Gift Giving Deals Round Up!

...Planning to give a family member a photo gift for Christmas? Currently, Canvas People has a great deal going on where you can get an 8x10 canvas print for FREE (plus shippig, which is $14.95). But this is where it gets really good! If you shop through Cashbaq, you will get $6 back. PLUS, if you aren't a member yet, you will get $5 back for just signing up! So that's $11 extra dollars coming back you to in rebate form, making the 8x10 canvas print cost only $3.95!! What a deal! Here's what to do...

- Head on over to Cashbaq and set up an account.
- In the search box, enter Canvas People, and click on the top option that says "Free 8x10 after $6 rebate"
- Follow the instructions from there, and you will have your free print!

What a great holiday (almost) freebie!!

...Swagbucks is offering up great deals on gift cards during the month of December! Each day they will be offering a different gift card at a discount "swagbucks" rate! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for what cards are marked down each day, it could be a good way to get some practically free gift cards, and at a discount at that!!

...If you have a beer conesuer on your list this year? Then head on over to Pottery Barn and pick up a customized beer mug for only $7! You can get up to 8 charecters per line...and two lines! Monogramming and shipping is free...so $7 will be your total OOP for this unique gift!

...Giving gifts that require batteries? Or just need to stock up on batteries for the loads of gifts you know that YOUR kids will get requiring batteries? Then head on over to Staples and you can get a 20 pack of Duracell batteries for FREE after Staples Reward! Just sign up for a Rewards Card, then purchase a 20 pack of AA or AAA Duracell batteries for $12.99 and you'll get back $12.99 back in Staples Rewards. This deal can be done twice per week (per household) until December 24. That's a lot of free batteries!!

...If you haven't gotten your 50 Christmas cards for only $3.95 (just shipping) yet then today is your LAST DAY to do so!! Just head on over to SeeHere and you will get to order 50 FREE customizable photo Christmas cards (with envelopes!!), just pay $3.95 s&h...which is still an AMAZING deal!! But remember....TODAY IS THE LAST DAY for this deal!! So hurry over!! This is a deal that can't be beat!!

Lastly, today is Cyber Monday, so there will be a lot of great deals going on! I have to work all day and will miss most of it, but just head on over to Hip to Save and she will be blogging all of the fab deals as she finds them! The few I've seen already are pretty hot, so today could be your day to finish Christmas shopping on a budget without even leaving your house!!

Happy Holiday Shopping (on a budget!)!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! I hope your day is full of time spent happily with family and eating (far too much) delicious food!

Ways to Save - Thanksgiving Edition!

Thanksgiving is a part of my most favorite time of the year! I love the cozyness of this time of year! The time spent with family, the good food, the general merriment of it all. But don't let the costs associated with preparing a Thanksgiving meal scare you. There are many great ways to save money at Thanksgiving while still pulling off a fabulous meal and time spent with family!

...Cook and Bake from Scratch! It's a common known fact that making things from scratch is by far cheaper than buying them premade from the store, and the same rule applies to Thanksgiving! It may take a little extra time on your part, but homebaking and homecooking istead of buying premade will save you a substantial amount of money!

...If you are hosting family for Thanksgiving, don't feel like you have to make it all! Ask each attendee to bring an item for the meal. My extended family always celebrates Thanksgiving together, and one family brings the turkey, another the stuffing, another the potatoes and cranberries, etc. If everyone pitches in then just one person won't feel the crunch.

...If you decorate for Thanksgiving, Money Saving Mom put together several cute decorations with paper last year. Head on over here to check out her adorable Thanksgiving decorations!

...Bigger is better! When picking out the turkey, consider getting a bigger one than what you really need. This will cost more money out of pocket up front, but in the end you will save money since you will be able to repurpose the leftover turkey into other meals after the holiday. You can make turkey and dressing for sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey casserole, or just freeze it for future use.

...Use your crockpot! Crockpots use far less energy per hour than the oven. Stephanie over at Year of Slowcooking put together several recipes for your meal. Check it out here!

To see more great money saving ideas, check out Frugal Friday over at Life as Mom!

