Category Archives: Uncategorized

$10 Amazon.com Gift Certificate from Viewpoints.com

 

On one of the blogs I read I saw an advertisement for a campaign run by a website called Viewpoints that reviews products (and almost anything else). The deal was to write ten reviews in certain product categories and receive a free $10 Amazon gift card. Recently they e-mailed it to me. This was a really cool deal.

They then e-mail me the below offer but their offers are only for the first certian number (usually thousands) of people who complete them and I think it’s probably too late for this one.

Click HERE to visit their site. I plan to continue to do deals with them in the future.

Where I Find My Deals

People constantly ask me where I find my deals. Here are some of the blog sites I use most often-

The first three are fantastic couponing blogs that also post great deals and ways to get free stuff. Combined they have saved me thousands of dollars. If you go through their sites and click on the stores you shop at, they will show you what deals each store is having every week and what coupons you can match up with those deals, often to get free stuff.

www.southernsavers.com – includes videos on how to start couponing

MoneySavingMom.com

www.moneysavingmom.com – also posts articles about real life and saving money, including how her and her husband paid 100% down for their home

http://hip2save.com/ – includes a lot of online deals

Hey, It's Free! brings you daily free samples and freebie offers!
www.heyitsfree.net -posts free stuff that you can get online, mostly through the mail. Through this site, I’ve gotten a lot of free food, coupons for free stuff, free magazine subscriptions, and a lot of other random free stuff in the mail. They focus on collecting legit, non-spam freebies.

Downsized TV Show

I have recently started watching the new WE tv show Downsized about a family with seven kids that went from owning a million dollar business to foreclosing on their home and now living at poverty level. In the first episode, they can’t pay their rent and it’s obvious that they don’t know anything about finances or where their money is going. As they educate themselves they start to make smarter decisions.

To make money they-

– Collect all the change in the house to help pay their rent

– Clean Houses

– The kids go dumpster diving

– They start an exercise program

– They sell one son’s collectible baseball glove

They stop paying for-

– All their kid’s activities including soccer, baseball, and cheerleading

– Stop buying take out coffee and start making their own

– Stop paying for cable

– Stop eating out frequently

It was fun for me to watch them try these things that they should have been doing for a long time already. The show comes on WE tv Saturdays at 9pm. Click HERE for their site.

Target Shopping Trip 12-11-2010

Not Pictured- 1 Christmas Shopping Bag and 1lb Ground Meat

I bought-

4 Suave Naturals Shampoo– $0.97 (Regular Price)
I used (4) $1/1 Target printable
Free+ after coupon

4 Degree Pure Satin or Shower Clean Deodorant (Travel Size) – $0.97
I used (4) $1/1 Target printable
Free after coupon

3 Up & Up PantiLiners (20 ct) – $0.89 (Regular Price)
I used (3) $0.75/1 Target printable
$0.14 after coupon

2 Vaseline Lotion (10 oz) – $1.89
I used (2) $1.50/1 Target printable
(2) $1/1 coupon from the 11/14 RedPlum insert
Free+ after coupons

5 Hasbro Battleship Travel Game – $4.99
I used (5) $5/1 from the 12/5 SS (Apparently these are regional coupons)
Free+ after coupon

3 Reach Dental Floss – $0.97 each
I used (3) $1/1 Reach Floss or Toothbrush
Also found here $1/1 Reach Floss or Access Flosser 3/7/2010 RP Insert (exp 12/31/2010)
and here $0.50/1 Listerine or Reach Products 8/1/2010 SS Insert (exp 12/31/2010)
Free+ after coupon

1 Easy Mac (4 pack) $2.64
I used $1/1 Target printable
$1.64 after coupon

1 Olay Body Wash $5.00
I used $2 Manufacturer Coupon
$3.00 after coupon

1 Christmas Shopping Bag $3.00

1lb Ground Meat On Sale for $2.49

Subtotal- $6.47

Minus 5%off- $-2.86 (Target Coupon I was mailed for using my Free Target Debit Cars)

Minus $ -.18 for using my Target Debit Card

Tax- $2.64

Final Total- $6.07

Saved- $57.28

EDIT: WordPress (the blog hosting site) doesn’t like the address to the target printable coupons. To find them go to Target.com and scroll to the very bottom to click on the Coupons link.

Simple Stew Recipe

I was trying to think of something simple I could make for dinner using mostly ingredients I already had. I decided to try to make a stew. This is what I used-

– 1 can peas including the water

– 1 can corn kernels including the water

– 1 cup of rice

– 1 lb ground meat

– Onion Salt

I cooked the rice and browned the ground meat and then put everything in a pot on the stove to cook on low for a short time.

Some toppings we used with it were sour cream, hot sauce and cheese.

This was a cheap and easy meal that I will definitely make again.

My Publix Shopping Trip 12/9/2010

 

I bought-

3 packs of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast– on sale for just under $3.00 each

– I used (2) $1 off a Product from the Publix meat Department (Given to me at Publix during a back to school promotion)

1 Kraft Block Cheese– on sale for $2.50

1 Kraft Shred Cheese– on sale for $2.50

– I used (1) $1/2 Kraft shredded or block cheese (Target coupon), 7-8 oz PRINTABLE

1 lb Ground Sirloin– cost $3.28

2 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls– on sale for $1.00 each

– I used (2) .50/1 Pillsbury Sweet Rolls or Grands Sweet Rolls, SS 10/10

2 Pillsbury Biscuits– on sale for $1.00 each

– I used (2) .50/1 Pillsbury Sweet Rolls or Grands Sweet Rolls, SS 10/10

3 Sundown Folic Acid Bottles– cost 3.79 each

– I used (3) $3 off Sundown Naturals Vitamins, 120 ct.+, or Osteo Bi-Flex, 120 ct.+ (Publix coupon), Green Advantage flyer

