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• Nov. 11, 2008
Free Tomatoes!

Sign up here to get a free gift box of Muir Glen Tomatoes.

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• Nov. 10, 2008
Check this site out

Thanks to my friend Janice for directing me to this link!  Check out the cool gift ideas and info on different stores for "Black Friday" shopping at Wallet Pop - Holiday Gifts You Won't Know Are From The Dollar Store.  It has great ideas for all kinds of people on your list.

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• Nov. 10, 2008
Giveaway

Common Sense with Money is giving away a $50 Walmart gift card.  You can click on this link to read all about it.

Shannon

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• Nov. 10, 2008
Free Tic Tacs!

Click on this link to get your free sample of Tic Tac Chill mints!  Enjoy,

Shannon

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• Nov. 6, 2008
Free Samples

Click on this link to get your free tea samples.  Just type in TRYME as your coupon code and your order is free.  I am trying Wild Blueberry and French Vanilla!

Click on this link to get your free sample of a Breath-A-Licious dog bone.

Enjoy your samples and check out Money Saving Mom for more free samples.

Shannon

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• Oct. 24, 2008
Double Dipping Weekend At Walgreens

 

It is that great time at Walgreens again.  The October/November Easy Saver Catalogs overlap and you can get some pretty good deals.  There are not as many as there have been in the past but you can still pick up some good stuff.  The best double dip item is the Lysol Neutra Air which is on sale this week for $5.99.  With the $5 off coupon from the paper a few weeks ago these are $.99 each plus there is a $3 rebate on them in the November Easy Saver Catalog so you end up making $2.01!  You can also print out a $5 off of $20 coupon from the Walgreens website.  You can view other deal possibilities here or here.

I stuck to the basics but was pleased with my loot! I picked up the November Free After Rebate items (Loreal and Almay) as well as 2 Lysol Neutra Airs. My total before coupons was $38.96. I used 2 $5 off on the Lysol, 1 $2 off Loreal, 1 $1 off Almay and my $5 off $20 for a total of $18 off. My grand total after coupons and tax was $22.61 which I spent off of last month’s gift card. I will be getting $33 back on my gift card so I made money! Yeah!

Shannon

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• Oct. 13, 2008
My Coupon System

Over at From Wags to Riches there is a give-a-way going on that requires leaving a comment about your coupon organization system.  After leaving it there I thought it would be a good idea to share it here.  I hope that this will encourage some of you in your frugal pursuits!   

Shannon

I started with two 4x6 photo albums but quickly out grew that method.  Now I have two check size accordian files.  I use one for grocery items and one for non-grocery items.  At first I had restaraunt coupons in my grocery file and medicines in my non-grocery file.  However, I quickly found that there are so many medicine coupons that those sections were very full.  I decided then that I would use the 4x6 albums I started with.  One for restauraunt coupons and one for medicine coupons.  I am now very happy with my system.  The hardest part was finding an accordian file where the dividers were actually attaced at the bottom.  So many of them have 'floating' dividers and all I could envision was all of my coupons sliding under and getting mixed up after all my hard work.  I found my favorite accordian file at Walmart.  In addition to having attached dividers it expands at both the top and the bottom so it stretches out to about 12 inches in length.  It also has a wider section in front.  I keep scissors and a pen in one and my Wags ES catalogs in the other.  Then each file has 13 other sections.  I used card stock (cut down to size) to subdivide those sections so I have 26 sections in each.  Here is how I have my dividers organized:
     Non Grocery:
     Batteries&Miscellaneous/Bathroom Cleaners
     Cleaning Wipes&dusters/All Purpose Cleaners
     Air Freshners/Carpet Cleaners
     Dishwasher/Hand Dish
     Laundry/Cat Items
     Dog food/Dog Treats
     Fragrances/Deodorant
     Hair Color/Style Products
     Shampoo/Lotion
     Makeup/Facial Cleansers
     Feminine Products/Razors
     Soap/Teeth Products
     Baby/Paper/Plastic (I divided this one 3 times)

     Grocery:
     Refrigerated Baking/Baking
     Spices&Sugar/Bread, Jelly, Peanut Butter
     Canned Goods/Canned fruits&veggies
     Candy/Hot and Cold Cereal
     Cereal Bars/Fruit Snacks&Snack Cakes
     Dairy/Drinks
     Frozen Bread/Frozen IceCream&Snacks
     Frozen Breakfast/Frozen Meals
     Frozen Meats/Frozen Fruits & Veggies
     Meal Kits/Meat
     Sausage&Hot Dogs/Produce
     Rice, Pasta, Potatoes/Sauces, Spreads
     Chips/Nuts & other snacks

Each 4x6 album has a seperate page for each restaraunt or each medicine type (asprin, tylenol, allergy, bandaids, etc.) respectively.  After almost a year I finally feel like I have the system that is perfect for me.  All 4 of my organizers fit in a small tote and it stays in my car so that I always have all of my organizers within reach if I find a great deal!

