Category Archives: Our Frugal Stories

A Frugal Date Night

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on January 22, 2013 None comments

Picture this- A couple celebrating their anniversary by getting dressed up in fancy clothes, walking through a downtown area, wandering through an art gallery and then heading to an expensive dinner at a nice restaurant. After enjoying a fantastic meal, they go to watch a movie.

Sounds expensive, right?

Well here are the numbers. We have been extremely busy the last few months and since this month was our anniversary we decided it was time for a nice date night. One of our favorite restaurants is a really nice place but it’s fairly expensive. Meals are around $25-30 per person but the food is excellent. One of the ways we save money is that I work at another restaurant that is also owned by the same company. Luckily I have a discount card that is for 50% off for up to 4 people at all the restaurants owned by the company that I work for. Also we received a gift card at Christmas for this same group of restaurants. When used together we received a huge discount. We had a $100 dinner including entrees, desert, and drinks for about $35 including a big tip (We always tip on the pre-gift card, pre-discount amount). We actually planned to go to the movies but then realized that there was nothing playing that we both wanted to see. We did however find a movie we both wanted to see at Redbox. So instead of spending $24 just for movie tickets (yes that’s what it costs where we live for two movie tickets) not including snacks or drinks, we enjoyed a movie at home.

Was it any less romantic?

No.

Did it require a little more planning?

Yes.

I am a firm believer that you can enjoy the finer things in life without spending a lot of money. For those of you who are already frugal I can see you nodding your heads. For those of you who would like to be more frugal think about this- If you can enjoy the same things for less, why wouldn’t you?

Waste Not Toothpaste, Want Not Toothpaste

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on January 11, 2013 None comments

This would have been a better picture if all 6 of the mostly used toothpaste tubes I found around my house had made it into the picture. I would like to mention that with these almost empty tubes of toothpaste you could no longer squeeze any toothpaste out of them and yet I hadn’t wanted to throw them away. When we “ran out” of toothpaste around the first of the this new year I decided that I wasn’t going to buy anymore until we had used them up.

My mother had shown me that if you cut open an “empty” tube of toothpaste you will still have several days of toothpaste left inside. Now I realize that this didn’t save us a huge amount of money but for two people we were able to wait another week before having to go to the store to buy toothpaste.

I haven’t found any great coupon deals on toothpaste recently so we didn’t have any stocked up. I find that when you have a coupon stockpile of items it is almost too easy to grab a new bottle of something when you are almost out of the last one without fully using it up. In another example, I recently dropped and broke the corner of a new bottle of body wash. Instead of throwing it away I put the remaining body wash into an empty conditioner bottle and have been able to use it. For me these little projects are more about not wasting than saving money. Yes, I did feel a little odd cutting open tubes of toothpaste even though I knew I was doing this by choice instead of desperation. Why would I feel that way when I should feel smart instead? Because in America we take things for granted and I don’t want to take things for granted that many people wish they had access to. When I did eventually buy toothpaste I used a free gift card. I like to think that now when we use our new tube of toothpaste we’re a little more grateful than we would have been.

A Reader’s Great Christmas Deals

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on December 16, 2012 None comments

I got a phone call from a friend today, who also happens to read this blog, who shared with me a couple of really great deals she got while shopping! The first is the shirt in the picture above. She needed a Christmas shirt and had a Free $10 Kohl’s cash to spend. She found this shirt in clearance for $8 so she got it for free!

Then she was Christmas shopping for an electronic item and found it for $100. She decided to also check at Big Lots and found the exact same item for $75! Now that’s the way to go Christmas Shopping!

Dove/Degree/Axe/Suave/Clear Printable Coupons With No Size Restriction

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 31, 2012 None comments

There are some new Unilever coupons without size restrictions available from Walmart.com. You should print these now because they might not be available for long. They all print at once and they are Bricks coupons so you can hit back and print them all again.

The coupons are-

$1/1 Degree Men Clinical or Adrenaline Series
$1/1 Axe Product
$2/1 Axe Gift Set
$1/1 Dove Men Plus Care Product
$1/1 Suave Men Hair Product
$1/1 Clear Men’s Product

With the $1/1 Axe Product coupon you can get some free stuff at Walmart. Look in their travel section.

Thanks, Couponaholic.net!

My “Easter” Party Favors

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 19, 2012 None comments

I got a great deal on these “Easter” party favors recently at 10 packs for $1 because they were mislabeled. I think it’s hysterical and I’m kind of sad no one will be in on the joke once I take them out of the packs. I know there haven’t been many updates lately because I have been getting ready for my Halloween party but things will pick up next week 🙂 Happy Early Halloween everyone!

How to Get Free Stuff on Your Birthday!

