Friday, December 18, 2009

Shipping upgrade code at Books-a-Million online

Enter SHP2GR9D to get an upgrade to 2 day shipping on orders over $50. You'll only be charged for standard shipping. This is great if you still have some last minute gifts to buy!

Up to $15 rebate on Tetra Aquarium Kits!

Click here to view and print a rebate form for up to $15 back on Tetra Aquarium Kits. They include the Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo kits I've seen for sale recently. Fish are good low maintenance pets for kids especially this time of year!

It is a PDF so you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader or Foxit to view.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

A $10 reward card with every $50 you spend on Champs Sports Gift Cards

This offer is valid online and in-store through 12/20. Go to Champs Sports online for details and restrictions.

Office Depot $10 off $50 purchase code

Use code 12048193 to save $10 off a $50 non-technology purchase. This offer ends 12/24 and can be used online, in-store, and by phone.

Lane Bryant online savings of 30%-50% on any order!

Today through Sunday, Lane Bryant online is having a great discount offer! With the code 000305860 any order is eligible for 30% off, 40% for orders over $100, and 50% for orders over $200. Orders over $50 are also eligible for free shipping! Restrictions apply, so visit the website for details.

Save 15% off one item Barnes & Noble online

Use code M8W4D7R at checkout to save 15% off one item at Barnes & Noble. This offer expires 12/20 and will be applied after Member discount.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Finally! Hobby Lobby will begin selling online Jan 1st!

We'll be able to shop Hobby Lobby online here starting January 1st. I've been waiting for this for a long time and I hope the 40% coupons will work online too!

Earth Fare FREE $10 gift card with $50 purchase coupon

Earth Fare is now offering a FREE $10 Earth Fare gift card with a purchase of $50 or more coupon available to newsletter subscribers. Sign up for their newsletter to find out about future savings and promotions!

Free 2010 Calendar from Betty Crocker

Betty Crocker is giving out 2010 calendars to select subscribers of their newsletters. Go here to enter your email address and see if you're eligible to receive one. You may be asked to sign up for one of their newletters if you don't already subscribe to all of them. Quantities are limited and this offer ends 12/31/2009.

Dollar General coupon for Facebook fans!

Go to FaceBook and become a fan of Dollar General before Friday! You'll get access Friday to a coupon good for savings on Saturday! Click here to sign up; I hope it's something nice!

Mail Call! Olay Rebate & Food Lion Coupons

I sign up for lots of free stuff, like coupons and samples. I'm also diligent about applying for rebates.

Today I mailed out an Olay Rebate for buying two body lotions. I had two coupons to make the lotions free with purchase of a body wash from the P&G insert from 11/29 and I'm expecting to get $19.98 back from Olay. Do this deal today and tomorrow at Walgreens and get $5 Register Rewards for spending $25. The rebate form here can be used for two lotions. Found out about this from AThriftyMom, thanks!

Today I received 3 coupons from Food Lion for free items! I got coupons for free 11-12 oz bag Folgers Gourmet Selections, 10-12 oz bag Nestle Morsels, and 2 liter 7UP or Canada Dry. All I had to do was text message! *Please note you may be charged for texts depending on your cell provider plan. Also, I only had to send one text to get all 3 coupons.* Details found at CommonSenseWithMoney, thanks!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Preparing for a brand new shopping week

It's time again for the grocery ads to change here.  I spend time Tuesday night looking over the ads, making a shopping list, and matching up coupons to see what I will buy from the new ads.  Preparation is very important when couponing! I want to save the most I can and the time I spend preparing will be rewarded in the end. I've built up a nice stockpile the last few months, so there is not much I need this week. However, I'm planning to buy items for the local food bank and charities. Coupons and sales will allow me to give more items.

My Tuesday Night Routine
I start out by looking through the ads myself.  I focus on buy one, get one or more; percent off discounts; and items with store coupons. Online lists are great, but some items I need/want always seem to get left out. I do use the online shopping lists too; I especially like SouthernSavers and IHeartPublix.

