Naturally Frugal Mama

I Have Officially Moved!

2009-02-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

I've officially moved my blog to the New Naturally Frugal Mama location and will only post over there from now on. Please add me to your blogroll, Google Reader, Facebook Networked Blogs - whatever you use!

My Shaws Adventure

2009-02-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

I finally ventured out to Shaw's this morning. I'm glad I did because I made 87 cents buying 20 cans of soup, and got some other cheap stuff as well.

Transactions #1
10 cans Healthy Choice Soup, $1 each
2 pouches Starkist creations Mango Salmon, $2 each
3 pouches Starkist light tuna in oil, $1.25 each

Used 4 $1 off tuna coupons from vocalpoint mailer
Used BOGO tuna coupon from vocalpoint mailer

Paid $12.75 OOP
Got $10 off your next purchase catalina
I was supposed to get another $1 off catalina for the tuna, but it didn't work

Transactions #2
10 Traditional Progresso Soup @ 3/$4
3 bottles spring water @ $.89 each
.55 lb Healthy Ones deli ham ($3.99/lb)
.35 lb Healthy Ones deli turkey ($5.99/lb)

Used 2 $1/4 Progresso coupons from 2/8 newspaper insert
Used 2 $1.10/1 Progresso coupons
Used 2 $.55 off Healthy Ones lunchmeat which doubled
Used $10 catalina from last purchase

Paid $3.84 OOP

So the Healthy Choice soup worked out to be free, the Progresso was a moneymaker of $.86, the 5 pouches of tuna were $2.75, and the lunch meat (almost a pound) was a little over $2 (could have been free if I bought less).

Not too bad! Most of the soup will end up at the food pantry, which is pretty cool! I could have done the Progresso deal one more time, but Bear (my son) was getting antsy. 20 cans of soup is enough :)

Why Do I Need to Buy More Than 1 Newspaper? Why I Get Multiple Copies of Coupons

2009-02-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

I recently had someone ask me why I get multiple copies of the newspaper. When I started couponing again last October, I noticed fairly quickly that many of the good deals required you buy more than just 1 of the product, therefore requiring more than one copy of the coupon. Some deals even require that you have 3 or 4 copies of the coupon. Also, when things go on sale, having multiple copies of the coupon allows you to better stockpile items. I actually buy more than 1 type of Sunday paper as well. In my town, we have 2 different papers, and they each carry slightly different coupons, so I get at least one of each.

When I began to buy more than 1 newspaper, clipping coupons became a lot more work! Now, I have a new organizational system for my coupons that doesn't require I actually cut them out of the paper. I mainly use HotCouponWorld's coupon database searching system, which is pretty thorough; they even have links to printable coupons, such as Target store-specific coupons. I also download the list of coupons from Taylortown or another source and put them into a spreadsheet, so I have that for quick reference.

Buying one newspaper is a good start; you'll pretty quickly see that it pays for itself. Buying 2 or more papers, especially on coupon-packed weeks, can really jumpstart your couponing!

My $25 Personal CVS Challenge

2009-02-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

So far, I've done 2 transactions in my $25 personal CVS challenge.

Transaction #1
$1.99: CVS Chewable Aspirin, 36 count
$2.49: Excedrin, 10 count

I got a 40 cent discount on the aspirin because my health insurance has a deal with CVS.

Total OOP (out-of-pocket) after tax: $4.28
ECB's earned: $4.48
20 cent profit

Transaction #2
$3.75: Mylanta Ultimate Strength Mint
$5.98: 2 Neutrogena facial soaps

Used $2 off Mylanta coupon
Paid with $1.99 & $2.49 ECB's from transaction #1

Total OOP after tax & ECB's: $3.41
ECB's earned: $13.00

Total spent so far: $4.28 + $3.41 = $7.69
ECB's earned: $13.00
(This does not include the ones I cashed in)

Profit: $5.31

Stuff I got:
1 bottle CVS Chewable Aspirin, 36 count
1 bottle Excedrin, 10 count
1 bottle Mylanta Ultimate Strength Mint
2 Neutrogena facial soaps

CVS Money Makers This Week

2009-02-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

There are some money makers at CVS this month, and for one of them, you don't even need coupons!

Neutrogena Facial Bars:
Buy 2 at $2.99 (works on regular & fragrance-free)
Get $10 ECB's (buy 2 Neutrogena products, get $10 ECB)
$4.02 money maker!

Mylanta Ultimate Strength (Cherry or Mint):
Buy up to 5 at $3.75 each (price in Boston)
Use $2/1 printable or $4/2 Pepcid, Mylanta, Lactaid, Rolaids, or Imodium Product coupon from 1/4 Red Plum insert
Get $3 ECB back for each (these are hard to find!)
$1.25 money maker for each one!

Rite Aid Today & Tomorrow

2009-02-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

Rite Aid has some good coupons, only good tonight & tomorrow: $5 off $20 & $10 off $30. There are some free-after-rebate items that you could use this to help finance, or stock up on something you need that's on sale. Check out these suggestions from Frugal RI Mama & Southern Savers.

Shaw's Catalina Sale

2009-02-13T06:36:00.000-08:00

Shaw's is having another one of their catalina sales this week: buy 10 products, get $10 off your next purchase. Check out HotCouponWorld for details. Definitely an opportunity to stock up & maybe even make money!

Walgreens Update

2009-02-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

I went back to Walgreens to pick up another Gillette Fusion Gamer razor yesterday. I decided I would try to find some of this month's free-after-rebate stuff since I was already there. I found the contact solution, the Zucol & the Thermacare. The prices were all marked wrong on the shelf, but when I price-checked them, they were all within the range allowed by the rebates. No sign of the Revlon stuff, even though there was huge sign advertising the Revlon Age Defying Spa line in the front of the store. Bizarre.

Hotcouponworld Recommends 19 Survey Sites that Pay

2009-02-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

Hotcouponworld has compiled a list of 19 survey sites that are legit, really pay people, and have minimal spam.

This is great news!

I've seen on the other blogs I read that completing surveys is a good way to earn extra money, so a month or two back, I set up a special e-mail address just for doing surveys. I did this because I was worried about my inbox being filled with spam. The problem? I never remember to check it!

I'm already a member of MyPoints & Inbox Dollars (see my side bar for the link to Inbox dollars), but I should check out some of the others. I may still try to use that special e-mail address, but I'd rather have it all come to one inbox. So, thanks Hotcouponworld for doing this research so I don't have to!

Free This Week at Shaw's & Walgreens

2009-02-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

Here are some freebies you might want to pick up this week:

Shaw's
Gum/Butlet Micro Tip Toothbrush 1 ct, 10 for $10: Use $1 off coupon from 12/7 Red Plum insert = FREE!

Walgreens
Gillette Fusion Gamer, $8.99: Use $4 off coupon from 2/8 P&G Insert, get $6 Register Reward = $.76 Money Maker after tax!

These razors were not with the regular razors. They were on display at the cosmetics counter. If you can't find them, be sure to ask!

Free After EasySaver Rebate this month:
Revlon Age Defying spa concealer or foundation, $9.99: Use $2 off coupon from 1/11 or 2/8 Smart Source insert = Money Maker!

Revlon Creme lip gloss, $9.99: Use $2 off coupon from 01-11-09 or 2/8 Smart Source insert = Money Maker!

Zucol ColdCare 18 pack lozenges, $7.99: Use $2 off coupon from 2/1 Smart Source insert = Money Maker!

Garnier Fructis wonder waves hair care 6.8 to 13 oz., $3.99: Use $1 off coupon from 11/9, 1/4 or 2/8 Red Plum insert = Money Maker!

Walgreens Multipurpose contact lens solution 4 oz., $1.99 = FREE!

Thermacare heat wrap single trial size neck, shoulder and wrist--free after rebate item, sale price $2.49 = FREE!

Make sure to double-check prices before buying these. To be honest, I went last week & the only item I purchased was the Fructis. I found the contact solution, but it was $3.99.

Organic Grocery Deals - Staying Green on a Budget!

2009-02-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

Ooo! Look at this site that a friend told me about!

Something I've noticed that is different about me is that I eat a lot more produce and a lot more naturally than many of the other bloggers who post their grocery budgets and purchases. I don't say that to brag; part of that is by choice and part of it is out of necessity as I deal with the food sensitivities in my house. But it's been a challenge for us to keep our grocery budget down when we are spending so much on produce & natural foods.

Well, the site I found, Organic Grocery Deals, helps you to go green on a budget! They have forums that talk about gardening, saving money on produce by eating in season, organic and natural product information, coupon trading, green living tips, book recommendations, organic news, deals, and more. They even have posts about the deals at Whole Foods!

So whether you know a little about going green or a lot, get help and ideas at Organic Grocery Deals!

My Personal $25 CVS Challenge

2009-02-04T09:47:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of the year, I bought a $25 CVS gift card. My plan was to see how much stuff I could get over the course of several months (maybe a year?) using only the gift card, coupons & ECB's.

