Monday, March 30, 2009

Cottonelle Coupon = Free TP

On my Coupons.com sidebar there is a coupon for $0.50 off Cottonelle toilet paper. If you live near a Kroger, many times they have the Cottonelle 4-pack of toilet paper for around $0.99. If so, print the coupon, take it to Kroger and they will double it (as long as your store doubles coupons) for some free toilet paper!

Today's Free Redbox Code

You can go to your local Redbox and rent a movie for free with this code:

89ZQJ3

You can learn more about Redbox from my previous post here.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Free Samples

Register to receive a coupon for a free can of Mighty Dog here

Jergen's Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer sample - click here

Thursday, March 26, 2009

More Free Magazines!

I made a resolution some time last year that I would never pay for a magazine again. So far it's working. Start your own resolution to never buy a single magazine again by enjoying 1 year (12 issues) of Caribbean Life by clicking here, and if you haven't already, you can still sign up for two free issues of Redbook here. Also, if don't mind receiving issues digitally, you can get 12 issues of Islands here. I'm currently receiving Islands (not digital) and I love it.

One great thing you can do with your magazines after you finish reading them is to gather a few up and take them each time you go to a doctor's office. I always take three or four and leave them for others to read. Just the other day I took 3 to my doctor's office and left them on a chair (they don't have any magazines or racks) and when I came out from my appointment they were already being read by waiting patients! Just be sure if your name is printed on them with your information to cut it out before leaving the magazine.

Enjoy!

Free Samples

Old Spice Red Zone Body Wash sample - click here

Eucerin Plus Smoothing Essentials sample - click here

Come CVSing with Me - Week Eleven

Last week you should have made it out with $4.99 in ECBs! This week is a slower week at CVS and you may want to hold on to your ECBs for next week. Also, if you have updated your email address with CVS, you may have received a coupon in your in-box for either a free reusable tote bag or a free roll of paper towels as a green gift to you!

On top of your free paper towels or reusable tote bag the best deal this week is:

Crest Pro-Health Enamel Toothpaste - $3.49
Use $1.00 off coupon (some areas are reporting a $0.50 off coupon)

You would pay less than the $3.49 and get $3.49 back in ECBs for a better than free item. However if you have only one ECB worth $4.99 you would want to grab something else that you need in order to not waste the rest of the $4.99. You would come out with less ECBs, so again next week may be a better option for rolling your ECBs.

Since after 11 weeks of rolling ECBs I'm sure you have the hang of things, I'll simply be posting some of the best ECB deals and letting you work out your own. Good luck and always feel free to share!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Free Mini Body Lotion from Victoria's Secret

Print this and take it to your nearest Victoria's Secret store for a free 4 oz. mini bottle of Natutally Victoria's Secret body lotion. There is no purchase required and the coupon is good through April 12, 2009. These mini bottles make great addition to gifts and also are great for travel as they fit perfectly in your purse. (Thanks Coupon Cravings)

Wednesday's Free Redbox Code

Today's free code to rent a movie is MMM325.

I posted here introducing Redbox. Hope you are enjoying a free movie!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Leftover Veges - Create a Dinner for 3 for under $2.00

I've never been much for menu planning or been good at using leftovers to our advantage. Once we brought our son home from Russia, I found that leftovers became great small lunches and snacks. Some leftovers still eluded me as to what to do with them...for instance vegetables.
Many times we open a regular size can of vegetables for dinner and find that we can't finish the whole can. If we buy the smaller size can, we find it isn't enough. I hated throwing the leftover veges away.

One night my mother gave me a great idea. She said to take the leftover vegetables and put them in a freezer bag and into the freezer. So each time we had vegetables I would just open the same bag and dump in the leftovers. After a few weeks I had a full baggie with peas, carrots, green beans and corn.

Next I took 6 cups of water and boiled it and added 6 chicken boullion cubes. Once boiling I added half a bag of bowtie noodles. Once cooked I added already cubed grilled chicken and then dumped in the frozen vegetables. I let it boil for a few minutes (Without letting the noodles get overdone) and ta da! We had yummy homemade chicken noodle soup!


