Most of us have a collection of store discount cards, even if we don't make the most of them. One thing I never realized is that you can save a lot more if you make sure your store cards are registered (with your email and mailing address). Usually, when you sign up for a card in the store they just hand you the card anymore and don't really take any info from you. This gets you the deals in the store but doesn't get you anything extra.
When I started doing this "money saving mode" thing, I found out there are more deals to be had than what you realize. Take a look at the store cards on your key ring then visit the store website. Register the card on their website with your full info and you'll soon find yourself saving even more thanks to e-coupons, home mailers and email coupons, you didn't even know existed.
Most of the grocery stores allow you to register e-coupons directly to your card, online. Stores like Kroger and Vons have e-coupons you can load to your card directly from their website. You can also load more coupons to your card through sites like shortcuts.com and cellfire.com .
It wasn't until I saw a woman at the grocery store with an envelope of coupons directly from Kroger that I realized that Kroger actually mails out coupons to card holders who have registered their address.
Most of us have no idea what we are missing out on.... but now you know. Go register your cards!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Share & Win with Barilla
Go here and click the button and Barilla will donate $1 for every click to Meals on Wheels. While you are there be sure to enter their Pasta Fridays sweepstakes for a chance to win a free pasta dinner.
Some Things You Should NEVER Pay For
Or, at you should pay very very little....
In the short time I've been doing this "Money Saving Mode" thing I've been amazed at the things I've discovered that you can get for free on a regular basis. Even if you are brand picky you can watch and save, but all the better if you aren't brand picky. Some things I've found that I will no longer pay for...
Shampoo - For a short time there I got bound to the salon brand shampoos. I think it was a perceived value thing but the reality is that (with few exceptions) they didn't really make my hair feel any different than the shampoos/conditioners you can get in the store.
Razors - ok, this one is kinda iffy. I'm stuck on a particular brand of razor (Gillette Fusion), the non-disposable kind. I usually buy this at CostCo as it's the best price around (regardless of sales/coupons). Although, this week I even managed to pick a few of those up for free at Rite Aid. Hubby on the other hand has gone back to disposables and he doesn't care what brand they are as long as they have at least 3 blades. He particularly likes the Schick Xtreme 3 (or store brand version of). I've been stocking him up on those for FREE to very cheap for the last month or so. He now has about 2 months worth thanks to great sales and coupons.
Soap - this is another item that we are pretty brand specific about in our house, so we buy it at Costco. However, if you aren't brand specific you can pretty much always get your soap for free.
Dish Soap - even if you have a dishwasher there is always and occasional need for regular dish soap. With sales at the drugstores combined with coupons, you can almost always get the small size bottle of dish soap for .50 or less (often free). We're talking the good stuff here - Dawn or Palmolive.
Feminine Products - My first memory of using a coupon, was about 15 years ago when I found a coupon in a magazine to try OB tampons with applicators for free. That product became my favorite. It's no longer available, but the memory still lives on and my love for using coupons has returned. There are usually some great high value coupons online for various feminine products ($1.50 or better), when you match those with sales at your local drugstores, it often means very cheap to FREE products. If you stock up at those times, you won't have to embarrass your husband by sending him out when you need them.
Pasta - OMG, seriously I can't believe anyone pays for this stuff now that I know what I know. There are always great coupons around for .50 to $1 off various brands of boxed pasta. Many major chains (like Kroger and Publix, locally) double coupons up to .50, which makes them worth $1 and most of the time this stuff isn't more than $1.40 anyway. But, if you watch for the sales you can ALWAYS find it on sale for $1 or less (often BOGO) and that's the time to stock up and get it for FREE! We now have about 6 boxes of the pasta and I'll be picking more up this week since it's on sale at Publix BOGO again and I have some great coupons to use.
Soy Milk - my household discovered soy milk completely on accident. I sent my hubby to the store with a list and on it I'd written "soy". Now at the time the only soy product we'd ever had in our house was soy sauce, so I guess I figured he'd know what I meant. He came home with soy milk. Luckily, he really liked the stuff (I just think it's ok, and will drink it when I run out of regular milk). Now that he's drinking it regularly I've discovered that you can usually find $1 off coupons on the SILK website and about once a month it goes on sale for $2.50 at one store or the other, so we pick it up for around $1.50, which puts the price of the milk I buy for me to shame, and makes me wish I prefered it (and that it was great for cooking - it's not. Other soy milks may differ, but Silk is sweetened - the light version with Truvia - so if you use it for cooking, expect it to add a slightly sweet flavor to whatever you are cooking. I guess this is great if you are baking a cake, but it wasn't so good when I discovered it while making Mac & Cheese).