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• Oct. 9, 2008
Cleaning Supplies

Click on this link to print coupons for some of your favorite cleaning supplies.  View Money Saving Mom here to see how to use these coupons to get the items free at Walgreens.  Enjoy!

Shannon

 

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• Oct. 7, 2008
A Site for Walgreens Lovers

I have told you now for a while about a great money saving site called Money Saving Mom.  MSM is by far my favorite money saving site, however, I just found a site dedicated specifically to Walgreens deals.  Money Saving Mom does post the Walgreens deals weekly but if you want to get just Walgreens information let me encourage you to check out From Wags to Riches.  You can also access this site from the button in my sidebar.

Shannon

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• Oct. 1, 2008
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin', keep those Rewards Rollin'

Here is commitment to the deals.  I did 8 transactions at Walgreens while on vacation!  My mother in law says I am addicted.  But I knew that by time I got home all the deals would be bought up and we were only a few blocks from Walgreens so I went for it!

I went over the course of two days.  The first night I didn’t spend a whole lot of time working out my deals, I just got things I knew we could use while on vacation like Dr. Pepper and Pringles.  (I bought Swiffer refills too because I was out at home and I didn’t know if I would get to go back to Walgreens.)  Here is what I did.

1^st deal:   3 cases Dr. Pepper for $11 & 2 Oral B toothbrushes @ $4.49 each – got $4 back in Register Rewards (RR) for the Dr. Pepper and 2 $4.50 RR for the toothbrushes

2^nd deal:   4 Swiffer Refills @ $3.49 each = $13.96 – used 3 $.55 man. Coupons and $4 RR for a total of $8.31 – got $5 RR

3^rd deal:   10 cans Pringles for $10 – used $5 RR for a total of $5 – got $3 RR

Now, I spent a considerable amount of time figuring out my next set of transactions.  I had 5 transactions planned that should have cost me $17.93 out of pocket and gotten me $20 in RR and $12 in rebates.  Well, they had everything in stock except the Nivea Men’s Body Wash which sounds really good, the only bad thing is that it was right in the middle of the long list of deals I had worked out and I was in no place to change things at that point so I decided to get some candy to take the place of the Body Wash.  The downside there was I grabbed a kind that didn’t match my coupons!  Arrgh!  Anyway, here is what actually transpired.

        Deal 1:     3 Children’s Tylenol @ $4.99 each
                        1 Lypsyl Lip treatment @ $2.99
                        -$3 Tylenol man. Coupon
                        -$9 in RR from the t.brush trans. Yesterday
                        -$4.50 Easy Saver Tylenol coupon
                Total Out of Pocket (oop) $3.00 + got $5 RR

Deal 2:     2 Fun size Reese’s Peanut Butter cups @ $3.99 each
2 Revlon Colorsilk hair colors @ $1.99 each
- $1 off 2 Revlon coupon
- $5 RR from Tylenol transaction

Total oop = $6.67 + got $2 RR (this transaction if I had been able to buy the body wash instead of candy would have cost only $.97+tax!)

        Deal 3:     2 Puffs tissues @ $.99 each after in ad coupon
                        2 Gillette Shampoo @2/$5
                        2 Soft Soap @ $.99 each after in ad coupon
                        3 caramels @3/$.99
                        -2 $2 Gillette coupons
                        -2 $.25 Puffs coupons
                        -2 $.35 Soft Soap coupons
                        -$3 RR from Pringles transaction yesterday
                        -2 $1 RR from Revlon transaction earlier
                Total oop = $5.78 + get a $5 Rebate from Gillette

        Deal 4:     2 Febreeze Air Effects @ $2.49 each
                        2 Febreeze Noticeable Kits @ $6.99 each
                        - 2 $5 Febreeze Noticeable coupons
                        - 2 $1 Febreeze Air Effects coupons
                        - $2 RR (I’m not sure what this one was from)
                Total oop = $6.94 + got $5 RR

