Be a tester for companies....

My desire to be frugal comes from my mama. I tell people that she raised me on a 4 letter word: S-A-L-E! One day I came home from 4 year old preschool and she had arranged on my bed a bunch of clothes that were "hand-me-downs." My eyes were immediately drawn to a pair of black patten shoes. I held them with such excitement and asked (as a 4 year old), "Were they on sale?" And she said, "Better, they were free!"

Today, I want to share with you how you can get products for free. There are two consumer groups, one with General Mills and the other is Kraft, that want your opinions. You sign up for the groups, and they will send you either coupons for free products or the products themselves for you to try out. In response, they want your feed back. They want you to share the products or coupons with your friends and family. And after you've tried the products, they want you to tell your friends and family about the products. Join for FREE!

Join Kraft First Taste

Join General Mills Pssst

Here is my first recommendation from General Mills!



Pillsbury Thin Pizza Crust. I like this product because of its convenience. One of the things that I did that we ALL loved was made a Breakfast Pizza. I was tired one night and looked in the fridge. I scrambled eggs and browned sausage. I crumbled the eggs on top of the unrolled crust, spread the sausage on top of the eggs, and sprinkled lots of shredded cheese on top. I put that in the oven and cooked it as long as the directions called for. And the kids ask for it at least once a week!

Enough for commercials. Sign up and get FREE STUFF!!!

Happy Savings!

See, you can do this! And deals for the week!

Here's another reason why you can do this. Both of these trips were done at Walgreens and Walmart. Most of you have either Walgreens or Walmart or both. Neither one of them doubles coupons and both of them accept internet printed coupons. So, these are two runs I made yesterday.

Here is the Walmart trip. I actually bought some other stuff, but these were the most impressive deals.



This is 11 packs of the Green Giant Steamers. I bought 8 of the regular bags of veggies. They were $1.23 each. I bought three of the specialty steamers that were $1.82 each. I had $1.00 coupons for all of them that I got from the Sunday paper 10/5 and another week in the past. So I got all 11 packages of veggies for $4.30. Also, you will see the two Gillette Fusion Gift packs. On the box you can plainly see that it says a $15 value. Walmart had put these gift packs on clearance for $5.00 each. Well, I still had a couple of coupons left. The coupons were $4.00 off. So I got those gift sets for $1.00 EACH!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT???? I CAN'T EITHER!!! So, even if you don't have a coupon, look for those gift packs at Wally World! $5.00 is still a great price. So for 11 bags of veggies and 2 gift packs, I paid $6.30!


Now, for my Walgreens run. This last week, they had all of this on sale. And because of coupons and rebates all of this was free! The coupons were in the Sunday papers in the past, or they were internet printables. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! Now, actually, because I had some Register Rewards (coupons for money of your next purchase that print when you buy qualifying products) that were left from two weeks ago, I will actually make $9. BUT even if you didn't have the Register Rewards, it would all be for free. If you request your rebate on a gift card, you would make an extra 10%!



I have lots of sites that I use for finding out great tips. You will see the main ones listed on the left of my blog. This week, there are also GREAT deals at Walgreens and Rite Aid. I think at Rite Aid this week you can get almost $150 in stuff for free after rebate! Money Saving Mom lists the deals each week that you can get from the stores. She also tells you the sources of the coupons. So, for the deals for this week, click on the names of the stores below! Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Walgreens
Rite Aid

I hope to post more good deals from Walmart and Target soon. Or, you can check out Coupon Mom. You must sign up for free, but then look for the deals of the week from Walmart as well as Target!

Happy Savings!

Pray for Craig's family....

We received a call this morning that Craig's grandparents were killed in a car wreck last night. Pray for Craig as he spends time with his mom supporting her through this difficult time. Pray for members of family that do not know the Lord. Pray that they will seek and that Craig can be light. Thank you so much for lifting us up.

Like a dirty aquarium....

We are on a new adventure: FISH! A few weeks ago, we were at a GREAT garage sale and found a fishbowl and a bunch of the accessories for $3. The Artist was so excited. She bought it with her own money, and she was thrilled to think about buying her VERY own fish. We bought a betta. The first one died. We're not sure why, but it's probably because I didn't have water conditioner (we were told we didn't need it). We bought another betta and the water conditioner and he, Flame, is still alive. And, he's happy, too.