Kraft Mac & Cheese - Some folks think of this as the expensive stuff, and I guess when you compare regular price to store brand it is. But, we all know it tastes better. That said, who cares about regular price when you can get it on sale. Then again, with the right coupons, it doesn't have to be on sale to get it for free! Publix takes competitor coupons and Target is a competitor store in my area; Target also almost always has high value coupons on their website for Kraft products, including Mac & Cheese. Often you can also find manufacterer coupons on the Kraft website for those same products. Put them together and you have FREE. Kraft's new Homestyle Mac & Cheese usually runs about $3/bag. I've tried it, it's quite good and I've been getting it for free thanks to coupons. Now, if Publix would just put it on BOGO so I could get double the FREE!
What products do you refuse to pay for now that you know the magic of coupons?
In the short time I've been doing this "Money Saving Mode" thing I've been amazed at the things I've discovered that you can get for free on a regular basis. Even if you are brand picky you can watch and save, but all the better if you aren't brand picky. Some things I've found that I will no longer pay for...
Shampoo - For a short time there I got bound to the salon brand shampoos. I think it was a perceived value thing but the reality is that (with few exceptions) they didn't really make my hair feel any different than the shampoos/conditioners you can get in the store.
Razors - ok, this one is kinda iffy. I'm stuck on a particular brand of razor (Gillette Fusion), the non-disposable kind. I usually buy this at CostCo as it's the best price around (regardless of sales/coupons). Although, this week I even managed to pick a few of those up for free at Rite Aid. Hubby on the other hand has gone back to disposables and he doesn't care what brand they are as long as they have at least 3 blades. He particularly likes the Schick Xtreme 3 (or store brand version of). I've been stocking him up on those for FREE to very cheap for the last month or so. He now has about 2 months worth thanks to great sales and coupons.
Soap - this is another item that we are pretty brand specific about in our house, so we buy it at Costco. However, if you aren't brand specific you can pretty much always get your soap for free.
Dish Soap - even if you have a dishwasher there is always and occasional need for regular dish soap. With sales at the drugstores combined with coupons, you can almost always get the small size bottle of dish soap for .50 or less (often free). We're talking the good stuff here - Dawn or Palmolive.
Feminine Products - My first memory of using a coupon, was about 15 years ago when I found a coupon in a magazine to try OB tampons with applicators for free. That product became my favorite. It's no longer available, but the memory still lives on and my love for using coupons has returned. There are usually some great high value coupons online for various feminine products ($1.50 or better), when you match those with sales at your local drugstores, it often means very cheap to FREE products. If you stock up at those times, you won't have to embarrass your husband by sending him out when you need them.
Pasta - OMG, seriously I can't believe anyone pays for this stuff now that I know what I know. There are always great coupons around for .50 to $1 off various brands of boxed pasta. Many major chains (like Kroger and Publix, locally) double coupons up to .50, which makes them worth $1 and most of the time this stuff isn't more than $1.40 anyway. But, if you watch for the sales you can ALWAYS find it on sale for $1 or less (often BOGO) and that's the time to stock up and get it for FREE! We now have about 6 boxes of the pasta and I'll be picking more up this week since it's on sale at Publix BOGO again and I have some great coupons to use.
Soy Milk - my household discovered soy milk completely on accident. I sent my hubby to the store with a list and on it I'd written "soy". Now at the time the only soy product we'd ever had in our house was soy sauce, so I guess I figured he'd know what I meant. He came home with soy milk. Luckily, he really liked the stuff (I just think it's ok, and will drink it when I run out of regular milk). Now that he's drinking it regularly I've discovered that you can usually find $1 off coupons on the SILK website and about once a month it goes on sale for $2.50 at one store or the other, so we pick it up for around $1.50, which puts the price of the milk I buy for me to shame, and makes me wish I prefered it (and that it was great for cooking - it's not. Other soy milks may differ, but Silk is sweetened - the light version with Truvia - so if you use it for cooking, expect it to add a slightly sweet flavor to whatever you are cooking. I guess this is great if you are baking a cake, but it wasn't so good when I discovered it while making Mac & Cheese).
Kraft Mac & Cheese - Some folks think of this as the expensive stuff, and I guess when you compare regular price to store brand it is. But, we all know it tastes better. That said, who cares about regular price when you can get it on sale. Then again, with the right coupons, it doesn't have to be on sale to get it for free! Publix takes competitor coupons and Target is a competitor store in my area; Target also almost always has high value coupons on their website for Kraft products, including Mac & Cheese. Often you can also find manufacterer coupons on the Kraft website for those same products. Put them together and you have FREE. Kraft's new Homestyle Mac & Cheese usually runs about $3/bag. I've tried it, it's quite good and I've been getting it for free thanks to coupons. Now, if Publix would just put it on BOGO so I could get double the FREE!
