You, too, can save money! (clipart from MS Office, 2010)

Monday, September 27, 2010

Halloween Costume = FREE Shutterfly Photo Book!


For those of you out there who are not going to hit up your favorite consignment shop, best friend with bigger children, or something else equally cheap (me? All of the above, folks!) for a costume, here is an idea:

Purchase a Halloween costume (or other things including a Halloween costume) and have a receipt totaling $35.00 or more from Party City from now till October 31. If you do this online, the website states that a Shutterfly photo book will "automatically" show up in your cart (which means you will receive an email shortly thereafter with info on how to redeem your free offer). If you choose to purchase in-store (which is smart, considering all the cool things I have found in the clearance section), simply save your receipt and go to http://partycity.com/shutterfly to request your Free Photo Book. The process might take a little longer, but it will be worth it.

Enterprising young types such as yourself might foresee a photo book as being a nice Christmas present for a faraway relative (or an in-town grandmother), a neat way to chronicle family recipes (just use the text feature and use appropriately-sized font) along with cherished family photographs, a brag book for a dad on the move, or a fun record of someone's first pumpkin-picking expedition. Leave a post and let us know how you might use yours.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Free Sample of Crest Toothpaste

Wal-Mart is offering a free sample of Crest Pro-Health Clinical Gum Protection Paste (whew!) to people who fit a certain profile. If you have difficulties with bleeding gums, be sure to check it out...in a few weeks, we can do our "happy dance" out by the mailbox together!

Ingles This Week....Triple Coupons!

(To the tune of "Charge!")
....free, free, free, free, free-free......FREEEEEE!!!!!

Triple coupons at Ingles (up to 50 cents--making it up to $1.50 off) this week means two things. First, you have to remember that, unless you really need the item, most things with coupon matchups are not on sale. Therefore, using the coupon will not result in such awesome sales as might come up next week, or the week after....

Secondly, it does mean that if you want to replenish just a few things in your pantry for CHEAP, just load up your coupons and go (preferably without children....why do I keep doing this to myself?). You won't be sorry!

Great deals that I found in Woodbury, Georgia (which are replicated in most of the Ingles service area--print any coupons TWICE, if possible):

Tetley teabags @ $1.98 B1G1 (0.99)--use a coupon from Coupons.com (50 cents off--makes it FREE)

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and Biscuits $1 each -- use 50 cents off 2 Crescent rolls from coupons.com (makes them 25 cents apiece)

Dannon single serve yogurt 6 oz @ 50 cents apiece-- use 50 cents off 1 Dannon Light n' Fit (makes them 25 cents apiece)

Del Monte vegetables, assorted 13.5 - 15.25 oz @ 66 cents each -- use $1/5 Del Monte canned vegetables from 9/19 Red Plum insert (makes them 46 cents apiece, which is totally stock pile time!!!)

I also got a rain check for some cheap Totino's pizza rolls, but if I don't make it back and find more this week, the triple coupons will be over. Darn it.

Boneless, skinless chicken breast, family packs of ground chuck, and a nice chuck roast were pretty darn cheap, too. My total for my bill, which of course included random things that my husband was in dire need of (which NEVER, EVER have coupons), as well as staples like milk and bread, was 81.42 for $138.43 worth of groceries (coupon savings of $23.63....not bad for maybe 15 minutes of prep work).

I feel really good about that....basically, I could pay myself $94.52 an hour to do that. Now, do you see why even a little bit of couponing can be effective?

Thanks to my FAVORITE blog of all time, Southern Savers, which allowed me to get ready so quickly. They have an awesome shopping list creator that includes coupon matchups.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Ebates....Online Savings 101

One of my husband's favorite things to do is to shop online. It is very easy for him, and he can do it anytime. I love shopping online, too. Now, there is something that can make it even more profitable for you...

Ebates.com is a shopping referral site which connects consumers with popular companies, offering discounts and coupon codes in addition to the opportunity to earn rebates based on your purchase amount. For instance, if you shop with Shutterfly after going "through" Ebates (so they can track your purchase as having come from their site--don't forget to sign in first), you can oftentimes earn 10% or more in cash back.