I spent the month of January staring at my gift card and my red CVS card, trying to figure out how to zero out my current ECB's so I could truly start from scratch. I never did find a solution :)

So what I've decided to do is use a different CVS card until I use up my ECB's on my 1st card, and then just get rid of the 1st card. You see, I've had 2 CVS cards for a while. Before you think badly of me, my husband's health insurance sent us a shiny white CVS card a few months back. They have some agreement with CVS that if we use that card, we get a discount (20%, maybe?) on CVS brand OTC medication. I have not been using it to routinely double up on all the good deals. First of all, the people who do this, I have no idea how they keep all those ECB's straight! I hear of people using 4 cards, and my head starts spinning. ECB's are card-specific, and there's no way I could keep all that straight! I've only bought 1 thing that was free after ECB's on my husband's card, and that was something that was actually for him. I think the rule is that each person in the household can have one anyways, so I don't think I've broken any laws. I still have about $36 in ECB's for my old card. I plan on buying my newspapers with them, plus a few random other things. But most of my buying will go on my new card.

But all new purchases will go on my shiny new white card. I'm going to try to maximize it so I get the most for my money. I'll keep you updated as to how it goes!

Get Something off your Wishlist by Entering Hotcouponworld's Valentine's Day Contest!

2009-02-04T05:44:00.000-08:00

As you know I periodically highlight giveaways in my blog. Well, here's a great one for Valentine's Day!

HotCouponWorld is picking 5 lucky folks who will a $50 gift (or gifts!) for Valentine's Day, and they even pick up shipping!

This item HAS to be something for you! All us frugal folks often scrimp & save so much that we rarely get anything for ourselves. Simply go to the "SHOP" tab on HotCouponWorld's menu, search for the gift(s) you would like for Valentine's day and link the page with the gift(s) you'd like back here.

So if you're worried that our significant other won't remember to get you something for Valentine's Day, head on over to HotCouponWorld and pick something out for yourself! You must have your Valentine's Day gift posted no later than 2/13 at 12 midnight Pacific Standard Time.

CVS Aspirin update

2009-02-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

I mentioned yesterday that I could not find the Children's aspirin that's free after ECB's. I just read over at HotCouponWorld that the ECB's are printing with certain adult aspirins; read the post for details.

If you haven't joined HotCouponWorld, you should! I was a lurker for a long time, but I'm glad I finally registered.

Organic Coupons

2009-02-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

Affluent Pauper has posted a huge list of organic coupons; check it out!

Deals This Week

2009-02-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

Here are some highlights of the deals at CVS & Walgreens this week, thank you Money Saving Mom & the Centsible Sawyer.

I went to CVS this morning, and here's what I had hoped to get:

Buy 2 Stayfree pads at $3.99 each
Use 1 B1G1 coupons
Spend $3.99 out of pocket
Get $4 ECBs (make a penny!)

Buy 1 CVS Children's Chewable Aspirin (36 ct.) at $1.99
Get $1.99 ECBs (Limit 1)

Buy 2 Loreal Revitalift Products, Get $10 ECBs (Limit 2)
Buy 2 cleansers or toweletters at $5.99 each
Use 2 $2/1 coupons from the 01/04 RedPlum insert
Spend $7.98 out of pocket
Get $10 ECBs back
Free plus $2.02 overage after coupons and ECBs

Buy 1 Excedrin 10 ct. at $2.49, Get $2.49 ECBs (Limit 1)
Free after ECBs

CVS was out of Excedrin, the L'Oreal products and I couldn't find the children's aspirin. Here's what I did instead:

Buy 2 Stayfree pads at $3.99 each
Use 1 B1G1 coupons
Spend $3.99 out of pocket
Get $4 ECBs (make a penny!)

Buy 1 Extreme Energy 6-hour shot at $4.99
Get $4.99 ECBs (Limit 1)
Free after ECBs

I have NO idea what I'm going to do with energy shot; I probably couldn't drink it if I wanted to (which I don't!). But the Stayfree is a REALLY good deal. You can buy 5 packages total over the month of February and get $2 ECB for every package you buy. This is a great way to use up any ECB's that might be expiring.

The Cost for my $500 Gift Card

2009-01-29T15:24:00.000-08:00

Someone asked how much money I had to spend in order to get my $500 gift card to Sears. Good question! So today I set out to figure that out.

I have spent $70.71 so far (I still have to buy 2 DVD's from Columbia house, but I'll be getting 6 DVD's for about $40-$50 out of that), a good portion of which would have been avoidable if I had known some of the tips I laid out in my post. I had said I think I could have done it for under $50, and I was right!

I'm going to try another deal in the near future, and I'll let you guys know what I spend on that one.

Money Saving Meal Planning

2009-01-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Money Saving Mom has a guest post about how to save money by meal-planning.

I agree with a lot of what she has to say, especially when she outlines some of the benefits of meal planning:

You save time and money at the grocer when you do go shopping, because you’ve got a plan!

You spend far less dining out or picking up takeout.

I do my meal planning a little differently, as is outlined by my November meal plan experiment. I made a list of about 15 dinners, based on what I had in my freezer. I tried to pick days on the calendar to make them, but my minor OCD rose to the surface and I couldn't do it. So instead, I just put the list of meals on the refrigerator next to my calendar of the month, and wrote them in as I went along. It actually worked out quite well.

The article is definitely worth reading!

A Strange Sunday

2009-01-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

Today is definitely a strange Sunday. I went to Walgreen's to get papers & use my $10 Register Reward from 2 weeks ago. I only picked up a couple of things: 1 Sunday paper (they only had 1 copy), diapers with a $1 Register Reward, canola oil & some Gatorade for my husband. Later, I went to the corner store to get a couple more papers; they're $1 cheaper here, so I got 3 total instead of my usual 2. No grocery trips or trips to CVS or Rite Aid. No scouring the coupons before going to Walgreen's. Just a simple trip to pick up a few things.

A strange Sunday indeed.

My Super Crazy Surprise - I Got a $500 Gift Card

2009-01-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

You know those on-line offers, those crazy pop-up ads, that ask you silly questions like "Do you like Best Buy or Circuit City?" and then offer you gift cards or cash for completing offers?

I did one. And it worked.

Yes, I'm serious. I got a $500 gift card to Sears, and it's real. I checked the balance on-line.

So how did I do it & why was I crazy enough to try it?

A few months back, I discovered Carrie over at Money Saving Methods, another popular blogger in the frugality blogging world. She completes on-line offers and claims to have a lot of success doing it. Her site is very detailed & has a lot of information on how to succeed in completing your offer.

What's the gist of an on-line offer, or a "deal", as I call it? With the deal I did, you need to complete 8 different, individual offers. The offers are for all sorts of things: credit reports, free trials on teeth whiteners, Blockbuster on-line or makeup, quotes on auto insurance, etc. Some of them will require a small fee out of pocket; others are true "free trials". Most require you give a credit card number. Yes, I know that's scary. I'm say more about that later.

Anyway, after perusing Carrie's site, I figured I'd try to do a "deal". I followed Carrie's directions carefully and chose offers that I, for the most part, was interested in, like Netflix & eMusic. I also had to pick a few that I wasn't interested in in order to fulfill the requirements. I had to wait about 10 days for all my offers to finalize and be approved. Then, I sent in the paperwork, was officially approved by the company after about 2 weeks, and received my gift card 5 weeks later. The whole process took a little over 2 months.

Here are some things I learned in the process of doing my "offer".

If you take advantage of free trial offers, the longer the trial, the better. I did a deal with I-deal, and I could check their website whenever I wanted to see if my "offers" had been approved. I picked a few offers where the "free" part was not very long, and ended up having to pay for the 1st month of whatever the service was.

Pick free trials where you don't have to send the product back. Read the fine print. Many offers will start your trial by sending you a small sample of their product. If you choose not to continue past the free trial, some require that you return the product; otherwise, you have to pay for the product, the cost of which is often hefty.

Pick offers that are low cost, in case you don't get approved quickly. If the product or offer costs $5/month, it's not as important that you are approved in a timely manner because you're not out a ton of money.

Pick offers that genuinely interest you. We joined Netflix, which after the free trial costs us less than $9/month. I joined Columbia House, picking the lowest purchase requirement, and got several DVD's at a low cost. I got 25 free downloads from eMusic.

Pick reputable companies whose names you recognize, and use a credit card you can check on-line. Since you need to give a credit card number, try & pick companies like Blockbuster & Columbia House. Also, use a credit card that has a good monitoring system and a proven track record of safety.

Check your offer status frequently. The majority of my offers were approved in the first 3-5 days. One offer was a straggler and was approved at 8 days. The last offer was still not approved at 10 days, so I completed a different offer (eMusic) to fill in the gap. eMusic approved immediately, and I met my quota.

If you want to try one of these offers, I'm definitely not an expert on them; I'd head over to Carrie's blog, which is quite detailed, and start reading. She's happy to answer any questions about the process.

The big question: what will I buy with my gift card? We're going to get an additional freezer for about $200 and think about what to do with the rest :)

Swagbuck Bonus Today

2009-01-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

Go to the Swagbucks site, and click on the box that says how many Swagbucks you have.

There's a box that says "Have a SwagCode?". Enter GreenThursday to get a free Swagbuck! It's case-sensitive.

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

2009-01-14T12:52:00.001-08:00

I'm traveling to California tomorrow and will be gone for nine & a half days. I'm sure I will post occasionally because I'll be mourning the lack of a CVS there. There is a Walgreens, however! But I'm even considering leaving my coupon book at home. Imagine that!

And I have a super-exciting update for you guys, though you may think I'm crazy! I got a big pay-off with very little effort and I'm excited to tell you guys about it.

