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Walgreen’s $5 off a $20 purchase coupon

October 24, 2008 by

Walgreen’s has a printable $5 off a $20 purchase coupon that is good this weekend (10/24 and 10/25) only:

http://www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp?ec=hn613_getcoupon

Here’s what the fine print says: Excludes alcohol, postage stamps, tobacco, prescriptions, prescription copays, gift cards, pre-paid cards, transportation passes, charitable contributions, and items prohibited by law. Purchase amount of $20 or more must be befor taxes and after all manufacturer and Walgreens coupons and discounts.

If you haven’t taken advantage of the weekly deals yet, here’s the link:
http://melziemomsbargains.blogspot.com/2008/10/deals-week-of-1019-1025.html

http://melziemomsbargains.blogspot.com/2008/10/walgreens-scenarios-for-week-of-1019.html

This weekend is also the time when the October and November Easysaver catalogs will overlap, so you can “double dip” (your ability to do this may vary based on your location). The read more about this, click here:

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/walgreens/169051-walgreens-double-dip-days-oct-24th-25th.html

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Thrifty Thursday: How to Save for Christmas all Year

October 22, 2008 by

Some people put away a certain amount of money each month into “sinking accounts” for things like vacations and Christmas. If you’re doing this, I think that’s great! If you’re like me, though, you don’t have a lot of money (if any at all) left at the end of the month, so you might have the best of intentions, but when all is said and done, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Of course, waiting until December isn’t a great plan, either.

For the past two years, I have started saving money for Christmas in January and by October, I usually have a well funded Christmas account. I do this without taking any money from my monthly budget and I love it because as I find deals throughout the year, I can buy things and put them away without ruining my budget for the month. I am also usually able to finish the bulk of my Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving (I hate dealing with all of the crowds to go Christmas shopping)

I know it’s too late for this year, but here are some things I do to save money all year long. Hopefully you’ll get some ideas for next year! None of these activities take very much time. If you have questions, please feel free to post a comment!

*ING Direct – I have an ING Direct account where I keep our Christmas fund. It’s an online account, which means I don’t have quick, easy access, so I am not tempted to just take money out. The interest rate tends to be higher than it is for savings accounts at a regular bank, and I also got $50 for opening the account 🙂

*Surveys – I know that there are a lot of survey companies out there, and some are more reputable than others. You won’t make a ton of money doing this, but it is quick and easy and brings in a little bit of extra money. These are the three that I like the most and have been with for several years now:

MySurvey.com – You earn points for completing surveys and testing various products. The points can be exchanged for prizes or cash. I usually let my points accumulate throughout the year and then cash out around this time of year. If you aren’t a member yet and are interested in joining, you can click on the link at the bottom of the page.

Epoll.com – These are quick, easy surveys that are usually about TV shows. You earn points for completing the surveys which can be exchanged for gift cards. I usually let my points accumulate all year and then I cash them out at this time of the year to use for Christmas shopping.

Pinecone Research – They pay a flat rate of $3 per survey (it used to be $5) or product test. They are my favorite survey company, but unfortunately you can only get “in” with them if you can find a live referral banner or periodically throughout the year when they have openings and people who are already members can refer you.

MyPoints.com – This is not a “survey” site, but I thought I’d include it in this section anyway. They send you a few e-mails a week with various offers. You earn five points just for clicking on the e-mails. If you take advantage of the offer, you can earn additional points. You can also shop through the links on their site and earn additional points. BzzAgent.com recently partnered with them and so you earn points on the MyPoints.com site for completing reports or surveys on BzzAgent. You also earn points for printing coupons from coupons.com! 🙂

*Associated Content – Associated Content pays for articles that are at least 400 words in length. Sometimes they issue calls for specific content that you can respond to and you can also submit articles on topics that are interesting to you. They typically pay more if you respond to a call for content. I typically receive $5-9 per article. They also pay you a monthly bonus based on page views. Payment is through Paypal and it is usually sent within a day or two of you being published. Click on the link on the sidebar if you are interested in joining.