Holiday Gift Giving Deals Round Up!

Here are the latest and greatest deals to stretch your Christmas shopping budget a little further! This week's a hot week...I got a lot of Christmas gifts out of the way thanks to these deals!

...Get a personalized photo ornament for TOTALLY FREE!! Free ornament AND free shipping! This would make a great gift for anyone on your list. Just go here and sign up. Then click on "photo gifts" and then on ornaments. Pick one of the two $12.99 ornaments (these are the only ones that work for this deal). Once you are done personalizing the ornament, head to checkout and use the promo code mallornament which should take your total down to $0.00!!

...Is someone on your list an avid baker or love to cook? Then head on over to Taste of Home where they are having their annual $5 cookbook sale! These books are marked down from $24+ to just $5! Plus, if you spend $20 or more you can get free shipping! Just enter promo code LST02 at checkout! But hurry! They are selling fast...and once they're gone, they're gone!

...Planning on getting a gift card for someone on your list? If you have $40 in coins and cash lying around, then head over to Coinstar, where you can turn it into a gift card with no fee! If you take your $40 in and turn it into a gift card before December 6, Coinstar will add $10 to your gift card, making it a $50 value! What a deal! Head on over here to learn more about this promotion!
...Head on over here to print a new coupon for Bath and Body works to get a FREE Signature Collection travel size item with ANY purchase! This coupon is good for any item up to $5! What a deal! There are many inexpensive things in the store that will make this a really great deal! The pocket size hand sanitizers are only $1.50. So for $1.50+tax you can have a travel size hand sanitizer PLUS a travel size anything else you want!! These would make GREAT stocking stuffers for anyone on your list! But hurry, this coupon expires December 2!

...There's a great article over here that talks about a zero based Christmas budget. There's a lot of great ideas! Hopefully you can find a few that will work for you!

Super Savings Saturday - 11/14

The cooking soups went on rollback right on time this year! I just used my last can of cream of mushroom soup last week and was down to about 2 cans of cream of chicken. I will be stocking up even more so this year than I did last since I've been cooking more than I was a year ago right now. I just need chicken broth to go on rollback now as well!

Total OOP before coupons & MIR - $16.74
Total OOP after coupons & MIR - $8.04
Total Savings - $8.70 (52%)

Target...

Not pictured are several Halloween decorations picked up at 90% off!

Total OOP before coupons - $91.60
Total OOP after coupons - $2.82
Total Savings - $88.78 (97%)

HyVee...

My OOP here probably wouldn't be as high if I didn't so desperately need fruit. I'm waiting for a really good sale on shelf stable fruit, but nothing is coming around!

Total OOP before coupons - $27.94
Total OOP after coupons - $10.62
Total Savings - $17.32 (62%)

Family Dollar...

Total OOP before coupons - $22.47
Total OOP after coupons - $1.47
Total Savings - $21.00 (93%)

Walgreens...

I am falling in love with my Walgreens all over again! They have had every item in stock that I've been needing to complete my transactions as planned for the past couple of weeks and it's been such a relief to have things go as planned!

Total OOP before coupons, MIR's & RR earned - $37.51
Total OOP after coupons, MIR's & RR earned - 51 cents
Total Savings - $37.00 (99%)

CVS...

Two months later and they finally had their Free after ECB school supplies in stock that I had rainchecks for. Combined with some great CRT's that printed out at the kiosk I was really able to make those rainchecks work for me!

Total OOP before coupons, MIR's & ECB's earned - $29.88
Total OOP after coupons, MIR's & ECB's earned - $4.10 MONEYMAKER!
Total Savings - $33.98 (114%)

To see more great savings, check out Super Savings Saturday over at Money Saving Mom!

Ways To Save with Baby

Hubs and I are starting to think about the upcoming expenses of our soon coming baby. Only six months you know! Here are some of the ways that we've already been saving in preparation of our little bundle of joy...