In the meantime, here's a great freebie my husband sent me: How To Get 1,525 Free Digital Prints :)

UPDATE: Free SoyJoy at CVS

2009-01-09T13:21:00.000-08:00

Just as you all know - the free SoyJoy bars are listed in next week's sale circular which starts Sunday. So if you can, head out today or tomorrow to get those bars!

BIG NEWS: 60 Free SoyJoy Bars at CVS!

2009-01-09T07:01:00.000-08:00

In less than a week, we are traveling to California & will be gone for 9 days. I realized yesterday that a good portion of CVS ECB's that I had left over from December's 2-day sale would expire while I was there. I promptly went to CVS's site, and to my dismay discovered there are no CVS's anywhere near where I will be!

While I was mourning the demise of my ECB's & trying to contemplate a scheme in which I could spend these, I found out about an unadvertised deal that is free after ECB's. You can now get either 5 or 10 boxes of 6 SoyJoy bars, depending on where you live, totally free! Bear (my son) and I ran out this morning and made money by purchasing 10 boxes of bar, as well as some of the other free after ECB items for this month, in 2 transactions. I had 2 $4 off $20 coupons, so I made $8!

You need to be this in 2 or more transactions, though. I would recommend buying 5 boxes in your 1st transaction. You could also buy one box at a time if you don't have any ECB's saved, and pay for each subsequent transaction after that with the ECB's you received in the previous transaction. After buying 5 boxes, look at your receipt and see if it says "SoyJoy bar limit reached". Some people are reporting they could only get 5; others are saying it worked with up to 10. There are coupons in the 1/4 paper for SoyJoy bars, but they are not meant to be used with the boxes.

One other warning: I really needed to search for these bars to find them. They were not with the individual SoyJoy bars in the diet needs/nutritional bars section. I checked the grocery section & the candy section as well, since some people were reporting they had found them there. Finally, I found them on display at the end of an aisle near the pharmacy.

Special thanks to my friend E & Common Sense with Money for the heads up on this deal! CSWM is the only blog I have found reporting this, so news of the deal is not widespread yet. It looks as if it's a month-long deal, but if I were you, I'd head to CVS & get some SoyJoy bars! Now i just have to figure out what to do with mine since we can't eat soy :)

Shaw's Scores!

2009-01-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

I went back to Shaw's today to try again & see if the register rewards really were printing on the prices before sale. And they were! I must have done something wrong in my transactions yesterday.

I got 13 boxes of cereal (including 5 boxes of Cascadian Farms organic granola), 1 box off muffin mix & 1 box of granola bars. I had a coupon for every product, and I did it in 2 transactions. I paid $24 and change out of pocket, and received $30 in register rewards! I didn't try to roll the RR; they cannot be used on Procter & Gamble products, anyway, though none of the food items are P&G. I sort of felt as if I was already saving so much money that the least I could do is pay cash :)

So get thee to a Shaw's now!

This Week's Deals

2009-01-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

I hope you guys picked up extra copies of the paper yesterday. I got 4 myself, paid for in ECB's :) Nows let's check out some of the deals where you can use them.

Walgreens has a couple of things worth picking up this week. Finish/Electrasol Gelpack 20 ct. is $3.49. Pick up a copy of this month's EasySaver booklet and use the $1.50 Easy Saver Rebate #31, plus a $2.50/1 Finish/Electrasol Powerball Tabs, Gelpacs or Quantum from yesterday's paper, and this is a money maker.

Garnier Fructis Shampoo, Cond or Styler is on sale for $2.99. Use $2.00 EeasySaver Coupon on page 8, plus $1.00 coupon yesterday's paper, and you make a penny :)

Also, Bayer Aspirin is on sale for 4 for $20. Use 4 $1 off coupon, you'll get back a $10 register reward, and mail in the form in yesterday's paper for a $10 rebate, making this a money maker.

Shaws is having a deal where if you buy $30 of certain products, you get $15 in register rewards. Many are saying this works on shelf prices, not sales prices. Either way,you can still use coupons & get some great deals! I picked up diapers, organic granola, organic spaghetti sauce, 2 boxes of Bisquick for the food pantry, granola bars and orange juice for a fraction of the normal cost because I also used coupons. Go to your weekly Shaw's circular & it's on page 8.

CVS also has deals on toothpaste & more Garnier Fructis stuff. CVS
Colgate Total Toothpaste is 2/$5, and you get $1 back in ECB's for each one you buy (limit 3). There's a $1.50 coupon floating around the internet, but some are questioning its legitimacy. You also get $2 ECBs when you buy more Garnier Fructis shampoo, conditioner or styler at $2.99 (limit 1). Use a coupon from the paper & make a penny.

Rite Aid has more Free-after-rebate SoyJoy bars, and there was a coupon in my insert for $3 off when you buy 10 bars (others got a $2 coupon), making this a moneymaker.

I've already hit Shaws & CVS and will check out some of the other stores later this week.

Five Coupon Inserts Tomorrow!

2009-01-03T16:34:00.001-08:00

I heard through the grapevine that there will be 5 (count them, 5!) coupon inserts in tomorrow's paper! I'll definitely be checking it out, cashing in some of my CVS ECB's for extra copies. Make sure to check the paper's before you buy them because sometimes, people steal the inserts.

Homemade Natural Cleaning Products

2009-01-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

I made my 1st cleaning product yesterday! After I vigorously cleaned the bathroom, with the window open to release the cleaning fumes (despite the outside temperature being 14 degrees), I came downstairs to find my husband ripping open the dishwasher. We have not sufficiently cleaned it since we moved in; after all, you put detergent in and it cleans itself, right? WRONG. It was clear the previous owners hadn't cleaned it either, and the thing is really old.

I'd been wanting to try & make my own cleaners for a while and had recently purchased the ingredients to do so. The problem was I didn't have any empty spray bottles. This was remedied during CVS's awesome 2-day sale a few weeks ago, where I scored 5 bottles of Arm & Hammer's new Essentials cleaners. Since you mix water and the little bottle of cleaning solution yourself, the bottle comes empty. PERFECT! Here's what I put in it:

Anti-bacterial Cleaner
3 cups water
1/2 - 1 teaspoon regular dish soap or Castille soap
1/3 cup white vinegar
12-15 drops lavender essential oil
12-15 drops tea tree essential oil

Put all in spray bottle and shake it up.

This was a perfect solution for cleaning the dishwasher parts, since I was concerned about the cleaning product residue then getting all over our dishes.

Need a cheap place to get essential oils? The 2 cheapest places I've found are Vitacost (where I get almost all my vitamins) & Puritan's Pride. I ended up purchasing my EO's from Vitacost because they had more of what I wanted & it was a teeny bit cheaper.

Healthy Coupons!

2009-01-01T12:10:00.001-08:00

Check out this healthy printable coupons, including a $5 off coupon for Carlson's Cod Liver Oil & $2 off two Organic Valley products!

Happy New Year to All!

2009-01-01T11:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all my readers! I hope 2008 was good to you.

I plan on having a great 2009! I hope you'll continue to grow with me as we strive to live frugally and naturally, blessing others in the process!

Deals of the Week

2008-12-29T05:09:00.000-08:00

Deal Seeking Mom has a good round-up of the deals this week:

CVS
Rite Aid

Go to Common Sense with Money for Walgreens, including the new EasySaver Rebate items. It's important to note that you can only choose 1 Revlon product, even though the ad showes the 3 options. Only 1 Revlon rebate is available per household. Not all the blogs are reflecting this, so I wanted to point that out.

Make sure to submit your Walgreens rebates for December this week! They're due January 3rd.

Have You Been Surfing Through Swagbucks Lately?

2008-12-27T07:38:00.000-08:00

I have to say I'm really enjoying Swagbucks. I explained more about Swagbuucks in a previous post, but basically, you use the Swagbucks search engine (which uses Google & Ask.com) and you win Swagbucks. I already have enough Swagbucks for a free gift card, but I'm saving them up.

I wanted to applaud a friend of mine, who I'll call E, because she has been faithfully using Swagbucks and has earned 33 Swagbucks for herself & for me! So if you join (through me, please!), invite your friends to join. You win up to 100 matching Swagbucks for each friend you invite!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T17:04:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all my readers! Celebrate by heading over to Don Francisco to get a free sample of coffee. Or you could head out tomorrow & stock up on decorations for next year, as they will be on sale!

It's Like Christmas!

2008-12-22T15:18:00.000-08:00

I have gotten so much great stuff in the mail the past few days that it feels like Christmas! Oh, wait, it is Christmas! But all this great stuff in the mail makes it really feel like a holiday :)

First, I got a $10 check. A few weeks back, I received a $10 virtual gift card via e-mail from Magazines.com. Money-saving Methods pointed out the fine print: you could request your gift card in the form of cold hard cash! This is truly remarkable because I am not really a regular customer. As a birthday gift to my sister, I annually renew her subscription to a magazine. It's actually cool because Magazines.com will automatically renew it for you (and I am prone to forget!). A few month ago, Magazines.com sent me another $10 gift card for fun, and I got a free magazine subscription with it. That arrived today as well!

Then today, I received 3 things from Rite Aid: my November rebate (over $118), my Gift of Savings $20 gift certificate, and my free Diabetes tote, full of coupons, samples, rebates, and even free music downloads!

I also received a CD that I pre-ordered months ago & had completely forgotten about. And I hit my 2nd CVS (hit the 1st one last night) and the 2nd one had the Arm & Hammer Essentials cleaners. I scored 5 of those, more Listerine, and more Right Guard and made some money in the process!

