Category Archives: Frugal Advice

Why I Don’t Pay For Underwear and How I Get Free Underwear at Victoria’s Secret

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on March 16, 2013 52 comments

That’s right, you read that title correctly, I generally get all of my underwear for free at Victoria’s Secret! If you join Victoria’s Secret’s Mailing lists and e-mail lists they will send you coupons for free pairs of underwear no purchase necessary (like the ones in the picture above) and they send them out fairly frequently.

A couple of years ago I lived behind an outside shopping mall that had a Victoria’s Secret Store and I developed a system. I signed up for all of the Victoria’s Secret Mailing Lists and would collect all of the coupons I could for free underwear and other items. When I received a coupon for free underwear (no purchase necessary) I would go and pick it up. You won’t pay a cent and they are really nice about it. This was easier to do when I lived behind one of their stores but I still live close enough to our mall that I’m usually able to swing by the store to get my free items before the coupons expire. I do have a Victoria Secret Credit Card which will earn you more free offers but that isn’t necessary to get free stuff. I have also received free gift cards (like the one in the picture above), free perfume, and free $10 at the store. Their underwear really is high quality and lasts a long time.

I often think that frugal living is about figuring out how to get the things you need or want for free and this is a great and easy way to do that if you live near a Victoria’s Secret Store. You can also do this with their other store Bath & Body Works to get free candles, lotions, and hand sanitizers. Remember that this is a marketing strategy designed to get you into their stores in the hopes that you will pick up your free item and also buy something but it isn’t required. I do occasionally buy stuff from their stores when I find great deals.

If you follow the links below and sign up for their mailing lists you will start receiving communication from them about sales and events and also FREE items. Note- I do get a certain amount of e-mail and snail mail from them that doesn’t contain free offers but I find it worth sorting through.

Click HERE to join PINK Nation

Click HERE to join Victoria’s Secret E-mail List

Click HERE to join Victoria’s Secret Store Offers And Events E-mail List

Click HERE to join Victoria’s Secret Mailing List

Note- The information provided is meant to be helpful. These aren’t affiliate links, I am in no way affiliated with Victoria’s Secret and receive no compensation for mentioning them

You can check out my Victoria’s Secret category HERE were I only post about deals from them. Check back often to see when I receive Free Victoria’s Secret coupons.

I also post when I receive free coupons in the mail and e-mail as well as other things I get for free in my Free In The Mail category and you can find the link HERE.

Free MyCokeRewards.com Points = Free 20oz Soda

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on March 9, 2013 2 comments

A long time ago I wrote about mycokerewards.com HERE and said that I had started using it. However, I never got around to updating how it went. Well since I first started using the site, we have received Free subscriptions to People, All You, and Wired Magazines and also free soda. They also offer no points needed free deals from time to time. And we rarely drink soda! People give us their caps! We simply input the codes and redeem them for free stuff.

Currently, they are allowing everyone to enter the following three codes for 40 free points! This is enough to get a free 20oz Coke!

– 10099041542625 (10 points)

– 10099144423516 (10 points)

– 10099755715372 (20 points)

So if you haven’t yet joined mycokerewards.com then now is a good time to start. The site is easy and fun to use. Click HERE to check out the site. (This is not a referral link)

Thanks, moneysavingmom.com for this deal idea.

What to Do With Shampoo and Conditioner Samples

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on February 27, 2013 None comments

I always seem to end up with more flatish shaped shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and hand cream samples than I can remember to use up. We do use these on the off chance that we run out of something and we could try using them instead of our regular products. However, we are going out of town soon with a group of people and I decided to bring this sample stash with me. Everyone will have their choice of toiletries to use while we are out of town, they are almost entirely flat so they won’t take up room in my suitcase, our hosts won’t have to supply any, I won’t have to buy or pack other toiletry bottles, and I won’t have to remember to take them home with me. Overall, I think this is a good money, time and energy saving plan.

Do You Have a Fruit Tree That You’re Not Using?

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on February 25, 2013 None comments

We live in Florida where fruit trees are everywhere. In fact, people often get so much fruit from them that you can see beautiful oranges, grapes fruits, lemons, etc. dying on tree branches in their owners yard. We have three orange trees in our back yard that for some reason haven’t produced any oranges this year but they did last year (see- Waking Up to Cold Florida Air and Oranges).

My Mother was actually the one to point out that she has the huge Loquat tree you see in the picture above in her front lawn. Every year as kids we would pick some to eat and some to throw at each other but we never really ate a substantial amount of them. This year, my mother decided that she was going to try to learn more about them. She found out that they are also called Japanese Plums and that they are jam packed full of vitamins and minerals. She has been faithfully giving us bags full of them every since.

It occurred to me that especially since I am trying to eat healthy I like to keep small fruits like grapes and cherries in the house to snack on which can also be expensive. Why don’t I just eat Loquats instead? They are just as healthy, they are free and they are also going to waste. Waste not, want not. It’s never too late to start taking advantage of an overlooked resource.

