Time For Free Samples & More!

Here are some free samples to request, yippee!!

Total® Cranberry Crunch cereal sample

Orville Redenbacher's® Natural Gourmet® Popping Corn sample

Free Kerasal Foot Lotion Sample-has to be requested via snail mail.

Don Francisco’s Breakfast Blend Coffee sample

Cascadian Farm chocolate chip granola bar sample

And....enter some free Pamper's points at Gifts To Go. Free codes thanks to Freebies 4 Mom.

WEAPPRECIATEU08 (10 points)-this one didn't work for me
WELCOME2GTG0809 (1 point)
OHAMANDAAWGTG08 (1 point)
DONTFORGETGTG08 (1 point)
WELCOMEBONUS089 (1 point)
THRIFTYMOMMYGTG (1 point)

Happy New Year!!

Be Sure To Check Out The Coupon Bar

My Coupons.Com coupon bar on the left has new coupons!! Some of my favorites are:

$1.00 off Kellogg's cereal (lots of different ones)

$2.00 Huggies Big Pack

$.35 off Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and Sweet Rolls

Happy Printing!! :)

$4000 Hallmark Sweeps!!

Sorry!!!! This sweeps is already closed! :(

Kellogg's Smart Start Rebate

Have you submitted yours yet? I went to Kroger yesterday to do some "fill in" shopping. After submitting the Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheat or Smart Start rebate for the Strawberry Bites, this trip to Kroger was only $27.51.

You'll notice I got 3 more biscuits....I can't pass them up since they are still on sale for $1.99 or $1.19 after my $.40 coupon is doubled.

For more rebates I submitted this week, click here, here and here.

That's my cat on the right, sniffing out my deals!! :)

Free Milk At Albertsons-Dec 29

After I made a $12.22 profit at Walgreens and picked up a free movie rental at Redbox, the kids and I stopped into Albertsons. Schepps 1/2 gallon milk is on sale for $.99. What a deal!!

Here's what I got:

2 Schepps 1/2 gallon milk $1.98
Royal Doulton place-setting $29.99
Totino's Pizza, on sale $.88

minus

(2) $.50 Schepps 1/2 gallon milk coupons doubled(from the newspaper a while back, expire in a few days)
Card full of stickers for place-setting (making it FREE)

Total OOP = $.88 for pizza (lunch). What a big spender I am for the kids lunch treat!! :)

P.S. In a few months I plan to sell the place-settings on eBay. I'm always thinking of ways to make money!! Haha!

Profitable Trip To Walgreens-Dec 29

I've been in the mood to shop lately. I don't know if it's the lack of coupons, expiring coupons or the rebates I remembered I had! :) Here's how my trip to Walgreens went down:

Revlon Matte Blush (needed- since I dropped my blush in the sink last week) $9.99
Orajel Cold Sore stuff $8.49

minus

$2.00 Revlon newspaper coupon
$1.00 Orajel newspaper coupon (next to rebate)

Total Paid to Wags GC = $16.10 (zero OOP cash paid)

I submitted my Walgreens Easy Saver rebate for both items and get the purchase price, plus $1.84 bonus for having it loaded to my gift card. The total that will be paid back, $20.32, for a "profit" of $4.22.

Plus, I'm submitting the manufacturers $8.00 rebate for the Orajel. Total trip profit, $12.22. Yay rebates!!

P.S. I stopped by the Redbox outside Walgreens for my free Monday rental. :)

Redbox Code-Dec 29th

Here's your free rental code for Monday, December 29th only:

545DZ9

I'm heading out the door to do some "free" shopping....

Profit With Rebate at CVS-Dec 28

I had a great trip to CVS this morning. I've been out of the groove lately with the rebates, so I cleaned and organized them a few days ago. Doing so, gave me a profit on last week's CVS trip and made today's trip profitable as well. Yay for being organized!!