Well, about two weeks ago, we inherited a 10 gallon aquarium with one fish. To make the transfer to the house, we put him in a carrier and emptied the water. I read online that I shouldn't have to clean the tank completely. I only needed to add new water, water conditioner, and change the filter. As we filled the tank with water, lots of gunk began emerging from below the rocks. It was awful. We decided to let the filter run and see if was any better. It got better so we put the fish in.

Last Friday, Craig and the kids went and bought 6 new fish. Well, one died. We got a new one. Another one died, and another fish had a "growth" on it's head. After talking to the fish expert at a pet store, we discovered that the fish had ICK. In the meantime, another one died. So, we got ICK pills and an aquarium vacuum. We were also told to bring in a water sample after vacuuming. Well, I was determined to take it in because the whole room where the aquarium is smelled like dead fish.

Today I took the water sample in. The fish expert used an abbreviated form of a VERY bad curse word to tell me how BAD our aquarium water was. So I asked what I needed to do. These were the instructions: START OVER. Start over? I am new to this whole aquarium thing. How do you start over? Put the fish in bags. Wash the aquarium and all that's in it with the basic blue Dawn dish soap. Buy 10 gallons of spring water and add two other things I bought from her. I sure hope it works.

I am tired of this aquarium. As I drove away from that big pet superstore with the kids talking in the back ground, I was mumbling quietly about having to put my hands in "icky" aquarium water once again. And I heard the Lord say, "It's just like sin." You see, when we come to the Lord, He completely cleanses us from our sins. We are completely clean. As you know, we continue to sin because we are human. Well, our unconfessed sin is like the mess in my aquarium. The water can look clean, until you begin to move it around a little, and the gunk begins to emerge from under the rocks. We might confess some of it, put in a new filter, do a water change and it will look a little better. But then the water begins to stink. It affects us and everyone around us. Until we confess it all and bring it all to light, sin festers. God is the only one who can cleanse it all and wipe it away.

So, tomorrow morning, I will be changing nasty, stinky, aquarium water. I hope there are no more dead fish. I hope I don't get sick. And I pray this reminds me of how often I need to just START OVER by completely confessing my sin. (1 John 1:9)

I like visitors....

Well, maybe. You see, I am a messie! I have posted on this before. I wish I could say that I continued what I had going here. I have not kept it up like I wanted to. I would have struggled if someone had knocked on my door at 5pm. I wouldn't want to let anyone enter. My pride would not have allowed me to open the doors to ANYONE.

Well, at 6pm tonight, my temporary neighbor, who is here for 9 weeks taking classes for her job, asked if I was going to watch the debate. I said, "Well of course." Then it hit me, she was wanting to watch it over here because she has no cable at her house. And before I knew it, "Would you like to come over and watch it with me?" flew out of my mouth!!! I am so thankful that I live on the Eastern Coast. You see, in California, the debate started at 6pm. Fortunately, in VA, it started at 9pm and I had 3 hours to feed the kids and clean the downstairs area of our house. (DON'T YOU DARE GO UPSTAIRS!) So, the kids and I worked (mainly me with some good help from the oldest), and we got it done! The downstairs area looks GREAT! It even smelled good, thanks to an apple cinnamon candle that I lit immediately at 6 when I invited her over!

So, do I like having guests over? YES! I love it. Do I like having a clean house? YES! I love it. But, it takes planning just so someone can come over! So, what's the problem? That's the million dollar question. So, help me fellow messies and organized friends. Help me figure out why I can't stay disciplined enough on a daily basis to just take care of the basics. Do I want perfection? No, just want a little order. So, comment on this post and share your greatest tips for staying on top of the chaos! Tomorrow we will conquer the upstairs area! I told the kids we could play play play on Thursday and Friday if we conquered the upstairs! I look forward to your replies!

Walgreens: Generous with the coupons 10/3 & 10/4 Only

Print your $5 off $20 coupon to use today and tomorrow! Let me tell you how to get the most BANG for your buck! Go and JUST buy the FREE AFTER REBATE items that you will find in the Easy Saver Rebate Book located in the rack with the regular sale ads. Those three items add up to $19.47. You will need to get another small item that costs 53 cents or more to get to the $20.00 requirement. Then they will take off $5, so you'll pay $15.xx plus tax. Submit your rebate, and you will receive 19.47 back. If you request it on a gift card, you will receive $19.47 PLUS 10% for a whopping total of $21.42. Depending on your tax situation, you will be making a profit (after tax) of $5-$6. I would say that is getting paid to shop!

