupons.

This is really just the beginning of how to stack coupons. Give it a try if you haven't yet.

*I didn't get any couponing done this week- I was way too busy with birthday plans, so I hope to make up for it this coming week :)

Don't Forget to REGISTER!!

Freebies

You can't get much better than FREE! Many companies frequently give out free samples or products, usually with great coupons included.

Some current freebie deals:

Ziploc vacuum freezer bag starter kit.

Bertolli Premium Pasta Sauce

Schick Quatro Titanium razor

Betty Crocker/General Mills coupon booklet

FiberOne Cereal

Benefiber to go, Gain Laundry detergent, Jergens Lotion, Pamprin, Crest toothpaste, Huggies dieapers - all from Walmart samples.

Most samples say they will get to you in 4-6 weeks. I've had some come much sooner, but they are usually around that time frame, and more often than not, filled with lots of money saving coupons!

New clothes for Next to Nothing

I went to JC Penny's yesterday to use up one of my $10 off anything coupons. The plan was to purchase one thing, then come home. I haven't been to Penny's in so long. I love that store! If you have a big one near you (the small ones can be kind of lame), it is usually worth it to check them out every month or so during clearance times. I used to work there, so I know when all the best deals and sales are out. I've done some price comparisons against other stores at end of season clearance times, and have decided they by far have some of the best sales.

I ended up picking up quite a few items, all on rock-bottom clearance prices. Check out the cute stuff I got...

This was the best deal- what I'm calling the "milk maid skirt" (looks way better on), was originally $80... I got it for $1.27! I got the shorts for $5.40.

I love this long, ruffly shirt so much (also looks much better on), that I actually returned to Penny's later in the day during rush hour to exchange for the right size. It cost me $3.87!! The shorts were $7.87.

These shorts were $5.40. I was feeling a bit preppy when I bought these 4 belts for $1.27 each! All these deals were made even better, because I got an additional 15% off with a scratch card at the register, then on top of that another 35% off for using my JCP card.



Also- I never thought I'd say this, but Super Walmarts are starting to carry some adorably cute and trendy clothes! If you need some cute dress up/business clothes, they're stocked right now. As I was browsing, I noticed all the updated trends, and almost died over a skirt, that I think I might buy for my b-day. These aren't your regular bottom-of-the-line Walmart clothes anymore! I think they're trying to compete more with other stores.

Now, they don't have as much great stuff as the Targets do, and they still have their lame clothes section... but if you've never been a Walmart clothing buyer (believe me, I never really have either), you might want to give it a second chance! P.S. please don't think I'm insane if you go into your Walmart and can't figure out what I'm talking about. I'm well aware of the wide differences in Walmarts depending on your area... ie: Polson, MT's excuse for a Walmart probably won't have anything like this on their shelves until it is well out-dated... sorry, it's the truth! :)

Where are your favorite places to clearance shop and get great clothes for next to nothing?? Please, do tell! And if you're updating your wardrobe for the fall/winter months, good luck and happy shopping!!

Save Money at the Movies

Big Screen TV vs. Movie theater

In my post about furnishing for less, I mentioned at the bottom how sometimes I do believe splurging and spending money can actually save you money in the long run. I believe this to be true for a lot of things, especially in the media/entertainment/electronic areas.

This is where our decision to splurge on a 50 inch Panasonic plasma came in to play. My husband had plenty of his reasons, a list a mile long, but this was mine:

We'll save money.

You see, we are huge movie buffs in our family. We watch movies weekly, almost nightly, especially in the off seasons (of primetime- not sports). We used to go to the movie theater about 4-6 times per month in college. When we got married it changed to about 4 per month. When we had a baby, it changed to about 1-2 per month, and that never seemed to be enough to satisfy our movie cravings.

How much does it cost to go to the theater? About $8 per ticket, x 2 people = $16. It is impossible for me to sit in a movie theater and smell the popcorn and not purchase any for myself. I mean IMPOSSIBLE. I'd probably have a seizure if you made me sit through an entire movie with the torturous smell of buttered popcorn, and not have any for my own. So, concessions = about $10. Then, take into account the babysitter. About $10/hr, so around $25. This means ONE NIGHT at the movies will cost around $50!! That's not even counting if you want to catch a bite to eat before/after, or the cost of gas.

Alright. So if we spend $50 per movie and go 1 night per month, we will spend about $612 that year on the theater. If you go 2 nights per month, you will spend about $1,224! That's a lot of money. Our 50 in. plasma cost us $1,100. That right there has already saved us money.

