50 free prints

CVS from 8/31



The best deals I've noticed so far....





Covergirl Wetslicks on sale $5.99 free with ECB's
use B1G1 P&G coupon from 8/31
use $1 off 1 Covergirl product 8/31
total = $5.99-$1=$4.99 get $5.99 = $1 moneymaker

Many other Covergirl products on sale B1G1 1/2 off this week.

Covergirl Outlast All-Day Lipcolor or Aquasmoothers face make-up B1G1 free

Atkins bars on sale for $1
$1 SS (SmartSource) coupons 6/1 (expire 8/31)

Buy $6 in Suave products get $2 ECB, limit of 5
Suave product $.50/1, $1/2, $2/3 from Valassis 7/13

Colgate $2.99 get $2 ECB
Use $1.50 coupon from All You magazine for $.51 PROFIT
Use $1 from 8/24 SS = FREE
The best deals I've noticed so far....

Walgreen's 101


Walgreen's, like CVS, is a great place to find deals
on anything from the expected drug store medications and vitamins to personal care products, household products and even food.

To start with, Walgreen's always has store coupons in their advertisements that you can pick up in the store or they usually come in your local paper. You can always use a manufacturer along with a store coupon if you have one available. This is called stacking and should be allowed at any store.

Walgreens has recently changed thier rebate program. They used to offer a rebate catalog that also offered coupons. This was called the EasySaver Catalog which is no longer availalble.

Rebates are still offered at Walgreens, just now as many or in the same fashion. Now you will find a few items marked with red tags throughout the store with tags noting the rebate amount and dates. So far the only items I've come across with rebates since they changed the system is seasonal items. I don' t know if you can still get teh 10% bonus for putting it on a gift card or not, but this use to be the case.

Another great thing that Walgreen's offers on a regular basis is something called a register reward (RR), sometimes also called a catalina. RR's are coupons triggered by a purchase at the register. Sometimes they are coupons for a $ off of an item, other times they are good for cash off of your next purchase.

Sales with RR's are often advertised, but at times are a surprise. They are often triggered by purchasing a certain number of a particular product. If you know what triggered a $ off of your next transaction and wish to do the order again, keep in mind if you used the RR you received for purchasing the items won't be triggered if you use it on the same deal again.

For example... say a $2 RR is offered if you buy 3 Crest toothpaste or Scope products.
You buy 3 toothpaste and receiver your $2 RR
-If you use the $2 RR and purchase 3 more toothpaste or Scope you won't receive another RR.
-If you pay with cash and don't use the $2 RR you will receive another $2 RR.
It's best in this situation to pay with cash each time and use the RR on a different brand item that is offering a rebate or a good buy on something else you need.

Most stores are only allowing you to redeem 1 RR per transaction now, so keep that in mind when figuring each order. Many times it benefits you to do multiple transactions anyway, but sometimes the limit can be frustrating as well. Just keep it in mind and if you want to use more than one in a transaction that they may not allow you to and you may have to cancel your order and refigure how you want to do your orders or be willing to pay the difference out of pocket and use the RR another time. Sometimes a store will limit you, sometimes the cashier will and you may find that if you frequent one or two stores you know their quirks.

Some have reported that their stores have allowed them to use RR to purchase or reload a gift card and then they make another RR purchase and are able to "roll" their RR this way. Some stores allow this and some don't- YMMV (your mileage may vary). I have never done this as there always seems to be something I can use my RR on before they expire.

Those working at the cosmetics counter often have coupons and samples to share just for the asking and are very willing to help you. They love to have you come to their registers to check out and receive bonuses for having certain numbers of customers. If you are a regular at any Walgreen's try to use the cosmetics counter when you can and you will most likely be rewarded with a nice familiar smile and help with coupons if they have any for the products you are purchasing.

Important!!!
You can't have more coupons/RR per transaction that you have items! If you have 3 coupons and a RR and you only have 3 items to purchase, the last coupon/RR will not scan... you need to add a filler item (something inexpensive or on clearance is fine, or purchase something you would need to buy anyway) and the coupons will all go through fine.

Walgreens is a great place to shop for deals on household items, meds, and sometimes groceries. If you combine sales, Walgreen's coupons, manufacturer coupons, register rewards, and rebates you can often spend just pennies on the dollar for your purchases or even come out ahead.

-----------------------------------------

W Card

Meant to be a prescriptions savings program, but gives the advantage of 10% back on most Walgreens brand purchases & photofinishing. There is a $20 individual fee, or $35 for a family. You can enroll online or in the store.

You also get $50 in Walgreens coupons just for asking about the program.


Chick-fil-A Free Chick'n'Strips on Labor Day

Wear anything with your favorite football team's logo on it and get a free 3 piece order of Chick'n'Strips from 10:30am-close at participating locations. Even available through the drive-up. One offer per person.

Free Johnsonville T-shirt

Free Johnsonville "Weenie" T-shirt when you send in 4 UPC's from any Johnsonville Fresh Brat products. Offer Expires 1/07/09 and there is a limit of 2 per household. Shirts sent will all be XL. Print out the form here.

CVS Summer Clearance

At my local CVS most of their summer items were 50% off. They had a lot of variety and I hope to check back next week and find that it is discounted further.

Frugal Fridays-Fun with Freebies

It's always fun to get things in the mail, I've loved it since I was a kid. Up until recently the only things I seemed to get were bills, a few magazines, and almost as many bills for magazines as I had magazines coming. You know how they send you renewal forms starting close to 6 months before your subscription expires.

Now I get samples coming to me, never usually anything really awesome, but always fun to break up the monotony a little. It's great to get a sample in a bright colorful box right next to the electric bill, kinda makes it a little easier to look at.

Samples are everywhere if you just look for them. One great place to get them is Walmart's website. Walmart always has some kind of sample just waiting for the asking. As I write this they have a sample for Cascade, New Ultra Gain with Baking Soda, Benefiber, Cottenelle Fresh Flushable Moist Wipes, Tampax Pearl and Kotex.

The samples are usually just that, a sample good for one use. I was getting more of them than I could use at once so I started keeping them all in a small gift bag. I often use them to take on vacations and to stock the camper. On occasion they come in handy if we run out of something or if someone is over that needs something.