Happy Savings!

Free Recipe Booklet with Coupons!

So sorry that my original directions about clicking the picture would take you to the proper site! SO SORRY! So, click HERE and sign up to receive a recipe booklet that has $10 in coupons inside. Hurry because quantities are limited!


Happy Savings!

KMart has Super Double Coupon Event 10/1-10/5

You must call your Kmart to confirm. The Kmart closest to me is having Super Double Coupons 10/1-10/5. Here are the conditions:

Coupons up to $2.00 in face value
Limit of 4 like coupons
Limit of 75 coupons per customer
Value may not exceed the price of the product (you will just get it for free instead of them paying you the overage)


PLEASE CONFIRM THIS WITH YOUR LOCAL KMART. There is also a term in the coupon world that is YMMV (you milage or your manager may vary). That means your manager has complete say. You must be patient. Lots of GREAT deals are out there to be had!

9/26-27 Walgreens Coupon $5 off $20 coupon!!!

I seem to be learning! Now, at the end of the month, I wait until Friday to do my shopping. Why? Well, it seems that Walgreens always puts out a great coupon. Today was no different! Get this coupon and save $5 off of a $20 purchase. Your order must be $20 after all other coupons and discounts. You will spend about $15 out of pocket. BUT, if you buy some of the rebate items you haven't picked up yet, then you will get it all back, plus the 10% bonus if you get the gift card! So....have fun saving!

Oh, and pick up some free Altoids. How? There is a coupon in the Walgreens sale paper for 2/$2. And on some of the boxes in the store there is a peelie coupon on the box that says, "SAVE $1.00 NOW." Well, if they are 2/$2 with the Walgreens coupon and you use the peelie coupons, then you should only pay tax. I got 16 boxes of Altoids for 40 cents (of just tax!) Just don't get the Cinnamon mints covered in Dark Chocolate. They are not eligible for the coupon in the paper, even though they might have the peelie. I learned the hard way.

HAPPY SAVINGS!

FREE EVENTS!!! AND ANOTHER FREEBIE!!!

Be sure to check your local stores in case something has changed! Thanks to Money Saving Mom for all these tips!

A few free events

Borders is a hosting a free Kid's Party for children 12 and under this Saturday, September 27, 2008 from 2-4 PM. This event will include story time, games, and a scavenger hunt. Plus, you can get a free cookie with any beverage purchase at the coffee shops inside Borders. More information is here. (Thanks, AJ!

Toys R Us is having a big birthday bash on Saturday, September 27, 2008 at 3 PM. This event includes activities, crafts, and free gifts! More details here. (Thanks, Jaycie!)

All You Magazine is hosting an event at Walmart stores across the country called Yes You Can! 2008 (on Oct. 25 or 26, depending on your area). Free samples and more should be included. Go here to find out if a store near you is hosting this event. (Thanks, Julie!)

Now for the FREEBIE. Get a free REUSABLE grocery bag from Walmart! Have you seen those reuseable grocery bags for $1 at different stores? Well, you can take one plastic grocery bag and fill it with others. Take that FULL sack to the customer service desk at Walmart and they will give you 1 reusable grocery bag for every full sack you bring in!

Happy Savings!

You can do this, too!

So many of you who have heard me talk or read my blog have thought, "I can't do this because I don't have a store that doubles or triples." Well, today I made two shopping stops, one to Food Lion and the other to Kroger. I used coupons today, but none of them were doubled or tripled. So, I want to share with you how I did this:



I bought all of this today for only $36 dollars out of pocket and I still have $16 more in coupons to spend at Food Lion. Oh, and there is one gallon of milk missing; it was already in the fridge. It's worth $131. So, I saved $100 with out using double coupons, just knowing how to work the deals. You CAN do this!