And I became an aunt again yesterday! Merry Christmas to me!

CVS 2-Day Sale Starts Tomorrow!

2008-12-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

Are you guys ready for the awesome freebies tomorrow at CVS? Common Sense With Money has a great round-up of your options.

Free Photos!

2008-12-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

Money Saving Methods has a great heads up on a free photo deal.

Order an 8X10 print from Walgreens.com to be picked up at your nearest Walgreens, enter FREEGIFT as your coupon code, and get a free 8X10!

Order another 8X10 print from Snapfish to be picked up at your nearest Walgreens, enter WALFREE as your coupon code, and get another free 8X10! If you're not already a member of Snapfish, go here first to order 50 free prints.

I know the Walgreens deal works because I just did it, but Snapfish's site is not working for me right now. I'll have to try again later.

Edited: Snapfish is now working, but unfortunately, it's making me pick it up at a different Walgreens. Oh, well; it's still free!

Free Olay Regenerist at Walgreens

2008-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Through Saturday at Walgreens, Olay Regenerist cleansers or moisturizers are on sale buy-one-get-one-50%. Then, you can get a $15 gift card back from OLAY by mailing in this form.

I hit up Walgreens this morning, and grabbed 2 Olay Regenerist deep hydrating mousse cleansers for $9.99 each. I had trouble figuring out what was a cleanser, so I just picked one that was fairly obvious :) They both rang up as $9.99, but then $5 was taken off. I used the $5/2 coupon from the 12/14 newspaper insert, used my last $5 Register Reward from the Walgreens 4-day sale, and paid $5.23 (with tax) out of pocket, so after the gift card rebate, this is a moneymaker!

This would make a great stocking stuffer, but I think my son's a little young for it :)

Beware of Restaurant.com

2008-12-18T10:56:00.001-08:00

Today, a random charge showed up on my credit card for $14.95 from Shopping Essentials. Being that it's Christmas season, I was wondering if maybe my husband picked something up without me knowing. I googled the name & phone number, found all sorts of warnings, and decided to call the 888 number that was included in the charge (that's always a red flag - very few legitimate companies include a phone number in their charges).

So I called and asked for my money back, as well as cancelling whatever service I had been signed up for. When I pressed the person on the phone, I found out they got my name from Restaurant.com. WHAT??? I bought some gift certificates about 2 months ago and somehow they signed me up for some additional service from Shopping Essentials.

Just wanted to give you guys a head up on this! Buyer Beware. I am not happy with Restaurant.com right now and will probably never buy anything from them again.

CVS 2-Day Sale: Sunday & Monday!

2008-12-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

Are you guys gearing up for the 2-day sale at CVS thise Sunday & Monday? Tons of freebies, and even money makers!

Check out some of the coupon matches at Hot Coupon World.

Time to roll those ECB's!

Free Drinks on Christmas Eve

2008-12-18T09:40:00.000-08:00

It appears that Peet's Coffee is giving away free coffee & tea on December 24th. They are seeking donations, though, and the money will be given to the charity that each location chooses.

I'll definitely be checking it out! Thanks, Coupon Cravings, for the heads up!

CVS 2-Day Sale

2008-12-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

Keeping the Kingdom First has brought us some good news.

CVS is having a 2-day sale, December 21st and 22nd, with lots of Free after ECB items!

Check it out :)

Giftcard Giveaways

2008-12-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

OK, money-saving buddies. There are some serious giveaways that you really don't want to miss:

$500 Home Depot Gift Card (only 24 hours! from Money-saving Mom)
$500 Walmart Gift Card (from Coupon Cravings)
$500 Walmart Gift Card (from Keeping Kingdom First)
$500 Walmart Gift Card (from Centsible Sawyer)
$100 Walmart Gift Card or Item of your Choice (from Common Sense with Money)

I may come back & add more at my leisure :)

Visit Money-Saving Mom's giveaway list for more that might interest you (like alpaca socks).

Walgreens 4-Day Sale

2008-12-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

Walgreens is having a 4-day sale, and if you spend $25 pre-coupon, you can a $5 register reward back!

The best way to go about this is to find things that have a high pre-coupon price to meet the $25. Here are a couple pre-coupon prices from my store.

$7.49: Arm & Hammer laundry detergent (on sale for $1.99)
$4.49: Walgreens Ibuprofen (on sale for $1)
$1.29: Hydrogen Peroxide (on sale for $.39)
$3.79: Domino's Sugar (on sale for $1.99)
$1.50: Carnation Evaporated Milk (on sale, $.99)

Add in a few items that are free after rebate (like Scotch tape, use the coupon from the insert) or discounted with rebate (Hershey's candy, use coupon from insert), and you could score some serious product!

One of my transactions was 2 peroxides, 3 evaporated milk, 1 ibuprofen & 2 Arm & Hammer.

$26.55 before coupons.
-$17.82 Walgreens Coups
-$2.50 Manufacturers coups (50 cent off 2 on the milk from insert, 2 $1 off laundry detergent from A&H site)

$6.23 OOP (which I put on a gift card I got from doing a rebate), get $5 RR

Got to Walgreens.com to find some good deals!

Bless Back Project

2008-12-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

On Sunday November 30th at church, envelopes were distributed to different individuals and families at random. Taking an envelope was voluntary.

Inside the envelopes was money of different amounts. The rules were simple.

1. You can't give the money back.
2. You can't spend it on yourself.
3. You have to bless someone else.
4. You have to tell us what you did with the money.

My husband & I took an envelope. When we got it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do: use coupons & register rewards to see how far I could multiply it! My husband had been thinking the same thing, so off I went!

I took the $20 I received, and early in the week, I went to Walgreens. I took advantage of the Reach deal & got 2 packages of dental floss for $6.30, and I earned a $6 register reward.

This past Friday, I went to Shaws & got a ton of baking mixes & frostings for $9.52. I also got 4 cans of cream of coconut for $3. You can read the full story on that here. Not the healthiest choice, but that's a serious amount of baking, and nothing says Christmas like baking!

I also used the money to purchase a stamp. I'll use that to mail in a rebate for free Smart Start. Actually, that one was a moneymaker because I had a dollar off coupon. I also got 2 Russell Stover Private Reserve Luminary Boxes that are free after rebate. I fronted the initial money for those 3 things since I'll get it back in a rebate in several weeks. And no need for a stamp for the Russell Stovers because I can do that rebate on-line.

I brought the following to the local food pantry today:

6 tubs of frosting
7 Cookie Mixes
3 boxes of Bisquick
1 cake mix
1 supreme brownie mix
3 cans Goya Cream of Coconut
1 box Smart Start cereal
2 boxes Russell Stovers candy

(My son wanted to help organize!)

I forgot to ask if they take dental floss! If not, I'll give it to the women's shelter the next time I go.

So here's what I spent so far:
$6.30: Walgreens
$.42: stamp
$12.52: Shaws
minus $1 coupon for cereal
Total: $18.24

So I still have $1.76 in cash & $6 in a register reward to spend at Walgreens!

On that same Sunday, November 30th, our church collected its annual offering that goes to a project called "One Day to Feed the World". We are annually challenged to consider giving one day's income to feed the hungry of the world. The program has corporate sponsorship, so our gifts are multiplied by up to 4 times!

So our choice to use the money to donate goods to the food pantry felt even more appropriate.

I'll let you know later what I spend those last few dollars on!

Free 2009 Walden Media Calendar and DVD

2008-12-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

This is a fun one!

Register with Walden Media, and get a free calendar, as well as a free copy of the movie "Amazing Grace"! My husband & I just watched this movie, and in his words: "It was much better than I expected." I loved the movie and it got me all revved up about the issues of modern-day slavery that are too often ignored.

So go register!

Amazing Shaws Deals

2008-12-05T17:29:00.000-08:00

I'm amazed at what I scored at Shaws tonight.

First of all, the deal is on shelf prices (meaning the price marked on the shelf), not sale prices.

Awesome.

I'll just show you my 1st transaction (I did 4) to give you a taste of what is waiting for you at Shaw's.

1 Cookie Mix (regularly $2.39)
2 Tubs of Frosting (regularly $2.19)
1 box of Bisquick (regularly $3.79)

Before scanning Shaw's card: $10.56
After scanning card: $6.96

Coupons used:
$2 off $10 from Shaw's circular
$.75 off cookie mix from coupons.com (it was doubled, though it says "do not double" on the coupon)
$1 off Bisquick from recent insert
$1 off 2 tubs of frosting from recent insert

Total after coupons & savings: $1.46

Pretty cool, huh?

It's too labor-intensive to outline all of what I did, but here's what I got for $9.52:
6 tubs of frosting (oops! I bought one Cream Cheese frosting that was $2.19, not $1.25)
7 Cookie Mixes
3 boxes of Bisquick
1 cake mix
1 supreme brownie mix

Normally the 3 boxes of Bisquick alone would cost more than $9.52.

I spent $12.52 altogether, but that includes 4 cans of the Goya coconut cream, using 2 75 cent coupons that were doubled :)

Altogether, including the Goya, I saved $42.17 :)

Print out all the Betty Crocker & Bisquick coupons at Coupons.com (see my sidebar), gather all your coupons from recent inserts, and head to the closest Shaws. Even if you don't eat a lot of this stuff (as we don't), you have an opportunity to seriously brighten someone's Christmas. All of this food will be going to a food pantry as part of what I mentioned here (more details when I'm done spending).