Here's what I purchased today:

2 Pantenes, on sale, $7.00

2 Dawns, on sale B1G1 free, $1.99

Theraflu Warming variety $6.59

minus

$3.00/2 Pantene coupon from today's P&G insert

(2) $.50 Dawn (about to expire) P&G coupons

$2.00 Theraflu coupon that was next to the rebate (newspaper a while back)

$3.99 in ECB from last week (I spent the other $2.99 on Christmas Eve getting chocolate)

$3/$15 CVS coupon-details at I Heart CVS

Total OOP=$2.59 and $4.00 in ECB were received (I made $.01 in ECB....haha)

I have the Theraflu Warming rebate ready to mail tomorrow, for $4.59. They are paying the rebate back the purchase price minus the $2.00 coupon....tricky of them, huh? Giving me an overall profit on the trip of $2.01. Remember to keep your rebates organized!

Cash 4 Gold....???????

Anyone out there ever given this a try??



I'll admit it....I did!! I didn't get as much $$ as I had hoped (what can I say, I'm optimistic) but I did turn some old broken stuff into cash. I guess those people getting $250 back must have had a LOT of old jewelry. :)

Your turn......tell me what you think of Cash 4 Gold.

Free Green Giant Steamers at Walmart

Right before Christmas I braved Walmart for a few things and noticed that the Green Giant Steamers were on "Rollback". They are now only $1.00 (no sauce variety). There have been a couple of $1.00 newspaper coupons issued in the past month or so, making the Steamers FREE.

I ended up with 6 free bags. Yay!!

Anyone out shopping for after Christmas deals????? Find anything awesome?????

Merry Christmas!

Monday's Redbox Free Rental Code Is...

EC22KP

Good until midnight, Dec 22nd. Happy Renting!!

The Best I Could Do At CVS-Dec 21

CVS was wiped out his morning! They are having a great Sunday/Monday Extra Care Buck sale. Lots of fun stuff, it was just all gone by 11am. Here's the 2 things I did find:

1 Listerine $2.99
1 Excedrin $3.99

minus

$1.00 CVS/Excedrin coupon I got in the mail
$5.00 in ECB from here

Total OOP = $.98 and 6.98 in ECB were received. Total "profit" $1.00. I hope you have a good trip this week!

UPDATE (12/28/08) - I remembered (when I was organizing my rebates) I had the Excedrin rebate!! I just sent it off for $3.99, so cash profit was $3.01 and total "profit" was $4.99. Yay!! :)

Today Is The Last Day To Mail For Christmas Eve Delivery

I read at the Post Office yesterday that today (Dec 20) is the last day to mail your First Class (cards) and Priority (presents) Mail for a Christmas Eve delivery.

I hope everyone is done mailing, I finished yesterday. Although I have some eBay to mail today. Yay!

Another thing about mailing, I always print my labels from home through Paypal. Go to "Merchant Services", then under tax and shipping go to "Multi-Order Shipping". Voila!! Printing labels at home is cheaper too! No need to run to the Post Office either, you can request a carrier pick-up for free.

Since they arrive faster, I usually drop my packages off when I'm out and about doing errands. Here in Wylie, I always go to Video Hits (PO Contract Site). It's right next to the real PO but the line is short and the owner (Mike) and his staff are so nice!

"All You" Coupons For January

Curious about the January "All You" coupons????

Click Here...there's a total of $19.70 in all.

Remember that you can only get "All You" at Walmart or through a subscription. It's worth it!! :)

Samples To Make Your Mailbox Think It's Always Christmas

Here's some freebies to keep that mailbox happy!

Kleeenx Lotion Facial Tissues from Sam's, leave the member number blank if you need to.

Free 8x10 print from Walgreens. This expires tomorrow (12/20/08)!!!!! Use code FREEGIFT at checkout.

5 free issues of Cosmopolitan magazine from StartSampling. I love free magazines. You can read them, sometimes they have fun coupons and then I donate mine to the library.

Walmart's sample page-stop by to see if you've missed one. I don't always mention Walmart since they seem to repeat some samples (panty liners, Benefiber, etc).

Free Christmas Printables (coloring pages)-this is one to bookmark! They have tons of coloring pages. :)

We're off to color and make some snowflakes for the house. Speaking of snowflakes, make virtual snowflakes here.

