Archive for June, 2008
{ June 30, 2008 @ 8:40 pm }
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{ Groceries, Shopping }
{ Tags: CVS, Family Owned Markets, Giant, Wal-Mart, Walgreens }
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Here are some details I have found for this week:
CVS at Coupon Cravings
I stopped by my local CVS today and summer items are 75% off. I purchased a toy Mickey Mouse cellphone for $1 and a plastic outdoor golf set for $1.50 – both for my son. These deals did not ring up correctly, so my cashier had to adjust the prices. Be sure to check your receipt before you leave the store.
Walgreens at The Centsible Sawyer
Target at The Centsible Sawyer
Wal-Mart at BeCentsAble
Giant at Moms Need to Know
The Family Owned Markets are having a good deal on General Mills cereal. If you purchase 4 boxes of cereal, you receive $6 off. Combining $3 worth of cereal coupons, I spent less than $5 for 4 boxes of cereal.
Colgate toothpaste is also on sale for $1.25 each. I had a $1 coupon, so I got a tube of toothpaste for $.25!
{ June 29, 2008 @ 8:46 pm }
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{ Shopping }
{ Tags: Old Navy, Target, Chadwicks, The Children's Place, Kohl's }
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This afternoon my husband had to stop at a store to pick up something, so I went to nearby Old Navy during that time. A lot of items are 50% off, making several things decent deals. I found several shirts for $7.25 (for myself), as well as some shirts for my son for $3.75 each. I am not sure how long the 50% off sale will continue. You may want to check their website before you go, or call your local store to make sure the sale is still on.
Multi-Tasking Mama reported last week she found some children clearance items for less than $2 at Target. I just checked the boys clothing department at Target and there are quite a few items that have free shipping with a $50 order. There are 4 pages of boys clothing that are $5 or less (all of which have the free shipping mentioned above). Just change the search to sort from low to high price to allow the cheap items to show up first.
And sorry for the late notice, but if you order from Chadwicks.com today (June 29, 2008), they will pay you $5 to ship a $20+ order to yourself. Use promocode: CHNEGATIVE
Kohl’s is having $.99 per item shipping through Thursday, July 2.
The Children’s Place is also having a sale, $7.99 or less on selected items.
Feel free to pass along any deals you find at these or other stores. Happy Shopping!
{ June 28, 2008 @ 4:32 pm }
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{ Uncategorized }
{ Tags: rewards, surveys }
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I joined MyPoints.com in 2003. MyPoints.com is a website that sends you emails and allows you to accumulate points. With your points, you can “buy” rewards. I’ve used my MyPoints to get several gift cards – Barnes & Noble, Panera Bread, and Target. MyPoints sends me several emails every day, and I receive 5 points for each email I read (and click). Points can also be obtained by printing out and using coupons from their website as well as placing online orders. If you are logged into your MyPoints account, you choose the website you want to order from, and MyPoints will reward you with so many points for each dollar you spend online. If you are interested in becoming a MyPoints member, let me know and I’ll email you a referral. By the way, it’s free.
More recently, I joined e-Rewards.com – this website allows you to accumulate money and spend it on rewards. Two of the rewards I have gotten are a subscription to Harper’s Bazaar (magazine) and $15 Borders Rewards. I currently have $50 in my account, but have not decided what I want to “buy” next. e-Rewards does not seem to have the selection of rewards that MyPoints has, but I can accumulate money much faster with e-Rewards than with MyPoints.
There are many other websites that give you rewards for taking surveys, reading emails, etc. I also joined MySurvey.com and CHOOZZ but I am not too impressed with these sites. It’s been several months and I have not gotten any rewards yet.
RewardTV.com is a website for TV show lovers. If you watch TV shows on TV (not using a DVR) you can take a short survey about the TV show the next day and receive points for your correct answers. My problem with the site is that we almost always DVR our shows and watch them a day or two later. But the surveys at RewardTV are only available the day after they air. So I am not able to take surveys for most of the shows I watch.
Mommy Snacks has several survey sites listed in a blog entry with additional information about survey websites.
{ June 27, 2008 @ 10:48 am }
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{ Free }
{ Tags: FreeCycle }
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A year or more ago, I heard a friend mention FreeCycle.org. I had never heard of it before, and she went on to explain that it’s a website where people give things away for free. The main idea is to help decrease the amount of trash by giving things away to people who can use them. (Broken items are also given away, but are noted accordingly, usually for people to use the parts.)
FreeCycle is broken down into regions, that way it’s actually possible to pick something up at someone’s house. My region’s FreeCycle is a Yahoo group. I receive a few emails each day full of people giving something away or looking for something. Sofas, TVs, dvds, books, desks, food, all kinds of things are being given away or requested. When someone has something (or several things) to give away, they will post their offer, location, and sometimes a description. Typically the first person to reply or the person who can pick the item(s) up the quickest will get them. It seems that most people will set up a time to the item(s) to be picked up, usually a porch or driveway pick up. Sometimes people do not show up, and the person will re-offer the item.
So if you have things you don’t use anymore, and you don’t want to go to the trouble of having a garage sale, sign up for FreeCycle and give it away. And you may just find some treasures for yourself too.
