Wednesday, December 21, 2011

A blessing and a curse

I am grateful for all the money I save with coupons and good bargains.  However, sometimes it can be a curse.  I am constantly buying something specifically because I have a coupon, and then forgetting to use the coupon.  Or I make a special trip to the store, only to find out the bargain is not as good as it sounded on the website, leaving me with the dilemma of whether or not to make it a wasted trip, or get it anyway.  Just yesterday I was putting away my groceries and realized I never took off the peelie coupon to give it to the cashier, so I lost a dollar!  And today I went to JCPenney because I had a $10 off $10 coupon, but I ended up wasting so much time wandering around the store.  I didn't want to spend much more than $10, but I wanted to get something that someone in our family actually needed.  I settled on a 12.99 fleece pullover for Mitch, but I wasn't sure on the size.  I got up to the register only to find out if I returned it, I would lose my $10 off, getting only 2.99 back.  Rrrggghhh!  So stressful!  It can seriously be a blessing and a curse.  My mom has gently reminded me that I need to just concentrate on the money that I DO save.  But I can't help it.  Every time I get home and realize I forgot to use coupons, or that I didn't get as good of a deal as I could have, I feel sick.

I'm glad that I have learned to be more thrifty with my shopping.  But once in awhile I miss the guilt free shopping days.  Does anyone else have this problem???

Friday, December 9, 2011

Are you sick of me helping you yet Hope?

http://hip2save.com/2011/12/08/vistaprint-custom-photo-calendar-only-5-67-shipped-2/


One more link for a cheap calendar.  Just be warned, it won't be here in time for Christmas, at least not with the cheapest shipping option.  I ordered some return address labels, and they took almost the full three weeks!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Amazon, Melissa and Doug

A lot of Melissa and Doug toys are on sale for 50% off today only at amazon.com! I'm going to get some play food.

And now it's time for me to look into Amazon Mom thanks to Hope's suggestion!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Photo Calendar

Hope, my Mom told me today that photo calendars are B1G2 free on Snapfish right now.  Sounds like a good deal if you have multiple to do!  Good luck!

Amazon Mom

Becoming an Amazon Mom was on of the BEST online decisions I've ever made. I've been a member for 4 months and have saved hundreds! Free shipping and discount products makes it amazing, now we get free instant streaming movie rental and free ebook rental.

Sign up and you get free prime membership for 3 months, then you can extend your free membership once a month for up to a year, by filling your quota in purchases.

Subscribe and Save gets you an even larger discount. Don't be afraid to select the subscribe and save to get the extra 35% discount on baby items - and then when your shipment comes in just remember to unsubscribe! I always choose the every 6mo shipment to give me plenty of time to remember to unsubscribe.

Kind of a brief rundown, feel free to ask questions if you want to know more about this amazing program. There's also one available for students!

The Help Coupon and some Scenarios

Meijer is having their Santa Bucks sale! Love, love love, this sale - nothing like high dollar coupons to use on basically anything you want.

The Help - Blue ray combo pack $22.99
$5.00 The Help coupon for any combo pack
$3.00 off Santa Bucks any item 14.97 and up

Making the Blue-ray combo pack only $14.99!!

The regular DVD version of The Help is $16.99

Amazon:
$19.99 Combo pack.
$5 Coupon (see link above)
$14.99 Prime Members get shipping free

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Target Deals

I got some great deals at Target today, thanks to the Target coupons that are out right now.  For $16.38 I got a sweater, three items from the dollar section for stocking stuffers, four boxes of cereal, and two packages of trail mix.  If anyone else is as big of a fan of trail mix as we are, then now is a great time to get some.  The Archer Farms gourmet kinds (SUPER yummy) are on sale for 2.50 each, and there is a target coupon for 1.50 off two, making them 1.75 each.  Great price for trail mix.  Also, there are some good Target coupons for clothing.  My favorite is the $4 off a women's sweater.  If you can find one off the clearance rack like I did, this makes for a really great deal! Mine was even a bit of a stretch. I got a cardigan (the kind that is longer in the front) off the clearance rack for $7 something.  It was cotton, and only 3/4 sleeves, but the guy ringing me up was an older man who didn't even question it being a sweater!  So I got it for a little over $3!  Score!

Happy Shopping

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Snapfish card code

I was a little bummed that I had to create my Christmas cards later than I wanted to this year, but it meant that I ended up getting a better coupon code at Snapfish then I previously had. There are probably better deals out there, but I have been a Snapfish customer for awhile and I love their variety. If you order your Christmas cards through them by 12/11 using coupon code CARDSFS40, you get 40% off and FREE SHIPPING! BOTH! I felt like I got a really good deal. Plus the more sets you buy, the cheaper the individual card. Merry Christmas!

Deal Wanted: Photo Calendars

If you hear of a deal on photo calendars let me know! I'm in charge of the calendars this year and I have no idea where to start to look.

Thanks!!

Friday, December 2, 2011

The Children's Place

Hello. This is nothing too fancy, but I have an extra coupon good for 20% off all your purchases through January 2, 2012 for The Children's Place. If anyone would like it, let me know: marinda0109 at hotmail dot com. I've used mine a couple times and it gives a little edge on even the sale priced items.