Great Huggies Deal at Kroger's This Week

A big thanks to my sister-in-law, Allie (she's over at Lucky Duck Savings), for forwarding me this info!!

This week, December 17-24, get $3 instant savings at checkout with any $16 Huggies purchase. Packs of diapers are on sale for $9.99. Here's a list of coupons to mix and match/add to this offer:

1. Newspaper coupons or coupons mailed to you from Huggies Happy Baby

2. $2.00 Pull-Ups printable coupon from Huggies Big Kid Central

3. $2.00 off Huggies Newborn Gentle Care diapers eCoupon from Shortcuts

4. $1.00 rebate per pack from The Caregivers Marketplace

Here's my personal scenario:

2 packs of Pull-Ups for $19.98

minus

$3.00 instant credit at register

(2) $2.00 printable Pull-Ups coupons

$12.98 paid OOP and $2.00 sent off for rebate from The Caregivers Marketplace = $11.98 or $5.49 per pack. Not bad at all!!! :)

Free Redbox Rental at Walgreens on Wednesday (12/17)

Here's a promo code for a free Redbox rental, courtesy of Walgreens!!

9WAG27

Visit the Walgreens/Redbox page for more info.

Wylie Mom Random Sunday List-Dec 14

Good Morning!! I found just a couple of things with the coupon inserts that are worth looking at.

1. Be sure the clip out the mail-in form for the P&G $120 Coupon Booklet . You need to purchase $50 in P&G products between Dec 14 (today) and January 31, 2009. Sounds easy enough!! I'll keep my mail-in form with my rebates in my coupon binder. Be sure to click above for a preview of what coupons are included. :)

2. Campbell's has a sweeps for kids ages 6-15 at MySlurp.Com. You'll need a code form the bottom of a Campbell's condensed soup can. Grand prize is a cruise!

Free Starbucks in Frisco

We headed out to Frsico's Merry Main Street last night (thanks Nana and Poppy!). It was lots of fun, but on the chilly side for us Texans. :)

If you do get over to Frisco's Christmas in the Square.......be on the look out for the Starbucks booth. There should be a Starbucks employee nearby handing out cards for a free (Starbucks) Red Exclusive beverage.

Here's more info on the (Starbucks) Red Exclusive coffees, $.05 from each cup is donated to the Global Fund.

Diaper Deal at CVS-Dec 11

I headed into CVS for the diaper deal yesterday. Here's how I did:

2 Pull-Ups $20.00
2 Huggies Wipes $6.00

minus

(2) $2.00 printable Pull-Ups coupon
$3/$15 CVS coupon I got in the mail a few months back
$8.99 in ECB from way back here

Total OOP, $11.66. But I'll submit my receipts to The Caregivers Marketplace for $2.00 back. So total OOP was really $9.66.

I got $5.00 in ECB back, so the total "cost" of the trip was $4.66.

P.S. I just got my Caregivers Marketplace rebates ready to mail.....$8.00. Yippee!!

P.P.S. I logged in to print a coupon for a free Powerade (free with ECB at CVS this week) from MyCokeRewards, but they are mailing it. Bummer!!

I'm Back!

Sorry for another little break! My dad and step-mom treated us to Disney World for Christmas. We had so much fun!!! The kids were in shock for 4 days!!!

Now, back to the real world. I have to unpack, clean, wash, grocery shop, Christmas shop, pay bills.....okay that's enough to get me down. Better get to it. I'll be back to blogging by tomorrow most likely.

Thanks for hanging in there!

Online Rebates~Ebates vs. BigCrumbs

I'll have to admit, during the holidays I'm truly more of an online shopper. To me, nothing beats sitting in PJ's and drinking cocoa while I surf around for deals and free shipping. Before Thanksgiving, I sat down to knock out my (and Santa's) list for the kids.