What products do you refuse to pay for now that you know the magic of coupons?
Holiday Daily GiveAways
Here is a list of sites that are doing daily giveaways during the holidays. Some are instant win games, others are enter to win. Be sure to enter each daily for your best chance to win some great prizes.
--Dave Ramsey 26 Days of Christmas
--Oprah 12 Day Holiday Giveaway
--Bath & Body Works Perfect Gift Instant Win Game
--Ellen's 12 Days of Giving
--Walgreens Holiday Instant Win Game
--Ipad a Day Giveaway at Ebay
--30 Smart Gifts Instant Win Game from Office Max
Do you know of any I missed?
Hip2Save has a list of some more online sweepstakes here
Another list of daily sweepstakes on Freebies 4 Mom
--Dave Ramsey 26 Days of Christmas
--Oprah 12 Day Holiday Giveaway
--Bath & Body Works Perfect Gift Instant Win Game
--Ellen's 12 Days of Giving
--Walgreens Holiday Instant Win Game
--Ipad a Day Giveaway at Ebay
--30 Smart Gifts Instant Win Game from Office Max
Do you know of any I missed?
Hip2Save has a list of some more online sweepstakes here
Another list of daily sweepstakes on Freebies 4 Mom
Daily Deal Sites
There are a ton of daily deal sites popping up all over the internet now. For North Alabama there's not too many options, but I've found a few. Below are a list of Daily Deal sites that I know of. I've put a star next to the ones that have deals in this area (or that national deals). If know of others please let me know.
*Wow.com (National Deals)
*Deals for Schools
Groupon (still waiting for a Huntsville deal
*The Local Dot - looks like N. AL Only
*Living Social (Local and National)- get $5 for signing up
*Gaggle of Chicks (Nationwide) - get $10 for signing up
(If a site doesn't have deals in your area, you can often scan the other cities to find deals that are good anyway)
*Wow.com (National Deals)
*Deals for Schools
Groupon (still waiting for a Huntsville deal
*The Local Dot - looks like N. AL Only
*Living Social (Local and National)- get $5 for signing up
*Gaggle of Chicks (Nationwide) - get $10 for signing up
(If a site doesn't have deals in your area, you can often scan the other cities to find deals that are good anyway)
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Free Christmas Album from Target
If you are like me and like your Christmas music a little "outside the box" then you'll really like this freebie album from Target. With new holiday songs from Guster, Bishop Allen, Darker My Love, Natalie Hemby, Little Jackie and others, theres a little something for every taste, unless you really like the boring old stuff they are playing in every store for the next four weeks.
The Christmas Gig - Free from Target
Enjoy!
The Christmas Gig - Free from Target
Enjoy!
Redplum - Problems Printing
Anyone else having any trouble printing Redplum coupons? I keep getting their "fudge" page when I try to print the coupons.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
I won a Scentsy!
If you don't enter blog give-aways, you really should. I just won a Scentsy Candle Warmer system from Rocket City Savings.
I don't enter a lot of give-aways, just ones that I think I'd like to win, but in the last few weeks I've won two different ones. This one and one for a VIOlight retainer/denture sanitizer from TMJ Hope. If I can do it, you can too. So next time you see a give-away on a blog and you think "I'll never win", go ahead and enter you might be surprised!
Oh and if you are local to Huntsville/ North Alabama, be sure to follow Rocket City Savings, Mendy posts some great deals for our area.
I don't enter a lot of give-aways, just ones that I think I'd like to win, but in the last few weeks I've won two different ones. This one and one for a VIOlight retainer/denture sanitizer from TMJ Hope. If I can do it, you can too. So next time you see a give-away on a blog and you think "I'll never win", go ahead and enter you might be surprised!
Oh and if you are local to Huntsville/ North Alabama, be sure to follow Rocket City Savings, Mendy posts some great deals for our area.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Follow Me Monday
This week I am participating in the Being Frugal & Having Fun Follow Me Monday blog hop.
I definitely suggest you check out the hosts blog (and a few of the others in the hop. Now for the fun part....
The Question of the Week: Are you done Christmas Shopping?
Not quite, but I'm really close. I had most of our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving thought about getting here, but there's always a few last minute things to pick up. Are you done yet?
I definitely suggest you check out the hosts blog (and a few of the others in the hop. Now for the fun part....
The Question of the Week: Are you done Christmas Shopping?
Not quite, but I'm really close. I had most of our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving thought about getting here, but there's always a few last minute things to pick up. Are you done yet?
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