This Week's Shaw's Deals

2008-12-04T17:48:00.001-08:00

Starting tomorrow, Shaw's has some good deals! And I'm doing some scheming to make the most of them :) I was given a challenge to use $20 to bless someone this Christmas, and I've decided to put my couponing to work!

If you're into baking mixes, check out these transactions, taking advantage of a $2 off $10 of certain products (you will need to grab 2 store circulars):

Transaction #1
Bisquick: buy 1, use $1/1 coupon from insert
B.C. Cookie Mix: buy 4, use 2 $1/2 coupon from insert
B.C. Frosting: buy 2, use 1 $1/2 coupon from insert

Final OOP: $5.29 (using $2 off $10 coupon)

Transaction #2
Bisquick: buy 1, use 1 $1/1 coupon from insert
B.C. Cookie Mix: buy 2, use 2 $.75/1 printable coupon (see coupons in sidebar)
B.C. Frosting: buy 4, use 2 $1/2 coupon from insert

Final OOP: $4.29 (using $2 off $10 coupon)

Someone at Hot Coupon World said you might be able to do this deal using shelf prices rather than sales prices. This could be even sweeter! I'm hoping to go tomorrow, so I'll let you know if it works.

Walgreens: $5 off $25 Scenario

2008-11-30T18:49:00.000-08:00

Click on my blue coupon bar thingy on the right to get your $5 off $25 coupon, good this Monday & Tuesday only. There is a condition; your total needs to be $25 after coupons & cashed in register rewards.

There are still deals to be had! And the great thing about this one is it does not require any coupons!

Here's what I plan on picking up:
Freestyle Blood Glucose Monitor: $9.99
$9.99 mail-in rebate on box

Right Guard Professional or Dry Idea Clinical Strength.: $5.99
$5 ESR (Walgreens EasySaver Rebate)

Bald Guyz 16 pack Head Wipes or Moisture Gel, 4 oz.: $4.99
$4.99 ESR (Walgreens EasySaver Rebate)

2 Reach Ultra Clean Products: $6.00 (I'm not using my coupons since I used them this morning, but there's a BOGO, as well as a $1 off floss)
$6 Register Rewards

Out-of-pocket: $26.97 - $5 coupon

Register Rewards: $6
Rebates: $19.98

Small Profit of $4.01

There is also a Colgate deal that you can incorporate if you are short or an item is missing: $2.99 for certain Colgate products, receive $2 Register Rewards. There are some $1 coupons floating around, but I've used mine already.

Rite Aid Savings

2008-11-30T11:16:00.000-08:00

We went to Rite Aid on Saturday, got the free-after-rebate items (universal remote, which my son has already lost, 3 Maybelline make-up items, and Fructis conditioner), and picked up a very basic digital camera that was on sale for $89.99, plus $4.50 tax. Our old digital camera, which I'm pretty sure we've had for 4.5 years, has been taking pictures that look like this:

We bought this camera because it had a $40 rebate. We also used a $5 off $25 coupon that we got for registering with the Rite Aid site. And we spent enough already on the camera, as well as other free after rebate items, that Rite Aid is mailing us a $20 gift certificate as part of their Gift of Savings program! That means we really only spent $29.49 on the camera!

Can't really beat that :)

This Week's Deals

2008-11-29T15:44:00.000-08:00

I'm still reeling from my serious CVS scores on Thanksgiving Day. There are a couple of deals this week at Rite Aid, Walgreens & CVS, but nothing to get too excited about. Deal Seeking Mom has some pretty good wrap-ups.

And if you're the praying type, say a prayer for the family of Jdimytai Damour, a Walmart employee who was trampled to death as shoppers pushed him down in order to save a few dollars. Truly sad. This is not the first person hurt in a stampede at Walmart. There must be a better way to do this.

My CVS Jackpot

2008-11-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

I snuck out of my Thanksgiving gathering this afternoon to hit CVS. They had everything in stock except for the universal remote, which I hope to score tomorrow at Rite Aid (free after rebate, of course!).

So as I crunch on a big raw salad with home-grown bean sprouts, let me tell you about my 3 money-making transactions.

I hit CVS with 2 $4 off $20 coupons, 2 $8.99 ECB's & 2 $15 ECB's, as well as $8.39 on a money carded from a failed transaction last week. My goal was to put at little as possible on the money card (which acts as a gift card) and have as little out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses as possible.

I went into CVS armed with a list of deals & a spreadsheet of cost after coupons in order to maximize my ECB's & minimize my OOP. This was the 1st time I had done this, and though I was fairly confident in my work, I wasn't positive that it was correct.

Here was my 1st transaction (in which I made a mistake, so watch carefully!):
Schick Quattro Trimmer $7.99 Earn $6.00 ECBs
Use $2/1 Printable HERE

Sally Hansen Max Growth $3.79, Get $3.79 ECBs (Limit 1)
Johnson's Soft Lotion at $5.69, Get $5.69 ECBs (Limit 1)
Use $1/1 printable here

Colgate Total Advanced, Clean, Advanced Fresh or Whitening $2.99, Get $2.99 ECBs (Limit 2)
Use $1/1 coupon from recent Smart Source insert

Aussie $2.99, Get $2.99 ECBs (Limit 2)
Use $1/1 coupon from recent P&G insert

Covergirl Smoothers Powder $5.99, Get $5.99 ECBs (Limit 1)
(I didn't use a coupon on this one because I only had 1)

2 Hershey's King Size Bars $1.00 (Limit 1)
Use B1G1F Hersheys Milk Chocolate Bar from recent insert

Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons, 36 ct $7.99

Manufacturer's Coupons as outlined above): -$6.00
-$4 off $20 CVS coupon from recent receipt
-$8.99 ECB from earlier in the week
-$15 ECB from earlier in the week

Total OOP: $5.44
Put on my money card

I knew I did something wrong because I expected to pay less OOP, so upon reviewing the transaction, I realized I grabbed the wrong size package of tampons. So they refunded that purchase onto a money card.

Transaction #2
Covergirl Smoothers Foundation $7.99, Get $7.99 ECBs (Limit 1)
Use $1/1 any Cover Girl Product from recent insert

2 Loreal lipgloss $6.99, Get $6.99 ECBs each (Limit 2)
Use 2 $1/1 any LOreal Lipcolour from recent insert

Manufacturer's Coupons as outlined above): -$3.00
-$4 off $20 CVS coupon from recent receipt
-$8.99 ECB from earlier in the week
-$5.69 ECB from Johnson's Soft Lotion in transaction #1

Total OOP: $.30
Put on my money card

Transaction #3

Bic Soliel $5.99, Get $5.99 ECBs (Limit 2)
Use $3/1 Bic Soleil System Razor from recent insert

Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons $3.99, Earn $3 ECBs (Limit 1)
Colgate Total Advanced, Clean, Advanced Fresh or Whitening $2.99, Get $2.99 ECBs (Limit 2)
(I only found 1 Colgate coupon in my stash & used it on transaction #1)

Phillilps Headphones $6.99, Get $6.99 ECBs (Limit 2)
Garnier Nutritioniste cleansing towelettes (25 ct.) $5.99, Get $5.99 ECBs (Limit 1)
Use $1/1 Garnier Nutritioniste Cleanser or Moisturizer from recent insert

1 Gatorade G2 20oz $1.49, Get $1.49 ECBs (Limit 3)

Manufacturer's Coupons as outlined above): -$4.00
-$4 off $20 CVS coupon from Transaction #1
-$15 ECB from earlier in the week
-$3.79 ECB from Sally Hansen Max Growth in transaction #1

Total OOP: $.65
Put on my money card

OK, so besides getting all of this stuff, I now have $67.39 in ECB's, as well as $10+ on 2 money cards, as well as another $4 off $20 coupon.

I also made $22 on this venture! At least as far as I can tell, factoring in the refund & the confusion of buying the wrong product!

Not too shabby :)

CVS!

2008-11-27T07:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I just found out many CVS's are open today with the Black Friday deals available! How am I supposed to concentrate on turkey??

CVS has over $70 of stuff that is free after ECB'S, and since I have $56+ in ECB's already, I'm pretty sure I can get it all without any money out of pocket. I'm also guessing I'll make $10-$15 on the transactions, based on my manufacturer's coupons & the 2 $4 off $20 coupons I have.

So you all really need to check out these blogs to find the deals that are right for you:
Common Sense with Money
Money Saving Mom
"Deal"icious Mom
Coupon Cravings

Here are some of the awesome freebies I'm going to take advantage of:
Colgate Total Advanced, Clean, Advanced Fresh or Whitening
$1 overage with coupon!

Aussie Product
$1 overage with coupon!

Bic Soleil System Razor
$3 overage with coupon!
Johnson's Soft Lotion
$1 overage with coupon!

Garnier Nutritioniste cleansing towelettes
$1 overage with coupon!

Free Vitamins

2008-11-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

Nature Made is offering a free 14-day supply of a vitamin of your choice.

Black Friday

2008-11-25T18:48:00.000-08:00

If you're planning on snagging some deals this Friday, Thrifty & Chic Mom has a good round-up of some of the sales.

Organic Coupons

2008-11-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

Check out this list of organic companies that offer coupons on their websites. I'm especially excited about Seventh Generation!