After figuring out where to get each item, I checked out the two online rebate sites I belong to. I wanted to see who was going to pay me more for shopping "through" them. I checked out:

Ebates (offers $5 to sign up)

BigCrumbs (offers fun eBay rebates)

The 3 stores I was going to shop at were Walmart, Toys R Us and Baby Center. After a brief comparison, BigCrumbs was my winner. They are paying our slightly higher on Walmart and Baby Center, but the main difference was that Ebates doesn't pay out at all for Toys R Us.

Overall, I'll be getting back $9.45 in rebates (compared to $4.26 at Ebates). Another thing I like about BigCrumbs is that the money is deposited right into my PayPal account (on a monthly basis). So, the lesson here is to shop around!!!!

3 Quick $$ Saving Tips for Online Shopping:

1. Shop around for the best price

2. Look for a rebate program to pay you back for your purchase

3. Look around and use "promotion codes" for additonal % off and/or FREE shipping (try eBates, Hot Coupon World, SlickDeals, Flamingo World, Retail Me Not, etc. for promotiopn codes)

Wylie Mom Random Sunday List-Nov 30

Good morning!! I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!! I sure have! :)

It's been a few weeks, so here's my fun random list. I have some hot samples and sweeps to share today.

The first stop, Walmart's sample page to check out what's news. I requested a new sample of:

Ultra Gain with Baking Soda and a GLAD ForceFlex® Trash Bag

Also out there in the cyber world:

Crest Weekly Clean Headband from Vocalpoint

Chapstock sample from Lipstock. It's lip conditioner, allow up to 3 months for delivery.

If it's sweeps you're looking for, here you go!

Pepperidge Farms Win and Give, enter daily for a chance to win $1000 and also have $1000 donated to charity.

Live the Beach Life sweeps from Good Housekeeping. It's for a 4 day trip to Virginia Beach.

Also, head over to the Good Housekeeping "win" page for 20 more sweeps to enter!

Don't forget to read this post about the Gymboree gift card sweeps.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!!! Please leave me a comment if you have something fun to share!!!

Free Thanksgiving eCards

Although not appropriate for all occasions....ecards are cute, save paper and stamps ($)!! Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion for an ecard!!

Walgreens-Nov 25

I had a great trip to Walgreens this week.

2 Bounty Basic $3.18

2 Kraft Mac & Cheese $3.00

Sure Deodorant, on sale $1.99
2 Excedrine, on sale B1G1, $4.49

minus

$2.00 Excedrine newspaper coupon
$2.00 printable Excedrine coupon
$.69 each Wags Mac & Cheese coupon (- $1.62)
$.89 each Wags Basic PT coupon (- 1.40)
$1.50 Sure Dec. Easy Saver coupon
$1.00 Sure newspaper coupon
$1.00/2 Bounty PT P&G coupon

Total paid to Walgreens gift card $1.94. ZERO was paid OOP!!! My gift card ended the month with $.01 on it!

I'm getting $24.18 loaded back on the gift card for my November rebates. I think I've gotten the hang of Walgreens. Everything I got this month was "free". Yay!!

Gymboree Gift Card Sweeps

Click here to enter the Gymboree 2008 Holiday Gift Sweepstakes. You'll be entering for a chance to win a $500 Gymboree gift card. Yippee!

I've Already Been To CVS-Nov 23

At first glace, nothing was too exciting in this week's CVS circular. Then I turned to the evil Internet and stumbled upon this great CVS/Black Friday post at Surviving The Stores. Wow!! Lots of cool deals coming our way, plus looks like the sale starts Thursday (Thanksgiving). So, in order to be prepared, I needed to "make" some money at CVS. I ended last week with no ECB. Here's what I got this morning:

Maybelline Mineral Power $8.99

Revlon Nail Color $4.99

Revlon Clear Polish $5.49

minus

$2.00 Maybelline newspaper coupon

(2) $2.00 Revlon newspaper coupons

$3/$12 any cosmetic purchase coupon, from register receipt sometime this month

Total OOP = 5.93 and I earned $8.99 in ECB. Total "profit" 3.06. But you know me.....I'm selling the Maybelline on eBay. :)

See that listing here. Remember last week's trip to CVS? I wanted to make my $11.49 OOP back. Well? Cha-Ching! Click here to see how that ended. Yay eBay!! That means last week I got free TP, mouthwash and tissues. :)

Frozen Grands! Biscuits Coupon

Sometimes glancing at ads pays off....