First of all, I need to explain the Glade Gel Plug-In deal that is going on at Food Lion and Kroger. Both stores have it on sale (Kroger for 1.79 each and Food Lion for 1.50 each). There is also a special promotion that for every one Plug-In you buy, a $2 coupon prints toward your next purchase on ANYTHING in the store. So, even without a coupon, this deal is a money maker. Pay 1.50 and get a 2 dollar coupon back. You've made 50 cents. Now, I had coupons for them. They were Buy One Get one Free coupons. So, that means I got two for the price of one, and the $2 coupons for each one still printed! So, for every two I bought at Kroger, I profited $2.21. For every two that I bought at Food Lion, I profited $2.50.

Now, the next question is that some of you may wonder how I get multiple coupons of the same thing. Well, we have one subscription to the Sunday paper, but I must confess something. I have an inside source, and I will NOT reveal my sources that gets me extra papers each week for free. BUT, there are other ways to do it. You can actually buy coupons more subscriptions and you can buy them online. You can buy Qs on Ebay, which I've done. There are also sites like, Coupons & Things by Dede, and The Coupon Clippers. These are businesses that you pay for their time of clipping coupons, and they will send you multiple coupons for a nominal fee. This is wonderful when you know a great deal is coming, or you see it in the paper. If you order immediately, you should have your coupons before the sale is over! It's a great thing!

With that explanation out of the way, I can now share about my deals for today. First, I went to Food Lion and did two transactions.

Transaction #1
12 Glade Gel Plug-ins $1.50x12=18.00
6 Buy one Get one Free Coupons
But because they originally rang up at $1.79 instead of $1.50, they gave me 1.79 off for the free one, so I made more money!!!

18.00-(1.79x6)= 7.26
Plus tax $8.16 paid out of pocket
$24 in coupons printed for my next purchase (profit of $15.84)

Transaction #2
4 boxes of Kellogs Cereal Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) 6.92
Bread 1.99
Hot Dog Buns .94
Hot Dog buns .94
Hamburger buns .94
Hamburger buns .94

Total with tax $8.99
Used 4 of the $2 coupons that printed ($8)
Paid out of pocket 99 cents.

So I got all of the above for 9.15.

Then I headed to Kroger. They have a deal going right now for the Kroger brand cereal. When you coupon, you cannot be brand picky. When the generic is cheaper, (which rarely happens anymore for me) BUY generic. But, when the name brand (or a different brand than you use) is cheaper, of course go with that. Well, for Kroger brand cereal, you could get it for $1.00 a box. It was buy 6 boxes for $10 and get $4 off instantly. So that is $1.00 a box. You can only have one of those deals per transaction, so I did two transactions. YOU CAN DO THAT, it's legal! Here is what I did.

Transaction #1
6 boxes of cereal for $10.00
Instant $4 off
Paid $6.71 out of pocket (oop)

Transaction #2
6 boxes of cereal for $10.00 (instant $4 off)=6.00
8 Ball Park hotdogs .99 each (used coupon for $1 off of 2)=4.00
3 Kroger sandwich meat 2.79x3=8.37
3 Kroger skim milks 2.85x3=8.55
1 Turkey Hill Ice Cream 2.99-$1 coupon=1.99
Then I used $10 in coupons that printed for me earlier in the week for the Glade Plug-in deal

Total Out of Pocket: 20.01

So, for $36, I got all of this. Do we need 16 boxes of cereal today? No, but that is point of coupon/deal shopping. When you find food on a REALLY good deal, buy a lot of it. Then when you need it in a month or two, you don't have to pay full price, you just go to the pantry or the freezer!

None of my coupons doubled today. I just "worked the deals." I read about all of this on Coupon Mom! You CAN do this, even without double or triple coupons. I saved $100 today. YOU CAN, TOO!!!

Happy Savings!

10 days of super savings!

OK...so I have been behind in posting all of the glorious deals that I've found. I am back and back with fervor, so I should be posting regularly now. We have had only 1 store in the area that triples coupons (about every 10 weeks) until last weekend. Another store in the area, Farm Fresh, decided to triple coupons FOR 6 DAYS!!! It did not have the stipulation of only 20 coupons per household per day. The stipulation was 20 coupons per customer per day. That meant that Craig and I could both be customers. In 3 days of shopping, we were able to get $183 in groceries for $46.