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 16, 2012 None comments

I love the month of October for many reasons, but it also happens to be my birthday month! This year at at the beginning of the month I did something that I have always wanted to do. I signed up for all of our local restaurants e-mail/mail lists to see how much free stuff I could get. I made sure to do this a few weeks before my actual birthday to make sure I would be in their systems in time. I have been really surprised by all of the stuff I have gotten so far (I didn’t even print all of the deals for the picture above) and it isn’t even my birthday yet. Denny’s was the only one that had to be used on my actual birthday for most of these deals I had a week or two to use the coupons.

Note- It is considered VERY rude not to tip on the pre-coupon or pre-gift card total of your bill so please keep in mind that you will still have to tip even if your bill is zero, you are still taking up your server’s table, time and energy when you go out to eat and they have to make a living too.

I signed up for-

– Ruby Tuesday- A Coupon for a Free Burger and a B1G1 Free Coupon for joining

– I-Hop- A Free Birthday Meal and another free meal for joining, the waitress also told us that if I had a coupon and my boyfriend had a coupon (with different names on them) then we could use both of them at the same time but you may want to check with you I-Hop location first

– Denny’s- A Free Birthday Meal (Only on my actual birthday with ID, I don’t know if this was even a coupon or if you can just show up with your ID) and a 20% off the entire check coupon for joining

– Moe’s- Free Queso for joining and a free birthday meal

– Logan’s Roadhouse- A Free Small desert with purchase of an adult meal and a $5 off of a $20 purchase coupon

– Rita’s Italian Ice- A B1G1 Free Coupon for joining and a free italian ice for my bday

– Zaxby’s- They said they would be mailing me something but I haven’t gotten it yet

– Steak and Shake- Nothing yet

What I was already signed up for-

– Victoria Secret (I have their card with a zero balance of course)- A Free $10 gift card

– Sundown Naturals- A $1 off printable coupon

– Panera – A Free Sweet or Pastry with their free reward card (Good for 60 days)

– Texas Roadhouse- Free Appetizer for joining, nothing for my bday yet

– Redbox- A Free Movie Rental Code good for my bday and about two weeks after

– Swagbucks.com- 50 free Swagbucks for my birthday! I did have to confirm the e-mail to get them.

Note- I will continue to update this list if I get more stuff!

Thanks to Heyitsfree.net for their really awesome list of birthday freebies that made this so much easier!

What Free stuff have you received for your birthday? Leave a Comment Below!

Couponing Gift Baskets

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 6, 2012 1 comments

One thing I love to do with my surplus coupon stash is to make gift baskets. Although I didn’t do a great job photographing it, this is a small gift basket I made for some friends of our when they moved into a new place. Most of the items in it are practical- shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, body wash, razors, comet, hand cream, soap, and a bunch of other items. When you first move, practical personal care and cleaning items can be especially helpful. I also like to give these to people as practical holiday gifts or if I want to help someone out. It cost me almost nothing and my friends told me that they really liked their gift and that they already used almost everything in it.

Recent Kohl’s Deals

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 4, 2012 None comments

Kohl’s recently sent me a free $10 gift card in the mail (in the photo on the left) and I found this 15% off coupon in their ad this week that came in the Sunday paper. I really needed a new pair of running shoes and I thought I would take a look. I found a pair of Nike running shoes on sale from $59.99 for $44. I used both coupons and they saved me about $16. Thankfully I had a couple of Kohl’s gift cards that covered the rest. I generally treat gift cards like cash. If I wouldn’t buy it if I didn’t have a gift card I wouldn’t buy it with a gift card. I have had the two Kohl’s gift cards for over a year each but I just didn’t need anything before now. I love my new running shoes and I especially love that they didn’t cost me a cent. 🙂

P&G Rebate Card

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 2, 2012 None comments

A couple of months ago I discovered that I had already purchased some Pantene items that qualified me for a P&G $5 rebate. I have done P&G rebates before with great results. I was however, surprised today that I received my $5 rebate in the form of a VISA debit card instead of a check. While I would prefer cold, hard cash I think it’s actually really neat. I wonder if all of their future rebates will be debit cards.

My First Experience with Dollar Tree Couponing

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on September 29, 2012 None comments

It made my day when I heard that Dollar Tree was going to be taking coupons. Everything in the store is $1 and there have been many times that I have seen items in the store that I had coupons for. It took me a couple weeks to get there with my coupons and try it out. I looked up the deals that other people had found and gathered up the coupons in the above picture hoping to score some free stuff or great deals.

Unfortunately, because each Dollar Tree carries different items, they didn’t have any of the items I was looking for except one. I was able to get some free A&D cream for a friend but other than that I was out of luck. I will just have to visit another dollar tree or wait until I find my own deals at the dollar tree by my house. I’m not giving up but I guess couponing at dollar tree might not be as easy as I thought.