Thanks, Super Coupon Girl, for the heads up!

Free Poster

2008-11-24T04:26:00.000-08:00

I'll admit; this isn't very "natural", but my toddler loves anything that remotely looks like a truck. In fact when I brought up the page, he started pointing with excitement at the computer screen.

Free Bulldozer Poster

CVS Deals of the Week

2008-11-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

Here's what I picked up at CVS today:

$8.99: Maybelline mineral power liquid foundation, get $8.99 ECB (limit 1)
Use $3.00 Maybelline coupon from newspaper insert = money maker

$8.99: Complete multi-purpose solution 12 oz., get $8.99 ECB (limit 1)
Use $2.00 printable coupon here or $1.00 off coupon from newspaper insert = money maker

$7.99: Right Guard professional strength, get $7.00 ECB ( limit 5) = $.99

$4.50: 2 Sunday Papers

$30.47
-$3 Maybelline coupon
-$2 Complete coupon
-$4 off $20 coupon from the end of an old CVS receipt
-$5 ECB from last week's Glade deal
-$15 ECB from last week's Duracell deal
=$1.47 spent out of pocket

The problem was that the Right Guard $7.00 ECB didn't print out, so I had her void that off the transaction, and she gave me a card with my ECB's that I had cashed in to get it. Another employee said it hadn't been working all day and I should try again tomorrow.

So I actually made $4.50 on this transaction. Here's how:
$8.99 Maybelline foundation, get $8.99 ECB minus $3.00 coupon =
-$3.00

$8.99: Complete solution, get $8.99 ECB minus $2.00 coupon =
-$2.00

$4.50: 2 Sunday Papers
+$4.00

-$4 off $20 coupon

= an overall money maker of $4.50 :)

If you're new to CVS, you should check out some of these scenarios over at Keeping the Kingdom First. Or post the link to your blog there if it meets the criteria!

Also, Your Coupon Buddy & Keeping the Kingdom First have some of the CVS Thanksgiving weekend deals up on her site. Check them out!

Free Dr. Pepper :)

2008-11-23T04:46:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to get your free Dr. Pepper coupon today :)

Peter Rabbit Giveaway

2008-11-22T18:31:00.000-08:00

You all need to check out this super-cute & environmentally-friendly giveaway!

Peter Rabbit...Naturally Better!

Walmart Card Giveaway

2008-11-22T17:08:00.000-08:00

There are several blogs giving away Walmart gift cards. Check them out:

Deal Seeking Mom: $50 card!

The "Cent"sible Sawyer: Another $50 card!

Kingdom First Mom: Yet another $50 card!

Coupon Cravings: And one more $50 card :)

Walgreens Double-Dipping Days

2008-11-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

It's Double-dipping Days at Walgreens! Every month there are two days where the Easy Saver Catalog for November overlap with the Easy Saver Catalog for December.

Lots of people are posting fun deals in their blogs:

Deal Seeking Mom
Raging Bear Ranch
Common Sense with Money
Money Saving Mom
Thrifty & Chic Mom

Check them all out!

My Donations to a Battered Women's Shelter

2008-11-22T06:53:00.000-08:00

This week has been crazy, full of writing deadline and a cranky 15-month-old who may be getting some teeth. So I'm totally behind on blogging and reading my blog roll.

But I wanted to share with you a picture and a list of all the stuff I donated to a women's shelter yesterday.

2 Children's Dimetapp
1 Children's Advil
2 Citreshine hair care products
1 charles Worthington Dream hair conditioer
2 L'oreal Pro-Calcium lotions
1 L'oreal Revitalift cream
1 St. Ives Body Wash
2 blood sugar monitors
3 boxes Benefiber drink mix
1 Chloraseptic max spray
2 bottles Excedrin
2 Orajel cold sore brushes
1 box Sucrets herbal
1 bag CVS cough drops
1 box Alka-Seltzer Cold Plus
1 box Zucol cold care
1 box Comtrex Cold & Cough
1 bottle Simply Saline Mist
1 bottle Theraflu Warming Relief

Everything above, I got for free, and some things I was paid to take, with one exception: the CVS cough drops. We had those here, so I decided we didn't need them.

It felt great to be able to share my free finds with those who really need them!

Free Dr. Pepper

2008-11-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

Not that I should be encouraging you to consume high-fructose corn syrup & aspartame, but.....

Dr Pepper to deliver on its free-soda promise

We definitely need to celebrate the release of the GNR album somehow!

Organic Food Coupons

2008-11-20T06:20:00.000-08:00

Take this 10-question quiz and get a bunch of organic coupons in the mail. The catch? You have to get all the questions correct to win!

Are you ready to test your knowledge of organic products? I did, and I won (though I did get one wrong the 1st time!).

Snapfish Update

2008-11-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

If you haven't taken advantage of the Snapfish deals yet, it just got sweeter! If you are a new customer, you get 50 prints free! Add free shipping into the mix, and you really pay nothing for 50 pictures. They're good quality, too, as I've used them before.

Snapfish Deals!

2008-11-18T14:22:00.000-08:00

I got some deals at Snapfish today!

TODAY only, you can get free shipping by using the code SHIPALLFREE.

They're also having a deal to get 20 free photo cards (use code CARD08); plus, the cards are already 20% off!

I had 30 free prints coming to me, so I used the free shipping and got 30 free prints on Deal #1 (you can only use 1 coupon code at a time, and you can only use it once).

Then I made a holiday photo card, something I've wanted to do for years, and used the free card code to get 20 free cards.

Pretty cool!

Free Calendars & More!

2008-11-18T06:24:00.000-08:00

Free Calendar when you sign up for the Pillsbury Newsletter

Another free Calendar when you sign up for Betty Crocker Newsletter

Free Self Magazine

More Giveaway Pointers

2008-11-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

I hope you all are enjoying the giveaway opportunities I posted about earlier. There are some awesome giveaways! It's continually updated, so continue to check back.

Another good reasons to join some these giveaways is that you often get an extra entry for adding that blog to your blog reader. The giveaway generally takes place within a week or two, so you get to read this person’s blog for a week and become acquainted with it. After that week or so, we can decide whether or not the information in that person’s blog is useful to you, and remove it from your blog roll if it isn’t. I’ve discovered some of my favorite blogs this way!

Make sure to re-visit my blog post about Giveaways 101 for other pointers!

Giveaways Galore, Take 2 :)

2008-11-17T13:08:00.000-08:00

Have you been hesitant to try the CVS ECB deals because you don't want to put out the initial cash? Go over to Frugal Rhode Island Mama's blog and sign up for her $10 CVS card giveaway!

Enter to win a Stand Mixer, Immersion Blender, or Food Processor!

Win a baby carrier!

And those are just a few of the ones I entered. Go over to Deal Seeking Mom to read about a ton of other giveaways!

Giveaways Galore!

2008-11-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

I'll be back in a minute to post some giveaways! Blogger jumped the gun & posted this before I was ready!

Cool Savings at Rite Aid!

2008-11-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

Rite Aid is running this awesome promo called "The Gift of Savings". Keep your receipts from between 11/16/08 - 12/24/08, and you can earn cash back on almost ANY purchase! All you need to do is enter your receipts into the web site like you do with Single Check Rebates. See the Rite Aid website for full details.

* Spend $25-$50, get $5 cash back
* Spend $51-$99, get $10 cash back
* Spend $100 or more, get $20 cash back

Thanks, Deal Seeking Mom, for the heads up on this one!

Cool Giveaway!

2008-11-16T18:13:00.000-08:00

Go over to Just We Moms and enter to win a super-cool bag!

Have You Joined Swagbucks Yet?

2008-11-16T16:53:00.000-08:00

Nancy over at Raging Bear Ranch recommended Swagbucks to me a few weeks ago. Basically, you log in and use their search engine (which uses Google & Ask.com) and you win Swagbucks which are redeemable for gift cards. This is the coolest of my "free" recommendations because you are simply being rewarded for something you do anyway! If you want to be referred, simply click on this link and I think I get some credit or something :)

And we should join now because this month, Swagbucks is giving away MEGA SWAG BUCKS! You can now WIN 10, 20, 50 & 100 SWAG BUCK BILLS as you search the web. And they've started doing 1,000 Swag Buck Fridays.

You can cash in your Swagbucks for gift cards, which I think is pretty cool. I tried 2 other search engine reward programs that I didn't like at all. Swagbucks is definitely the way to go.

I also use Mypoints and InboxDollars. Both programs reward you for reading e-mails and then clicking on the links. The difference is that My Points pays in gift cards, whereas Inbox Dollars pays in cold, hard cash. Again, I can refer you to these programs if you'd like. You can simply click on this link for InboxDollars, but for My Points, I have to refer you via e-mail. Inbox Dollars will give you $5 just for signing up.

Deals of the Week

2008-11-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

There are a few deals this week that I want to pick up.

Rite Aid has free St. Ives products after rebate. I also haven't picked up my free power strip yet, as I didn't realizt that deal was going on all month.

Deal-seeking Mom has highlighted some of the CVS deals. I don't see anyone who has blogged about Walgreens, and Hot Coupon World isn't loading, so I'll have to check that later.

And don't miss this recipe for homemade laundry detergent!

Meal-Planning & Saving Money

2008-11-14T19:20:00.001-08:00

This goes right along with the meal-planning month in my other blog.