$1.00 Off Frozen Grands! Biscuits

and there are more fun coupons at Pillsbury.com.

Frozen Grands! are on sale for $1.99 at Kroger this week, making them $.99 with the spiffy coupon. Also look for peelies on the bags...

Free Huggies Samples and Coupons

Using A Cellfire eCoupon At Kroger-Nov 21

It has been almost 2 weeks since I've grocery shopped! Kroger was a must today!!

Before I left, I loaded eCoupons onto my Kroger card. Below are 3 places to load Kroger eCoupons. Remember!! These can be used WITH a paper coupon, a.k.a. stacked with a paper coupon.

P&G eSaver eCoupons

ShortCuts eCoupons

Cellfire eCoupons, I just signed up today. :)

Here's everything I got for $53.81. Not too bad, considering the last time I grocery shopped was
here and I got a bunch of stuff for Thanksgiving as well!

Some note worthy deals I got:

Frozen Pillsbury Biscuits, on sale $1.99 - $.50 ShortCuts eCoupon - $.40 newspaper coupon doubled = $.69

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, on sale $1.67 - $.50 Shortcuts eCoupon - $.35 newspaper coupon tripled = $.12

Betty Crocker Pouch Potatoes $1.00 - $.35 ShortCuts eCoupon - $.35 newspaper coupon tripled (up the purchase price) = $.35 overage/profit

Cottonelle 4 pack $1.19 - $.50 Cellfire eCoupon - $.25 newspaper coupon tripled = $.06 overage/profit

Green Giant Healthy Weight Veggies, on sale $1.00 - $.25 newspaper coupon tripled = $.25

Near the bread and the milk, look for a coupon pad. It's for $1.00 off milk with any Sara Lee Soft and Smooth bread purchase. I made this a great deal by getting the Whole Grain White on sale for $1.79. The Springdale milk is on sale for $2.50. Final cost $3.29 for one gallon of milk and a loaf of Sara Lee bread.

I couldn't find any, but the Duracell 2 packs are on sale for $1.00, a great deal if you use the $.50 P&G eCoupon. I'll try again on my next trip. I'll need to do a final "Thanksgiving Day Dinner" run.

I saved $42.47 this trip and earned $77 towards the Fuel Rewards.

What good deals did you find this week??

New Fruit Roll-Up Sample

Walgreens-Nov 19

Here is this week's successful Wags trip:

Transaction #1

Touch of Gray $7.00

Paid $7.58 on Wags GC, no OOP. Got $7 in RR back.

Transaction #2

Almay Mascara $6.99
Wags Brand Paper Towels $3.59

minus

$1.00 Almay newspaper coupon
Wags PT coupon (saved $1.09)
$7.00 in RR from above

Total paid on Wags GC $1.61, zero OOP. I'll get back $7.68 for the Almay mascara with the Walgreens November rebates. So overall, I "spent" $1.51 on these transactions.

I staged these transaction around my new game plan. First buy RR items with the gift card, them use the RR to purchase rebate items, "getting" that money back. Coupons and rebates are always icing on the cake!

Don't forget to send off your $8.00 Just For Men Touch of Gray rebate. Making this trip a money maker!!! $6.49 in profit to be exact!!

Win $2500 From Hallmark's Greeting Card Contest

This sounds fun!! :)

CVS-Nov 18

Here's what I got at CVS this week:

Transaction #1

L'Oreal Age-Perfect $15.99

minus

$1.00 L'Oreal newspaper coupon
$4.59 in ECB

Total OOP $11.26

Transaction #2

Charmin 16 pack $9.99
4 Tissues (B1G1 free) $2.98
2 CVS Mouthwashes $5.00

minus

$.25 Charmin coupon (wow!)
$1.00/3 Kleenex "CVS magic coupon machine" coupon
$.50/3 Kleenex newspaper coupon
$15.99 in ECB from Transaction #1

Total OOP $.23....yay! But I have NO Extra Care Bucks! Yikes!