Now take into consideration the value of watching a movie at home on a 50 in. plasma. No annoying people sitting in front of you or kicking your seat. You can pause for bathroom breaks or to put the baby to bed at any time. Rewind/volume/etc, etc. We long ago decided this set up was sooooo much better that sitting through a great movie with annoying teenagers chatting behind you. Add in our surround sound and blue ray/PS3 player we already had, and the quality and experience is WAY better than the theater.

So, where do we get our movies? We rent from Blockbuster All Access. Netflix is a good deal too, if you don't have a Blockbuster store near bye to take advantage of the in-store trades. We pay $20/month on the Blockbuster plan, and get unlimited movies and can change them out in store if we want. We rent, on average 20 movies per month. Yes, 20. I told you we were big movie people! If we were to rent movies individually at the rate of $4 per movie (or paperview), we would spend $960 a year! Instead, we only spend $240 per year... or about $200 if you were to do Netflix.

Now, I realize a lot of people might read this and think, "well why the heck do they even care to spend that money on movies... on the tv... on blockbuster... " This is where the LIVING your life part comes in. Everybody has their own source of entertainment/relaxation/bonding time/fun, whether it be watching football, mountain biking, shooting hoops at the gym, video games, or movies. Whatever your source may be, I really do believe it is important to spend a little bit of money on that every month/year to help keep yourself sane! This is why I do not like Dave Ramsey's debt payment plan. He thinks every single extra penny you come across should go to pay off debt. He does have many many other great pointers, many of which I'm doing, but with my own customized plan. I'm pretty sure Dave Ramsey would call me a fool for purchasing a 50 in. plasma when we have so many $K's in debt... Yes, I'm sure he'd probably laugh at me. However, if we didn't get the source of entertainment/relaxation/bonding/fun, then I'm sure this last year would have been much, much harder on us. (Wow, I just realized how much of a snob I sound like- really I'm not... I've been quite ashamed up until now that we even made this purchase!).

In conclusion- if you like movies and are thinking of purchasing a large tv... it might be a good financial decision for you after all! Tell that to your husband- he'll love you forever!

Paid to Shop CVS

I picked up three items at CVS today, paid nothing out of pocket by using previously earned ECB's, and earned $10.99 ECB back. ECB's are coupons printed at the end of your receipt, that can be used same as cash, but they expire one month from when you earn them.

This is how I did it.

Gillette Fusion razors: $9.99, get $5 ECB back. I used a $4 off coupon from the newspaper inserts I picked up yesterday, so the total I paid was $5.99 in ECB, and nothing out of pocket.

Then, the Covergirl Clean Foundation was $5.49, and I had a BOGO coupon on Covergirl products, so I paid with ECB's and got the concealer for free. Because the CG foundation is FREE after ECB's, I earned $5.49 back.

Another example of getting paid to shop. I really needed the razor and the concealer. I didn't really need the foundation, but because it got me the concealer for free and some more ECB's, it was a good item to purchase.

The reason I went into CVS was actually to transfer over a Rx. They have a promotion this month, if you transfer over a Rx you can get a $30 gift card. I also have a coupon for this promotion for a $25 gift card that expires at the end of the year. This is a great way to get some money to start your CVS savings adventures, and never have to pay anything out of pocket to get started at earning those ECB's.

I didn't get my gift card, however, because I have a government insurance, and because it is federally funded insurance, they won't give me my gift card, unless every time I refill my Rx I want to pay completely out of pocket! ha ha ha ha ha... yeah right. My Rx is about $100 for a 30 day supply! I get it for FREE from the Army post pharmacy, but they won't give me the full 90 days at a time, and I hate going in every 30 days to stand in line for it. But I guess standing in line every month at a crowded military hospital pharmacy is much better than paying $100 every month. Bummer. No $30 gift card for me.

Anyway- If you have Rx, and want to get started on the CVS trips for FREE to begin with, this would be a really good offer to take on!

Coupons - Get Started!

To be successful at couponing you'll need to:

• Make the time and effort
• Do your homework and make a pre-shopping trip plan
• Don't shop with children if at all possible (it's easier to stick to the plan this way)
• Don't be BRAND loyal (unless there's only one brand of facial cleanser that will keep you from breaking out- then by all means, stick to it!)
• Buy things even if you don't need it right away. Stock up when you can get it for cheap or free!
• Be willing to shop at multiple stores throughout the week and not be a "one stop shopper".
• SPEND MONEY to begin with. Especially if you are trying to start the CVS or Walgreens programs. Don't be discouraged... once you spend money at these stores a few times, you'll start coming out with bags full of free items later.