        Deal 5:     2 Gillette fusion razors @ $8.99 each
                        - 2 $4 Gillette coupons
                        - $5 RR
                Total oop = $5.43 + got back $4 RR   Now, here is the deal on this particular transaction.  This was the last transaction and the Walgreens people were starting to look at me funny so my wonderful husband offered to do it for me.  Since it was just the 2 razors I figured it shouldn’t have any glitches so I gave him the coupons and instructions and left the store.  The only thing I told him to make sure of was to check out at the cosmetics counter because I had trouble at the regular checkout with the RR machine not printing before.  (They fixed it for me at cosmetics.)  Well, it turns out the cosmetics checker went on break right after I left the store so he had to check out up front.  As I suspected, he came back out without the $8 in RR he should have had.  I showed him the ad and what to tell the cashier when he went back in.  When he came out again he had only been able to get 1 $4 RR instead of the 2 he was due but he appeared in no mood to fight for the $4 so we called it a day.  (Keep in mind that my 3 year old had been having a meltdown for about ½ an hour at this point.)

So, how did I do total for these 42 items?  Drum roll please!

        Total oop = $24.31 (1^st day) + $27.82 (2^nd day) = $52.13 (Oh yeah, I actually only spent $5.93 oop because the rest of it was on my gift card from last month’s rebates.)  That’s less than $1.25 per item!  (Without coupons it would have cost $123.48.)  I received $37 RR and am getting over $8 in rebates.  I am well stocked on medicine, shampoo, cleaning supplies and air fresheners.  All in all it was a pretty good deal, and I still have $4 RR to spend!

 

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• Sep. 26, 2008
Double Dipping at Walgreens

It is that time again, the last weekend of the September Easy Saver catalog and the first weekend of the October Easy Saver catalog, all rolled together with the new $5 off $20 coupon that is good for today and Saturday.  What does that mean?  Double deals and lots of free stuff!

I just got back from my deal shopping and here's what I got.  You can view the October Easy Saver Catalog here.

1 Extreme Energy Shot twin pack = $3.99
1 Loreal Skin Genesis Cleanser = $7.99
1 Rimmel Long Last Mineral Foundation = $7.49
3 Glade Scented Oil Candles = $5.99 each = $17.97
1 Glade Fabric Refresher = $3.99
                                  Total = $41.43

Then I used these coupons

$1.50 off Glade Fabric Refresher manufacturer coupon
$1 off Glade Fabric Refresher September Easy Saver coupon
3 - $2 off Glade Scented oil manufacturer coupon
3 - $2 off Glade Scented Oil September Easy Saver coupon
$1 off Rimmel manufacturer coupon
$1 off Loreal manufacturer coupon
$5 off $20 Walgreens coupon

Total after coupons and tax = $21.20

All of the above items are included in the October Easy Saver Catalog Rebate section.  The Energy Shots, Rimmel, and Loreal were all free after rebate.  The Glade candles each have a $2 rebate and the Glade spray has a $1 rebate.  So I will be getting a rebate of $26.47 + the 10% rebate for a total of $29.12 in rebates.  (I actually did not pay any money out of pocket today because of the great rebate I got last month!)

So, be sure to head to Walgreens this weekend.

Shannon

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• Sep. 22, 2008
Magazine Subscription Giveaway

Over at The Thrifty Mama she is giving away a 2-year subscription to All You magazine.  This magazine is full of coupons for you fellow frugal zealots.  Be sure to go and enter her giveaway before October 5th.  Oh, and All You magazine also has recipes, craft ideas, and fashion articles for those of you who don't do coupons.  You could win the magazine and pass the coupons on to your coupon fanatic friends!

Shannon

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• Sep. 15, 2008
Coupon Crazy at Walgreens

Walgreens has been getting fun again in the last few months with their good deals.  I am looking forward to a nice big rebate this month.  But this post is about my trip today.  I had a great trip planned as there were many good sales that matched the coupons I had. 

My intention was to get around $32 worth of stuff for under $6.  Well, I didn't do that good but I did pretty good and made a poor clerk and manager go half crazy in the process.  (Not in a bad way, I'll explain.)