*Garage sales/Ebay – Our neighborhood has a community garage sale about every six months (once in the spring and once in the fall). We take our profits from this and put half toward our Christmas fund and half toward our emergency fund. I also go through and sell things on Ebay throughout the year. In January and in June, we do a big clean out and list a bunch of things that we want to get rid of. It’s nice to get rid of junk that’s just been laying around our house and it’s even better when we get paid to do it!

*Rebates – In the past, I thought mail in rebates were mainly for big ticket items that you buy at electronics stores, but actually there are rebates for many household products, and if you have perfected CVSing, you get these items for free and then get a rebate on top of it. I have gotten more than $500 already in the past year just from doing rebates.

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Instant Win Wednesday

October 22, 2008 by

Here are a few instant win games for the week. Good luck!

Red Baron pizza instant win game: register to win a Wii, Nintendo DS and other great prizes:
http://www.redbaronpromotions.com/

From Oreo: register to win a trip to the Bahamas and a chance to meet Peyton & Eli Manning or register to win a DSLR training kit
http://www.nabiscoworld.com/oreo/dsrl/promotions.aspx

From Nabisco/Teddy Grahams: register to win a Build a Bear party for your child:
http://tms.promotions.com/bearsweeps/page.do?page=splash.html

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Cheap steaks!

October 22, 2008 by

Update on the Omaha Steak fiasco…. many people never received their rewards codes, or when they did, it ended up being for $25 off a $100 purchase. Others who took advantage of the “free” offers received e-mails from Omaha Steak after their orders had been confirmed and payments had been processed stating that they would not be receiving the free items.

I found this link which provided some explanation (I’m including the explanation from this blog below, too): http://beyondthegarden.org/2008/10/22/everybody-likes-free-cheap/#comments

For those of you who promptly responded to the offer that I was able to get in on with Omaha Steaks, but you were not – this is what happened.

I recieved an email that informed me anyone I had referred to the promo could no longer get “in on the action”. Evidently, Geico made a mistake of great magnitude. First of all – they were not to offer the $25 in the form of a ‘gift card’ (which indicates cash value), but rather a “rewards card”. Geico also did not follow instructions per Omaha Steaks that a person needed to purchase $100 worth of product before being able to use the “rewards”. Nor was anything said, because a gift card DOES indicate cash value, that the free burgers and ‘rewards card’ cannot be used together. So, after receiving an email, myself, today – I called customer service at Omaha Steaks.

Omaha Steaks bit the bullet and honored the promo for those of us who made the order before 10:00am this (Wednesday) morning, which was when Geico changed their links and exemptions to the program. Evidently this little mishap cost them a whole lot of money. I post this as a form of explanation as to why those of you who tried, did NOT get back a ‘gift card’ code via email.

This link also discusses the customer service issue: http://www.startupstoryradio.com/omaha-steaks-social-media-marketing-turned-internet-reputation-debacle/#comment-12893

This is an AWESOME deal! I got 18 Omaha steak burger patties, a cutlery set, and a cutting board shipped for only $3.98!

To access this deal, here’s what you need to do:
1. First, click on the link below and register for Geico Privileges. You don’t have to be a Geico customer. Within an hour or so they will send you an email with a gift card code for $25 off any Omaha purchase.

http://www.geicoprivileges.com/members/home.php?sid=26XXdKrlo2601

When you click on the link for the gift card code from your e-mail, it will take you to the Geico Privileges site. If you are not logged in, it will say that there is a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase. Log in, click on the link in your e-mail again, and you will be able to access your $25 code.

2. If you are an ebates member, click here:
http://www.ebates.com/search/all.htm?store_name=omaha+steaks

Then, click on the link that says: “Save up to 65% PLUS 3 FREE Gifts from Omaha Steaks.“

If you haven’t joined Ebates.com yet, now is the perfect time to join! If you join through this link, you will get a $10 bonus added to your account and you will also get 6% back on your Omaha Steaks purchase!
http://www.ebates.com/refer-a-friend/0809promo.htm?referrerid=%2BKE12Ia0hiKNhNAjtiRDTQ%3D%3D

3. At Omaha steaks put anything into your cart that equals at least $14.99. You can get 12 four ounce Omaha steak burgers for $14.99. You also get a bonus 6 free burgers, a 6 piece cutlery set, and a cutting board if you order through the ebates link above.