My favorite regular freebies have to be detergent and deodorant. Who can ever get enough detergent right? Well, we have a High Efficiency washer and I only use the HE detergents so when it comes to vacations when we usually end up doing laundry the samples make my detergent for vacation free. The deodorants are great because they are always for more than one use.... not sure how they would do it any other way and you get to really try something for a few days to see if you like it and there size is perfect for a weeks vacation.

It's great to have extra things around in case a guest might unexpectedly need something as well. Maybe your post-menopause and have no reason to purchase feminine products. You can have a nice basket filled with a few "goodies" just in case a guest to your home is in the need for one. Makes you feel prepared for anything and helps a guest feel more comfortable in your home... and you didn't even have to go to the store or pay for them, they showed up at your door just for your asking.

As I find a good sample I will try and post it's site information here on my site with a link for you to get to it, so check back if you like samples.. I might just have a link or two to help you get something colorful in the mail.

Walgreens Double Dipping

For the next 2 days... well, today and Saturday, Walgreens has coupons and rebates in their EasySaver Catalog (monthly booklet of coupons and rebates that they put out) that overlap. By overlap I mean you might find 2 coupons for the same products, one in the August EasySaver and one in the September. When you do two deals together, a coupon and then a rebate, we call it a double dip.

An example this week is this:
Buy 6 Garnier Fructis items at $3.99 each
Use $1/1 coupon from August EasySaver booklet (this should take off $6-computer takes off $1 for each one)
Use 6 $1/1 coupons (from 05/04 and 06/22 RedPlum inserts) or 6 $2/1 hangtags that are being found at Dollar General
Spend $12 plus tax out of pocket (or approx. $6 out of pocket if you have the $2/1 coupons)
Get $10 rebate from September EasySaver booklet
$2 out of pocket (or free plus overage with $2/1 coupons) after coupons and rebate!

There are several deals to be done this time around and I'll leave it to Money Saving Mom to give you the details. She has it all laid out in great format to walk you through it.

Keep in mind the $10 off $40 coupon and the John Freida hair care deal if you think you may spend that much.

If you've never done Walgreens rebates before they are great! They recently put them online which makes them even better because now you can sometimes do even better than a double dip because with the online forms you don't have to send in your receipt. This makes it easy to send in for a manufacturer rebate as well if there happens to be one.

During these 2 days you can use coupons and buy things for both months worth of rebates, so if you haven't done the ones for August yet you still can.

Be sure when you do the rebates online you that you save your form until you are sure you have purchased everything that you were going to for that month. Once you click to submit your rebate to Walgreens you can no longer add any rebate purchases to it, so don't submit it until you are sure!

Another great thing about Walgreens rebates is that if you get a gift card from them and choose to continue to get Walgreens gift cards instead of an actual rebate check they give you an extra 10% bonus for choosing the gift card option. It's good for them because they want to keep you coming to the store, good for you because you get extra $ back!

I will be posting a Walgreens 101 shortly....

Walgreens $10 off coupon

Here is a link to $10 off any $40 purchase at Walgreens that is good Friday, Aug. 29-Saturday, Aug. 30th. Purchase must equal $40 after any other coupons are used. Some items are excluded from use with the coupon, see coupon for more info.

$5 Movies at Participating Locations



This is a program from participating Kerasote Theaters in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado, Wisconsin and Iowa.

If you are in one of these states you can sign up for this program and see movies that have been out for about 2 weeks for $5 each.

You can check online for qualifying movies in your theater before you go, or wait for their email on the listings for the week.

When you sign up they send you a membership card for you to use when you go to the theater. Whatever you do, don't forget your membership card or you'll end up paying full price.

Coupon for free Purina Paper Pellets

For those of you environmentally minded cat lovers, here's a deal for you.

Go to a site appropriately called Tree Hugging Cats, and fill out a some info for them and they will send you a coupon for a free bag of Purina Yesterday's News Moisture Locking Paper Pellets which are made out of recycled newspapers.

They also sell Tree Hugging Cats T-shirts to display your love of your cat and nature.

Sign up for your coupon here and then check out the rest of their site.

Free Cosmetic Bag w/John Freida purchase



Just when you think something is good it gets even better!
If you purchased any of the John Freida at Walgreens that were such a great deal, there is a freebie waiting for you.

If you don't know what deal at Walgreens I'm talking about check it out here at my previous post.


Now for more info on the freebie....

Purchase any one of these products at Walgreens:
John Freida Luxurious Volume
FRIZZ-EASE Weather Works
Jergens Naturals
Biorre Daily Recharging


Mail in your receipt of any of these products purchased at Walgreens and receive a free exclusive ELLE cosmetic bag. To see the deal on Elle's site click here.

Restaurant.com- Eating well for less!


A great resource for dining out
is Restaurant.com!

Hubby and I love to eat out and I have used it many times and had a great experience every time.... Enjoy!

Current discount code is: CHEERS
Will get you 80% off current prices
Expires 12/31/09

Get the Dinner of the Month Club for the best value!




I will always try to keep this code current...
So please check back for later purchases.


Restaurant.com partners with restaurants to give you a discount gift certificate to get you to try their establishment. Most of the restaurants are among the nicer places to eat and the program makes them very affordable places to eat.


When you sign on to restaurant.com you can browse the restaurants in the area you think you would like to visit and see what they have available. Most of the gift certificates have requirements that must be met in order to use them. These requirements are usually something like for a $25 gift card there is a minimum purchase requirement of $35 (excluding alcohol). Your price for the $25 gift card would be $10.

So, lets look at an example of a meal. Let's say you bought the gift card at the full $10 price and then spent the $35 to meet the requirements and the gift card took off $25, you just spent $20 on a $35 meal. Sounds pretty good huh?

Now include the fact that there is almost always a code available to get the gift cards at a discounted rate- usually between 50-70% off! That's right... you can usually get a $25 gift card like the example I gave above for $5, and if you use BigCrumbs you get some change back for logging in through them before ordering your gift cards.

Sometimes there are other requirements when using a certificate, like a minimum of 2 entrees. Just read all of the print under the price area to be sure you know what you are getting.