Using Your Freezer and Cooking from Scratch to Save Money

Check it out!

Do-It-Yourself Christmas Ideas

2008-11-14T13:44:00.000-08:00

Check out these great Do-It-Yourself Christmas Ideas over at Get Rich Slowly.

My favorites:
recipe book
personalized calendars
stationery sets
homemade granola
family cookbook

Walgreens Coupon: $5 off $20

2008-11-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

There's a Walgreens coupon for $5 off $20 available at Coupons.com right now. Make sure to print one out! It is good tomorrow and Saturday only

Today's Stuff

2008-11-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

Here's some fun coupons & giveaways.

Get your Muir Glen $1 off coupon. It let me print out 2 of these.

Make sure you check out Money Saving Mom's Giveaway Post. At this update, there were 97 giveaways & counting!

There are some new coupons over at Coupons.com, so be sure to check out my side bar!

Free Natural Pet Food

2008-11-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

Head over to "Free Grabber" to get your coupon for a free 5 lb. bag of any NATURAL CHOICE® Dog Food or 4 lb. bag of any NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Cat Food.

Coupons & Freebies

2008-11-10T19:43:00.000-08:00

I went to CVS tonight to pick up my Free Garnier Fructis Shampoo, as well as 2 cans of Progresso soup (using 2 $1.10 off coupons from Coupons.com, see side bar) & 3 cans of Libby's Pumpkin (using $1 off 2 coupon from Coupons.com side bar again) at just a little over $2. The soup worked out at 15 cents a can!

Now, here are some fun giveaways & rebates:
Try Arm & Hammer Essentials for free! Make sure to print the form in black & white.
Kristen's Raw is giving away Fruits of the Earth Powder
Common Sense with Money is giving away a $50 Walmart Gift Card

My Trip to CVS

2008-11-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

Here's what I got at CVS this week! It was a fight to the finish because I was at an unfamiliar CVS & nothing was marked. Half the sales & ECB deals were not even posted yet, but it all worked out.

$11.99: L'Oreal Advanced RevitaLift Anti-Wrinkle Serum
$1.59: Glaceau Smart Water
$7.98: Listerine Agent Cool Blue Tinting Rinse
$2.98: 2 Palmolive Dish Liquid
$4.50: 2 newspapers
$.12: Tax

Total before coupons: $29.04

Coupons Used:
2 $1 off coupons for the Listerine
$4 off of $20 coupon at the end of my CVS receipt from a couple weeks ago(expires today!)
$1 off 2 Palmolive from newspaper

My total would have been $22.04, but I cashed in my ECB's from last night.

ECB's received:
$11.99 for L'Oreal Advanced RevitaLift (limit 1)
$1.59: Glaceau Smart Water (limit 1)
$6: Listerine Agent Cool Blue Tinting Rinse (limit 5)
$2: 2 Palmolive Dish Liquid (limit 5)

Total out of pocket: 46 cents

Not too bad considering I got 2 newspapers!

There's another ECB deal I didn't get:
Garnier Fructis Shampoo, Condition or Styler for $2.99, get $2.00 back in ECBs (Limit 1). I didn't get it because I couldn't find any Fructis coupons in my stash, and I wanted it to be free :) Today's paper includes a $1 off 1, so I'll have to make sure to stop at a CVS in my travels. This will be a money maker of a penny, but I used these products regularly, so it's worth the trip.

Free Calendar & Fun Mail

2008-11-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you guys, but I like calendars! We need at least 2 for our house - one upstairs where I write stuff I need to remember & one downstairs where we write anything our roommates need to know as well as household things, such as when the dog needs his medicine or when the Brita filter needs to be changed.

So I was quite excited to sign up for this free calendar from Oriental Trading Company!

Also, get some free Kotex products!

I also got a few fun things in the mail this week. Monday, I received my free book, the Frugal Duchess of South Beach, that I won in Tight Fisted Miser's giveaway. I also received a free sample of Degree deodorant, my Victoria Secret deal, and a coupon book from "Dinner Made Easy". Fun times!

Shaws Deals & A Stop at CVS

2008-11-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

I scored at Shaw's today, all for under $40! I wanted to take advantage of the 48 cent turkey deal (which does work!) as well as the "Buy $20 of participating products, Get $10 off your next purchase" deal. With the catalina deals, such as the one I did, you need to make sure it's stuff you can use & you're not just buying stuff in order to get the catalina. There were several other catalina deals this week (you can read about them here) that I decided weren't worth it for me.

So here's what I got:
$.91: Bananas
$2: Pomegranate
$5.98: 2 bags Wild Harvest Organic Romaine Hearts

$5.33: 2 Whole Chickens @ 69 cents a pound
$6.12: 12.75 lb turkey

$2: Rotel Mixed Diced Tomatoes, 2 cans
$4: Hunts Whole Canned Tomatoes, 4 cans
$1.38: 2 boxes Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
$1: Domino's Light Brown Sugar
$3.99: Wesson Canola Oil, 48 oz

$5.98: 2 24-Packs of Spring Water, 16.9 oz bottles
$5: 3 Healthy Choice Microwavable Soups
$2: Utz Potato Chips
$5.98: Wild Harvest Natural Peanut Butter

$3: 2 Coffeemate Liquid Creamers, 16-oz
$6: 2 Cartons Egg Beaters, 16-oz
$1.88: Butter

$2.50: Shaws Trash Bags

Total before coupons
$65.05

Coupons Used:
4 $1 off Wild Harvest Coupons (you can print as many of these as you want)
2 $1 off Spring Water coupons
2 $1 off Peanut Butter coupons
1 $1 off Egg Beaters coupon (I thought I had printed my limit, but I just got another one! Oops!)
2 $1 off Coffeemate coupon
1 $1 off 2 Coffeemate coupon from newspaper (also printable $1.50 - should have used that!)
1 $1 off 3 Healthy Choice soups from newspaper
1 $1 off 2 Arm & Hammer Baking Soda printable from Coupons.com (see side bar)
1 $1 off Shady Brook Turkey coupon, printable from Couponmom.com (I know I got it there, but now I can't see it - must have printed the limit)

Total After Coupons: $49.88, Plus, I got a $10 catalina toward my next Shaws expedition because I spent $20 on specific products (I bolded them above).

So I got all of the above for under $40!

Some of my good deals & steals:
A 12.75 lb turkey for $5.12!
2 boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda at 19 cents each!
2 Free Bottles of Coffeemate for a friend!
$.99 each for 2 organic natural peanut butter (no sugar or salt added!)
$1.99 each for 2 huge cases of spring water (now that's a steal)
$1.99 each for packages of 3 organic romaine hearts

And to top it off, I swung by CVS to pick this up, on the last day available:
Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste: $3.49, get $3.49 ECBs (limit 1)
Used $1 off coupon from newspaper

Nova Max Blood Glucose Monitoring System: $9.99, get $9.99 ECBs (limit 1)

Used $8 in ECB's from a couple of weeks ago with $4+ out of pocket, and got $13.48 in ECB's back, at a profit of $1!

There's nothing too exciting going on at Rite Aid this week unless you really need lots of Proctor & Gamble products, and I haven't seen the CVS or Walgreens circular. I'll be back tomorrow with more deals! Make sure to check your blog reader to see what others are saying :)

Free Subscription to "Plenty" Magazine

2008-11-08T04:36:00.000-08:00

Go to this site, click on the green monster (not the lime green one, the regular green one) and sign up to get a free 1-year subscription to "Plenty", an enviromental news & commentary magazine.

I'll be headed to Shaw's later to get some deals and try out the turkey deal. I'll let you know if it works!

More Free Tea!

2008-11-07T13:45:00.001-08:00

More free tea!

For a limited time, Teasta is offering to send you a maximum of two free samples of their tea. You do have to register for an account, but it won't ask you for a credit card or payment. If you are interested click here and follow the instructions listed - be sure to apply the coupon discount code TRYME.

Confusing Shaws Coupon

2008-11-07T06:20:00.000-08:00

I got the above confusing Shaws coupon in my inbox this morning. I called their 888 number, and was told I need to buy $25 of Kraft products in order for this coupon to work. But I think the customer service rep was getting it confused with this deal:

I'm going to have to go to Shaws and figure it out. There is definitely $25 worth of products that are worth buying, but not $25 worth of Kraft products.

Free Tea & Walgreens Deals

2008-11-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

Get your free Sundance Organic Tea here.

I found these 2 deals at Common Sense with Money. Bic Soleil razors are $5.99 at some Walgreens stores. Use the $3 off one manufacturer coupon from 11/2 inserts and the $3 off one Walgreens coupon in the Easysaver catalog and you get the razor for free.

Yesterday I stopped by my store and found Goody Ouchless brushes starting at $4.99 each. Use the $2 off one manufacturer coupon here and the $2 off one Walgreens coupon in the Easysaver catalog and you could pay only 99 cents per brush.

Goody Coupon

2008-11-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a great coupon for Goody Ouchless Hair things :) You can print off as many as you want, and I heard from Common"cents"ical that the hair bands are $2.12 at Walmart. I can't confirm this at my local Walmart, but it's still a good coupon to have!

Headed Out to Vote!

2008-11-04T06:37:00.000-08:00

I'm headed out to vote! Hope you all plan to vote as well :)

Election Day Freebies!

