Free Sample of Woolite Dry Cleaners Secret

Send in your dry cleaner receipt and this form to get a free sample of Dry Cleaner Secret from Woolite.  Give it a try and see if you can save some money on your dry cleaning bill.

$5 Off $10 At Ulta!

Here's a sweet coupon for Ulta shoppers, click over to print a coupon for $5 off a $10 purchase at Ulta. There's also a code available for use online.

Interview With The Couponer: The Coupon Diva Desirea

We are starting a new series here on Dual Income Need Coupons/ Money Saving Mode of "Interview with the Couponer", where we will be interviewing different coupon users and asking them about their experiences.

To get us started, I'm interviewing Coupon Diva Desirae from My New Addiction Savings.  She will be featured on the April 27 episode of Extreme Couponing on TLC, so be sure to watch for that.


Julie: How / Why did you get started couponing?

Desirae: I started couponing about 4yrs ago when my husband just graduated from college, working 2 jobs & we just had a baby. We were living paycheck to paycheck, driving one car and had over $30,000 in student loans to pay. I couldn't stand living like that anymore so I looked into couponing and after that it was history...

Julie: What made you decide to participate on the Extreme Couponing show?

Desirae: Because I wanted to show families & mothers around the world that you don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. That you don't have to spend your last dime on food, and you don't have to worry about providing for your family. You don't have to be extreme like us but you can start somewhere.

Julie: How do you feel about all the controversy that has occurred recently about the show? Do you worry that it may affect how viewers view you?

Desirae: There is tons of controversy about the show. People believe we are the reason for everything [changes to coupon policy] that is going on right now. When really it's because of coupon fraud and people misusing coupons. If the show wasn't here they would blame it on something else. The thing people need to realize is that its TV. we don't shop like this daily, weekly or all the time. This was the film crew following us for 1 day to 1 store. We are trying to show you that you can save extreme. Stockpilers dont buy 500 mustards in 1 shopping trip it takes us weeks or years to get that much. But we are just showing you that you can save extreme & that it's possible. Also almost every single one of us on the show pre-ordered their [groceries]. It might look like shelves got cleared but really its our part cleared and then the store comes behind us to restock the stores stock!

Katie asks: Why buy and hoard things you get with coupons, especially if you are never going to use them? Why not donate?

Desirae: I dont consider it hoarding. Hoarding to me is living in filth, having no clue what you have, expired food & greedy, not donating. I donate everything. My neighbors, family and friends are welcomed to come over anytime to get what they need. I give to the great dane rescue, the pregnancy centers, and shelters. What I use I keep for myself & what I don't need I give away.

Just because they don't show the giving part on the show don't assume we don't donate

Abed asks: How do you have time to Coupon to that extreme, work, keep the house clean, and spend time with your family?

Desirae: I ask myself that often! I am a wife, mother, cook, housekeeper, photographer, extreme couponer, blogger, & about to be a college student. I just have to find time to balance everything.

Julie: Do you ever have moments where you wonder if all the effort is really worth it?

Desirae: Nope, because I know it's worth it. When I can feed my family on $150 a month I know its worth it. I will never ever ever pay full retail for anything. Even if i win the lottery i wouldn't stop :]

Julie: What do you hope comes from this show? Do you think the overall lasting effect will be positive or negative?

Desirae: We are always going to have those negative people that are either jealous, or don't have anything to do with their time. People aren't always going to agree with what I do. Instead of them creating negative all over they need to find time to create positive. Extreme couponing is like talking about abortion or Obama. Someone is always not going to agree with my actions or beliefs.

Julie: If you could give one piece of advice to new couponers, what would it be?

Desirae: To be organized & don’t get overwhelmed! Start off slow & don’t overdo yourself or you will get burnt out. Don’t try to be like me in the first week of couponing because it’s taken me a long time to get where I am! Stay organized so that you can stay focused & have more drive to coupon!

Thank you to Desirae for taking the time to answer our questions.  You can get to know Desirae better on her blog, Facebook and Youtube Channel.

Coupon Noob Strikes Again - $1.53 OOP at CVS

This week, I tried to plot out my own trip to CVS.  I looked at a few scenarios online, but they didn't quite work for me because it was things that we wouldn't have used.  So this week, I took a stab at making my own scenario.  One thing that I was disappointed about was I didn't get some of the coupons in my Red Plum that were talked about on other websites (The -$3/1 Nieva Body Wash Coupons in Red Plum).  I can only assume that they were region specific.  So I had to redo my scenario a couple of times.