The breakdown of cost is as follows:

Chicken boullion cubes (25 for $2.49, used 6) - $0.60
1/2 bag of bowties ($0.79 on sale) - $0.40
Diced chicken ($0.99 on sale) - $0.99
Frozen vegetables - FREE
Total for a big pan of soup - $1.99

We even had leftovers for my husband to have a lunch the following day!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Free Samples

Cottonelle Toilet Paper and Moist Wipes - click here

Zyrtec Sample - click here

Go Ahead, Rent a Movie....For Free!

For some time I've been reading about RedBox. RedBox is a kiosk machine at select locations in which you can rent movies for $1.00 a night. There are never any late fees. It's simply $1.00 for each night you keep the movie.


You're thinking but wait, I thought you said "free". Well, during the month of March and the first week of April each Wednesday night Redbox is offering a code for which you can get a movie free. Once at the machine just select "Rent with a promo code" and follow the instructions. As long as you return the movie by 9 p.m. the following night, the rental is free. There are also free codes available on most Mondays.

Today's code is HG7W56.


You do have to rent with a credt/debt card. According to the website they will hold the $1.00 from your account until you return the movie.


If your worried about your Redbox not having a movie you want to see, you can also hold the movie on-line and pick it up at your Redbox later.


You can locate the Redbox nearest you here.


Enjoy!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

All You Magazine - 2 Free Trial Issues

All You magazine is put out by Wal-Mart and contains many money savings coupons each month (upwards of $30.00 savings in each), along with free product coupons. I haven't tried it yet, but read about it all the time. Finally, thanks to Frugal Plus you can get a free trial of two issues here.

Be sure to print your confirmation and then remember to either call customer service and cancel the subscription or write "cancel" on your bill and return it to be sure you don't get charged for any additional magazines.

Also, in the billing section of the form, click on the "Bill me later" spot so you do not have to enter any credit card information. Enjoy and let me know how you use your coupons.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Purchasing a Car Frugally

My current car has over 157,000 miles and my husband and I thought it might be a good idea to start looking for another car. While this may be a good time to buy, since the salesman seem to be a little anxious to sell, we are trying to determine if we should take on more debt with the economy in a downward turn.

Thankfully my car is in great condition, we haven't had to make any major repairs and we do still have the option of making a few minor repairs and sticking it out as long as we can. This option is probably the best and most frugal option. Even in the worst case scenario, something as severe as a blown motor or failed transmission will likely run you between $3,000.00 and $7,000.00 to replace at a dealership, which still isn't enough to buy a new car. To top it off, a new car typically loses an estimated 20 percent of its value the moment you drive it off the dealer lot and your existing car has already taken that depreciation hit.

If your in it to buy a new (or used) vehicle then I suggest the following from my own personal experience:

1. Determine ahead of time what amount you are willing to pay, what you owe on your trade-in (if you have one), where you want your monthly payments to be if you purchase and stick with it.

2. Do not be in a hurry and purchase from the first lot you visit. We stopped at one lot, test drove two cars, which we thought we might be in our price range. Next a gentleman looked at our trade, asked our payoff and came back with a payoff figure which was way lower than what we owe on the car. Once we figured the negative equity in to the price of the new car, the payments were way over our top figure. We said thanks and left even though they tried to show us different cars which weren't even similar to what we were looking for. Never be pressured into purchasing a car you don't like.

3. Look for a better trade in value. A week later we stopped at a different lot to see what they had. This time I went in with a plan and simply found a salesman and told him I saw two cars on the lot I was interested in and wanted to know what they would give me for the trade in. I would not tell him how much I owed on the car as I believe this can affect, both positively and negatively, on the value of the trade in. They immediately did the appraisal and came back with a figure of $600.00 more than first place AND they said if we fixed one thing (a $49.00 fix, since my husband can do the repair) they would give us another $800.00 on top. That's $1,400.00 more than the first place we visited! Since they were so nice we test drove two vehicles there and told them we would call them back after talking with our bank. This leads me to number 4.

4. Talk to your bank before purchasing a car. Often times your own bank will have better rates than the dealership can offer through their financing companies.