...Ask around for used equipment. You will be surprised at who you find that is ready to unload some baby gear for close to nothing or just pennies! I work at a daycare, and my boss approached me earlier this week asking if I needed a bouncy seat or swing. Turns out the daycare had several bouncy seats that they no longer used, one of which was in brand new condition with a massager and other (probably unnecessary) features, that they gave me for free! So that's one thing crossed completely off our list!

...Start shopping sales now! As I see diaper sales going on, I stock up! If you start shopping the sales now and stockpiling, you won't have to worry about paying full price once the baby gets here! So far I've been able to stockpile 4 packs of diapers and LOTS of nearly cheap wipes!

...Save those Swagbucks! I've been looking around at cribs, and all the ones I like are pretty spendy. But I'm okay with spending a little extra money as I plan on this crib lasting us through all of our children. I finally found the one I want over at Amazon, for considerably less than the big box stores are asking. So I'm saving up the Amazon gift cards that I get for free with my Swagbucks and am planning on using those to pay for the crib in full!

...Sign up for lots of baby freebies! I've been signing up for all kinds of baby freebies...diapers, free baby magazine subscriptions, formula samples, etc. It's not much, but every little bit helps, and a few diaper samples will eventually add up to a few days' worth of diapers! PLUS...most freebies come with coupons, even high value ones!

...Sign up for baby newsletters and to be on baby companies mailing lists! Many companies offer welcome packs with samples and coupons for signing up for their lists as a congratulations on your pregnancy gift! So don't be shy to sign up for newsletters and mailing lists to your favorite baby companies!

To see more great money saving tips, check out Frugal Friday over at Life as Mom! (and I will be sharing more ways to save with baby in future weeks!)

Holiday Gift Giving Deals Round Up!

I promised a week and a half or so ago that I would weekly post some deals to help you with your Christmas shopping. I missed last week, so here's some deals that you can get right now for gift giving (or even a little something for yourself!)

...Get a year's subscription of Cooking Light from Amazon for only $5! This is a super hot deal, since the list price is $50 for a years subscription! I got a subscription for myself, and am considering getting one for a family member as well! But you better jump on it soon, this won't last long!

...Head on over to Money Saving Mom to learn how to get 4 classic games for only $4.95! These would make great Christmas presents for any kids on your list!

...If you head on over to Viewpoints before November 13 and write 5 qualifying reviews, you can get up to a $5 Barnes and Noble gift card for your time! This most likely wouldn't get you any free merchandise, but if you get a clearanced book and use the gift card (and a coupon if one comes out!) then you can have a nearly free Christmas present crossed off your list! Head on over here to learn more about this promotion.

...If you have anyone who is asking for gift cards this season, many retailers are offering a free gift card if you buy one. For example, I was at Carlos O' Kelly's last night and they are offering a free $10 gift card when you buy a $50 gift card. Nice incentive if you were already planning on getting the gift card anyways!

...I mentioned last time that you should sign up for Bed, Bath and Beyond's mailing list, as they send out coupons pretty frequently! Two weeks ago I got a coupon for $5/$15 and last week I got a coupon for 20% off ANY ITEM in the store! What a great way to get a little more bang for your gift giving buck!

If you see any deals or know of a special promotion going on, don't hesitate to email me and I'll include it in my next Gift Giving Round Up!

Happy Holiday Shopping!

Super Savings Saturday - November 7

I've tried something new with my grocery budget money last month and it really worked out, so I'm going with it again this month. Instead of giving myself x amount of dollars per pay period, I'm giving myself the whole month's grocery budget on the 1st of the month and get no more until next month. It's been working out really well, and I like that I have the availability to stock up on the weeks I need to no matter what! So here is last Saturday's haul...

WalMart...

Total OOP before coupons - $25.11
Total OOP after coupons - 86c MONEYMAKER
Total Saved - $26.83 (103%)

Walgreens...

Total OOP before coupons and RR earned - $23.34
Total OOP after coupons and RR earned - $1.16 MONEYMAKER
Total Savings - $24.50

Target...

Total OOP before coupons - $28.37
Total OOP after coupons - $7.94
Total Savings - $20.43 (72%)

HyVee...