During this triples time, another store had a GREAT DEAL GOING! They were having a promotion of buy 10 of the participating items for Box Tops for Education and get $4 off your order instantly. Well, the items were on sale, I had coupons, and there was a catalina promotion. You know those separate coupons that print out with your receipts??? Well, sometimes, there will be a promotion that states that if you buy a certain number of items, then you will get a catalina (or coupon) for $ off your next purchase. There was a promo for Green Giant frozen boxed veggies. They were a part of the Box Tops promo, they were on sale, I had coupons, and a coupon was going to print if I bought a certain number. I also bought some Old El Paso items because they were a part of the Box Tops promo, they were on sale, and I had coupons. This is what I did in 4 transactions (each one just the same).

6 Green Giant Veggies
4 Old El Paso products

Here's a picture of two of the transactions. Imagine DOUBLE THIS AMOUNT!!!



I paid $3.33 out of pocket for double what's in this picture. It has a value of over $72 dollars! Then I received $9 in coupons of my next purchase at that store. SO, I profited almost $6. Because of an error by the cashier, I should have received $12 in coupons, to profit $9, but I was not going to argue since they were already paying me to take it all out of the store!

So, that brings my total to $255 in groceries that I paid $40 to bring home!

Now, this weekend is triples at Harris Teeter, the same store that paid me $6 to take groceries out of their store last weekend. Due to the busy-ness of life, I have only been able to go once. Hopefully I will head there one more time tomorrow. Here is how I did on my first trip.



Most of this stuff was on sale. I had coupons for all of it. And I used one of my $3 dollar coupons that they paid me last week. Are you ready to know how much I paid for all of that in picture (not including the Artist!)???? Drum Roll please...... 92 CENTS! Yes, 92 CENTS!!! I can't believe it either, but it's true!!! The original value of all of this (no sales, no coupons) is $71. 80. I will keep my receipt just in case any of you want to check it! So, in 4 days of shopping in a 10 day period, I have bought $326 in groceries for $41.

It's do-able! You may not have a store that triples coupons, but there are many ways to work the system. You just have to be patient and learn! Stay tuned, because I am going to being posts about how to do it!

Happy Savings!

Don't forget to see my post about our trip to Williamsburg!

Trip to Colonial Williamsburg

We live only 45 minutes from Williamsburg. As many of you know, this area was pivotal in the Revolutionary War in the pursuit of our freedom from Britain. Last week we were able to step back in time and see what life was like back then. The kids loved it.

Twice a year there is a Homeschool emphasis time in Colonial Williamsburg. Not only does that mean discount admission prices, it also means special performances and activities only for those who homeschool. We were able to listen to Thomas Jefferson speak about his part in penning the Declaration of Independence. At the end, he opened it up for questions, and my little Jedi raised his hand, "What's your favorite food?" Mr. Jefferson responded, "That is such a wonderful question. My favorite food is the English Pea." He talked a little more about that and traditions they had concerning the pea, and then asked my Jedi about his favorite food. He responded, "Grilled chicken." It was such a neat time. Jedi still talks about it.

Check out our trip!

I am behind....

Just so you know...I am working on some new posts for you all. Family pics and savings stories! Hopefully before midnight tonight, I will have it done. Thanks for your patience!

So how do I do it? AND READ FOR A GREAT DEAL!!!

Many of you are wondering about how I do it. This is going to be a longer post explaining how it's done, or at least how I did it this time. First of all, I LOVE WALGREENS!! If you haven't become a Walgreens shopper, maybe this post will change your ways.

We are in the middle of tropical storm Hanna as I write. We are having 20-40mph sustained winds and gusts MUCH higher. We are snuggled safely in our home. Yesterday we had to buy some last minute things as we have never lived in a hurricane prone area. Craig headed out to Walmart, which was a zoo (think ice storm in Tennessee) and many of the supplies were gone. When he got home, I made my list and headed to trusty ol' Walgreens. Here is how it came down.

Sidenote: I have my rebate gift card from Walgreens that I like to use because it's like recycling my money. I spent the money last month, so I don't have to count when I spend it this month, because I already spent it. For my trip last night, my card had not been recharged, so I used our monthly money. It recharged sometime over night, so I had it for my trip this morning.