Here is what was on my list:
1 Renuzit Tri-Scents Air Freshener   -  this would be $.49 after my coupons
1 Soft Soap - $.64 after coupons
2 Speed Stick Deodorant Twin Packs - $.99 each after coupons
1 32 oz Powerade - $.04 after coupons
1 pack trident gum - $.24 after coupons
1 Colgate toothpaste - free after coupons

Well all of this worked except the Air freshner.  At Walgreens you can use both a store coupon and a manufacturers coupon.  I had a $5.50 coupon that printed at Walgreens so I thought it was a store coupon and a $4 manufacturer's coupon.  Well, it turned out that the $5.50 coupon was a manufacture's coupon so I couldn't use them both.  Since I couldn't I asked the clerk to void off the air freshener.  She did so happily and finished ringing out my order.  When she finished I had a total of -$.12!  She couldn't figure it out, I was shocked and the manager was dazed but he figured out how to get me my receipt (not the $.12) and I proceeded out to the car. 

On the way to the car I was reading my receipt because I didn't think my total should have been free.  I suddenly realized that when the clerk had refunded the amount of the air freshner the register had not adjusted off the $5.50 coupon that she had scanned for it!  So, back in I went to tell them I still owed them $5.50.  Needless to say you could have knocked the clerk and manager over with a feather and it took them a while to figure out how to ring in what I needed to pay.  I ended up paying $5.39.  I don't know exactly how that figure arrived since it is not the difference between -$.12 and $5.50 but oh well.  That is still a pretty good total for over $20 worth of stuff!

Shannon

 

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• Sep. 13, 2008
Free Cookie!

 

Go here to get a free sample of a dark chocolate oatmeal cookie from Kashi.  And if you play their game you will get an extra cookie!  Enjoy!

Shannon

 

 

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• Sep. 6, 2008
Calling all shoppers!

What was it that you always used to hear at K-mart?  Blue light special?  Well this deal blows a blue light special out of the water.

Through Monday, September 8th K-mart is doubling coupons up to and including $2 in value.  Yesterday I went and got:

• 1 bottle Dove Shampoo (free after coupon)
• 1 bottle Garnier Shampoo (free after coupon)
• 1 bottle Sunsilk Shampoo (free after coupon)
• 1 Ban deodorant (free after coupon)
• 2 Sure deodorants ($.29 each after coupon)
• 1 bottle Miralax ($4.19 after coupon)
• 1 bag Pupperoni dog treats ($.99 after coupon)

All total I spent $6.13 out of pocket.  Keep in mind that the Miralax was $8.19 itself before the coupons!  I had $10 worth of coupons which turned into $20 worth with the doubling.  I was going to get some more free stuff but my K-mart was out of a few things.  Check out available stores and some of the best deals to be had here.

Get out your coupons and have fun shopping.

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• Aug. 30, 2008
Walgreens Extravaganza!

Okay, it has been a long time since I posted a money saving blog entry but I just had such an exciting trip to Walgreens that I had to get it written down.  The last two days of each month are generally an overlap time between the monthly Easy Saver Catalogs and you can get some good deals.  I have never taken advantage of them before but I decided that it was too good to pass up this time.  In addition there was a $10 off of $40 purchase coupon that you could print out.  Since the September free after rebate items totalled over $40 this was a nice plus.  You can find a link to it here  (expired)but it is only good through today so you will have to hurry if you want to use it.

So, without further ado, here is what I was able to get today:

5 - 12 packs of Pepsi  = $11.00

1- Walgreens Acid Controller complete =
        $7.99
     - $7.99 rebate
        Free after rebate!

1 - L'Oreal RevitaLift Anti- Wrinkle = 
       $12.36
    - $12.36 rebate
       Free after rebate!

1 - Nivea for Men Body Wash    =
        $4.99
     - $4.99 rebate
        Free after rebate!

1 - Revlon Nail Polish  = 
           $4.79
        - $4.79 rebate
           Free after rebate!

1 - 4.2oz Crest Pro Health Toothpaste  =
        $3.79
     - $3.79 rebate
        Free after rebate!

6 - Garnier Fructis Shampoo/conditioner @ $3.49 =
         $20.94
      - $10.00 rebate
      - $6.00 Walgreens coupons
      - $5.00 manufactures coupons
         $.06 profit after rebate!

1 - Chemistry Hair Care Shampoo =

      $7.99
   - $7.99 rebate
   - $3.00 Walg. August Easy Saver Coupon
      $3.00 profit after rebate!

So, my total before coupons and rebates was $73.85!
After coupons (incl. $10/$40) my total was    $49.85!
Add in sales tax total of  $3.85 for a total of $53.73!

I still had $18.10 on my Walgreens gift card from last month which brought my total out of pocket cost down to $35.63!!

However, the best part of this deal is that I am going to get back .... drumroll please ..... $57.10!!!!!!!!  This is the amount of the rebates plus the 10% bonus they give you for putting your rebate on a Walgreens gift card.  Therefore, today Walgreens paid me $21.47 to shop at their store.  That to me is an exciting shopping trip!

