Free Stuff and Deals

I came home today w/a small load of FREE items and several deals.

Freecycle is a great place to find this or that.  I have found numerous items; two "like new" bookcases, packaging supplies, and now a sawdust "source".  I use sawdust for my deep litter system that I use inside my Chicken Coop.  It's better than paying $5.00 a bale for straw or shavings.

I picked up a bag of used Coffee grounds from the downtown Mudhouse (a $1.00 donation to Habitat for Humanity is recommended) to help fortify my garden. 

The Wonderful Pistachios were on sale and I had a manufacturers coupon for $1.00 off and a $2.00 CVS store coupon.  I also got $1.00 Extracare Bucks back, making the nuts only $1.00.  Now that is a deal.  Suet is on sale this week at Southern States for .89.  I load up (buying a dozen) and freeze it until needed.

Happy dealing this week.  They are out there, you just gotta look.

-Rebecca

2011 Deals Begin

 SPENT $22.00

PAID .25 at CVS for 7 products



Something had to have been in the water this past Monday.  I ventured out to sell an item I had listed on Craigslist with only 5 coupons in hand.  I didn't even take in ANY coupons to Kroger and ended up saving $6.00.  This is how it all went down...

   

Spent $22.00, Saved $32.00, and made $12.00

14 products purchased, 5 coupons presented


I sold my craigslisted wallet for $12.00, then I walked down to CVS and presented 5 manufacturers coupons, a $10.00 CVS ECBuck and a .50 ECBuck that spit out of the machine in the store and purchased 4 Reach toothbrushes, 2 packs of floss, and a bag of Starbucks coffee and PAID .25.  I knew it was going to be a pretty decent transaction but not quite that good.  In the end, I received $6.00 CVS ECBucks back. 

If I would have walked in and just blindly bought a bag of  coffee, it would have cost me $7.00.  I now have enough toothbrushes and floss for my husbands shiners for the year.

Next stop was Kroger.  I purchased a few items and looked at my receipt - darn that Kroger - they once again didn't give me the sale price for two items.  The good thing about Kroger is that they refund your money if the price you pay is not correct!  So I got some Parmesan Cheese and Seltzer for FREE. 

Check your receipt in Kroger, this is not my first time catching wrong price ring ups.

Last stop was Michael's.  They have regularly been printing 40% off, 50% off coupons in the newspaper.  This week the framing department was INSANE because they published a 40% off and a 25% off coupon on top of that.  I didn't have anything requiring framing but did need a special frame for a photo of my Grandparents that my mom gave me for Christmas... so it happened to be 30% off and then I used the 25% off coupon in the paper, getting a NICE $7.00 frame for $3.70... and the register spit out a coupon for 50% off my next purchase... allowing the deals to go on...

I would love to hear about your deal - share your blog link below if you have one! 

-Rebecca

Year End Savings

In order to contribute to our household finances I began couponing August of 2010.  My hope was to make a significant dent in saving dollars so that I could delay entering into the workforce as long as possible.  I jotted down my savings when I thought about it and for the five months that I studied the art of couponing and clipped and wisely shopped, I saved over $1,000.00.  This was for a family of two and 4-6 pets.

Of late, I've been reading about some coupon fanatics that will present a coupon for anything that they can get for dirt cheap no matter if the product is needed or not.  When I began, I decided that I would coupon for only items that I needed, otherwise it turns into A JOB, which is something I'm trying to avoid!

It's been a fun year and I'm ready to roll into 2011 full steam ahead, clipping and saving when I can but not sucking fun out of my life by being too uptight about saving a nickle --- I'll still drink my Mudhouse Mocha and enjoy their divine Pumpkin Bars when I get the chance and go to lunch with my gal pals.  Life is too short to not celebrate life w/good friends, family, pets, and my man.

To end the year, this is my last 2010 posting of my 12/31/10 shopping trip.

 SPENT $17.50



This week many coupons expire TODAY, 12/31/10 so I headed out to grab a few deals and use those coupons.  I had a $3.00 birthday coupon from CVS so picked up 25 mailing envelopes for $1.50 for my Etsy Vintage Shop mailing.  I paid 1.50 for a box of healthy Blue Dog Bakery biscuits at Teeter where my coupon doubled for $1.50 off and it was on sale 2 for 1.  I had a coupon at PetSmart for a free can of IAMS cat food and when you have picky eaters, it's worth stopping to try a free can.  Target has 75% off Christmas items and my husband is a marshmallow addict so he got 4 bags at .29 each for his HAPPY NEW YEAR present.  I had a coupon for .40 off of Archway Cookies and they were 75% off so I paid .27.  I popped into Giant and picked up some NEW YEARs Tofutti Ice Cream for FREE because I had a coupon.  It felt good paying PetSmart a nickel and Giant ten cents --- for sales tax!  