Also, you can only use one certificate per party. So say you wanted to use the $35 gift certificate but knew you would have enough people in your party to buy two of them, it's not allowed.

Another great thing about their gift cards is that they don't expire for a whole year. That gives you lots of time to use them if you buy them up for your favorite place while they are on sale. Keep in mind though that you can only use one per customer per restaurant per month. So you can go to restaurant A and B in January but can't use another gift card for either of them until February.

I have even used Restaurant.com for vacation! I saw they had a discount code available before we left for our vacation and went to see what they had available for the area we would be traveling to. I found a few places that were of interest to me and took a closer look at their menus (most restaurants have a menu listed directly on the site and often a link to their own site- you can often find a map too). I placed my order and printed my gift certificate right then. We ate at a wonderful italian restaurant where our waitress was helpful and knew how the certificates worked.

I have really enjoyed using thier site! They don't have much for my area or I would use them a lot more. Every time I know we will be traveling I take a look to see if they have something we might like in that area. We always eat well and save a few bucks doing it. You can too!




Please use the link here to Restaurant.com
to help support this site ... Share the love :)


Walgreens 50 prints for $5

I just got an email from Walgreens with a code that makes 4x6 prints $.10 each with a minimum of 50 prints ($5).

Code is good through 8/30 and is GETFIFTY.

Coupon is good online only and can be used 5 times per account.

Caregivers Marketplace

Here is a link to The Caregiver's Marketplace, an ongoing rebate center, where you can save up your receipts for eligible health care items that you already purchase for your family- everything from diapers to vitamins. Why not take advantage of the free money back?

You don't have to have a specific family member or need in your home, you simply have to take the time to look through their list of items that qualify, fill out their form, save your qualifying receipts and send them in for your refunds.

You can sign up online to have the information sent to you as well as a list of products that qualify, or I've actually seen the forms in Kmart by the pharmacy, so take a look there if you don't want to fill out the online form (although they won't send you spam if you're worried about that).

Walgreens this week 8/24

Peter Pan Peanut Butter $1.66 - $1 coupon from All You magazine (found at Walmart stores)

Dawn Dish Detergent $.99 with Walgreens in ad coupon - $.50 P&G coupon= $.50

Blue Diamond Almonds B1G1. $1 coupon on oven roasted in 5/18 SmartSource X2= $1 each

Reach Toothbrush $1- $1 6/8 RedPlum coupon= FREE

Cottenelle Fresh Wipes $1.99 - $1 internet coupon = $.99
Send receipt in to Caregivers Marketplace, see my post on them here, for rebate makes total $.50

Reynolds Wrap 2o sq.ft on sale $.89

Spray 'N Wash $2.50- $.75 in 8/3 SmartSource, or $.50 in 7/20 SmartSource.
Walgreens EasySaver Rebate $2 on 2. =$1.50 for both

Softsoap Hand Soap $.99- $.35 in 8/24 SmartSource= $.65

Rimmell Cosmetics B1G1 - $1 in 8/24 SmartSource

Puffs Tissues $.89 - $.25 in 8/3 P&G= $.65

Thanks Andrea at MommySnacks for putting together these deals!

See my other Walgreens posts this week as well!

Walgreens John Freida Haircare Deal- Free or Almost Free

Buy any two John Freida Luxurious Volume hair care products.... shampoo, conditioner or styling products, get a $9 register reward good on your next Walgreen's puchase. Only the Luxurious Volume type in the blue bottles qualify for the RR.

J.Freida products are on sale this week B1G1 1/2 off.

There was a coupon in yesterday's SmartSource for $3/2.

RR good through 8/30/08

It looks like if you buy 2 the total would be around $9.75+taxes- $3 coupon= $6.75
get $9 RR =Moneymaker!

This deal is supposed to print out a $2 RR, but is giving a $9 RR.
Sometimes when they have a B1G1 or B1G1 1/2 off the registers compute the order as you have purchased three items instead of two- it rings the sale up as $6.49, $6.49, -$6.49 so counts it as three items. It works on the haircare this week- I tried it with success today!

With the sale and the register reward this makes for a great buy on expensive hair products even if you don't have any of the coupons! I can't wait to try it myself :)

Anyone else try this brand before? Is it worth the retail price of $5.49-$6.49 each?

CVS 8/24-30 deals

There are several good deals this week at CVS to keep those ECBs roll'n. If you haven't yet started CVS shopping check out my CVS 101 for some help getting started.

There is currently a coupon out for $2 off of $10 at CVS. Limit one per customer as stated on coupon. More info at bottom of post.

List of current ECB deals:
$5.99 ECB when you buy Zipfizz ($5.99)=Free after ECB Limit 2

$3 ECB when you buy $5.99 of Revlon, Nailene or Fing'rs Limit 1
-$1.00 SS 8/3
-$2.00 SS 7/20

$3 ecb wyb Playtex ($4.99) Limit 1- $.99 with coupon
-$1.00 V 6/22
-$1.00 V 6/22
-$1.00 V 6/22
-$1.00 internet coupon here


$1.49 ecb when you buy Kotex Lightdays Free after ECB Limit 1 -Make $1 with coupon
-$1.00 internet coupon here
-$1.00 or .75 7/20 SS

$5 ecb when you buy 2 Carefree, Stayfree, or OB products -make $1.50 with both coupons
Buy 2 for $9 get $5 ecb.
-$1.00 internet coupon here
-BOGO coupon from 6/29 RP

Also, don't forget the monthly deals!

Now… How to get your hands on one of those coupons… $2/$10, Thanks to Thrifteemomee! Click here to go to the latest issue of Richmond Parents magazine. Scroll to page 30 and highlight and select the CVS $2/$10 coupon. Print and have fun saving even more money at CVS! This coupon is good through 9/28/08!]

If you have any deals to share please do so. I would love to have feedback on what others are doing with their deals!




FREE LYSOL Healthy Habits Activity Booklet for Kids

Nice coloring and activity book from Lysol. You can download it or have it mailed to your home-link to have it mailed to you is at the bottom of their page and is a little hard to see.

Check it all out here.

Walgreens September Free after Rebate Buys


Walgreens September Free after Rebate items are here! You can purchase these starting August 29th and get them all free after the rebates in their EasySaver catalog. There are 9 this month! Lots!