4. Go to checkout. You will see a charge of $13.99 for shipping, but your $25 gift card code will cover most of that!

Apply your gift card code. My remaining balance was $3.98. You can make the remainder of your payment using a major credit card or a Paypal account.

My burgers should be here within a week. I’m so excited!

TIP: If you did this last night, and you don’t get your code until this morning, make sure you open up a NEW tracking ticket through Ebates (using the 65% off link above) or you may not get credit

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Tip of the day Tuesday – How do I start couponing?

October 21, 2008 by

One of the biggest questions I get asked by people is….how do I start couponing? The easiest answer, of course, is to start buying a Sunday paper and clipping the coupons from the inserts. The question that always follows that response is, “How do I know what I should keep? Should I just keep everything or just coupons for the stuff that I need?”

From my experience, most people who start couponing are probably already on a budget. In an effort to save money, they have probably been buying a lot of store brand items because it seems like this is the cheapest way to go and if you are not using coupons, it probably is. They don’t coupon because they don’t think there are many things that they would use coupons for.

Since I have started couponing, I have become a lot less brand loyal (I still have my favorites of course, and my husband has certain brands that he will only use). I have also been able to try a lot of products that I would have never purchased before because I thought they were too expensive. For example, I am now hooked on Tide and All laundry detergent, but I would have never purchased either one of those brands before my coupon days because of the cost.

So…..as you start couponing, my suggestion would be to start thinking about what coupons you would really use. Spend some time looking through your pantry and your refrigerator and your bathroom cabinets. Make a list as you go of the items that you use and be willing to set brand loyalties aside (once you have been couponing for awhile, you will learn the sales cycles and you can stock up on your favorite brands, but in the beginning, it helps if you’re willing to try some other brands). In one way or another, you can pretty much find a coupon for most items that you use (we’ll get to that later!)

Here are a few tips on coupons:
*BOGO (buy one, get one free) coupons are GREAT to have. Many times, the stores will have a BOGO sale and if you combine the store sale with your BOGO coupon, both items will be free.

*If your stores double or triple coupons, lower amounts are better (.35 or .50) because you can get things for free when the stores have 10/$10 sales.

*If your stores don’t double or triple, the higher dollar amounts are better.

*If a coupon comes out for an item that you use regularly, try to get multiple coupons. Chances are it will be going on sale soon and you can stock up.

I belong to several trading sites, so I have created a “wish list” for coupons I will use. I am sharing it here because as you look at it, you might get ideas. I have been able to find coupons for all of these items.

IPs (Internet Printed coupons):
Fast Fixin’ chicken: http://www.fastfixin.com/fanatics.php?section=4&catid=4
these go 10/$10 all the time making them free

Colgate Fresh Burst Max or Total toothpaste: http://offers.e-centives.com/siflo/r…NjlmYTI5ZjY%3D

