Especially if you live in the Greenville area, you should check out my friend’s new blog – www.savingingreenville.com. There’s lots of really neat deals that are mostly specific to our neck of the woods, but some of the deals may be available elsewhere (like the world wide web ones!).
Of course, you’ll never see pictures of our adorable little bug over there, so you’ll have to still check here often for that! 🙂
My family and I are preparing for a trip to the beach the first week of September! I’m trying to save $$ by planning a couple of picnic lunches and dinners, but I’m having a hard time coming up with what to serve on the beach. I can’t think of what tastes good with sand, you know? 🙂 So, I’m asking you for help!
Just for fun, I’m giving away a Target Gift Card in hopes that you will help me out with your amazing ideas! The catch is, it’s a mystery gift card – you won’t know what’s on it until you get it and call the number on the back of the card (or try to spend it, too!) I will tell you that it’s at LEAST $1, but not more than $25. To enter, simply put your name with a link to your blog, or your email address in the comments section with your picnic idea, and I”ll draw for a winner on Wednesday night at 10 PM.
Good Luck everyone! (And thanks for your help!)
My friend, Crystal over at her blog, was inspired by an article from the Tightwad Gazette – “Ten Painless Ways to Save $100 in a year”. You can read what she had to say here at her blog. She did encourage us to come up with our own lists, though – so, here it is, folks – the way we’re saving quite a bit more than $100 this year – painlessly! 🙂
1. Get free movie rentals and game rentals from Redbox or with My Coke Rewards points. Redbox has several free movie codes here, and by using the bottle tops from Coke products, you can earn points to exchange for free movie rentals from Blockbuster here. (FYI: Redbox is a new brand of movie rentals that actually utilizes a vending machine! You can find them in most Bi-Lo’s here in Greenville, and in several other stores across the country, including some McDonald’s even. The benefit is that the movies are only $1 a day – so if you have the discipline to return it after you watch it, you can see movies for MUCH cheaper than Blockbuster prices. For a list of available locations in your area, click here.
2. Always have sweet tea in the fridge. Before my husband dropped his Coke addiction of 5 years about 2 months ago (which is how we got all those free movies and game rentals!), we were spending lots of money on his caffeine requirements for the day. One things that’s significantly helped is to always have sweet tea in the fridge – that keeps him from looking for something else, or feeling like he needs to go make a CVS run for more Coke.
3. Do surveys on e-rewards.com. Through this you can earn “cash” to buy things like $25 gamestop gift cards (my husband’s favorite!), restaurant gift certificates and shopping gift certificates. They make for great gifts. The surveys are super easy and are legit, not like some surveys on cashcrate.com, which can sometimes lead you down a path of neverending offers. The best thing is that they tell you from the get-go how long each one will take, and how much $$ you can earn – so you can accept of decline them as you have time.
4. Shop all year for Christmas – I have LOTS of Christmas gifts already put aside in my closet (Becca and Beth – don’t go looking!!) from great sales I found this summer or even at the end of the last winter season. Of course, the buy.com and google checkout promotion helped a lot too! 🙂
5. Use a hotel rewards credit card. Of course – this is can be a scary thing for some people and is even looked down on in some circles, but it’s worked well for us (and really kinda helps keep us in check with our spending)! We have a credit card with Choice Privleges that actually gives points towards free hotel nights. There’s no annual fee, and the interest rate is low – although, we usually don’t take advantage of that because we pay our bill off every month. We like to cash in every year for our vacations, and will be taking a 6 day/5 night stay in Savannah, GA the first week of September for free – at a really nice hotel with an awesome breakfast! 🙂
So that’s us – anybody else have some great ideas out there? I’d love to hear!
Everyone’s trying to make a little extra cash these days – here’s a site I LOVE and use often whenever I need some extra “date” money! This site, which pays you for your used books, is extremely easy to navigate. It lets you type in your book’s ISBN number then gives you a price quote right away. On top of that, they even pay for you to ship your books to them! They also pay really quickly. They can pay you with a check, or send your money to your paypal account. I’ve always had the $$ sent to Paypal and I’ve gotten it within 1-2 days of their receiving my books (although they guarantee sending you the money within 3 days).