Here goes:
Excedrin Express Gels to $3.99
$2.00 off any 100ct or larger in 6/20 Smart Source, exp 8/31,
also 7/13 Smart Source, exp 10/5

Nivea for Men Body Wash $4.99
$1.00 coupon in 6-08 Red Plum, exp 8/31 or 7/20 Smart Source, exp 9/30

L'Oreal Advanced Revitalift $16.49

Loreal Advanced Revitalift Anti Wrinkle Concentrate
$3.00 coupon in 7/20 Smart Source, exp 10/12

Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste $2.99
$.75 coupon in 8/3 P&G, exp 8/31

Chemistry Shampoo, Conditioner or Treatment to $7.99

LypSyl Lip Moisturizer $1.99

Revlon Nail Care $4.49
$1 off coupon in 5/13 Smart Source, exp 9/18

Walgreens Acid Controller Complete $7.99

Walgreens Pitcher Filter Replacement Cartridge Culligan $6.99


Remember that some weekends you can find a coupon for $5 off of $20 which will make for a better deal yet.

Also keep in mind you can post your buys online right when you get home now so you don't have to worry about forgetting to send in your forms or keeping your receipt. In fact if you do your rebate online, you can send for a manufacturer rebate that's on the same receipt as your Walgreen's rebates.

Formula for Pennies....

I didn't use much formula with my child because I chose to breastfeed my little guy. We did have to supplement with a little formula when he got older and I was working and couldn't keep up the supply. I remember signing up for all the new baby deals and getting lots of coupons and a few samples. I did use the formula coupons a few times, but wasn't on the coupon scene fully at that point so I never found where the best savings were for formulas.

You can sign up to be on mailing lists for Enfamil, Similac and Good Start and they all send out coupons if you're on their list. I do remember getting bombarded with coupons!

Stacey at Frugal, Faith & Family has a good blog explaining where to get the best buys on formula these days. If you're at this point in life and formula is a necessity, please check out her post. It could save you bundles. Thanks Stacey!

Meijer Super Saturday!

Meijers One Day Super Saturday Sale is going on Today! Gotta love'm! It's so hard for me to get there on Saturdays. I always try to have my shopping done before the weekend so I have total devotion to the family-aside from spending a little time online. This week I might have to make myself a trip though. Here's why:

Nabisco 100 calorie snack packs are on sale B1G1. I picked up some coupons on a tear pad in the store several weeks ago for $.55 off each one. The regular price is $3.19 in my store, that makes them $1.59 a box with the sale and $1.05 with my coupons. Awesome buy!

Nabisco Teddy Grahams were on sale this week 2 for $5, and for the Super Saturday are B1G1. Since I don't often do the Saturday sales I was going to scan one and see how much they come up on sale for. I'm hoping they will be 2 for $2.50 but am doubtful it could get that good being that I have a few peelie coupons from a purchase awhile back for $1 off each box.

I still have several of the coupons for a free product when you buy 3 Nabisco, Kraft or Oscar Mayer products. Combining that with the 100 calorie packs and the Teddy Grahams I may find myself doing a couple of orders to get in on the Fruit of the Loom deal.

Buy $10 in Nabisco products and get $10 off a 3 Fruit of the Loom products. Like I need anymore socks and underwear at my house after the Hanes deal the last few weeks... Wow!

Then, if you have and use your Meijer credit card you get 15% off general merchandise/apparel and 5% off food/health & beauty. I'm seriously considering getting one of these cards just for these kinds of deals that seem to come around all to often.

Then the Pepsi deal! You can get 5 six-packs of Pepsi 24oz bottles for $11 or if you buy 4 24 packs you get each one for $3.99. That's the same as paying $2 for a 12 pack... pretty good if you need soda.

Combine that with the deal running where when you buy $10 in Pepsi products, you can save $10 on Jeans! Hubby is in desperate need! Not that we need the soda, but I might be able to sell it at the next Farmers Market in town.

They are also still doing buy 10 in coke products and get $10 off athletic shoes, we prefer coke products but are set on shoes for awhile.

Almost forgot... mushrooms are on sale for $1 and there's a coupon on mealbox for $.5o off 1. We love mushrooms at my house and buy them almost weekly. I passed them up earlier in the week, but will most certainly be grabbing some if I make it in today. I've even thought about freezing a few because I cook with them a lot.

If you've not used mealbox before, just click on my link here and I'll explain in my Meijer how-to how it works.

Just too much for me to pass up this week... and still have some of those Kraft coupons to use. Can't bear to let them expire next week!

Hope all of you with a Meijer close are taking advantage of the savings and using your hard earned money well. If you are good at doing Meijer Saturday deals let me know how you work your deals. I could use help with Saturdays since I'm not a regular weekend shopper.

Meijer 101

I have been shopping Meijer for some time and find that of the grocery stores in my area they are one of the best for shopping for deals.
My local Meijer doubles two like manufacturer coupons up to $.50, beyond that they are face value.
You can find Meijer printable coupons at mealbox for various items; some Meijer store brand and also some name brand.

To get to these coupons click on my link above and follow directions below....

When the page loads find the box to the right. In that box you will find a link toward the top that says “specials”, select "specials" and then find and select “coupons”.

You can then scroll up and down through the coupons available.

If you find one that you want just select it and you will then be asked how many you want to print.
These coupons print on one corner of the page and are quite small. One thing I’ve been doing to save on paper is to plan on printing four of each of the coupons I want and then rotate the paper in the printer after I print each coupon. This way you use four sheets of paper for sixteen coupons instead of sixteen. You’ve also got like coupons stacked to cut together this way as well. Less paper, less cutting and time saved! If you want more/less of the coupons, adjust accordingly.
Update...
You can now print more than one coupon on a page!
When you get to MeijerMealbox, get to the coupons by selecting the "specials" tab, and then the "coupon" tab. When you find a coupon you want to print simply click on the "add to shopping list" link. You can select as many coupons as you like, but once you've added them you cannot remove them.
Once you've selected all the coupons you want, go back up to the link next to "specials" and click "shoppping list". You can then select to print list or send list. Click print if you want to print and you will be given the option to print a shopping list and/or coupons. Select coupons and hit print.. your coupons will all print at once and on one page (unless of course you printed a bunch of 'em). If you want to print them later, select send and email them to yourself (you have to login to do this)

Pay attention to the coupons available. If there is one there that you think you may use, print it right away. These coupons do change at times and I’ve been caught without the coupon I wanted because I waited to print it.
Mealbox coupons typically expire two weeks from the date that you print them, so you have some time to potentially use them.
Sometimes these coupons will coordinate with a current or future sale that Meijer is having, so do keep that in mind as well if you see a coupon for something you might purchase if it came up on sale.
Also, mealbox coupons are Meijer store coupons. If there is an item you have a Meijer coupon for and an item you have a manufacturer coupon for you can use both-this is called stacking coupons.