{ June 26, 2008 @ 10:16 am }
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{ Books, Free, Movies/TV }
{ Tags: audiobooks }
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In a world where everything seems to be going up in price, it’s nice to take advantage of “free” things once in a while. Or as often as possible. 
Librivox.org is a website I discovered a few years ago, thanks to a NYTimes.com article. Librivox.org is a website full of downloadable audiobooks. Only public domain books are recorded, which are works that were published 95 or more years ago. Before you decide you don’t care because you don’t like old books, let me tell you that there are a lot of classics, as well as poems available. The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, The Wizard of Oz, Aesop’s Fables, Robinson Crusoe, The War of the Worlds are just a few of the 1500+ recordings available. The audiobooks are complete versions and can be downloaded to listen to on your computer or on your mp3 player. Librivox.org is maintained completely by volunteers and they are always looking for more help. Their goal is to make every public domain book a free audiobook.
Hulu.com is a new website that allows you to download TV shows or movies to watch on your computer. Although most TV networks have free show downloads on their sites, Hulu brings everything together on one website, making life just a little simpler. I believe the entire collection of Arrested Development is available at Hulu, as well as some of The Simpsons episodes, ALF, The Office, House, to name a few.
Your local library is another great resource for books, magazines, and movies. Our library has a nice selection of children’s dvds, as well as family movies, which are available to borrow for one week. So the next time you feel like renting a movie, check your local library, they just may have it.
{ June 25, 2008 @ 9:23 pm }
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{ Coupons }
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Coupons can save you money if you use them wisely. But just because you have a coupon for a particular item doesn’t mean you have to buy that item. My main grocery store doubles coupons up to $1, but they do not accept internet coupons. My secondary grocery store accepts coupons, but does not double them; they also do not accept internet coupons.
Over the last few months, I’ve started spending more time looking for internet coupons; I can use them at my local CVS and Walmart. Several times I have been able to get items for free or for a few cents when using coupons. There are several internet coupon websites listed on the left hand side of this website. Hotcouponworld.com is a great help, there is a coupon database that allows you to search for a coupon, and it will tell you when it was in a newspaper or a link to download the coupon.
P&G is giving a coupon booklet that you can sign up to receive. It is full of useful coupons, including a free coupon for Cascade Rinse.
We receive our local Sunday paper. We received the paper for several years and then decided not to renew our subscription. After several months, we chose to start getting the paper again and were given a great deal, $1 per week and now we get the Saturday morning paper for free. I know I use more than $52 worth of coupons a year, so we will continue to subscribe to the paper as long as we can keep this great price.
Some other ways to get coupons are by signing up for email and mailing lists for your favorite companies. Even though my son is no longer wearing diapers, I still receive Huggies and Pampers coupons in the mail. Usually they include coupons for soap or shampoo and I can still use those coupons.
Using coupons does take some organization. I have a small plastic divider, with 10 or so separate sections for different types of coupons. Some people use 3 ring binders – there are many ways to organize coupons. Find what works for you and use it to save yourself money.
{ June 24, 2008 @ 10:59 pm }
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{ Food }
{ Tags: pick your own }
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Today my son and I went shopping with my mom and my sister. Shenk’s Berry Farm is very close to my parents house, so after shopping, we picked some red and black raspberries. The raspberries are $3.65/lb and are a better deal by picking them myself than buying them at the store. For the most part, as long as you are not driving too far to pick the fruit, you can save money if you are able to pick your own. This farm is definitely not near by house, but I decided that since I was in the area, I would pick what I could.
Stauffer’s Fruit Farm (430 Panorama Drive, Denver, PA – (717) 445-6977) has cherries this week. Pick your own for $.90/ lb. I checked their location on mapquest and it’s 11 miles away. So depending on how many pounds of cherries I pick, it may or may not be worth my while.
I came across this website that has some information about pick your own places in the Lancaster area. I have not checked into the places on this website, so I cannot guarantee you can pick your own. Please send me any information on pick your own farms in the Lancaster area.
My plan (tomorrow) is to make some freezer black raspberry jam. I hope it turns out! Making your own jam is both cheaper than store bought jam and is usually healthier, since less preservatives are added.
{ June 22, 2008 @ 10:00 pm }
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{ Food }
{ Tags: meals }
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Sundays are my meal planning days. I don’t remember exactly when I started planning meals, but it’s been a few years. By planning meals, it saves me time and money. Each day, I know what meal I will be making and can plan my day accordingly. Grocery ads typically come out on Sundays and I use them to plan what I will buy. I try to incorporate sale items and my already purchased pantry and freezer items into my weekly meals. On Monday mornings, I do my main grocery shopping trip, and sometimes later in the week, I may visit another near by grocery store for additional items and/or produce.
My plan for this week:
Monday: pita bread pizza
Tuesday: chicken adobo
Wednesday: spaghetti and meatballs
Thursday: crockpot broccoli and three cheese soup
Friday: waffles
Saturday: ham & cheese poppyseed sandwiches
Sunday: leftovers or grilled cheese or egg sandwiches
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