This first step to saving money with coupons is collecting and saving your coupons!
Sunday newspapers have inserts in them filled with tons of savings. My paper caries a Red Plum insert, Smart Source insert, and Proctor and Gamble once a month,. This is by far your quickest way to accumulate a lot of coupons all at once. So go buy yourself a Sunday paper or plan on it next week.

There are also many many ways to print coupons from online. http://www.coupons.com/ is a great place to start. You can simply click on the coupons you'd like to print and print them out. You may be prompted to install a program so your computer can correctly print these. Go ahead and do this. You'll be happy you did. Many store's registers have a hard time scanning home printed coupons, and if they don't scan, many cranky employees will refuse to accept them. Though you'll get just as many nice employees who will go ahead and push it through manually.

Alright. Once you've got your pile of coupons, you'll need to organize them. I group them by category, and store them in a coupon folder. I've seen people use 3 ring binders- I'm not a big fan of this method- it doesn't seem very mobile to me.

Now, start collecting your local stores sales fliers. I mostly do CVS and Walgreens right now. I buy most my groceries at Walmart, and do some coupons there, but because Walmart doesn't put out store coupons, it's harder to get good deals (Walmart does however offer weekly samples from their website, and coupons usually come with them). Because of this, I've started to buy most of my household products like cleaning supplies, t.p., and make up at the drug stores.

There's only one other option for groceries around here, the HEB, and I have yet to figure their coupon system out. I DO know that some stores like Kroger for example, have some amazing sales and coupons to go with it. So look around at the blogs I have linked on the right, and see what blogs are talking about your local sales. Now here's the most important part to keeping up to date... SUBSCRIBE to these blogs. Many of them will give you the adds right there on your computer screen. Most of them will give you a play by play on what to buy, when to buy, how to buy.

Now, how to actually get started at the store? Well, copy somebody else of course! Find a blog that seems in sync with what you buy and your local stores, and do what they do!

*Let me know if you have any questions, and if I can't answer it, I will try and find the answer from someone else.

To learn the Walgreens saving system, visit I Heart Wags.

To learn the CVS savings system, visit I Heart CVS. There are many many other sites who will explain these to you. I just find these two websites to be quick, easy, and to the point, without being confusing for beginners!

Furnish for Less

Just because you don't have much money, or you don't own your home, doesn't mean you can't have nice looking furniture. Most inexpensive furniture you will find at the Wal/Tar/K-marts, is inexpensive because it's cheap and will fall apart in a few years, or looks like it belongs in a dorm room. What about us people who want furniture that looks fit for a nice home? Do we have to spend thousands of dollars? Maybe. Sometimes. Most of the time- Maybe Not.

This week I finished my most recent furniture rehab project. I'm always in need of more living room seating, as well as a nice place to put my feet up. When we bought our new couches we opted not to get the coordinating ottoman, because of price, and the shape/size just wasn't right for me. Do you know how much a brand-new ottoman costs? Look it up... at least $100 minimum... much more for the nicer/flatter/more functional designs.

I found this piece at a crazy lady's house, while I was purchasing some $3 solid oak twin size headboards (still sitting in garage waiting for a make-over). She thought this ottoman was way too nice to give up for any less than $50. Seriously? Is she aware of what decade we are in? This thing was hideous, but the shape was right. I talked her husband into giving it to me for $8.

I purchased the most expensive fabric I've ever bought at $8.50/ yd, and covered it up. I also spray painted the legs a dark brown. It now looks fabulous with my couches. It's super comfy, and will serve as extra seating when we have a large crowd.

Total price including upholstery thread and a curved needle = $27.50.

Some other inexpensive furniture make-overs, you might remember from my other blog-

A toddler bed for my son, purchased for $6 at a thrift store. Add in some support boards underneath - $5, and a coat of paint - free from my garage. Total price = $11

Solid Oak side table for my living room, matches my other one perfectly, $12 from a thrift store. New coat of paint (around) $3. Total price = $15

Ethan Allen 1941 solid oak hutch and secretary for my kitchen, $80 from Craigslist, $5 coat of paint. Total =$85.

There you have it. It is possible to furnish your home without paying the full price of too much! Sometimes, though, I do think it's a necessity. Okay, maybe necessity is stretching it, but I really had no other options for my entertainment center, unless I wanted my living room to look like a dorm room (which we're trying to avoid). So after much searching I bought my most recent favorite piece of furniture for under $1,000. And by under, I mean $20 under. It was paid in cash, however. We're not using credit cards for anything these days. I've learned quite a bit in debt management this year.