Another great new thing at Meijer... 

If you ever shop at Meijer, you should join their new mperks program!
They have great coupons & it's easy to use.

mperks works like the electronic coupons in that you sign up online and log-in to access the coupons that you want.  Instead of loading them to your store card, they ask you for your cell phone number.  Because of this, you do have to have a phone that works with texting. 

After you've signed up, loaded your coupons, it's time to go shopping.  When you get to the checkout, you enter your cell phone number at the touchscreen (assuming you use the self check out lane) and it will automatically apply any coupons that work with your purchased items.


So far I've enjoyed getting some great discounts.  You can print your coupon list, or email it to yourself to carry with you if your phone has email capabilities.  I tend to just load the coupons I think I might use, carry my coupon box with me for my paper coupons, and just get the savings if I happen to buy those items on my list.

I have been pleasantly surprised with the program recently.  I hadn't loaded coupons in awhile and got a text message from the program saying there were two great coupons available for me.  One was something like $10 off of $80, the other $5 off of your next purchase.  I loaded them and went shopping a few days later.  To my surprise it took off both coupons since my initial total was over $80.

I've since gotten an email telling me that there was another similar coupon available to me!  It's like free grocery money!

When I first signed up I was afraid I'd get multiple texts from them, but I've been pleasantly surprised that I only get a few & they are worth knowing about usually.

I haven't yet tried to use the program through a regular checkout lane, but assume that you would just have to tell the cashier you wanted to use your mperks.  Will have to do that soon.
 
Happy shopping!
 

$10 Body Shop Coupon

Here's a link to a $10 off of a purchase of $10 or more in Body Shop stores. Coupon is good in stores only and expires Septemeber 15th.

Thanks CentsibleSawyer

Kohl's Sale

Kohl's is having one of their special buy $50 in merchandise get a $10 in Kohl's cash.

The sale starts now and goes through Monday, August 25th.

If you purchase $50 or more in the store you receive the coupon at the register. If you make your purchases online you receive your Kohl's cash in an email on August 26th. The coupons will be good from August 26th-September 6th. To see all of the details click here.

If you find things in clearance or on a good sale this could make for an even better deal!

I was also able to find this coupon code if you're quick enough on this deal...
Save 10% off any purchase code is NEW7796 Exp 08/23/08


Again... I'm a fan of BigCrumbs! If you haven't checked them out, you should! Earn $ shopping online. Here's a link to my profile if you want to see that it works. Kohl's is one of their stores so a good time to sign up! You can also earn $ shopping on ebay!

Old Navy Denim Sale Saturday Only!!

Old Navy has a sale tomorrow, Saturday, August 23 on a selection of jeans for everyone in your family. Men's and women's jeans on sale for $12 a pair and kids and infants will be on sale for $7 a pair. This is such a good sale they have limited it to 3 pairs per customer. You can make your purchases online or in the store.

While shopping there check out their bargain and clearance sections for other good buys! They have a lot available right now.

Current Old Navy coupon codes that could possibly work with this are:

SPECIAL =free shipping with $50 or more purchased on Old Navy card (expiration unknown

JUST4YOU =free shipping on $100 or more purchased on O.Navy card (exp. unknown)

If you don't meet those requirements don't worry, they also have are currently doing shipping on any size order for $7.

Also... don't forget to sign up with BigCrumbs and save even more with your online shopping. BigCrumbs gives you a percentage back from your purchases online. It's usually not a lot, but enough it can make a difference for you, even more if you can get your friends to sign up under you. You can sign up here if you haven't already. I like them because they even offer savings on ebay. If you're interested in seeing how much you can earn, here's a look at my BigCrumbs profile for those of you that are skeptical. They really are legit and they do pay on payday!

Don't want to sign up today... that's ok, here's the link to Old Navy to get you started on your shopping there. Have fun!

Walgreens New $5 off coupon!

I just got a new Walgreens coupon in my email for $5 off your $20 coupon (total must equal $20 after coupons and before taxes). The coupon is valid Friday, Aug 22 and Saturday, Aug 23... two days this time!

If you need to buy any of the rebate items yet, this would be a good way to use the coupons. Also if you haven't done the free after rebate items you could make some $.

Link directly to the coupon is here.

Where to get Coupons

Coupons are a big source for saving money on everyday household and food items, and the first thing you have to do to use them is to get your hands on them.
  • Newspapers- almost always on Sundays and the larger city papers are usually better. Some are starting to put them in other days of the week too so you may check with your local papers. I'll suggest you get at least two and will explain later.
  • If you have your paper delivered ask the delivery person if they can leave you extra coupon inserts when they have them... give them small incentives to do so.
  • Pick up coupon inserts from a local coffee shop or restaurant... they often have a few set out for people to read and the coupons get tossed aside. I do suggest you ask permission before taking them.
  • Friends- ask them to save the coupons they come across or that they don't use from their newspapers in exchange for a few of the products you get for next to nothing.
  • Join a coupon train where you can pass along coupons between friends, pick what you want and add what you can't use. There are a few groups online you can join. One is at A Full Cup
  • Recycle centers/bins. I do suggest if you're visiting a bin that you do ask first before sorting through. I have heard that some are fortunate enough to have people that work at centers pull some of the coupon inserts out of papers for people if they aren't too busy.
  • ebay You can always find coupons on ebay and although it is illegal to sell a coupon, it is not illegal to sell your time in cutting, sorting and mailing your coupons or so the loophole goes. Some even sell plain white envelopes that just happen to include free coupons as well.
  • Trade coupons online. There are several places where you can trade as well. This is different from a train as you talk in advance on what you need and what you will give in return.
  • Write, call or email companies if you love their product. They like to have input on what you've found that you like and it helps to insure they will keep the product line if they get a good response with sales and comments.
  • Write, call or email companies if you have a bad experience with their product. Companies also want to know if you had a problem with one of their products. They usually want to make it up to you and send very good coupons for some of their other products.
Whatever you do, don't throw away a coupon that isn't expired even if you don't think you will ever use it. Oftentimes sales come up where you buy one product(say the product you didn't want) to get another (the product you do want) and you just threw away an important coupon to make them both pennies on the dollar. Ouch! I can't tell you how many times that happened to me before I got smart and started saving them.