5. Ask them to keep an eye out for you. Since the car we were most interested in at the second lots payments were still $40.00 more than we were hoping for, I simply called the salesman, assured him we were happy with his service, and asked him to keep an eye out and let me know if anything came on the lot that might be closer to our price range. He has promised to call me and in fact has already given me a heads up on one car we might be interested in. In the meantime, we'll purchase the $49.00 part and chalk it up to repairing and keeping our current car to obtain the most use from the vehicle.

6. Lastly, continue to shop around. Even though we are thrilled with the service we received at the second lot, we know that the salesman may not be able to find the deal we are looking for. We have since talked with a third salesman from another lot who is also looking for the right car for us. We figure this way, we'll continue to keep our current car and save money by not taking on more debt, unless a perfectly frugal deal comes along!

Please remember these are just my thoughts and ideas. Let me know if you have any good tips on purchasing a car versus keeping your current car.

KMart Super Doubles Coupons Is Back!

Click here to see if your local KMart is participating. If so they are super doubling coupons, which means they will double coupons up to and including $2.00!!

I shared with you a photo of everything I got with coupons here last time for less than $3.00. It was a great haul!! Start clipping those coupons!

Free Samples

Kellogg's All-Bran Fiber Drink Mix Sample - click here

Prilosec OTC (new link) - click here

Thursday, March 19, 2009

I Won Another Sweepstakes and So Can You!

I won at yet another Sweepstakes! I told you about my first win, a $25.00 gift card from Lipton here, about my second win from Pace and my third win from Secret here.

Yesterday I made my fourth win from The Maids! I instantly won a one year magazine subscrition to Country Living. If you are interested in playing go here.

Some current Sweepstakes I am playing besides The Maids are:

Subway Three Point Play here (Prizes are mostly $5.00 gift cards)
Combos Win the Ultimate Man Zone here (Prizes are mostly bags of Combos)
Long John Silver's Beach Ready Instant Win here (Prizes are mostly $10.00 vouchers)
Fuel Up The Family here (Prizes mostly $50.00 gas cards)

Freebies for Mom has a fantastic list of the sweeps to play here, along with information about the winners who won by following her list! Her list contains sweep that have 2,000 plus winners, meaning you're more likely to win a prize. So far, it's working for me!

Here again I also use a different email address to keep our home email clean of any junk mail generated from any sign ups.

Good luck and let me know if you win anything!

Earn Gift Cards with My Points

For about 8 months now I have been a member of My Points. I was looking for ways to earn a little extra money, after bringing home our son from Russia, without leaving the home and taking away time from my family.

I just happened on My Points one day and signed up. The membership is free and all you have to do is allow them to send you offers through your email. Most emails are what I call a "click through". You simply open the email and click on the offer. Right now to just click on the offer you earn 5 points. If you sign up or purchase from the site you get additional points dependent upon the offer. Some offers are just free registrations and those are easy to fill out for points.

Another opportunity to earn points is through surveys. Even if you don't qualify you receive 10 points and if you do, usually 50 to 60 points are awarded.

So far I've earned and redeemed 2,800 points. This may not seem like a lot, but I am very careful about only doing the click through or free registrations and not purchasing anything. It takes very little time each day to open an email, click, close the window and earn points! Of course it takes a while to earn enough points to redeem them doing it this way.

As for redeeming points, you get gift cards! I redeemed my very first 1,400 points for a $10.00 gift card to Bass Pro Shops as a gift from my son to my husband for Christmas. The second 1,400 went for a gift card to the Olive Garden to make my birthday dinner outing more affordable. Next, I'm working towards a Home Depot card to aid in the process of finishing a family room in our basement. There are many other gift cards to choose from like CVS and Wal-Mart! We all know how far a gift card to CVS can go!!

I haven't posted about it before because I like to try these sites out to be sure they are legitimate and to be sure the prizes/gift cards really show up. Both gift cards I redeemed points for showed up very quickly.

If your interested in joining, leave me a comment or send me an email with your email address and I'll send you my referral link. It'll give me a chance to earn some more points and you can get started working towards the gift card of your choice!

With most sites like these, I would recommend using a separate email address for sign up since you will receive many emails.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Free Samples

Just a coupole today!