They even take old textbooks, so go ahead and clear out some of that clutter from last year! Little Chloe’s not in school yet, so I don’t have books of hers to sell, but I do have some from college that have been taking up room on our precious few bookshelves, so I’m clearing them out for a new box of books. Besides, although I thought differently in college, I’m really not going to reread my Pschology 101 Book. 🙂
So, it’s been awhile since I posted some CVS deals – I kinda took a little break. . . and now I’m regretting it because I missed out on the amazing diaper deals 2 weeks ago. But, we all know they’ll be back, so I’ll just have to bear buying regular diapers at regular prices with coupons at Wal-Mart for a while. (Can you hear my sighs!)
On a good note, though – here’s the deals I struck last night! 🙂 It was a lot of fun, and I love watching the cashiers go – WOW! How do you do this? 🙂 I have chosen to keep my favorite CVS store a secret (because I know you guys – you will all come get the deals while I’m reading the paper or something!) But, one thing that’s really helped me only have to go to one CVS is to find out when they restock their shelves. My particular store is on Thursday mornings, so I try to go during Chris’ lunch break – or after he gets off work. And EVERYTHING I need is there – I haven’t missed anything yet! 🙂
Here’s a picture of what I got: sorry the pitures a little fuzzy – I had to use my husband’s camera phone for it!
Here’s the breakdown!
Transaction #1:
2 Colgate Totals $2.99 each (2 Coupons -$1.50 each) + $2 ECB for each one
1 Colgate Max Fresh $2.99 (1 coupon -$.50) + $2 ECB for each one
1 Oral B Twin Pack Toothbrushes $6.99 + $6.99 in ECB’s for each set
2 Zooth Hello Kitty Twin Pack Toothbrushes $4.99 each (BOGO free coupon -$4.99) + $2 ECB’s for each set
I used $6.00 in ECB’s on this transaction from last week’s game! 🙂
TOTAL OOP: $13.92
TOTAL ECB’s Earned: $16.99 🙂
Transaction #2:
1 Bounty 8 pk Paper Towels $5.49 (Coupon – $.25)
2 Charmin 12 rolls ($5.99 each) (coupon – $.25)
1 Duracell AA 12 pack 6.74 each (coupon – $.75) +$10 in ECB’s from buy $20 in Charmin, Bounty, Duracell, get $10 ECB’s back.
I used my ECB’s from the last transaction! 🙂
TOTAL OOP: $1.13
TOTAL ECB’s Earned: $10.00
Transaction #3:
1 Aussie Shampoo $2.99 each + earned $2.00 ECB
8 Soy Joy Bars $1.00 each + earned $1 ECB each
2 ALL Detergent $6.49 each (BOGO FREE – $6.49 – 2 ALL coupons $1.00 each)
I used my $10.00 ECB’s here
TOTAL OOP: $5.48
TOTAL ECB’s Earned: $10.00
Transaction #4:
2 CVS Bandages $1.99 each + earned $1.99 ECB’s for each box
1 Oreo cookie box (for my husband who lets me do this crazy stuff!) $1.00
I used only my $2.00 ECB’s here.
TOTAL OOP: $3.13
ECB’s Earned: $3.98
KEY TO IT ALL: I now have $13.98 in ECB’s to use next week, which is more than I started with! 🙂
I also got a few good deals at Walgreens on the milk, nuts, plates, and the mac n cheese – you can read about it here. So, it was a fun day! 🙂
Sponsor Code: ahm812533
The dilemma: You’re probably paying anywhere from $9.99-$59.99 a month for the internet, why not let it pay for itself? Sure, you’ve heard of all the “Get paid to shop online” offers and the “Blog for Bucks” opportunities – but this is one thing that I’ve been doing that really works and is super easy – keeping track of my health! 🙂 Read the rest of this entry
Here’s something new I’m going to try as soon as my free samples come in! It’s an all natural way to flavor your water without buying lemons whenever you go to the store! 🙂 Click here for your free sample!
I couldn’t post this until now, but after having been given permission from the home office, I am pleased to announce a Help Whip Cancer fundraiser with the Pampered Chef for the American Cancer Society! 🙂 The Pampered Chef has several pink products they are selling to help raise money for early detection and education of breast cancer. You can order from me if you’d like – just leave a quick comment in the comment section, and I’ll email you more information (like the website where you can order, prices, etc.).
Also 25% of all the orders goes directly to the American Cancer Society!
I’m super excited about this as there have been several people in my life affected by breast cancer. One of my good friends’ mother is a two-times breast cancer survivor, and I’m thrilled to be able to raise money for this wonderful association that helped her out so much!