Free $10 Gas Card from Speedway

Speedway is offering enough free points (8,500) on their loyalty rewards card program for a $10 Speedway gift card just for signing up for the free card.

The card also saves you a few cents on gas every time you fuel up and swipe your card. One of our local stations gives you $.05 off per gallon and another gives $.03. Not much but every bit counts and as easy as it is I'll take the free $.

My husband and I have a card already and use it frequently. We are about ready to cash in our first reward. I also signed up for one for myself so that I can have the convenience of swiping the card a the pump (they give you 2 key chain tags and a credit card sized one and hubby is carrying the larger one). You can't swipe the little ones at the pump and have to go into the store to use them and with a little one in tow it will be nice to have my own... not to mention the bonus points right now.

The offer is limited to 1 bonus offer per address/household.
Who couldn't use a little free gas right now.

Thanks Centsiblesavings!

CVS deal

Here is the first deal I have to share with you. I hope you can follow.

You can make a profit this week on Lamisil. They have some that are $7.59, purchase two, use 2 $4 off one Lamisil coupons found in the paper.

$7.59x2=7.19 +tax
get $10 ECB

CVS 101

CVS is a wonderful place to save $! If you had told me that several years ago I would have laughed at you, but I've found so many awesome deals there that it truly has become one of my favorite places to shop.

At CVS the first thing you need to do is get an ExtraCare card. This is a store rewards card that gives you access to sale prices and also the coupons that some of their promotions print out at the register. Without this little red card, the deals just aren't there.

You can get a card for each person in you household but it doesn't benefit you much to do so. Typically the deals are per household and having multiple cards makes it more difficult to keep up with what you have as far as ECBs to spend. The only advantage to having more than one card in your household is the possibility of getting different coupons from each card.

If you earn an ECB or get a coupon on one card in your household, you can only redeem it with that card. Each coupon & ECB you receive from any CVS machine is coded to only work with that specific card.

I suggest you start with one card in your household until you are proficient in figuring out how CVS works, start simply so as not to get overwhelmed. Later, if you think you can keep all the coupons and ECB's straight that 2 cards will bring you can always give it a try. Keep in mind though that most CVS deals are 1 per household, so having multiple cards doesn't mean multiple deals, just a few extra coupons.

To get an ExtraCare card you have two options... sign up online and wait for the card to come to you, or just simply ask for one at the register when you go in to shop. I prefer the later because it's in hand instantly and you can do the deals right away.

I recommend that you register your card online and often time when you do they send you a good coupon for signing up. These coupons used to be something you could share with your friends, but are now coded for your use only. These are coupons most of us would love to have in abundance and are usually $4 off of a $20 purchase. It's easy to get to $20 in CVS, but when you coupon, it's easy to get your total back down to next to nothing if you spend a little time on it. Also, if you register your card you get the occasional coupon or product in the mail from CVS... an added bonus!

At CVS they often have deals that make items free or close to free when you purchase them and get the coupon back for $ off your next order. If you have a coupon for any of those items it makes for an even better deal. Just don't lose the coupons because they no longer replace them.

You can use as many of these simple $ off coupons, or commonly called Extra Care Bucks (we'll call them ECB's) as you want in a transaction but they aren't supposed to work for tax. If your coupons total more than your items cos, plan on losing the extra value or adding something else to your purchase.

Some stores will take expired ECB's and some will not. This usually depends on management, although there is a store I visit where the manager will take them but one of the cashiers will not.

CVS will from time to time have coupons our that are $3 off of any $10 purchase, etc (we'll call these $/$$). You can only use one of these per transaction unless they are different coupons. If you have 2 of them and want to use them together you have to meet the total purchase on both together to use them together. For example, if you have a $3 off $10 and a $10 off $50 you have to buy $60 worth of products (not counting tax) to get $13 off.... clear as mud? Some stores don't allow combining anymore so your mileage may vary (YMMV).

The best way to use a $3 off $10 is to purchase items as close to $10 or just above as you can, especially if you have several of them, because you can use them on multiple orders to better your savings.

It is better to give your coupons in a specific order which I will talk about in a moment. Occasionally you will get a cashier that will rearrange your coupons and put them through differently. Doesn't make a big difference, but the manufacturer coupons will sometimes help cover tax if you use this order.

When at the register give the $/$$ off coupon first, then any other ECB's that you want to use, minus manufacturer coupons you have for products purchased. Pay your remaining and wait for the newly earned ECB's to print on your receipt.

Your purchase might look like this...
product total $10.25
-$3 off $10 coupon
-$5 in ECB's previously earned
-$2 in manufacturer coupons =.25 +taxes on entire order
Then you may get, for example a 1.99 ECB, and a $5 ECB.

The idea is to use your previously earned ECB's to purchase more ECB giving products to maximize your savings. And the cycle begins.

If for some reason you don't get the ECB's you expect, check the bottom of your receipt to see if the items counted as qualifying and let the cashier know before you leave the store. Once you leave the store they assume you got what was expected and you can no longer call corporate to get it fixed.

Another important bit of information. You don't always have to buy all of the products at once to get the qualifying ECB. For instance, say they have a deal on a certain brand of diapers and if you buy $20 worth you get a $5 ECB. You can purchase $11 in one transaction and then purchase the remaining $9 worth on another transaction. You won't get the ECB until you meet the criteria on the second visit, but it will show on the bottom of you receipt how much you need to qualify for the deal if you didn't make it in the first transaction. This is great when you have some of those $ off $$ coupons I was talking about because you can break up the deals and save more money altogether. Using the diaper deal as an example...if you do 2 orders of $10 and have 2 coupons for $3 off $10 without any other coupons you spent $14 and got a $5 ECB.