Other ISO:
100 calorie packs
Advil (good on Cold & Sinus products)
Arm & Hammer laundry detergent
Baked Lays/Baked Ruffles
Betty Crocker fruit snacks
Blue Bell ice cream
Bounce dryer sheets
Bumble Bee tuna
Bush’s baked beans
Carnation Instant breakfast
Cascade 2in1 action packs
Cattleman’s BBQ sauce
Charmin tissue
Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers, any
Chef Boyardee (good on ravioli, regular cans or microwaveable, not “big bowls”)
Cheeto’s
Chicken of the Sea tuna
Claritin (Good on “D”)
Clorox ReadyMop items
Colgate
College Inn (can be used on broth)
Cool Whip
Cottonelle tissue – OK for now
Crest
CVS – $/$ purchase (from mailers)
Daisy sour cream
Dawn Power dissolver spray
Dawn dish soap
Degree deodorant
Diet Coke
Dole canned fruits
Dole bagged lettuce/salad mixes
Dreyer’s ice cream (or Edy’s)
Edge shave gel
Eggo’s
Electrasol gel packs or 3 in 1 gel tabs
Excederin (good on any)
Fantastik cleaners
Fresh Express bagged lettuce or salad mixes
Frigo ricotta cheese
Gatorade
Gillette deodorant
Gillette Fusion razors/blades
GM/Kelloggs cereals (off 1 or 2)
Green Giant canned vegetables
Gymboree store coupons
Healthy Choice meals (good on frozen entrees)
Hefty/Gain trash bags (*any brand of trash bags is OK)
Hellman’s mayo
Herbal Essences
Hidden Valley Ranch (good on packets as well)
Hormel chili
Hormel Cure 81 ham
Hormel pepperoni
Hormel bacon bits
Hormel canned chicken
Huggies Clean Team
Huggies diapers
Huggies Pull Ups
Huggies Little Swimmers
Hunt’s snack packs
IAMS dog food (especially good on Natural line)
Jello (good on Jello or pudding)
Jif peanut butter
Jiffy mixes
Johnson and Johnsons
Juicy Juice
Kellogg’s cereals
Kellogg’s pop tarts
Kellogg’s fruit snacks
Ken’s marinades
Ken’s salad dressings
Kraft cheese (good on any or on cheese slices)
Kraft dressings
Kraft Macaroni and cheese
Kroger catalinas (LMK)
Lawry’s marinades
Lean Cuisine meals
Libby’s canned vegetables
Lipton sides/seasonings
Lunchables
Luvs diapers
Lysol toilet bowl cleaner
McCormick’s seasonings/packets (good on any)
Mission flour tortillas or wraps
Motts
Mrs. Bairds bread
Nabisco (good on Wheat Thins)
Nature Valley granola bars
Old El Paso (taco sauce, taco seasoning, beans, enchilada sauce)
Orange juice (Minute Maid/Tropicana)
Oscar Mayer hot dogs
Oscar Mayer lunch meat
Pace picante sauce or beans
Pampers diapers
Pampers wipes
Paper towels (preferably Bounty or Bounty Basic)
Pasta Roni
Pepperidge Farm goldfish
Peter Pan peanut butter
Pepsi
Pharmacy coupons that include a gift card when you sign up for a new prescription (esp. CVS, Kroger, Target)
Philadelphia cream cheese
Pillsbury Grands biscuits
Pillsbury crescent rolls
Pledge dusters
Prego
Pringles
Progresso soups
Purel
Purex laundry detergent
Puppy treats (T-Bone, Snawsomes, Puperoni, Milk Bone, etc.)
Quaker granola bars
Quaker rice cakes
Ragu
Reynolds crockpot liners
Reynolds release wrap
Rice a Roni
Ro-Tel
Rosarita refried beans (or any other brand of refried beans!)
Sara Lee bread
Sargento cheese
Schepps milk
Schick razors (good on blades, too)
Scrubbing Bubbles
Skippy peanut butter
Skinny Cow (good on milk or on the ice cream bars)
Skintimate shaving gel
Smucker’s Uncrustables
Sun-Maid raisins
Swansons broth (good on beef or chicken broth)
Swiffer dusters
Target store coupons (LMK what you have, CRTs work, too!)
Tide
Totino’s, Tony’s or Red Baron pizza
Tostitos
Tyson fresh chicken (.50/1 or $1/1)
Van Kamp’s pork & beans
Velveeta Shells & cheeseVelveeta cheese
Weight Watchers frozen entrees (good on Smart Ones)
Weight Watchers – I can use all kinds of stuff (the yogurt/smoothies/candy/muffins/etc.)
Wine tags good on meat or chicken, produce, cheese (NWPN)
Wishbone dressings
Ziploc bags

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