--Marinda

Thursday, December 1, 2011

E-Reader Owners

One of my favorite deals is finding free kindle books. Some "deal blogs" I frequent have them - except like Stephanie said earlier there's so much more junk you have to sort through, plus I find so many more on my own.

If there are any E-reader owners that would like me to post the free books I find, I'm more than willing to post them! Most of the books change monthly or bi-weekly. I have about 200 books on my kindle (owned it for 6mo) and I've only purchased two both under $1.00.

But I don't want this to be yet another too many deals to sort through blog, so if not, I'll keep them to myself
: D

Meijer Tips

Okay this is for Lindsay (and anyone else who would like more tips on saving at Meijer).  As I mentioned before, I could use some help in the grocery saving dept, so if anyone has anything to add, please do!!!

Lindsay, I am so glad you are back by a Meijer!  I would definitely miss it if I were to ever move away.  I just haven't found a store that compares with the prices and produce quality combined.  And since I hate stopping multiple places to get groceries, Meijer is the store for me!

Anyway, here are my three tips for Meijer:;

1. Meijer Mealbox coupons.  You can access this on Meijer's main page.  They have coupons that are smaller in value, such as save $1 off four, however they can be used along with a manufacturer coupon.  So that makes it great!  These are coupons that you actually print out.

2. MPerks: You can also access this on Meijer's main page.  If I weren't so lazy I would include the link, but I am trying to stay true to my resolve not to make this blog another place that I spend too much time!  Anyway, this is a link to more Meijer coupons, except that you clip these online and never print them.  What you do is type in your phone number and password when you are checking out.  There is a spot in the corner of the electronic keypad where you use a debit card.  As long as you clipped the coupon prior, and then type in your numbers before you pay, the amount will automatically come off.  I love that you don't have to print anything.  My only downfall is that I sometimes get so caught up in checking out and dealing with the kids, that I forget to push the buttons.  I just did this today, and was so bummed because I had at least one coupon on there that I could have used.  These are also Meijer coupons, so they can be used along with Manufacturer coupons.  Once in awhile they have coupons that are just $2 off your entire purchase.  You'll get one of these when you sign up!

3. I use a couple of websites that list all the Meijer sales, along with the coupons that are out there to use.  They will mention if there is a Meijer mealbox coupon or an MPerks one as well.  The two that I use are bargainbriana.com and dealseekingmom.com.  If anyone has other ones that they like, please share!!!

Hope that helps you get started!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Hello Everyone!

I've wanted to start this blog for awhile.  If you were invited, it means you are someone that I know appreciates a good bargain, and maybe even gets into the couponing, on some scale.  As for myself, I have been on all ends of the spectrum as far as couponing and bargain shopping.  Okay not all ends...I have always shopped for sales and clearances.  However, I have fallen off the bandwagon a little with using coupons at the grocery store.  I have gotten frustrated with the amount of time I put into it, often to get to the store and find the shelves either cleared or the deal scenario to not be what it was supposed to.  This has evolved into me using less coupons at the grocery store, and though I still shop the sales, our budget could benefit from me doing better. 

This is where this blog comes in.  I am notorious for finding out about a great bargain a day too late.  Recently a friend of mine told me how Meijer had a two day clearance where every item of clearance clothing was 50% off the lowest price.  I wanted to cry, because I had been there that morning, but didn't know to check the clearance clothes.  I've also had some of you pass on helpful tips such as great Groupon deals, or free peanut butter at Meijer, etc.  I would love to use this blog as a way to pass on those helpful tips to each other.  Feel free to do posts asking for opinions on money saving techniques as well.  For instance, we have recently switched to a cash envelope system for our budgeting.  It's still in the tweaking process, but so far we have seen great results.  I would be happy to share more about that, because I was inspired by two friends who do it and one of them has become completely debt free in the process!  Katie B, I would love it if you did a post about your thrift store clothing shopping, with some pictures of some of the awesome outfits you have put together!

I check several blogs whose purposes are to let you know the current bargains, deal scenarios, etc.  The problem is, those sites have become so overflown with giveaways, and freebies, and things that I don't care about, that it's annoying to me to try and weed through the posts to find simple good bargains that are helpful to me.  So, I am not asking you to share every single deal that you have come across.  Rather, please share simple tidbits such as "I was in Target today and noticed their toys just went on 75% clearance," or "Here's a way I scored really cheap toilet paper," etc.    Other good things to pass along would be the really good scenarios you have discovered, even from other sites, that actually worked for you and the item was stocked on the shelf.  I am especially interested if they are uncomplicated, and don't include things like rebates. 

I'll be honest.  I don't plan to put a bunch of time into making this blog fancy or "cute."  It's also fine with me if it goes days without having a new post.  I'm not going to try and think of something to write just for the sake of writing something.  The point will be to help each other save money, in a quick and simple way.  I hope all of you will contribute, so that we can help each other! 

If you haven't received an invitation to be an author and would like to, please leave a comment with your email address!