Shannon

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• May. 15, 2008
Freebies

I have posted about freebies before but without pictures.  So, lest some of you are still unbelievers I thought I would show you my last couple weeks of freebies.  Remember you can click on the Money Saving Mom link in my sidebar and go sign up for these free samples yourself.  Just look at all her freebies posts to find the links!

In the first picture is Sheer Blonde Shampoo & Conditioner samples, Dove Shampoo and Conditioner samples, 2 perfume samples, Head and Shoulders Shampoo & Conditioner samples, Salonpas Heat patch samples, P&G coupons, Gold bond coupons, makeup samples, huggies diapers and baby wash, trial sizes Gillette body wash, trial size Dove Shampoo and Conditioner, Aveeno samples, Glidden Tree samples and Stevia samples.

In the bottom picture are Nutra Sweet samples, Olay regenerist samples, Hamburger Helper Samples, True Lemon Samples, Curel samples, Good Nights sleep pants samples, and Loreal Skin Genesis samples.

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• May. 14, 2008
New Links

For the past few months I have been checking out some on-line survey companies.  After weeding through piles and piles of e-mails I have finallly come up with the ones that are my favorite.  These sites will not make you hundreds of dollars a month, but they will make you money without having to spend any money.  I will give a brief description of each below.

The best of these sites is This Site is for Real (please use button on side bar to check it out.)  This site will send you e-mails with 4-5 links in them.  Usually 3 of the links will say earn $.30 next to them.  You simply click through the 'survey', they are always the same, don't agree to sign up for anything (when it says you must click yes to at least one offer do not fear, it will let you decline it on the next page) and at the end of the survey it will credit your account.  They automatically send you a check every month as long as you have acumualted $10.  I have made between $12 and $20 each month for the last 3 months doing this.

The next site is Inbox Dollars (please use link in sidebar to check it out).  This site will send you e-mails each day and all you have to do is click on them to be rewarded.  You earn $.03-$.05 for each e-mail you read.  This isn't big money but it adds up.  You have to have $30 in your account before you can cash out.  I am up to $20 after 3 months of e-mails.

The final site is Tik Tik Cash (you can also access this in the link section of my sidebar).  The set up on this site is much the same as Inbox Dollars.  The only difference is that you have to have $100 in your account before you can cash out the first time then $50 after that.  That might seem like a lot but seriously, all you have to do is click on an e-mail to earn the money!

All of these sites have other opportunities to make more money but I have opted to just take the slow and steady route.  These are also not going to jam up your inbox.  You will get e-mails everyday but unlike other sites they will not have 100 other sites e-mailing you and the e-mails you do get will earn you money.

Have fun getting paid!

Shannon

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• May. 1, 2008
Starbucks Coffee Deal!! ***UPDATED***

Apparently this is not only a Shop N Save deal but a deal from Starbucks, so it has been working for people at other grocery stores that print register coupons too!

This is a heads up for any of you that live in the greater St. Louis area.  I cannot promise that this deal will work because it was not advertised, but I wanted to be sure and let everyone know just in case.  Here is the deal I got today:

For those who live in the greater St. Louis area I ran across a great deal today.  Shop N Save has bags of Starbucks coffee on sale this week for $6.77 which is $2 less than normal.  What made this deal even better though was the surprise I got at checkout.  It printed a gift certificate for a $5 Starbucks gift card!  All I had to do was enter the code online and it said I would have my card within two weeks!  Yeah!  I feel a grande white chocolate mocha coming on!!  This wasn't an advertised deal but I assume I got it for purchasing the coffee.

If anyone goes and tries this and it works or doesn't work for them please leave a comment and let me know so I can tell others.  Thanks!

Shannon

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• Apr. 19, 2008
Freebies!

Well, I don't have any pictures but I have really started to get a lot of freebies in the mail.  It is fun to get little surprises in amidst the bills! 

Here are some of the things I have recieved this week:

Always sample & post-it paper

Nutrogena Concealer sample

Quaker Simply Natural Oatmeal sample

Stevia Samples

Dove Shampoo and conditioner samples

Dove Shampoo and conditioner trial size

Fiber One Caramel Delight cereal sample

Cover Girl Foundation Sample

Foot Cream Sample

Many of these samples came with coupons as well!

It is so much fun to get these freebies and try some products I might not otherwise have tried.  Check out Crystal's web site to find links to lots of freebies.

Shannon

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