You will also get other coupons at CVS.  CVS stores now have a red machine where you can price check items. This machine also gives out coupons sometimes when you scan your ExtraCare Card... this is where having multiple cards can benefit you. If you don't scan your card at the machine you will often get coupons on your receipt when you checkout. These coupons are often for their store branded products and sometimes products the manufacturers are promoting in the store. I would suggest that even if you don't think you will use these coupons, hold onto them until they expire. Don't throw them away! I can tell you that I have thrown out several that I would've been able to use before I realized this. They may be for products you won't use, but they can come in handy if you have one of those $ off $$ coupons. They can help you meet the $$ when you can't find anything else that will work for you.

If you have a coupon from CVS you can always use a manufacturer coupon with it as long it doesn't say "manufacturer coupon" on it. You can actually do this at any store with coupons so long as they don't both say manufacturer coupons. This is called stacking coupons.

Prescriptions are something that can earn you extra money at CVS too. There are often coupons for $25 for each new or transferred prescription that you bring in. If you're willing to move your prescriptions around to gain a few bucks it can be worth it. You can often find bonuses at other stores for transfers as well making it even better.  Coupons for transferring prescriptions are getting harder and harder to find these days, especially at CVS.

Reinventing Beauty Magazine (RIB) is a magazine offered in many CVS stores for $.99 that is offered seasonally.  It often contains coupons for products that may come up on sale during that season.  They can sometimes be found by the store fliers, by the cash register, in the cosmetics isle or in the magazine section.  Not all CVS stores carry them so if you can find them and want to see one, ask.

If you don't want to start with much money I suggest you buy a free after ECB product or two and start rolling your ECB's from there. When you have coupons for those "free" products your ECBs will start to grow as long as you're not buying other items with them. Unless you are using a $/$$ coupon, you can do as many or few items in a transaction as you like... just be aware of the other shoppers and don't make them wait if you are wanting to do several orders. Be coupon friendly!

Let's roll those ECB's!!

Here we go!!

I'm going to start sharing deals I come across with you and hope that you implement the ones that fit for you. It can be so much fun to see the price come down with coupons at the store.

I will also share online store codes for discounts online, and freebie deals as I find them.

Some stores have their own systems like coupons printed at the register at CVS and rebates at Walgreens. I will be posting how-to's for them shortly.

Have fun saving $!!

Coupons 101




This is a subject that gets me excited!

Coupons are a big help to gaining real savings while shopping for groceries and household supplies. When you get one you may think it's only worth a few cents, but think again.

Be on the hunt for coupons!

I recommend starting with 2 Sunday newspapers (usually larger ones have more & better coupons) a week so you can purchase 2 of most of the good deals you find.

Ask friends and family for their extra... you won't believe how many are thrown out every week.

Use those coupons on sale items!
If you combine that coupon with a sale on something you would be purchasing anyway, you've done even better with your money. If your store doubles or triples the value of a coupon you can do even better.

Know your stores & their coupon policies.
The best way to find out how your store handles coupons is to look at the back page of the flier, oftentimes at the bottom of the page, or just ask them. Some double & triple coupons.. it's good to know which do and don't do this in your area to maximize your savings.

Some stores will price match. If a competing store has the same product on sale, they will match that price to get your business.

Stockpile! Stockpile! Stockpile!
Don't wait until you need something to buy it, but it when it's on sale. Better yet, buy it when it's on sale and you have a coupon. Buy more than one... a 3 month supply is a good rule of thumb when you get started.
  • Even if you don't use coupons, stockpiling items on sale can save you big bucks!!

I have saved thousands in 2-3 years or so that I have been doing this!

Monday Morning Musings: Tithing-how is it important to my financial future?


Wow... who wants to think about tithing? What is tithing? Why is it important?

Tithing is giving of the first and best 10% of your income back to your church or place of worship to better the community/world.

I must confess, I have occasionally wondered what it would be like to spend that money on myself or my family even though we tithe regularly. I have found though that giving is a greater blessing than keeping for myself. I know I would have spent the money and probably forgotten where. Now I know at least the money I chose to give is blessing someone who needs it more than I. The blessings from that are often more abundant than the money itself would have brought.

It is meant to be a showing of your acceptance and believe of Gods love for you and the understanding that he will provide even when you know you don't have enough.

God wants your first and your best. Firstfruits are often mentioned when you hear about tithing. God doesn't want your left overs, he wants to be priority #1 in your life. There's a lot of truth in the idea that your finances reveal what's important to you.

Even if your not religious, tithing or giving to charitable causes on a regular basis some say are important for all of us.

  • Giving opens us up to the idea that if we have more to gain we have more to give. It opens our minds to the idea our own value may be more and helps us to work harder to attain it so we can share more.
  • It makes us feel valuable and important to our community and we tend to help in other ways as well.
  • It makes us aware of the needs of others around us and gives us a better picture of what we ourselves are blessed with.
Tithing is promoted even by the big financial advisors of today. I recently heard Suze Orman tell someone on her television show to tithe first which surprised me. Also... Dave Ramsey talks of tithing as well. These are financial experts trying to show you how to get out of debt and make it rich and they both speak positively of tithing because it gives us such a positive outlook on our own lives and helps us to better ourselves from where we are.

If you are able, start tithing regularly if you aren't all ready doing so and enjoy the blessings that come from it. If you can't give the whole 10%, give what you can and work your way there. Believe it or not, it's easier to start now when your income is smaller than it is when you make more. It's easier to give $1 when you have $10 than it is to give $1,000 when you have $10,000. If you make it a daily habit now, you won't miss it later and get to reap the rewards all along.

A friend of mine once said her financial adviser told her that when people don't tithe they can't tell you where that 10% of their income went.

I don't think you should to go without food or basic needs, but keep in mind that God does provide and multiply your generosity when given the opportunity, so do what you can to give back.