   

Spent $17.50 and Saved $22.00

I purchased 15 products, presented 7 coupons.



So, what would I have gotten for $17.50 back in July of 2010, during my pre-couponing days?  I probably  would have gone to PetSmart for the cat litter and it would have cost me $17.00.  NOTE:  At Target it was on sale for $11.00 and I had and $2.00 off coupon --- it really all adds up! 



$17.00 (Cesar the cat not included)



HAPPY NEW YEAR 

-Rebecca

Read about more of my deals.





Week of Deals w/Coupons

SPENT $15.00

This week was especially good for a few high $$ items.  If you have tried to buy office supplies, cat litter, or PURE anything - it's not cheap. 

 $80.00 worth of stuff for $15.00

Office Depot - 2 FREE packages of labels

(thanks Jenny @ southernsavers.com for that tip)

CVS - 1 FREE Hydro 5 Razor

Big Lots - $3.00 for a 12 cute File folders

and 5 Sharpie "Cafe Colors" Markers

Harris Teeter Spent $12.00 and Saved $27.00

FREE World's Best Cat Litter (retail $8.99), FREE can Tomato Paste, FREE bag Temptations Cat Treats, FREE can Campbell's Soup.  $1. off - Caribou Coffee, PURE Vanilla, and large can chopped Swanson Chicken.

I also sold 5 men's shirts on Craigslist for $30.00.

It was a profit week!

Check out my Must See Links section for a good TWO DAY DEAL.

If you need help getting started or have found deals yourself this week - leave a comment below.

- Rebecca

Check out how to save your dollars.

Coupon Crazy

Being unemployed, I wanted to participate in some way to the family household finances.  I wasn't contributing to income but I could save on what we spent each month.  I started looking at the basics - what do we HAVE to consume each month.  Mostly food and gas, a night out every now and then, medical and pet care, and time with friends.  The last three items were not going to change but the first item, especially food, could be drastically improved. 

There is a wealth of information online about couponing and deals.  It's taken me about 3 months of study, trial and error, and many shopping trips to understand the system.  Each Sunday my back porch becomes "coupon central", cutting and filing coupons from the local newspaper.  I've even "dumpster dived" in the recycling bin at Whole Foods and horrified my husband by stealing a box of newspapers from the neighbors curbside recycle bin!  A Tidy Cat Litter or a Party Mix coupon is worth diving for in my household!  During the week I print coupons from various websites online and get deals in my email inbox.

Over the last several months I've gotten the following items free:  50 photo prints, Olive Oil, Cat Treats, Dog Treats, M&M's, Allergy meds, Vitamins, Peanut Butter, Jelly, 7th Generation Dishwasher Detergent, Yogurt, Box Envelopes, Mailing Boxes, Worcester Sauce, Chinese Food, Quaker Oats, Soup, Beans, Guacamole, Candy Bars, Cereal samples, Starbucks pastries, and more.  I've gone from spending $75.00 a grocery trip to $10.00!  It's CRAZY.

I met a local couponer rummaging through her large coupon book at Harris Teeter and now we trade coupons and chat about our amazing deals!  I recently joined the Newcomers Club - Saving Money 101 group that currently has about ten members. The popularity of couponing is on the rise because of the economic downturn.

HOW TO GET STARTED:  The first step to saving is to learn your frequently visited store policies.  The "hot" stores with the best deals that are the easiest to work with are Harris Teeter, CVS, Kroger, and Publix.  We don't have a Publix here but there are a lot of published deals online.  Harris Teeter has the best coupon program for a grocery store in our area.  Teeter will "match" your coupon up to .99 AND every 6 weeks or so they have something called SUPER DOUBLES where they match coupon face values up to $1.99.  Which means if you give them a coupon for $1.50 they will take $3.00 off your item during super doubles week!  Kroger will match coupons up to .50.  No other stores in my area will match so I typically shop at Teeter and Kroger.  Did you know that if Kroger over charges you for an item, they will pay you DOUBLE the price of the item for their mistake!  If you're a senior, most stores have a discounted "senior shopping day".

With some good planning, you can structure your shopping to get the best deals and save your dollars for something more interesting than a jar of nuts!  Email me or post a comment if you need help getting started.

Watch my blog and you'll see more shopping deals and tips!

-Rebecca

Check out more deals with coupons