The $25 Stocking pt 2

Another blog asked how to keep costs down on filling a stocking, and as I started replying I realized that I hadn't shared these ideas here. It's not too late to start planning for next year!

- Swagbucks - Trade in your points for gift cards or other items your kids might like (or your wife or hubby)

- Free Credits to Daily Deal sites - most daily deal sites offer free credits when you sign up. Swirl by Daily Candy, One Kings Lane & Modnique are all sites that I've used the free credits on to garner some pretty cool stuff, some of which became gifts. You may have to pay shipping, but you'll make up for it on the great deal you'll get on the item(s).

- Drugstore deals - every week I post about great deals at the various drug stores on anything from candy to cologne. These items are great stocking stuffers if you can hang onto them long enough to get them in the stocking.

- More Daily Deals - Tanga has some awesome cheap prices on items like t-shirts and other fun items that would be great as stocking stuffers.

- Groupon - I can't wrap my head around the idea of giving a Groupon as a gift on its own, but as part of a larger gift (like a stuffed stocking, or a gift basket) I think it's a great idea and there have been some great ones in our area that would make awesome gifts.  Ok, the more I think about it, there have been some awesome ones that would make great gifts on their own (like flying lessons and skydiving), but for stocking stuffers I'm thinking the smaller ones like 3 Redbox rentals for $1 or 50% a gift certificate to one of their favorite online stores.  And for those types of deals you don't even have to be in the city where they were listed.

The real is key is not waiting till the last minute on stocking stuffers (or any gifts for that matter). Waiting just makes it cost more. Plan ahead and put things away for gifts later.

P&G Insert This Sunday

We've believed there would be no coupon inserts this Sunday due to the holidays, but the rumor now is that there will, in fact, be a P&G insert with some pretty awesome coupons, including

$4/1 Gilette Fusion ProGlide razor
$1/2 Old Spice
$2/2 Head & Shoulders

and many others. For a full list of the coupons we are expecting to see on Sunday, click here

And a note from P&G regarding the coupons in this Sunday's paper:

For every coupon redeemed from the Sunday, December 26, issue of P&GbrandSAVER®, a three-cent donation will be made to the Special Olympics.

Last Day to Order with 2Day Shipping on Amazon

Today is the last day you can order with 2 day shipping from Amazon.com and still get your gifts by Dec. 24. They will have 1 Day shipping available tomorrow, but you'll have to pay for it, so why not just get off your duff and click in those last few Christmas gifts, procrastination just costs more.

P&G E-Savings

Ok, I just stumbled across something sweet! Proctor & Gamble now has an online store and they have all the great coupons that we love from P&G built into the store; not only that but their prices are really good to start with!

Plus as a "Welcome to the Store" you get %15 off your purchase!

Take this for example:
Get $4 OFF on any (1) Manual or Power Fusion ProGlide Razor! Until 12/25/10 only. We are used to this razor being around $10 in the store. After the $4 coupon and the 15% comes off, it's just $1.69

Or how about:
Buy any (1) Febreeze Flameless Luminary Starter Kit & Get (1) Refill FREE! Until 12/25/10 only.

Buy any (1) Olay Body Wash, Get any (1) Olay Hand & Body Lotion FREE! Until 12/25/10 only.

Get a FREE Pantene Shampoo when you buy any Pantene products! Until 12/25/10 only.

Save $1 On any ONE Pampers Diapers or Pants

Save $4 On any ONE PUR or PUR Flavor Options System (Pitcher or Faucet Mount)

Did I mention they take Paypal? And they have $5 Flat Rate Shipping.

Pretty Sweet!

Nikon Coolpix 12MP w 3.6 Optical Zoom Only $89 @ Target

Target's daily deals today are Electronics and they have some nice buys, including the above mentioned Nikon Coolpix for just $89.  It amazes me to think how cheap digital cameras have gotten over the last few years.

You may also want to take a look at the portable DVD player for just $49.99!

View the Daily Deals

Oh and don't forget you can go through Ebates and get 3% Cash Back on your purchase. And if you are new to Ebates, sign up and get a $10 gift card following your first order.

Money Saving Mode - Now on Facebook

I finally set up a Facebook page for Money Saving Mode.  So if you'd like to follow MSM on Facebook for quick and easy updates to the blog, please click here.

Wednesday Window & Blog Hop Skip & a Jump

Why I love Rite Aid

Rite Aid is quickly becoming my favorite drug store (again).  A few years ago it was my primary drug store and then I moved and it wasn't the most convenient choice anymore so I switched (strictly for convenience sake).  Sometimes convenience is over-rated.  Since I've been shopping sales and going for deals, I've found myself back at Rite Aid again (even though it can be out of my way).

Why do I love Rite Aid?  It might have something to do with the amount of FREE stuff I've gotten there, and the Rite Aid Video Values are to some degree responsible for this.

What are Rite Aid Video Values?  Basically, it's a program that Rite offers, where in exchange for watching short (usually 30 second) commercials online you get a coupon (usually for the item that was featured in the ad).  Once you watch 20 commercials you get a coupon for $3 or $4 off of a $20 purchase.  The VV coupons can be stacked with regular manufacturer coupons and sales, as well as Rite Aid +UP deals, quite often netting you free items.

To register for Video Values and watch the ads, click here.

Right now is a good time to sign up for the VV program as you still have enough time to watch the Dec ads and earn the $3/20 coupon (as well as 2 $1/$1 purchase coupons), which will be good through the end of January, and then you can start over again at the beginning of January and earn another one.

Get Paid to Transfer Prescriptions! The next reason I've gotten so much stuff for free is because quite often in their local ad, Rite Aid will offer a $25 gift card when you transfer a prescription.  I have a LOT of prescriptions and I've transferred pretty much all of them to Rite Aid now.  I've debated transferring them out again just so I can transfer them back to get another gift card, but I'm leaning towards that being unethical (even if it's ok to do it, it just feels wrong).

+UP is Rite Aid's reward program.  If you don't already have a Rite Aid reward card, get one.  You can sign up in the store the next time you are there.  Then when you purchase certain items you will find a coupon at the bottom of your receipt for $$ off your next purchase.  I try to roll these (using the ones I earned on my last purchase to buy the current purchase and at the same time earning more to use next week = more free stuff).  When you sign up for the reward card you will also want to log into your account online and check for coupons as they often make special ones available in your account online to print and use.

In addition to the +UP coupons that print at the bottom of your receipt, you earn points for each purchase you make in the store.  1 point for each $1 you spend, and 25 points for each prescription you fill.  As your points build you earn additional rewards, like 10% off shopping passes and eventually 10% off all purchases.

5 Swag Bucks on the Blog

Check the Swag Bucks blog entry "Kevin!!" for a clue to a code worth 5SBs until 5pm CST.

And if you don't know what Swag Bucks is by now, it's an easy way to earn yourself some free stuff including Amazon Gift Cards. Click here to sign up.

New Coupons on Coupons.com

There are some more new coupons on Coupons.com today:

$0.70 off Kellogg's Raisin Bran Cereal
$7.00 off any (1) NicoDerm CQ
$7.00 off NicoDerm CQ with SmartControl™
$0.70 off Kellogg's Special K Cinnamon Pecan
$0.70 off Kellogg's Corn Flakes Simply Cinnamon
$1.50 off POND'S cream, towelette, or cleanser
$1.50 off TWO packages Kellogg's Cereals
$0.50 off Kellogg's Cinnabon™ Cereal
$0.70 off Kellogg's FiberPlus™ Cereal
$1.00 off WONKA Candy Canes
$3.00 off any Similac Infant Formula
$2.00 off TWO packages Kellogg's Crispix Cereals
$2.00 off TWO Kellogg's Krispies Cereals
Buy One get One Free bag of BUTTERFINGER Snackerz
$1.00 off California Pizza Kitchen
Get one cesar bistro™ FREE when you buy two cesar

if you are like me, your coupon binder is getting kind of thin right about now, as many are expiring this week.  So it's time to start looking for new ones to replenish stock and ensure good savings into the new year.