– and (3) $1 off Sundown Naturals or Marvel vitamins, RP 11/7

1 Onion Salt– on clearance for .79 cents

2 Coffee Mate Coffee Creamers– on sale for $1.25 each until 12/10

-.75/1 Nestle Coffee-Mate Liquid or Powder Creamer PRINTABLE

2 Covergirl Foundations– on sale for 4.49 each

I used (2) $1.50 off CoverGirl or Queen Color Collection item (Publix coupon), Green Advantage flyer

– and (1) $2/2 CoverGirl product, PG 11/28

My Total Was- $21.60

I Saved- $42.91 (A 200% savings)

Then I used a $20 Visa Gift Card I won during a work contest for free

My Final Total- $1.60

Final Savings Total- $62.91

This is how I shop all the time. I started this blog to teach other people how to do it. These are items which my family and I will use with the exception of the Folic Acid which I bought because I was paid to buy them (I will find a use for them eventually). Most of these deals are still good until the end of Publix’s sale week which ends (in Florida) Wednesday night at 10pm. Happy Shopping 🙂

Free Blockbuster Express Movie

Blockbuster Express (Blockbuster’s version of Redbox) is offering a free movie rental with the code XU14A . Aparently this code is good until Jan. 7th so you will have a while to use it.

Click HERE for their site to find locations.

Thanks, Southern Savers.

 

Walgreens: Jingle Cash

Right now Walgreens is offering Super Jingle Cash an added bonus when you spend money at their store. If you purchase the amount to qualify for Jingle Cash at the store ( I am told that this amount is before coupons) it will print out after you pay and you can then spend it at a later date.

Information From Walgreens website-

From December 5-18, Walgreens is offering additional ways to save money with our Super Jingle Ca$h program.

Earn Walgreens Super Jingle Ca$h with qualified purchases at participating Walgreens stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Here’s how to earn and redeem your Walgreens Super Jingle Ca$h.*

Spend $25 or more at Walgreens and receive between $5 and $20 in Super Jingle Ca$h depending on value of total purchase.

Spend $25 – Earn $5
in Super Jingle Ca$h

Spend $50 – Earn $10
in Super Jingle Ca$h

Spend $75 – Earn $15
in Super Jingle Ca$h

Spend $100 or more – Earn up to $20
in Super Jingle Ca$h

A Walgreens Super Jingle Ca$h coupon will accompany your receipt.

Walgreens Super Jingle Ca$h cannot be earned or redeemed on purchases of the following products and services: prescriptions and items prohibited by law, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, lottery tickets, money orders / transfers, transportation passes, postage stamps, dairy, prescription savings club membership, health care services, gift / phone / prepaid cards.

How to Redeem

Save your Walgreens Super Jingle Ca$h and use it on qualifying purchases made in the following week:

Walgreens Super Jingle Ca$h
earned from 12/5 – 12/11
Can be redeemed from 12/12 – 12/18

Walgreens Super Jingle Ca$h
earned from 12/12 – 12/18
Can be redeemed from 12/19 – 12/23

When you check out at the store, the amount of your Walgreens Super Jingle Ca$h will be deducted from your total purchase. Walgreens Super Jingle Ca$h cannot be earned or redeemed on online purchases made at Walgreens.com.

Click HERE to go to their website for more information.

Free Music from National Geographic

Free Music from National Geographic through Amazon.com offered HERE

Frugal Christmas Shopping

snoopychristmas

Click HERE to read 30 Ways to Save Money This Holiday Season

Being broke and living more frugally teaches you a lot. I am refusing to use the heat in my apartment unless absolutely necessary and another benefit of cooking myself is that using the stove warms up my apartment. Not using the heat and obviously not using the air conditioning will save a lot on my electric bill this month. When I’m cold now instead of running for the thermostat I dress more warmly, I use throw blankets when I sit on the couch, and there is an extra blanket on my bed.

In my living room is a Christmas tree and decorations that my roommate borrowed from her grandparents. We can even do Christmas cheer on a budget. My brother and I decided, after hauling too many boxes of surplus Christmas stuff into our mother’s attic last year, that no one in the family is allowed to buy anything that has to be packed up again after Christmas. It will be a more practical Christmas than ever before but it will still be fun.

This year I went so far as to ask my loved ones a few months before Christmas what they really, really needed or wanted. I think I’ve done a good job with that list. Hidden behind the couch in my apartment sits the stack of Christmas gifts I’ve been collecting for the last six months when I found things that for the right price that I knew my loved ones would enjoy or could use.

I have become an expert at Christmas shopping on a budget. Many of the items I’ve collected have been free through couponing including personal items and stocking stuffers. I have new clothes for my family that I bought at Rue 21’s $3 clothing sale. I have best selling/collectible books that I bought for .10 cents to $1 at thrift shops and the library book sale. I got four free gifts when my Borders reward card gave me a free $10 gift certificate. I got two gifts for about $1 when I found a free $5 Hallmark printable gift certificate. I bought items such as headphones at CVS when they offered them free after CVS dollars. I hit up the $1 sale at Claire’s. I used coupons to get items free at Bath and Body Works with any purchase, usually buying the new sample fragrances for $1 in order to get two gifts for $1.

I followed sales and used my resources. My work is giving away a free $20 gift card each shift to the person who gets the most people to give them their e-mail. I did my best with this every shift when most people weren’t even trying. So far I’ve won 6 of them. I will use them as gifts or to buy gifts for free.

My couponing has provided me and my loved ones with so many household products that I will be making Christmas gift baskets for other families for free. Sure, there are things that I would love to buy my loved ones that I can’t afford right now but then I would love to give them the moon and stars too, but I know they will settle for the small mountain of gifts that I have amassed as cheaply as possible.

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