8.29.2011

Where are you most frugal?

These days many people are catching the frugal bug.  Money is tight, cost of living is up and most people need to stretch their dollars as far as they can make them go.

Each person has their own way of being frugal.  For some people, their whole lives revolve around being as frugal as possible, for others they may be frugal in a few areas, and yet for some, maybe they only make the occasional frugal choices.

Where do you fall in line?

I think I'm about somewhere in the middle - and I think that's probably a good place for my family to be.  We don't go all extreme and cut every corner we possibly can.  We don't make our own detergent, we have digital cable and we buy mostly new clothes, to name a few examples.

Of course, these non-frugal decisions are made possible by the other frugal decisions that we do make. 

We use cloth napkins for meals and old towels as rags for cleaning instead of using paper products.  We use regular dishes and hardly ever use paper plates, except when we're hosting a party with a large group. 

The avoidance of paper products is probably the area where we are most frugal.

What about you?  Where are you most frugal?


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Weekly Recap 8/21 - 8/27

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past week, 8/21/11 - 8/27/11. 

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$5.00........ Amazon.com gift card earned using the Swagbucks search engine
$0.34........ YouData (Paid to view ads!)
Total: $5.34

Coupon Savings
$11.95....... Payless (20% off coupon)
$3.01......... Great Clips
$14.40....... Lane Bryant
$0.90......... Dunkin Donuts (Free donut from survey on receipt)
$7.99......... JCPenney (Free shipping on orders of $49 with code: SHIP49)
$3.80......... Acme (Grocery coupons)
Total: $42.05

Freebies
2 Huggies Snug & Dry Diapers


Total 2011 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $1,178.49
Total 2011 Coupon Savings: $1,037.68

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

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8.23.2011

Free eBook: Chosen by Paula Bradley

Download the book, Chosen, by Paula Bradley for FREE!

This download is available from Amazon for your Kindle reader.  If you don't have a Kindle, simply download one of their free Kindle apps for your PC or phone.

To keep updated with other free eBook offers, as well as many other freebies, consider subscribing and/or following my blog through Google Friend Connect, Twitter or Facebook
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$10 Rebate on $20 Post-it or 3M labels purchase

Feeling the need to get organized and start labeling everything in sight?  Here's a great rebate opportunity for you.

Snag a $10 mail in rebate when you purchase $20 or more of any Post-it removable labels or 3M permanent labels.  This is good on purchases through December 31, 2011, so you have plenty of time to shop!

You'll need to print and mail this completed rebate form along with each product UPC and receipt or invoice.  Rebates need to be postmarked by 1/31/12 and received by 2/15/12.

Vistaprint
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8.21.2011

eBook Freebie: Escape From the World Trade Center

I'm always on the lookout for good ebook freebies to download to my Kindle.  Here we go with another one!

Get the new book, Escape From the World Trade Center, for free!  It's written by September 11th survivor, Leslie Haskin.  She details her escape down 36 floors of the World Trade Center.

Download this book to your Kindle, or if you don't have one, use one of their free apps for your PC or phone.
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Weekly Recap 8/14 - 8/20

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past week, 8/14/11 - 8/20/11. 

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$10.00...... Burger King gift card from redeeming MyPoints
$0.11........ YouData (Paid to view ads!)
Total: $10.11

Coupon Savings
$5.04...... Pete's Pizza
$50.72.... Kohl's (Kohl's cash redeemed, 20% off coupon and $10 free GC I got in the mail!)
$4.00...... Pizza Hut (Free personal pan from joining the Riversharks Kids Club!)
$5.00...... Dollar General
$5.54...... Acme (grocery coupons)
$3.50...... Friendly's
Total: $18.04

Freebies
Coupon for a free box of Ritz, Wheat Thins or Triscuit Crackers (up to $3.79) from redeeming My Coke Rewards
Free package of brownies (Store policy - it's free if it rings up wrong!)

Total 2011 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $1,173.15
Total 2011 Coupon Savings: $995.63

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

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8.15.2011

Weekly Recap 8/7 - 8/13

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past week, 8/7/11 - 8/13/11. 

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$5.00........ Amazon.com gift card from Swagbucks (Paid to search!)
$21.00..... Opinion Outpost surveys (referral income)
$6.10....... Amazon.com gift card from Opinion Outpost surveys
$20.00..... Dollar General gift cards (Store grand opening giveaway!)
Total: $52.10

Coupon Savings
$18.08..... Kohl's (15% off total purchase coupon + 20% off kid's apparel coupon!)
$7.03....... Walmart (grocery coupons)
Total: $25.11

Freebies
Coupon for a free 18 lb. bag of Purina Little Bites Dog Food (up to $13.99!)
Reusable shopping bag, t-shirt & cup from Dollar General Grand Opening
Coupon for a free 12-pack of Coke from My Coke Rewards
Stouffer's reusable shopping bag & Stouffer's product coupon from Stouffer's Dinner Club rewards


Total 2011 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $1,163.04
Total 2011 Coupon Savings: $977.59

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

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8.10.2011

Free sample of John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo

Sign up for a free sample of John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo.

This is a Walmart sample, so it's simple to sign up for and should come rather quickly.  Allow up to 4 weeks for delivery.

Find more freebies on the sidebar or by checking HERE.

Vistaprint



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8.09.2011

$10 CVS Gift Card for Just $5

So excited about this deal! 

Snag a $10 CVS gift card for just $5!!!  What a deal!  (You'll need to enter your email and zip code for the deal to show up.)

They'll email your gift card within 24 hours of purchase.  You simply print it out and use it in-store!

Act fast on this one, because they are very limited in the number of gift cards they have to sell at this discount.