There’s also an amazing recruiting promotion going on right now that I’d love to tell you about as well. . . like to the tune of LOTS of free stuff. . . 🙂
So, here’s how I fared. I ended up spending a little more than I had intended – partly because the cashier, in her attempt to be helpful, ended up scanning my mom’s card and my card for different transactions, meaning some offers weren’t necessarily reached, and the ECB’s didn’t print at the right time. Still a great day, though! I ended up spending $10 OOP, and got $112 worth of stuff, and I’ll get $52 in rebate checks in a few weeks. I’m happy! 🙂
> “Chloe needs free diapers” Deal!
1 pkg. Playskool Diapers (9.99)
2 pkgs. Playskool wipes (3.49 each)
TOTAL: 16.97
– $3/$15 CVS coupon
– $2/1 coupon for diapers
– 2 1 $1/1 coupon for wipes (I could only use one 😦 )
TOTAL OOP (But I used GIft Card for 16.97!) $10.97
Total Left over: $6 Gift Card total
> “Daddy and Mommy need stuff, too” deal
Just for Men Haircolor (not really for him, but I make money off of it, so I’m buying it! 🙂 ) $7.99
2 Speed Stick Deoderant (BOGOfree!) $2.79 for both
Softsoap SPA Body Wash $4.99 They were out of this, so I bought some things we “needed” – a Pepsi, a Mtn. Dew, and some milk. Didn’t get my ECB’s, but that’s ok. 🙂
TOTAL: $15.77 + tax
– $3.00 CVS coupon
– $2.00 off Just for Men Coupon (+ rebate here)
– $1.00 off Softsoap Spa Radiant Body Wash Coupon
– $0.75 coupon for deoderant from 4/27 paper
– $1.00 off coupon for deoderant printable! 🙂
TOTAL OOP = $9.02
– $7.00 Gift Card remainder
= $2.02 + tax
Extra Care Bucks (ECB’S) Earned from this deal: $12.98 7.99 + $7.99 rebate for JUST FOR MEN = $20.97 I get paid for shopping! 🙂
> “I just want more ECB’s’ Deal
2 Post it Notes – $5.00
4 Post it Flags – $10.00
2 PalmOlive Dish Soap (BOGOfree!) – $1.39
TOTAL = $16.39 + tax
– $3/15 CVS Coupon
– 2 $3/2 Post it Flags Coupon + REBATE for MacDonald’s Gift Certificates
– $0.25 Palmolive dish soap coupon (4/27 paper)
TOTAL OOP = $5.14 + Tax
I paid cash for these. 🙂
I just earned $5.00 in ECB’s + I will get $10.00 in MacDonald’s Gift Certificates!
BUT WAIT! I’M NOT DONE YET! 🙂
> “So, I’m just really trying to get to know the cashier” deal
1 One Touch Glucose Monitor (Missionaries could use this!) $29.99
1 Neosporin $2.99 (?)
1 Benadryl Topical $3.49 (?)
1 Purell – $3.49 (?)
TOTAL: $39.96 + tax
– 1 $3/15 CVS coupon
– 1 $4/20 CVS welcome coupon
– $20/1 coupon in 4/27 paper
– $1 coupon for Benadryl (4/27 paper)
– $0.50 coupon for Neosporin (4/27 paper)
– $1 Purell coupon (4/27 paper)
TOTAL OOP = $10.44 + Rebate in package for $29.99!!
Pay with ECB $7.99 = $2.45 OOP + tax
And I earned another $5.00 in ECB for next week!
I think I’m done now – by this time, I think the dear cashier will want to throw me out of the store! 🙂 Here’s a summary of how I’ll do (if it all works out!):
Total merchandise value: $112.25
Total Spent with my spare change after coupons and ECB’s : $9.50 ish+ tax
“Leftovers” : $5.00 ECB’s for next week
Rebates that I’ll send off for: $10.00 in MacDonald’s Gift Certificates, $29.99 Mail In Rebate for Glucose Monitor, $8.00 Mail In Rebate for Just for Men = $47.99
IN OTHER WORDS – I JUST GOT PAID $52.99 TO SHOP AT CVS AND WALKED OUT WITH ALL OF THAT STUFF! THAT’S THE SAME AS ROBBING A STORE AND A BANK ON THE SAME DAY. . . AND IT WAS ALL LEGAL – not to mention, super fun 🙂 !!!
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