After I have a preliminary shopping list, I use the coupon databases at CouponMom and CouponTom to see if there are coupons available. The online lists will also show if coupons are available and are great for learning about printable coupons. If an item on my list doesn't have a coupon, I consider whether or not to buy it. I try to shoot for a 30-50% discount without coupons if the item isn't something I desperately need or can't substitute something else for.

When I have my final list, I cut out my coupons and print any online coupons available. I then note how many coupons I have for each item and how many of each item I can purchase. For example, if I have a $1/2 coupon, I will make a note by the item that I have 1 coupon and will buy 2 items. This way I'm not fumbling with coupons while shopping and my trips don't take as long.

How do you prepare for a new shopping week?

Saved 90% at Bi-lo!

Bi-lo has a great deal ending today on Bounty Basics single rolls B1G1. When I went earlier in the week, I was only able to get one roll because I only had one coupon. Some people would say that is foolish, but I try never to buy without a coupon if I can.  Luckily, I obtained 5 P&G Saver inserts from 11/29 from ebay and they arrived yesterday.  That meant I could buy 5 more rolls of paper towels!

Bi-lo highlights:
I bought 5 items, all Bounty Basics single rolls. I used 5 .25 Bounty manufacturer coupons that doubled.

Sub-total before savings: $6.30   (this was unusual but awesome because most Bi-los had them at .69/each)
Sub-total after card and coupons: .65
-------------------------------------------------
saved $5.65 ----- saved 90%!

Monday, December 14, 2009

12 Days of The North Face Giveaway Dec 14-25

Rock/Creek Outfitters, which is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is starting 12 days of giveaways of The North Face items. The prize for each day is a surprise until the actual day. The North Face items are good quality and very pricey for the high end stuff, so if you know an outdoorsy person or you are one, Christmas could be real nice this year! While you're at the site, also enter their giveaway of a $500 gift card.

Go here to see the contest rules and sign up to be notified of each day's contest. You'll also be signed up for their mailing list when entering contests and you can still enter even if you're already a subscriber.

My Fudge is sick!

I apologize if the postings for the next few days are sporadic. My cat is very ill with a 105 degree fever and is not eating or drinking. We don't know what is wrong, but we hope the medication her vet gave her will help. She's my baby, so I'm a little preoccupied right now.

Thanks for understanding!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

When deals go BAD

If you've been couponing or bargain shopping for any length of time, you've probably run into a deal that just didn't go your way....the product was out of stock, the coupon was expired, the store wasn't participating, etc. I've had two deals not work out this week, so I wanted to talk a little about what to do if this happens to you.

1) Review what might have gone wrong: Did you check the coupons throughly? Did you pick up the right item? Did the clerk scan in all the coupons? Is the store participating and stocked? Lots of things can lead to a deal going bad, so pay attention to what you can do to prevent that by preparing and throughly reviewing every aspect of a deal before it's time to shop.

2) Get a Raincheck: Stores do run out of items especially during big sales. Sure, you could go another day, but what if there isn't time? Or did you not have the coupon(s) needed? Get a raincheck and you'll be covered! Just go another time when the store will have plenty and you have coupons. Some stores do have limits and expirations on rainchecks so make sure to ask beforehand.

3) Make your own deal: If the product you want/need is not included in a sale, you can try to make your own deal. If you have coupons for other items on sale, you can try to save enough to pay for the item that is not. Coupons on items that will result in overages (ex. $1 coupon on a .80 item) are great for this. Also, use the highest denomination coupon you have for the cheapest size item available to maximize savings ($1 off a 1 lb item is better than $1 off a 2 lb item).


4) Move On! Despite your best efforts, a deal can go sour. Remember, deals come and go (usually about every 6-12 weeks for most items). If you miss it this go around, chances are another deal or an even better one are in your future. So, don't get hung up on what you couldn't do and prepare for the next one!

As for my two failed deals this week, on one I was able to get a raincheck and I will try again at another location; as for the other, the details of the deal were unclear and my clerk was uninformed, so I'm going to contact corporate. It may not solve anything for me, but maybe someone in the future won't be disappointed.