Purchasing this lovely piece was probably not the best idea, nor was the tv, though we have saved (and will continue to save) money, believe it or not, buy splurging on these. More on that, and the debt thing later. You've gotta live, right?

Food Storage

Do you have a food storage? How much? A week? A month? A whole year?? We have a bit... probably a couple month supply... but what we're really lacking on in our storage is CHOCOLATE.

Yes, chocolate is a necessity in our house. I know a lot of people think you can live without it... while this may be true for you, I'm pretty sure this is not true for us. You see, I've tried, time and again to survive a day or two without chocolate. When the hubby goes without chocolate for too long, I start thinking of ways I could kill him off... I've come to the conclusion that it is a staple, right up there with food and water.


So today I worked on our one month supply of chocolate. I hope it lasts us that long. I'm not quite sure that it will, but we'll try.

I got all this at Walgreens for $16.45. I saved over $60.

Yay for coupons. Are you convinced yet? I know I am!

I got paid to shop!

Have you tried your luck at couponing yet? If not, you should! I just got paid $7 to purchase these items at Walgreens!

The request for more details on how to get started using coupons is quite popular, so I thought I'd break down for you what I did today.

• 13.5 oz Pert Plus
• Three - 4 oz. Children's Tylenol
• Glade Fabric/Air Freshener
• Colgate max fresh toothbrush (it has a scratch and sniff handle... kind of weird...)

I really should have made over $10, but I forgot to use a couple coupons on the Pert Plus. I think I'll go back tomorrow and re-do that, while I'm picking up a few other things.

Alright- this is how I did it:

Tylenol: $5.69 each. I used a $3 off when you buy 3 manu coupon, and $1.50 store coupon scanned 3 times. Total price for each = $3.19

Glade Fabric/Air: $3.99. I used a $1 manu coupon and a $1.50 store coupon. Total price = 1.49

Colgate Max Fresh Toothbrush: $3.49. I used a $1 manu coupon and a $2 store coupon.

Total price = $0.49 Then I used a $5 off a $20 purchase (after coupons I was below $20, but the clerk pushed it through for me anyway, since it was originally over $20)

Add in $0.69 sales tax and my total came out to $13.72.

I paid using a gift card from previous rebates**. The gift card covered the entire amount. $7 of Register Rewards printed out for me to use next time, along with a $4 coupon for a renuzit air freshener.. which I'll probably use.

**Walgreens has a great rebate system, where each month you can get many items for free after rebate, or at a great discount. You don't have to mail anything- just go to their website and type in your receipt number, and they send you a gift card. After the first time you receive the gift card, they just keep adding the rebate to that same card if you want. Easy Peasy!

There you have it. You can get paid to shop, you just have to do a little homework first! Studies show that people who spend 20 minutes a week clipping/organizing coupons, can save at least $1,000 per year!

If you haven't started yet, buy the Sunday paper this week. Pick up the sales fliers from your local Walgreens or CVS (or save them when they come in the mail, instead of trashing them), and start reading some frugal blogs to help you figure it all out!

All for a Dollar

For the longest time I've always thought coupons were a waist of time and effort and not worth any savings... and a lot of times that is still true. For years I've curiously watched the crazy coupon clippers of the world. I'd be amazed at how much effort my SIL, Paula would put into it, and come home with bags and bags full of toiletries, and only a few dollars gone from her pocket. I still just thought it's something I can't do. Every time I'd get a coupon in hand, ready to use, I'd find I could buy the same thing in a different brand for less.

I recently discovered couponing is like a cult! There are some crazy smart shoppers out there. Take Christine at Crazy Coupons for example, who spends just pennies and bring home the same amount I spend hundreds on! Seriously- she got ALL of this for just $0.18

I've decided I've been inspired and will give it a try. It's a little discouraging though, looking at all these smart shoppers' blogs. They go to store after store after store. I myself, am usually just a one stop shopper, making Super Walmart my go-to place for nearly everything. It's hard to hit multiple stores in one week when you don't have a car to yourself all week, and usually have to shop with a cranky 2 yr old.
Today was my second try at CVS'ing... another cult all in itself..... I was awfully proud of myself! I got all this for only $1.03!!!

It seriously amazes me. It did take quite a bit longer in the store and some advance planning to accomplish this, but still! I'm sure if I just keep at it I'll get the hang of it more. I'm so proud of myself!