I pretty much staged these trips around needing the TP and mouthwash. Tissues will get used this winter for sure. The L'Oreal I am selling with the one I got here at Wags last week. Both places only had the "medium" shade left, and it's too dark for me.

As of right now, the eBay market is flooded with people selling the L'Oreal Age-Perfect things. I priced mine at $14.99 for both (at auction) with free shipping. If they don't sell at auction (who cares!!), I will move them to my eBay store and mark them up a bit more. They will eventually sell (trust me....they will!), meaning all this stuff from CVS was free. Well, profit making really, once I make the $11.49 I spent in OOP back.

Yes, in case you were wondering, I am crazy! :)

Join Dove Dimensions

Here's some reasons to try Dove Dimensions:

* Up-to-the-minute beauty news and expert tips
* Coupon savings, free samples, gifts and special offers
* Fun contests, sweeps, quizzes and polls

Interested???? Just click here to join Dove Dimensions. Basically, "Real Beauty News, Tips and Rewards"....sounds good to me!

Click here for current Dove coupons and offers.

Free $10 Pillsbury Coupon Booklet

Just in case you've missed this in the past! :)

Wylie Mom Random Sunday List-Nov 16

Yay, it's my random list of fun stuff!!

Be sure to visit the Woman's Day Giveaway page. It has 26 giveaways/sweepsatakes as of today. But, my personal favorite is the Wyndham Nassau Resort giveaway (pictured at right). It's a 5 day-4 night trip for 2. Pick me, pick me!

Con Agra Foods has a daily holiday sweeps to "Create Mini Miracles"....prizes are $100 and $1000. You can enter daily!

Enter the Meow Mix Think Like A Cat sweeps. The grand prize includes: Flatscreen TV, Blu-ray DVD Player, Surround Sound, Cat Tower, Heated Window Sill Cat Seat, and a Ball Tree Toy. My cat would love a heated window sill seat....haha! Enter weekly. Once you've entered you can also print a $1.00 Wholesome Goodness coupon.

Walmart has a new "sample"...Marie Calender's Signaute Sautes Shopping List. Too bad it wasn't an actual sample. :)

Free Team Chevy Decal from Chevrolet.

$1.00 off Juicy Juice coupon

Have a great Sunday!!

Free Purell With Aloe Hand Sanitizer

Worst case, you're helping support my blog! :)

Small Profit At Walgreens-Nov 14

Things didn't work out quite like I had planned at Walgreens this morning, but it was still a successful trip!

Loreal Age Perfect Moisturizer (on sale) $14.99
4 Scotch Tapes $5.16
4 Progresso Soups $11.99
Jif Peanut Butter $3.29
Pop Tarts 2.19
Applesauce $1.00

minus

$2.00 Loreal/Walgreens coupon from newspaper
4/$5.00 Progresso Walgreens coupon (-$5.99)
(4) $1.10 Progresso Soup printable coupons
B1G1 Scotch Tape Walgreens coupon (-2.58)
$.55 Jif coupon from newspaper
$.55 Pop Tart coupon
$5/$20 Walgreens coupon

$15.78 paid on Walgreens gift card (from October rebates), OOP = ZERO.

And, I'll get back $16.48 for the Loreal (14.99 plus 10% bonus for loading rebate to Walgreens gift card). So, this trip ends with a $.70 profit. :)

I had planned on getting 2 canned pumpkins and 2 Coffee-Mates, but they were out. I got the Pop-Tarts and applesauce instead. Not a bad job of re-working my deal....I just "needed" the Coffee-Mate and pumpkin.

P.S. I ended up with $26.92 from my October rebates. :)

P.S.S. I might make even more money on this trip if I decide to sell the Loreal on eBay. I'm still thinking on that one....

Yay!! It's A Walgreens Coupon!

Just what I needed!!! Walgreens has issued a $5/$20 coupon for today and tomorrow. I have all my October rebate money burning a whole in my pocket and this can really help me "make" some money with the November rebates.

Need a coupon??? Get your $5/$20 Walgreens coupon here

And remember, this coupon is for a $20 purchase after coupons, before tax, no alcohol, gift cards, etc.....you know the drill. :)

Wylie Mom Won An Award!!

I won a blog award!! Wow!! It's always so flattering to win an award. I guess I'm always a tiny bit shocked that people even read my blog. It's even more fun since I was MIA for a week. It's like coming back from vacation and getting a raise....well kind of. :)

This super cute award was given to me by Momma Val, thanks so much!!

Now, here are the acceptance rules:

1. Displaying the award.

2. Linking back to the person who gave it to you.

3. Paying it forward & nominating 7 blogs.

4. Leaving comments on their blogs telling them they’ve received one. Enjoying the award.

Here's the best part, passing the award on to other great blogs.

My Penny Pile - Maryanne has the best Kroger deal wrap-ups, she gets right down to the good stuff and doesn't just re-type the ad. :)

Comical Coupon Cents - Tasha is really funny and reminds me of all the fun in couponing.

Money Saving Methods - Carrie is so organized and has "new and outside of the box" ways to make and save money.

Justine's Grocery Brags - Justine always rocks the grocery and drug store deals!!
eBay Selling Coach - Suzanne shares great eBay ideas for anyone who's willing to read them. :)
Jane 4 Girls $800 Annual Budget - Erin is the best couponer ever.....$800 a year???? Could you do it?
The Thrifty Mommy - Miss Mommy's blog has "something for everyone".

CVS, I Missed You!

After a few weeks, I finally made it into CVS. It was definitely not my best trip!! They were out of the Agent Blue, so I had to rework my deal on the spot and did a poor job! I guess that's the price to pay for going on vacation!! :)

CVS Fabric Softener $3.49

Pull-Ups $9.50

Palmolive $1.49

Smart Water $1.59

Garnier Hair Stuff $2.99

Birthday Card $1.99

Crackers $.30 (my son ate them!)

minus

$4/20 CVS coupon that was mailed to me

$1.00 Garnier newspaper coupon
$2.00 Pull-Up coupon

$3.69 in ECB

Total OOP was $11.52 (ouch!!) and I got back $4.59 in ECB.

I "made" $.90 in ECB and will get back $1.00 for the Pull-Ups from The Caregivers Marketplace rebate, so with my "Wylie Mom Math" it's like I only spent $9.62. I guess I can live with that.

$10 Bonus From Coinstar

I'll admit it, I've never used a Coinstar machine! I remember them charging fees in the past and have steered clear. On the flip side, banks don't offer change machines anymore either. But here's a deal that has got me pretty interested!

1. Cash in $40 or more of coins onto a gift card or eCert at a participating Coinstar Machine.

2. Mail in the bottom portion of the receipt to get your $10 holiday bonus.

Sounds easy enough, right? This is a great idea for loading a gift card for the holidays, and the 25% return (invest $40, get $10) is better than the stock market!

Visit Coinstar to read up on the details or to find a location near you.

P.S. There will be no Coinstar fees is you load to a gift card... :)

Super Cheap Firewood Near Parker, Texas

Hey there local readers!! Anyone live close to Southfork Ranch????

Condren Tree Service has a GREAT deal on firewood. It's $40 a pick-up load. You have to stack/load it yourself so bring gloves. And, you can only fill up the bed, level to "the top". So, you might need to load neatly.....but it's only $40!!!!!! Sure beats those $80 "stacks" you find all over town.

Condren Tree Service is located on Parker Road in Allen (technically) and is about 1/2 mile west of Southfork Ranch, on the north side of the road.

It's pretty "eco-friendly" too, since it's a tree service (the trees needed to be cut down and removed anyway)....and it's a lot of wood. At least for the wood needs of someone living in the "warm" Dallas area. We still have lots left from last years load. :)

Just A Few Samples....

Trying to "catch up" on my sample requests. Looks like I missed some fun ones while I was gone. Here's what I requested this morning:

Glad Storage Bags from Walmart.

Huggies Supreme Diapers from Walmart, size 1 and 3 available.