The catch--the cash is given in a rebate check format every quarter, which means that you only receive a check every 3 months. The good part? When you sign up as a new member, you automatically earn an extra $5 when you make your first qualifying purchase. Make sure to refer new family and friends to this service, too, and you may get some extra perks.

Not every store in creation is on Ebates....but a great many of them are. I even checked out the categories of stores to see what childrens' stores they had to offer, as I needed to get a baby gift. And, I could easily see which store would earn me the best rebate.

I have gotten two rebate checks so far. I am pleased!

Happy Dance at the Mailbox!

I do not get paid to endorse any particular products. Items and companies mentioned here are simply a side effect of talking about deals that I have seen and/or am personally interested in. However, I must say that Procter & Gamble makes me soooo happy....

They have printable coupons. They have e-coupons that attach to your Kroger card to save you extra (although I have had reports that Kroger has discontinued e-coupons stacked over paper manufacturer Q's....another post, another time). And, they have awesome rebates, like the Olay one that I barely got postmarked for today's date....

And, I come home to find a home mailer that includes $23 worth of coupons! Thanks, Hayley, for the heads up...and, yes, it does include a form to fill out to apply for your coupon booklet from P&G when you spend $50 or more on P&G products between now and Dec. 31st. Save some printer ink....that's what I always say!!!

Sorry I have been off the grid this week...school and work is tough to juggle sometimes. Thanks to great friends who showed up for a fun coupon klatch!

Monday, September 13, 2010

FREE Tub of Wipes for You and a Friend!

Sweet deal! (Er, at least fresh....) Cottonelle is offering a free tub of wipes (via a coupon, snail-mail style) for you and a friend when you give your friend's email address to share the promotion. My guess is that this won't last long, so be sure to do this.

Not that you EVER have to save a free coupon for a rainy day, but....wouldn't it be cool if these wipes went Buy One Get One Free (BOGO Free) at a local drugstore? If they were, we would get TWO tubs of wipes for free, since a "free" coupon is essentially a cents-off coupon.

The way it would work is this:

*Buy 2 tubs Cottonelle Flushable Moist Wipes (which would ideally be on sale BOGO free)
*Use one "Free" coupon, sent in mail (which all stores should accept, since it is not a printed coupon)....

= tax only on two items, or two free tubs!!!

I can dream, can't I? :-)

Thanks, Jenny from Southern Savers!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

HOT Coupon Booklet from Procter & Gamble

There were some grrrrreat P & G coupons in the 8/29 newspaper! So exciting!

To further celebrate (?), Procter & Gamble has come out with a new coupon booklet to reward us for buying $50 worth of products that we really already buy anyway. The key here is that EVERYTHING that P & G makes is included, and also, you have until 12/31/10 to make the purchases.

I know, I know, something extra that takes a little bit of effort. However, let me say that I got the $100 P & G coupon booklet from this spring, and there were high value coupons ($5 off Olay) that got me some excellent facial care products for cheap. Also, I got three coupons on items like Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet paper that were for $1.00 off one package, which is unheard-of.

My suggestion? Put aside a section of your coupon file/binder for rebates, and file your receipts that include P & G products regularly. Especially if you purchase diapers, feminine hygiene products, laundry detergent, etc., you will find that it will be easier than you think to get the $50 worth of purchases.

Happy couponing!

NO COUPONS......this Sunday stinks.

For those of you who didn't know it...this Sunday's newspaper has no coupons. None. Zip. Nada.

Okay, in the interest of full disclosure, the last time that the paper was not scheduled to have any coupons, it had a small four-page insert from General Mills foods. However, they were coupons that were already available through earlier newspapers and could be printed from the internet. And, I am not entirely sure that the Parade newspaper insert might not have some....

So, long story short, I will be asking my wonderful MIL if I can look at her Parade insert, and I will be taking it easy and not hunting newspapers today. That works out well, since my son is getting over a cold and my daughter just caught it and is feverish. Say a prayer for us....we hate missing church, and it is so important to stay healthy so that we can enjoy our time together between my job and their bedtimes.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers!