Code on the Swagbucks Blog & 50 Extra Swagbucks for New Signups!

There is a code on the Swagbucks blog good for 15 Swagbucks until 4pmEST

If you aren't a member of Swagbucks, right now is a perfect time to join. In celebration of their 3rd birthday they are giving away and additional 50 Swagbucks to any new signups (that's on top of the 30 you normally get on signup). So if you haven't already joined Swagbucks, click here and be sure to enter the code HipBirthday.

Also, on February 28 they will be giving away lots of Swagbucks codes for their birthday, so be sure to friend them on Facebook & Twitter and watch the blog regularly throughout that day for new codes.

Why Swagbucks?
Simple.  Because Swagbucks gives you points for doing stuff online that you'd do anyway (like searches) and even for trading in used video games, cell phones and books.  They give you points for no reason at all (like the 15 Swagbucks they are giving away today).  Then you can take those Swagbucks and trade them in for real stuff like electronics and gift cards.  I like to get the Amazon gift cards (it only takes 450 Swagbucks to earn a $5 Amazon gift card).  If you join today and grab the 2 codes I just told you about, you'll be almost a quarter of the way to your first gift card!

Publix Sale Matchups

Be sure to check Passionate Penny Pincher for details of the new Publix ad (starting today) and coupon matchups!

We are shopping light this week, and buying lots of Silk Soy Milk at .75-$1 per half gallon. We'll probably be using our $3 Kroger coupons to buy it too!

3 Inserts Sunday (including Proctor & Gamble)

Proctor & Gamble is by far my favorite insert as they put out some really good coupons for products I know we'll use, so it makes me happy that this week is a Proctor & Gamble week.  We should also be seeing a Smartsource insert & a Redplum insert this week.

Just a little preview of what to expect in the P&G insert....

• $4/1 Vicks Sinex product
• $2/1 Gillette body wash
• $1/1 Head & Shoulders
• $1/1 Pantene
• Buy Vicks product, Get Puffs FREE
• Buy Old Spice Antiperspirant/ deodorant GET bodywash FREE

For the full preview of what to expect in this insert as well as the others, check out the Sunday Coupon Preview.

2/$20 Candles @ Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works has their 4oz candles on sale 2/$20 both online and in the store. Also, when we were in the store I noticed quite a few of these candles had a peelie coupon that allowed you to get $10 off on the large 3-wick candles (up to 3 per coupon).

If you are ordering online, you will want to go through Ebates and get a little cash back (3%) to cover some of the shipping fees.

Cash Back on Travel

Ebates offers cash back on hundreds of websites online, including many travel sites.  Right now they are offering double cash back on travel sites like Travelocity, Hotels.com, car rental companies and more.  I didn't even think to check them for travel sites before I booked our last trip on Travelocity.

Saving Money on Accounting Fees

My husband is a CPA... but no he won't do your taxes, or ours.  He's not that kind of accountant.  Unfortunately, tax fees are one of the many things we found out that we've been over-paying for.  I've had an accountant that's done my business and personal taxes for the last 8 years; when we got married she continued to do our personal returns.  Paul didn't really question the price, as unfortunately neither of us really paid much attention and I didn't realize that I was paying too much.

This year, however, we've really been questioning the price of EVERYTHING, and in questioning the price I was paying for accounting fees I found out I was paying about 3 times the average price for S-Corp and personal returns.  EEK!  Seriously!?

I think in a lot of ways tax accountants can prey on fear. I keep going back to something I read in The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy about how even though most millionaires tend to be frugal, accounting & legal services were the two areas where they were willing to pay higher prices.  Evidently, in those two areas there is a bit of "you get what you pay for" mentality, and I can definitely understand why.  It's a scary thought.  In 8 years of having my own business I've not been audited, what if this year (after changing accountants) is the year I get audited?  It's scary.

Despite my trepidation, we decided today (after meeting with the new guy) that we will switch.  For the huge amount of savings we will reap for switching I can afford a little fear I guess.  We did consider saving even more and having my husband do our personal return (even though he's not that kind of accountant, he figured he could handle the personal return) but he decided that it really wasn't worth the additional savings to do so.  After all, he'd still want to purchase the Business & Personal version of Turbo Tax and it will still take him a couple of hours to do it.  I have to say, on that note, I'm kinda glad and it gives me a little better gut feeling than the idea of him doing it himself.  He asked me what my gut said about this new guy; if I thought he might be shady or anything. I told him I didn't think he was shady, but I did get the feeling he'd much rather deal with numbers than talk to his.  His response: "Well, that's what you want in an accountant, it probably means he'll do a better job."  Man, I hope he's right.

FREE SAMPLE: Miracle Whip

Click here to get two sample size packets of Miracle Whip!

I'll be honest we use mayo of any type so rarely in our house that if we could just find a way to buy single / sample size packets at an affordable price, we would do it (same with sour cream).

Couponing Favors the Rich?

I saw this headline and I first thought that this was going to be an article about how often you'll find the best printable coupons under zip codes of the Rich & Famous... that wasn't the case.  This was actually a letter from someone who was upset because a coupon writer's advice seemed to favor using the internet to get deals and coupons.

I thought this was interesting that someone would think this and unfortunately I think it's another case of blaming the wrong person.  Anyone can get great deals, some of us will have to work harder at it than others.  There are definitely some advantages to having the internet when it comes to getting some of the best deals but they all boil down to 1...

It's easier to get multiple coupons when you can buy them off coupon clipping services or print them.  It's easier and cheaper to really stockpile when you can use multiple coupons.  However, if "Extreme Couponing" taught us anything it's that you don't need a computer to save major money.  One of the most featured couponers from that show was Joyce, who got multiple copies of the coupons she needs just by asking her friends, relatives and neighbors for their unused coupon inserts.

The great thing about the internet is that you can get help from others on finding deals and don't have to rely on yourself to do the matchups. However, I kinda think that doing it all yourself may save you some money too as you won't be looking at these deals thinking "oh I got to have that", you'll only be looking for the things you already buy and saving money on them.

Publix Competitor Coupon Policy About to Get Clearer

Laurie over at Passionate Penny Pincher just shared that Publix stores have finally gotten together and come up with a company-wide competitor coupon policy.  For more details on what she found out, check out her post!

Silk Soy Milk - $1 1/2Gallon After Coupons @ Publix

Starting on Wednesday, Silk Soy Milk will be $1 for 1/2 Gallon at Publix after coupons.

Sale Price: $2.50
-use $.75 Printable Q
-use .75 Publix Q (from Yellow Advantage Buy Flyer - usually located at the front of the store)
= $1 per 1/2 Gallon

- You may also have the .75/1 Qs from the paper a few weeks ago OR
you may be able to print off a $1/1 Q from the Silk website, which would make the price only .75 per Half Gallon.