On to the savings!


Transaction #1

(1) CoverGirl NatureLuxe Gloss Balm - $6
(1) CoverGirl Eye Shadow - $5.79
     Using -$2.50/2 CoverGirl product, PG 4/03
(1) Aquafresh Kids toothbrush - $1 
     Using $1/1  Aquafresh Kids Toothbrush RP  4/17

Total Before Coupons and tax-  $12.79
Total AFTER Coupons, $10 ECB from last week plus tax - $0.19!

The CoverGirl products were get $3 ECB WTB $10 worth of CoverGirl products, Limit 1


Transaction #2

(1) Edge Infused Shave Gel - $3.29
     Using .55/1 Edge Shave gel, SS 3/20
(2) Colgate Toothpaste 4.6 oz - 2 @ $1 Each
     Using (2) $0.75/1 Colgate Toothpaste SS 4/03 
(1) Easter Grass - $0.99


Total Before Coupons and tax - $6.28
Total AFTER Coupons, $3 ECB from transaction #1, $1 ECB from last week plus tax - $0.60 

On this order I got a $2.30 ECB for buying the Edge Shaving Gel and a $0.99 ECB for buying the  Easter grass.

Transaction #3
 
(1) Paas Classic Easter egg coloring kit - $1.99
(1) Clearance bag of Pepperidge Farm Milano Mint cookies (I had my daughter with me) - $0.85

Total before Coupons and tax - $2.84
Total AFTER Coupons, $2.30 ECB from Transaction #2 and tax - $0.74

Total OOP for all transactions -  $1.53 for $21.91 of merchandise!

Buying the Paas egg coloring kit, got me another $1.99 ECB.  So for Next week I have $1.99, $0.99 and $1 ECBs to start with.

New Publix Coupons

There are several new Publix coupons available here, including a $.55 off Yoplait Delights yogurt and $1/1 Fiber One bars, as well as a few other General Mills coupons.  These are Publix coupons so they can be stacked with manufacturer coupons for even more savings!

6 Free Items at VistaPrint for Easter

VistaPrint is always running some great promotion or another. If you need business cards, there is really no reason to pay full price for them as you can almost always get 250 of them for free with Vistaprint.

For Easter, they are also offering a free pen, tote bag, photo flip book and several other items. Just click here to see the current deals.

Amazon Has Coupons!

Did you know that Amazon has coupons? I had no idea until I saw a reference to them on another blog today, but they do! And sometimes those coupons mean really good deals.  You can check out Amazon's Coupon Page here to see what great offers are currently available.

Free Sample: Texas Pete Hot Sauce

Texas Pete invites you to "wake up your food" with two free samples of their new Chipotle Hot Sauce and Fiery Sweet Wing Sauce.  Just click here, then select the bottle (one request will get you both free samples)

How to Get the Sunday Coupon Inserts If Not In Your Sunday Paper

For some reason, not all areas get the Sunday Coupon Inserts as part of their Sunday paper. Evidently, there are different contracts each paper has with the insert providers, so your paper may only carry inserts from one or two or none of the three insert providers (SmartSource, Redplum, and Proctor & Gamble).  Not to worry, if you are one of the unlucky ones, there are other ways to get your inserts.

By Mail: In some areas these inserts are mailed out to your home instead of included in the Sunday paper.  Personally, I think this is a nice perk as it would save you a bit of money.  If you have a PO Box it's even better because you can often find extra copies that have been left behind by other box holders who don't want them.

If the inserts are not included in your Sunday paper and are not delivered to you automatically, you can sign up to have them delivered at the provider's websites.  To see if Redplum is included in your local newspaper and where to find it, click here.  You can also sign up to receive the RedPlum Mail Package here.

If your area does deliver the inserts via regular mail, you may want to stop by the post office the day after they are delivered to see if they have any extras.  You can also check around the PO box area for those left behind by others.

By a Different Paper: If you live near a larger city, you may want to pick up that paper instead of your local paper, as it's more likely to have more inserts.

Extra Sources: Some areas may have other local freebie papers that include copies of certain inserts.  For instance, in my area there is a small paper geared towards military and government contractors, called "The Redstone Rocket" which usually includes the weekly SmartSource insert. 

Ask Friends & Neighbors: If your area does include the coupon inserts but you don't want to pay for the paper, ask your friends and neighbors if you can have their inserts.  Most of them probably don't use them and would be happy to save them for you, rather than throwing them away.