Transaction #1 (included hurricane supplies)
Bottled Water 4.99 (Sale) (not in the picture)
20lb bag of ice 2.39 (not in the picture)
3 cans of Gillette Shaving Cream 1.99x3= 5.97
Pack of 3 flashlights 9.99
Crank Lantern 8.99
2 packs of life savers 1.99
Crest Pro Health Mouth wash 500ml 4.49
Paprika .24
Pantene Shampoo 4.50
Pantene Conditioner 4.50
Pantene style produect 4.99
Excedrin PM 24ct 1.99

I used these coupons
Free Pantene Style product when you buy shampoo and conditioner -4.99
Pantene -2.00
Pantene -2.00
Excedrin -2.00
Lifesavers -1.99
Gillette .55x3= -1.65
Walgreens Register Reward (earned previously) -9.00


So I spent 33.64 (including tax)
Walgreens Advertised savings 11.12
Coupon Savings 24.36
Total Saved 35.75
AND IT PRINTED $11.50 in Register Rewards (which are coupons that print after you pay that are like cash toward your next purchase at Walgreens)

Transaction #2
Crest Pro Health mouthwash 4.49
3 Gillette shaving Creams 5.97

coupons used:
3 Gillette .55x3: 1.65

I paid 9.11 (including tax)
Walgreens adv. savings 1.80
Coupon savings 1.65
Total saved 3.45
AND IT PRINTED 7.50 IN Register Rewards toward my next purchase

So on Friday I spent $42.75, but I earned $19.00 in Register Rewards.

Friday night, I checked my FAVORITE site, Hot Coupon World
and found out that Walgreens had put the Magic Bullet Express on clearance for only $15.49. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???

This morning before the storm hit, I headed to Walgreens again, this time with my gift card recharged, which means NO OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE FOR ME!!!

Transaction #1
3 Gillette Shaving Cream 5.97
1 Crest Pro Health Mouth Wash 4.49
Pantene Shampoo 4.50
pantene conditioner 4.50
Pantene Style product 4.99

Coupons used:
3 Gillette .55x3= -1.65
2 Pantene $2x2= -4.00
One Pantene free when you buy Sham. & Con. -4.99

Total: 14.81 (paid with Gift Card)
Walgreens Adv. savings 4.78
Coupon savings: 10.64
Total saved: 15.42
AND IT PRINTED $10.50 in RR

Transaction #2


2 Magic Bullets $15.49x2=29.98
7 pencils on clearance 9 cents = .56

Coupons used
-$29.50 in RR

Total paid: $3.69 (with gift card)
Walgreens adv. savings: 90.12
Coupon Savings: 29.50
Total saved 119.62

So, on Friday, I paid $42.75 of our monthly money (incl. $23 in hurricane supplies) for 81.95 worth of stuff, and got $19 in Register Rewards. On Saturday, I spent NOTHING out of pocket (29.50 in Register Rewards and 18.50 on the Gift Card) for 153.54 of stuff! I love coupons and rebates!

Now, a couple of things that I want to share.

1. Why do I keep buying Crest Pro Health Mouthwash? Well, we have bad breath. Seriously, because it's free all month long. How is it free? Well, it costs $4.49. You pay that and then it prints a $4.50 register reward (which is like cash toward your next purchase). So, you can spend $4.50 and in turn, get $9 worth of stuff (4.50 mouthwash and $4.50 worth of something else). So every time I am in Walgreens, I will buy a bottle. OH...and if you want more than one bottle, YOU MUST BUY THEM IN SEPARATE TRANSACTIONS! More than one register reward will not print at a time. So, just buy them in separate transactions.

2. Why did I buy 7 pencils in the transaction with the 2 Magic Bullets? Well, I used 9 Register Rewards totaling $29.50. It is a Walgreens policy that you cannot use more coupons than you have items in your order. So, I looked and found the cheapest thing that I thought we could use. They had pencils on clearance for 9 cents each. So, two Magic Bullets and 7 pencils were a total of 9 items, so I could use my 9 Register Rewards. This is just a tip to keep in mind for the future.

SO...call Walgreens and ask if they have Magic Bullets in stock and ask them to see if it's marked down to 15.49. But, do at least one transaction of Crest Pro Health Mouth Wash 500ml (must be this size) and double the value of your $4.50 spent. Then use your Register Reward earned toward the Magic Bullet!

If you have questions, please post them. It means that others probably do as well.

Happy Savings!