Normally I don't pay too much attention to all those daily deal sites, because I don't want to fall into a trap of buying something that I never intended to or don't even need. BUT this one caught my eye and I'm so glad because it's deifinitely something we'll use!
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P&G Brand Sampler Freebies: Always Infinity, Head & Shoulders, Prilosec

Have you signed up with P&G Brand Sampler yet?  It's one of the great benefits of joining P&G Everyday Solutions.  They send out emails, coupons, and best of all - freebies!

Their current freebie offers are the Always Infinity Pads, Head & Shoulders Shampoo and Conditioner and Prilosec OTC.

You can sign up for one, two or all three at the same time! 

You need to be a member to receive the samples.  Sign up, it's quick and painless.  And FREE.  It you're already a member, keep in mind that you can only request samples once per quarter. 

Allow 4-6 weeks for your samples to arrive.



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8.08.2011

Weekly Recap 7/31 - 8/6

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past week, 7/31/11 - 8/6/11. 

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$17.89...... Ebates (Cash back for shopping!)
$5.00........ Amazon.com gift card from Swagbucks (Paid to search!)
$0.01........ YouData (Paid to view ads)
$5.04........ PayPal Rewards
Total: $27.94

Coupon Savings
$2.51..... Pete's Pizza
Total: $2.51

Freebies
Shape magazine (free year subscription)
Woman's Day magazine (free year subscription)
2 Free books downloaded to my Kindle from Amazon
Free activities, coloring books, fire hats for my kids at National Night Out in Ocean City, NJ
Iams coupon for a free bag of dog food, up to 8 lbs.

Total 2011 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $1,110.94
Total 2011 Coupon Savings: $952.48

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

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8.07.2011

Free 2012 Women's Health Calendar


It's put out by the US Department of Health & Human Services. It's full of tips and information to keep you at your healthiest.

Calendars should ship out in December. Allow 4-6 from then for delivery.
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8.05.2011

July Credit Card Debt Recap

At the start of 2011, Hubby and I had $13,402.24 in credit card debt.  Ughhh, right?  We got tired of living with it hanging over our heads and (with the help of a pay increase & some new motivation) have started to really tackle it. 

We used some savings to give us a good jumpstart and paid off a large part of the debt.  Since then we've boosted our savings back to where it needed to be, have continued to put money into savings on a weekly basis, and we're making extra payments to our credit cards, focusing on one at a time.  Here's a recap for the month of July.

At the beginning of July, our credit card totals looked like this:

Chase 1 - $0
Chase 2 - $0
CitiCard1 - $3,450.00
CitiCard2 - $4,012.25

Total - $7,462.25

And then at the end of July, our totals looked like this:

Chase 1 - $0
Chase 2 - $0
CitiCard1 - $2,980.00
Citicard2 - $3,950.00

Total - $6,930.00

So for the month of July, we paid off $532.25 in credit card debt. Yay!  Let's keep it going!

Our goal is to have the CitiCard1 paid off by March 2012.  That's when the 0% interest offer expires and obviously we really want to avoid paying any more interest than we already have from when this balance was on a higher interest card last year.

To meet this goal, it means we need to average $426 paid each month... just for the CitiCard1.  That's tough, but I'm confident that somehow we can make it work.  Check back next month, to see if we can keep up with our goal.

To see my previous posts about our debt payoff journey, go here.
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Canvas People: FREE 8x10 or $50 off any size canvas

Canvas People has a great promotion running right now, where you can score a FREE 8x10 canvas print of your favorite picture!


This is a $50 value!!!  And all you need to do is pay for shipping.  When I put my info in, the cost of shipping was $14.95 for shipping for the 8x10 canvas. 

Want something larger than an 8x10?  Choose any size larger and take $50 off.  So an 11x14, for example, is normally $64.99.  With this promotion, it'll be just $14.99!!!  Seriously, what a deal!

Bonus:  They're also offering 50% off additional canvases with 50% off shipping on those!
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8.04.2011

FREE Huggies Snug & Dry Diaper Sample (new link!)


You can choose between sizes 3-5.  Allow up to 4 weeks for your sample to arrive.  This is a Walmart sample, which usually comes pretty quickly though.

Oh, and I posted a link for a Snug & Dry sample a few weeks ago.  This is a new offer, so no worries, you can sign up for this one as well!
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Post-it Freebies: Durable Tabs and Storage Container Labels

Have you joined Post-it Perks yet?

I love their program!  They often send out Post-it product coupons as well as samples of many of their products.  The program is completely free!

Right now you can sign up for their program and their current freebies being offered.  Those freebies are Durable Tabs and Storage Container Labels.


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Weekly Recap 7/24 - 7/30

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received in the mail.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for last week, 7/24/11 - 7/30/11. 

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$10.00..... Dunkin Donuts gift card from credit card rewards
Total: $10.00

Coupon Savings
$27.69...... Acme
$8.05........ Old Navy (10% off coupon code) Plus I'll get 3% cash back for shopping through ShopAtHome! (I'll count that when I receive it.)
$5.02........ Pete's Pizza
Total: $40.76

Freebies
3 Free books downloaded to my Kindle from Amazon

Total 2011 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $1,083.00
Total 2011 Coupon Savings: $949.97

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

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8.01.2011

Free Life Savers Mints - TODAY ONLY!

Today only, you can snag a coupon for a FREE 85-count bottle for Life Savers Mints!

Go on over to their Facebook page and Like them.  Then take the Summer Carpool Pledge and you'll have access to the coupon for your free bottle of Life Savers Mints.

Every Monday in August, they'll be offering various coupons, while supplies last.  So be sure to check back!

Thanks so much to Frugally Thrifty for sharing this deal!
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