Why I Print My Coupons Through Swagbucks

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on February 23, 2013 None comments

Many of you have probably heard about Swagbucks.com. It’s a search engine powered by google that allows users to earn points for searching and other activities and then redeem them for gift cards or other prizes. I personally have earned over $80 in Amazon.com gift cards.

I was very excited when they started allowing people to print their coupons.com coupons (the same coupons which can be found and printed on many sites) through their site and then earn 10 Swagbucks for each one you redeem. Those of you familiar with my site know that I use a lot of printable coupons so these Swagbucks add up quickly without me having to do anything I wasn’t already doing. In fact, it saves me time because their coupon interface is easier to use than the current coupons.com system which is hard to navigate. It does take a little while for the points to be added to your account but they are consistent about it. I look at it as just one more perk for using coupons.

Above is a picture of my rewards screen showing some of the gift cards I have won. In fact, this Christmas I was able to use them to get most of my Christmas gifts for free! And our motto here is “Shopping is Better When It’s Free!” So if you want to give Swagbucks a try you can click on the banner (my referral) at the top of this post to join.

Saving Plastic Takeout Silverware

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on February 17, 2013 None comments

I like to think that we eat out less than the average American family, but like anyone else we enjoy takeout. It always surprises me how many disposable take out accessories we end up with such as silverware packs, sauce packs, etc. Originally, certain people around me thought it was odd that I saved them, but then I explained that I save them for our work lunches. They are free and convenient and I don’t have to worry about bringing silverware or small containers home to wash. They are already packaged for fast food on the go so it saves time and energy. Plus, they are free so why wouldn’t you use them to make your life easier?

So the next time someone asks you, “Do you want plastic silverware, napkins, BBQ sauce, ketchup, etc?” Say, yes!

Recent Thrift Shop Finds

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on February 17, 2013 None comments

My life has been a little less hectic lately so I’ve been able to go thrifting on a couple different days. I love thrifting because I often find things that I would have paid full price for but instead I pay quarters. Here are some of my favorite recent finds.

I loved the shoes in the above picture and they were actually in my sometimes hard to find size. They were only $2.25

We are going on vacation soon and I realized that my brand new suitcase was too big for the plane (it’s the black suitcase in the background). I was upset because I wanted to take my brand new suitcase on the trip without paying a $75 oversized luggage fee. However, I realized that this wasn’t going to happen and I was really excited when I came across this slightly smaller, red, rolling suitcase. It does have some marks on the outside (I believe from a plane flight conveyer belt) that is would have probably gotten from our flight anyways so I wasn’t concerned about that. The inside however, is very clean which is what really matters in my book. And it was only $9.99 which is $50 less than I thought I was going to have to spend.

I also picked up some really cute tea cups and a wooden holder $.49 for all 5 items, reusable baking cups that are usually really expensive for $.99, and an Orlando Magic noise maker $.49 (Go Magic!!!).

I also got really lucky today when it came to clothes. I got a pair of Pac Sun jeans for work for only $1.99, a pair of new looking black pants for $1.99, a wet suit shirt for $.99 and a Little Bo Peep halloween costume for $1.99.

I was really happy to find these books out of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series. I rented them from the library to read them but they were really good so I wanted my own copies. I knew I would find them at a thrift shop sooner or later and today there they were for $.25 cents each!

Getting The Most From Expensive Lotions

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on February 15, 2013 None comments

I use Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Sun Damage Daily Moisture Lotion SPF 28 every morning and it costs around $12-14 for 2.5 ounces which isn’t cheap. I have tried using cheaper SPF face creams but I find that they make my skin greasy or make me break out. So to get the most for my money I cut open the bottles and use my little spatula or finger to get as much as I can out of the container. In the picture are two bottles that I had cut open and the blue container that I put the remains in. I weighed it and I ended up with .5 ounces. that’s 20% of a bottle which is equal to $2.40 worth of product if the bottle costs $12. I have to ask- is it really an accident that the remaining lotion is so hard to get out of the bottle? In any case, until I find a better or cheaper product this is what I use and I guess I’ll just have to keep cutting open the bottles.

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?

How I got a Bread Maker for FREE

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on January 19, 2013 None comments

I have been looking for a Bread Maker at different thrift shops for a while now but I was hesitant to buy one because I wasn’t sure how many pieces they came with or if they were going to work. I was inspecting a used one at one of my favorite thrift shops when a woman came up to me and told me that it wasn’t a very nice one. We started a small conversation and before the end of it she told me that she had an almost new, really nice bread maker with the instruction book that she wanted to get rid of. I was a little hesitant but she drove home and got it to give to me. I offered to pay her for it but she didn’t want anything for it. And that’s how I ended up with this fabulous Bread Maker for free. It was spotlessly clean and didn’t look like it had ever been used, even though she told me she used to use it a lot. That very night I used it to knead the dough for the pizza we made in the picture below. I can’t wait to try making a loaf of bread in it. I will write an update once I have tried it for a while to let everyone know if it actually saves me money or not, but I know that homemade bread is fantastic.