My challenge for you is to take a look at your checkbook or bank account, however you track your spending, and if you don't you should start- it's amazing when you're not watching it on paper where some of it quickly goes. But check yourself to see what your spending habits say to you, and to God. If your not comfortable with what you see rethink a few things and see what you can do about it. God had a plan for that 10%... let him use it!

I also want to note that if you give, give from your heart. Don't do it because it's what you're supposed to do, because that is what's expected of you or because you think your giving will come back to you ten fold. If you give your spouse brings you some flowers and tells you that he just happened to notice them in the store and it was "No big deal.", the gift looses it's heartfelt value quickly. God wants our hearts more than our money too. Keep that in mind with your giving.

I will likely continue to add ways that we can give to God's service, not instead of tithing, but above and beyond it to further show our love to him and those around us.


Who am I?

Let me briefly introduce myself so you have an idea where I come from and what I stand for. I recently stepped away from a job in healthcare to stay home and care for my 3 year old son who means the world to me. My husband makes a decent living at his job and we are doing our best live well within his income. We are regular church attenders and although we believe the Lord will provide, we also feel we have to be good stewards what God has given us.

I have always been a saver due to the examples set by my parents growing up, and my own desire to save for something better than what I had now. When my husband and I married he was a spender... never had money in his wallet, because he had to spend it if it was in there. We had some adjustments to make when we married to compromise on spending. There wasn't a lot work with when we started out because we didn't have much extra and I was determined to not go into debt for daily living. He quickly grew to understand that if we didn't have it we didn't spend it... at least for the little things (we did take out a few small car loans along the way).

We both had full time jobs for several years and along came our son. Motherhood set in and I began looking for ways to stretch our dollars to pay for the added expenses of a child. I began searching the adds and online for ways to make our finances go farther. I now find it a challenge to spend as little as possible to make it by and still have fun with life. We do splurge every now and then, but no longer feel guilty about it because we only do it for special occasions and events and don't have to charge them.

It's amazing how much more relaxing and fun life is without the worry of everyday expenses emptying your checking account!

I challenge you to check out my posts and apply what you can to your life to make it more rewarding and less stressful. I'm not promising it doesn't take any effort, because it does. I'm asking that you make and effort, whatever you can, and reap the rewards financially.

Gotta start somewhere...

The first thing you have to do when considering your financial future is to get into the mindset that you have to think about the future as well as what is going on in your life right now. How is what you do today or this weekend going to affect your financial future. I'm not saying don't go out and have any fun, on the contrary.

I think the hardest thing even for me being a saver is to not always get what you want right now. Time=money. We've all heard that, but let me suggest it in a new way.

If you think about it, how often do you think you have to have something in the store and if you go home without it your realize maybe a week later that you never went back to purchase it and now it seems like a silly idea. Money not spent! How many times do we order a soft drink at the restaurant only to drink one glass and it cost us $2!!! Did we want a soda that bad? Could we have waited until we got home and spend a $1 on a 2 liter that would satisfy 3-4 people? I used to tell my husband all the time that soda at a restaurant was outrageously priced... he'd buy it anyway and watch me drink water. Now that he's begun to see that $2 as money towards another meal out or a movie or our sons college, he orders the water and waits until he gets home for the soda. Now if I order a soda on a rare occasion, he looks at me like I'm crazy. Funny how things change!

Another note about timing. I mentioned that I used to be the saver of the family. The best I knew to do was shop at Walmart and hope the things I needed that week were on sale. I would occasionally make it to another store if their milk or cheese was on a special sale, but otherwise stuck to one store for most of my shopping. This wasn't a terrible plan, but little did I know what I should've been doing all those years. Instead I should have been watching for the sales on the items that I knew we used and buying them only when they were on sale. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? It was a whole new concept for me!

Buy purchasing items only when they are on sale I mean purchase what you will need of that item for say 2-3 months. When you do that for everything your savings start to add up. It does take a little extra money up front to stock up on these items and still purchase what you need for the home that week so do it as you can financially, but over time you will find that a sale comes up when it's about time to purchase toothpaste so you do so and all the while you don't need the regular purchase of shaving cream this week- your cabinet is stocked and ready. This is called stockpiling which we will dig further into later... but in this case timing=money.

We will talk about adding couponing to the whole saving money equation at a later time... hope your in for some real rewards :)

By the way, for you Walmart fans, I'm not downing Walmart by any means. If you are a shopper that has no interest for shopping sales at any level it's probably the store for you. You can even use their sales as a starter to help you get going on some savings like this. Walmart will price match also if you find the same product for a better price that week take the flyer in and they will match the price.

But, if you're up for the challenge and fun, I'd recommend shopping around a little as you have time and are able. You'll be surprised over time what a difference it can make and how much less stressful shopping is. I used to walk up to an item we had to have and cringe at the price and pray we could make it one more week without it. Those days are no more for me, and it can work for you too!

These ideas seem minimal and like pocket change, but I encourage you to try give these ideas a try and I think you'll be pleased that you did. Start at your own pace and try don't try and radically change your spending quickly or you will burn out and feel deprived. Give yourself and your family time to adjust to changes as you talk about them and choose what works for your family.

By changing the way you think about money, you can save money and have so much more to show for it.

Thinking and buying ahead by using sales, and coupons if you care to, make a difference... a big one. I can attest to it... it works for me!

God Bless...

New and coming...

Welcome to my new blog on familys saving money. I'm not limiting this community to anyone specifically in the family, but generally hope to help and guide the financial minded person in the home.

I hope to help you and your family learn valuable ways to save money so that you can use it in a better way for your family.

I grew up in a farming community with both parents bent on saving money. I learned from mom that shopping is a necessity (whether we like it or not) and to be watchful for sales and rebates along the way. I learned from dad that the garden is a bountiful blessing even when you're tired of homegrown tomatoes- they are certainly wonderful come winter.

Today it's harder than ever to pay off those debts, put money back for a rainy day, and whose to even mention put some into savings? You're right, I said it.... let's put some money into our savings!

I encourage you to visit this page as I show you some of the techniques I've learned over the years for saving money, and I hope some of you can give tips as well along the way.
Buy gift certificates for Alice through Swagbucks!
See my Swagbuck points & info below
VistaPrint USA Inc.

My Current SwagBucks!