Total OOP before coupons - $15.00
Total OOP after coupons - $3.00
Total Savings - $12.00 (80%)

Fareway...

Total OOP before coupons - $6.99
Total OOP after coupons - $3.99
Total Savings - $3.00 (43%)

Family Dollar...

Total OOP before coupons - $15.00
Total OOP after coupons - $1.05 (all tax)
Total Savings - $13.95 (93%)

CVS...

Total OOP before ECB's earned - $9.99
Total OOP after ECB's earned - $9.99
Total Savings - $9.99 (100%)

Other Stores...

These aren't included in my grocery shopping totals, but they were all purchased at deep discount, so I wanted to share :)

Kum & Go...20 oz. bottle of Coke - FREE with coupon, total savings - 100%
Victoria's Secret...3 pairs of panties - $5.35 w/ coupon, total savings 76%
Bath & Body Works...2 bottles of hand sanitizer - $1.50 for two w/ coupon, total savings 50%

To see how others did this week, check out Super Savings Saturday over at Money Saving Mom!

September/October Goal Update and November Goals

Sorry there wasn't an update for October! I started one, but then had to leave the computer for some reason or another and it just never got finished. Now that I'm feeling better and not (quite) so tired all the time here's a two month update!

...Get credit card debt completely paid off!
We've finally heard back from the IRS on why our return is 4 months late at this point...because they "let it expire". We've had a lot of run around with them, and they finally sent us documentation to fill out and they will "evaluate from there". How very frustrating this is getting!

...Make triple payments on house once CC debt is paid off
I think that this is a lofty goal which I would like to get rid of. I've had it for a year and have yet to do it. Things have changed yet again, and my paychecks are now needing to be used for bills as our winter expenses have risen some. I'm going to focus on getting this IRS mess figured out and finish out the debt from there and then worry about bigger house payments.

....Find new ways to make money from home.
This has again gone on the back burner. Now that I'm working and my paychecks are purely "extra" money, I've not been as concerned about this goal. I still do the same things as in the past, YouData, Swagbucks, MyPoints, etc. I just haven't been into researching new techniques.

....Get emergency savings account built up to one years expenses
All extra income is continuing to go into savings. Other than that, we've been focusing our extra money from paychecks on debt, Christmas expenses and other misc. expenses.

Couponing Goals...

...Accumulate as many gift cards as possible
In the last two months I earned $30 in Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks. I've decided that I'm saving these gift cards up for the baby's crib. I've found one on Amazon that I really like, and we're over halfway to having it paid in full with gift cards from Swagbucks.

....Get back in the rebate game
In the past two months, I have sent out for a whole 6 rebates totaling $34.56. I recieved $49.89 back from previously sent out forms.

September Goals Update...

...Start planning shopping trips better. I'd like to see my after coupon/rebates/RR/ECB/gift cards totals below 10% on the dollar most of the time.
I haven't stayed TOTALLY under 10% on the dollar, but I've been keeping it close. I've kept most all of my trips above 50%. I'd say that about half of my transactions are under 10% on the dollar.

...Begin evaluating winter needs (i.e. weatherization this house will need, planning for higher electric bills due to heat being on, etc.)
Winter hit early here. It has been in the 30's at night, and anywhere in the 40's and 50's during the day. So I didn't really have time to "prepare" persay. While the bills haven't been AS BAD as I was expecting, I now need to figure out ways to get our house ready for the "real" winter.

...Add 10% to savings (which means 10% of what we currently have is the amount that I would like to add)
I don't think that we did this. A lot of unplanned expenses hit us while I was on my blogging break.

...Prepare for hubs' work trip to Florida in October.
We were able to send some money along with him for personal expenses and he budgeted it wisely while on his trip. He brought home what was leftover and we filtered it into our gas budget.

November Goals...

...Get house ready for winter
...Be very organized in my Christmas gift shopping and keep OOP expenses very low.
...Get back into the habit of homemaking items that are cheaper homemade than store bought.

To see how others are doing and to read an inspirational monthly goal post, check out the Monthly Financial Checkup over at MoneySavingMom!