Dove Cream Oil Lotion sample from Dove.

Playtex® Drop-Ins® Original Nurser System which are BPA-free. I'll give these to my SIL, over at Lucky Duck Savings.

Kirkland Signature Supreme Diapers sample from Costco. Sizes 1-6, you can leave the member number blank if you don't have one.

Run across a hot sample??? Leave me a comment!!!

Back In The Saddle-Kroger 11/09

We were so low on groceries once we got back from our Mexico trip!! So, yesterday I worked on coupons for a bit. I still had to clip last weeks coupons and look through this weeks. Then I finally had a chance to look through the Kroger ad.......WOW! The "mega event" looked awesome. So, I made a list with a few staples to get us started and maxed out the mega event deals (you can do it 3 times per transaction). Here's all I got for $33.79. Pretty good.....even after a vacation, don't you think?

I got 40 items so that breaks down to $.84 an item!!

I saved $56.18 and got a fuel discount credit of $72. E-85, by the way, is $1.45 a gallon ($1.35 with discount)!

I only got bananas since I'm planning a trip to the new Murphy Sprout's this week. If you go on Wednesday, it's double ad day. I can't wait to check it out!

I also tried to do a CVS run yesterday, but couldn't find the Loreal. What a surprise....haha! So, I'll rework my list/coupons today. Depending on the rain, I'll go today or this evening when I take my daughter to dance. It's great to be home!

Goodies In The Mail

Although it seemed a bit overwhelming at first, sorting the mail was pretty fun after being gone for a week. Here's what was awaiting my return:

Target coupons......YAY!!!! This one was addressed to me. The last batch I got were addressed to my hubby.

$5 rebate check from The Caregivers Marketplace.

Free Blue's Clue's book from a Sunmaid Raisin Rebate Offer.

And a $1.00 Excdrine/CVS coupon. Speaking of CVS, I also recieved a $5/$25 coupon in my e-mail box while I was gone. It expires today, so that will be a great excuse to jump back in the CVS game.

Speaking of free stuff in the mail, yesterday I got the $5 Lysol Pediatrician Rebate (that took a long time) and sample of Greenies Cat Treats or you can pick dog treats.

Any hot samples or rebates? Leave me a comment!!

Mexico!!!!

I'm not a slacker!! Although......I have been sitting on the beach in Cozumel, Mexico for a week!!

For safety's sake, I choose not to announce to the world my departure and arrival home dates...but I had a great time and will be back to blogging by tomorrow I'm sure!

P&G Samples & Coupons

Be sure the check out the P&G Sample & Coupon page. Depending on what you might have requested in the past, there are new samples.

I was lead to the page with the promise of (another) Pantene Sample, but I think I've already gotten it. What I was able to request was a sample of Tide Total Care!

There was also an Olay® Definity Intense Hydrating Cream sample listed...but I must have already requested that as well.

The new P&G coupon insert comes out tomorrow with $106 in savings!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!! I hope everyone has some fun activities planned for the afternoon and evening.

My kids have already dressed up 3 times. They dressed up Wednesday for story time, yesterday morning for my daughter's "Traditional Halloween Party" at pre-school (they invited my son, how sweet, huh?), and last night we attended Boo on Ballard where we trick-or-treated in downtown Wylie. It has been Halloween central around here!

Wednesday night we carved pumpkins. Since it's so warm here in October, we have to be careful about carving them too early, or they rot too quick. Aren't our pumpkins cute?? I carved the castle from the Disney Pumpkin Stencils and my hubby carved his VERY FIRST pumpkin as well. It's the cute one on the very right. It was a Pumpkin Master's pattern. The kids helped hubby with the one in the middle! I've curious about the middle pumpkin....I wonder if I can "use" it later for pie filling. If not, I bought one more (the skin hasn't been punctured!). I may not like to cook, but I don't mind preparing pumpkin for pies. I'm weird I know!

I know I haven't posted a lot lately! The kids and I have been enjoying the season! I am also letting the groceries dwindle, because we'll be heading out of town soon. Yay!

Happy Halloween!!