Stetson new Rich Suede cologne sample - click here

Gain Laundry Detergent sample (from Sam's Club - no membership required) - click here

Great High Dollar Coupons

Check out the Coupons.com sidebar on the right. There are some great high dollar coupons. If you have a little one, scroll through and check out the $5.00 off Huggies Gentle Care diapers product or the $3.00 off Huggies Natural Care diapers product.

And if you haven't already signed up for your free 20 oz. or 2 liter bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper which I posted about previously, you can find that coupon on the sidebar also.

After you print the two Huggies coupons, be sure to click "back", the "refresh" and "retry" and you can print the coupon a second time.

Most stores accept internet printables, including Wal-Mart, Target and CVS. Most of the time they prefer them printed in color (to prove it isn't a photocopy), but our local Target accepted a black and white version I printed before changing my printer to color.

Happy Shopping!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Come CVSing with Me - Week Ten

This is a great week to earn some ECBs! I posted prior to this my great $34.00 deal for only $1.06 OOP and earned back $16.98 in ECBs for next time!

If your a beginner, you can still start here as I post with minimal OOP (out of pocket) if any. Then each week roll your ECBs (Extra Care Bucks) into free items, while earning yet more ECBs. Before long, you have tons of free stuff!

If you've been following along, this week you have $3.00 in ECBs to spend. Remember ECBs spend just like cash. Here are a few ideas:

Purchase the following:

1 Dry Idea deoderant for $2.99
Use the $2.00 off printable coupon off the coupon bar on my sidebar. If you don't see it, scroll through the coupons - (it's there and it's a great deal this week at CVS!) and purchase

1 Colgate MaxWhite toothbrush or toothpaste for $2.99
Use $0.75 off coupon from the 2/22 SmartSource insert in the paper

Total after coupons is $3.23. Pay with your $3.00 ECBs and then pay the $0.23, plus tax OOP and earn back an amazing $4.99 for next week!!

But wait - do another transaction and purchase:

1 Irish Spring Men's Body Wash for $4.99, pay with your newly earned $4.99 ECBs and earn yet another $4.99 in ECBs!

That's body wash, deoderant and toothpaste for $0.23, plus tax on both transactions!! Next week you have $4.99 and the deals can keep getting bigger!

$1.06 OOP at CVS (March 15th)!!!!!

Wow - Look at everything I got this week at CVS for a measley $1.06! Granted I had $18.00 in ECBS, but still it was a $34.00 purchase to begin with!

I purchased the following:

1 Irish Spring Men's Body Wash - $4.99
1 Colgate Max White Toothpaste - $2.99
1 Pantene Conditioner - $3.50
1 Pantene Detangler - $3.50
1 Dove Body Lotion - $7.00
1 Dove Shampoo - $4.00
1 Dove Conditioner - $4.00
1 Dry Idea - $2.99
1 Reeses candy bar - $1.59
I used the following coupons:
$1.00 off Pantene conditioner
Free coupon for a Pantene styling aid with purchase of shampoo or conditioner (today's paper) - ($3.50 taken off for the detangler)
$1.50 off Dove Shampoo
$1.50 off Dove Hair Care (used against the conditioner)
$1.50 off Dove Body Lotion
$2.00 off Dry Idea
combined with
$5.00 off $30.00 purchase (CVS emailed)
$18.00 in ECBs
Paid $1.06 out of pocket and gained another $16.98 in ECBs for the following:
2 Pantenes earn $2.00
$15.00 in Dove products earn $5.00
Irish Spring earns $4.99
Colgate MaxWhite earns $2.99
Dry Idea earns $2.00
That's almost like getting paid to shop!!

Changes!!

I am currently 'under construction' as I finally figured out how to get a 3rd column added to my blog for more usage!! Stay tuned for more free samples, more internet coupons (which are really starting to save me some money) and more frugalness!!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Free Samples

Free Sample of Activ-flex lightweight cohesive tape from Johnson & Johnson - click here

Free Goodnites Boxer sample - click here

2 Free Issues of Redbook magazine (April and May) - click here

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Free Johnson Buddies Products w/coupon!!