2008-11-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

Go over to Mighty Bargain Hunter to find some Election Day Freebies in your area.

I know around here, you can get a free coffee at Starbucks just by saying you voted!

Free Home & Holidays Gift Pack With Ziploc Products

2008-11-03T15:28:00.001-08:00

The first 20,000* people to respond to this offer will receive free Ziploc® products, plus $8.50 in coupons for Ziploc®, Glade®, Pledge® and Drano® products. Check it out!

Today's Purchases

2008-11-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

I hit Walgreens and Rite Aid today. Small purchases, but worth noting.

Walgreens
$4.50: 2 newspapers
$6.67: 2 Herbal Essence Hair Products (one of which I exchanged since I bought the wrong one!)
$11.98: 2 Schick Quattro Disposable Razors

Coupons Used
-$6 off the razors from November EasySaver coupon book (it's a $3 coupon, and the register will automatically apply it twice)
-$5.99 from BOGO coupon for the razors from recent newspaper
-$3 off 2 Herbal Essence Hair Products from recent newspaper
-$8 in Register Rewards

$.16 out of pocket

Rite Aid
$5: 10 Soyjoy Bars (a good deal no matter what!)
$1.99: Twin pack of Gum Toothbrushes

Coupons Used
-$2 off 10 Soy Joy bars

$5.09 out of pocket
Will get $6.99 in rebates, so this is a money maker!

Meal planning is going well in my other blog. I'm sharing some recipes over there as well!

Today's Purchases

2008-11-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

I've already hit Walgreens & Rite Aid today. I ended up buying the Herbal Essence products at Walgreens in order to use my $8 in Register Rewards. I came home to claim my free haircut, only to find out I grabbed one of the bottles that says Free Manicure!! Oops. It's easily fixable, but I wanted to give you ladies a heads up about that. Make sure to read the bottle!

Some Deals to Highlight

2008-11-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

There are a few deals I thought I'd alert you to.

Go over to the My Shopping Addiction blog and find out how to get 2 bras and a pair of undies from victoriassecret.com for $15.99 including shipping. That's a great deal!

Sign up for a coupon booklet worth $27 in savings on products like Cascade, Febreeze, Dawn and Swiffer.

There are a few deals at the drug stores this week. Click to get the scoops if you're not subscribed to these blogs: Rite Aid, CVS, & Walgreens.

Here's what I plan to pick up:
Rite Aid
10 SoyJoy Bars at 10/$5, GET $5 SCR::
$2/10 SoyJoy Bar coupon from recent inserts, exp. 12/31/08
Better than FREE after coupons and SCR

Several different blood glucose monitors
FREE after SCR or Manufacturer's Coupons

GUM Toothbrushes (value pack*, twin Pack) at $1.99, GET $1.99 SCR::
*excludes Summit or Travel value packs
FREE after SCR

Herbal Essense Products at 2 for $6
Use recent $3 off 2 coupon
Save bottles and get free haircut! Make sure you buy the specially marked bottles.

I may also take advantage of the Duracell battery sale because if you buy $20 worth, you get $10 off, and I have a $1.50 off coupon. There seems to be no shortage of things that need batteries in this house!

CVS
Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste: $3.49, get $3.49 ECBs (limit 1)
I'm going to try & use a $1 off coupon and see what happens

I may or may not get this (it's free after ECB's):
Nova Max Blood Glucose Monitoring System: $9.99, get $9.99 ECBs (limit 1)

Walgreens (I've got to use my $8 in Register Rewards this week)
Schick Quattro Disposable Razor on sale $5.99 each
Use $3/1 Walgreens coupon on November ESR catalog
Use recent BOGO coupon, this should be free

2 Sunday papers - one of each

I'll see what else is on sale and buy milk & eggs if I have money left.

Not much to report on the grocery front, but if you have a Whole Foods nearby, cans of pumpkin are 99 cents each and whole chickens are 99 cents a pound. Pumpkin has not gone on sale around here in weeks! I've got a coupon for $1 off 2 cans of Libby's pumpkin, but it's not a good deal unless it goes on sale.

Also, Coupons.com has new coupons as of today! Click the blue banner on the right and print yourself out some coupons :)

Saving Money on Groceries

2008-10-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

Saving money on groceries is so important in today's economy. I'm sure you've noticed how the cost of every day food staples has increased dramatically.

I won’t be spending too much time here sharing about specific sales at grocery stores. Instead, I will share ways to stock up on staples and save money on your overall grocery budget. The main reason for this is that I need to eat dairy, soy, corn & wheat-free, and most of the good coupon deals are on dairy products, canned goods or boxed foods, most of which we can't eat. We mainly eat whole foods (beans, rice, etc.) & lots of produce. I’m doing a month of meal planning in my other blog if you want to join in. I will share some deals from the stores in my region (Roche Brothers, Shaws & Stop and Shop), as I’ve found most of the other couponing blogs talk about stores I don’t have access to.

You can check out Hot Coupon World to see if there are any deals in your area. In the future, I will also be highlighting various other sites & blogs that will help you save money on groceries, as well as talking about joining buying clubs and co-ops, another great way to save.

Rebate Basics

2008-10-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Rebates are a win-win situation, and businesses are making it easier and easier for people to take advantage of rebate offers.

There are tons of different ways to find rebates. One of the easiest is through your local stores. Check your local store circulars for rebate offers. Drugstores are the best for this. In my area, both Rite Aid and Walgreens have monthly rebates. In the case of both of these stores, you can view the pamphlet on-line. Rite Aid even lets you create a shopping list.

I especially like Rite Aid because they have an easy-to-use on-line rebate system. You enter in your receipt information, they electronically pull up your receipt and automatically tell you which items on your receipt are eligible for rebate. This has come in super-handy for me. The 1st time I used the Rite Aid system, I mailed in my rebate. I bought a conditioner for curly hair instead of straight hair - not exactly, but I made some small mistake like that and ended up not getting a rebate for my purchase. In August, I bought the wrong size of a product, but since it didn’t show up on my on-line rebate status, I know something was wrong and brought the product back to the store to exchange it for the right size. Now, when I buy items ate Rite Aid, I don’t open them until I enter my receipts and later come back and check my on-line rebate status to make sure I purchased the right things. Just now, I checked on my Sunday & Monday purchases (which I didn’t tell you guys about yet) and they had already pulled my info – so I already know that I purchased 9 items eligible for rebate, and they were the correct items.

Walgreens also has an on-line system, but this is my first month using it. It’s not as savvy as Rite Aid’s, so I’ll have to let you know in the future how it works out. You enter in your receipts and check off the items that are eligible for rebate, but it doesn’t confirm or deny anything for you.

Another to find rebates is to check the coupons in your Sunday paper. There have been an increasing number of rebate offers from companies with new products. When introducing people to new products, companies used to simply give you a coupon of sizable amount and often, coupled with a store sale, you could get the product for quite a deal or even free. One of the reasons I think some have switched is that they make more money off rebates. How? Because people forget to send them in. So be extra-diligent in keeping track of your rebate offers. Often the rebate offers in the paper will cost you the price of a stamp, unless you can couple it with a coupon. Manufacturers will most often reimburse cost paid before coupon, especially if your receipt has other items on it. When a store takes the coupon off your purchases, the receipt doesn’t generally specify what the coupon is for, and therefore, the manufacturer doesn’t know whether or not you used the coupon on their item or some other item. Businesses are getting wise to this, though, as is evidenced by the recent Theraflu rebate, which clearly stated that your rebate would be purchase cost, minus $2 coupon.

With the rebates that you actually have to fill out & mail in, it’s up to you which ones you should take advantage of. You have to pay the price of postage, so if it’s not something you’d pay 42 cents for, plus the time it takes to fill out the form, then you should pass on it. If it’s something you’d use anyway, and you can couple the rebate with a coupon, then by all means! Go for it.

And then of course there are blogs about rebates. Some of the blogs I read (see a list of recent posts in the right navigation) post about these deals in their regular updates. There are also several blogs that I’ve recently subscribed to that’s sole purpose is to talk about rebates. I’ll let you know what I think of those after I spend more time reading them.

And remember! Rebates only work if you remember to submit them. So don't make rebating your main thing if you have trouble remembering to submit them :)

Blog Giveaways

2008-10-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

There are some great giveaways going on on the web right now! If you read my other blog, you know I have recently won 2 blog giveaways, and even received one of those items already. These things work!

But you do need to be selective and read the directions. Some simply require a comment. Some require you leave your e-mail address; make sure to use your alternate e-mail address and leave it in this format: name at server dot com. Otherwise, a spambot will find your e-mail and spam you. Some require that you do something, like go to the website of the giveaway product and pick the one you like.

Then you need to add the blog to your blog reader, or you might miss the announcement of who wins.

So here's a list of some giveaways. Again, be selective or you'll find yourself having to sign up for 600+ blogs :)

Some Cool Printable Coupons

2008-10-29T04:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some cool coupons you can print out. If it asks for your e-mail address, be sure to give them your alternative e-mail address!

75 cents off Idahoan Potatoes

$1 off Rubbermaid container of your choice
(you can print this out twice)

$1 off Good Earth coffee - click on the "Coupons.com" banner to get this one :)

Free Taco!

2008-10-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's free Taco Day at Taco Bell. Click here for details!

Free Chex Mix Snack Bar Sample

2008-10-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

Go over to Free Grabber and get your Free Chex Mix bar sample!