I love picking up the Johnson's Buddy Bar soaps for free. Most of the time you can pick them up for around $0.97 at Wal-Mart. Check out Deal Seeking Mom who has listed all the printable coupons for Johnson Buddies products!

Each coupon is either for $1.00 off 1 product (1 free soap), $2.00 off 2 products (2 free soaps) or $3.00 off 3 prducts (3 free soaps)!!

You click the link for your browser and your coupon prints, but wait...click the back button and then refresh and it will print a second time.

I was able to print all the coupons twice except for the $3.00 off 3 products, which I couldn't get to work. So this means 10 free bars of soap! (I'm thinking great donations to orphanages :) (for those who know me best) or great for gifts and your own little ones!!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Come CVSing With Me - Week 9

Another good week at CVS. In the meantime, if you have your $2.99 in ECBs, you could do the following:

Buy 1 Crest Pro-Health toothpaste 4.2oz @ $2.99
Buy 1 Palmolive 10 oz dish soap @ $1.49
Buy 1 Zone Perfect Bar @ $1.00
Use $1/1 Crest Pro Health (from the P&G coupon insert on 2/8/09)
$1/1 Zone Perfect Bar (from the SmartSource coupon insert on 3/1/09)

Total $3.48
Use $2.99 in ECBs
Pay $0.49 OOP
Earn $3.00 ECBS

I know this means a little OOP and not completely free, but I couldn't get anything to add directly to $2.99. Still, getting the above for $0.49 is a great deal!!

More Free Samples

Free sample of Carress Evenly Gorgeous Body Wash - click here plus enter a sweepstake and play an instant win game for a $100.00 gift card.

Free Sample of Sun Crystals - click here

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Free Samples

Free Sample of Kotex Overnights - click here

Free Sample of Emergen-C - click here

Go here to get a coupon mailed to you for a free 20 oz. or 2-liter bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper

Friday, March 6, 2009

Free Hair Care Samples

Free sample Dove Heat Defense Therapy hair care - click here

Free sample of Dove Intense Damage Therapy hair care - click here (I was unable to do both samples so you may have to pick one)

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Earn a Little Extra Money with CashCrate

I've mentioned CashCrate before, but wanted to remind everyone that it's still out there. With the economy in a downturn, I know I can sure use a few extra dollars a month. The checks are real, I've posted photos of my own. Just go to the side bar of the blog and look for CashCrate under labels and it will pull up previous posts.

Just today I went and completed several quick surveys for a few dollars added to my account. You can go here (my referral link) to sign up and start earning today, or click the banner below. Don't let an opportunity slip by to earn a little extra!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Come CVSing with Me - Week 8

Okay fellow CVSers. I'm sure by now you've gotten the hang of using your ECBs to gain more ECBs. If you've been following along some of the free things you have gotten over the last two months include: makeup cotton rounds, toothpaste, children's aspirin, shampoo, and conditioner. All of this for a measley $1.49 OOP to start! Some of you may be asking why you would stock up on these items.

I've used many of these items to create gift baskets as gifts. You could donate to your local shelter, or you could create a stock pile of sorts to rely on later.

This week you should have $2.99 or $3.00 in ECBs. It's a slow week (in my opinion at CVS) but you could do the following transaction:

Purchase CVS Vitamin D-400 in the 100 count size for $2.99, pay with your $2.99 or $3.00 ECBs and get $2.99 ECBs back! This is completely FREE!

And if you have the $1.00 MQ off 2 Reeses Whips candy bars, you could pick 2 up, use your coupon and add it to the above transaction for FREE!

Hopefully next week will see some better deals!

Free Samples

Free Ziploc Fresh Shield Bag from Costco (no membership ID required) - click here

Free Sample of L'Oreal Everpure Shampoo - click here - either register or sign in, then choose My L'oreal in the upper right hand corner, then choose Special Offers on the left side of the screen. From there you should see coupons and the sample offer.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Free Samples - Enjoy

Another Kotex Sample - click here (A lot of times, these come with great coupons and many times you can pick up packages of Kotes at Wal-Mart for free!)

Parent's Choice Infant Formula - click here (from WalMart) but you can also get a sample of the formula here and also here