FREE Quart of Paint

Last Saturday, Ace Hardware was giving away free quarts of paint and it looks like they are going to be doing it again on Saturday, March 16. Head on over to Ace Hardware online, print out the coupon, and fill it out. Then, take it in store with you to get your FREE quart of paint. (You get to choose the color!)

This quart of paint would be great for a small project that you're working on (Last year, I used mine to paint my son's bookshelf) or if you want to test out a sample on your wall before committing.

Be sure to call your local store to make sure that they are participating in the promotion. And get there early! There are only 40 cans per store. When they're gone, they're gone.

The fine print on the coupon says "Limit 1 per household per calendar year." Once you have gotten your free quart of paint, you won't be able to get another one for free until next year.

Thanks for the reminder, Krazy Coupon Lady!

Making Money While Shopping Online

                                          

Do you love to shop online? What if you could get paid to shop online--would you love it even more? It turns out that you can get paid to shop online by using two popular websites--Ebates and ShopatHome. They are so so easy to use and totally legit.

Ebates and ShopatHome are basically online malls that allow customers to shop at major retailers. The sites offer cashback on purchases that are made. Once you reach a certain cashback amount, you will receive a check in the mail or you can opt to receive a gift card!  If you have questions about how the sites work, you can check out their HELP or FAQ sections before signing up.

I recommend signing up for both sites because there are times when one site may offer a higher cashback percentage than the other site. For instance, Ebates may offer 6% cashback for shopping at Walmart.com and ShopatHome may only offer 4% cashback. Looking at it this way, I would prefer to go through Ebates to do my shopping.

To sign up for Ebates, go here.

If you're interested in ShopatHome, go here.

Maidenform Bras for $8.50

 

Through tomorrow, March 12, Maidenform has bras on sale for $10. To make the deal even better, you can get an additional 15% using code COUPSCP13 AND you can get free shipping by using code SLKDEALFS13. I have ordered from this company before, and I can honestly say that they have great customer service!

 

Using the two promo codes above at checkout, you can score a bra for $8.50 shipped. Hurry because sizes can sell out quickly.

If you want to save even more, you can go through ShopatHome or Ebates.



Great Deal on Kid's Slippers

Update: It looks like the Disney toddler girls shoes may have sold out!

If there's a Star Wars fan in your family, you may want to check this deal out. Sears.com has lowered the price for their Star Wars toddler & youth slippers to $2.49. You can save an additional 15% by using promo code MARCHFASHION at checkout. That will bring you total down to $2.24. You can also pick them up for the store for FREE.

You can also pick up Disney toddler girls Belle slippers and Disney toddler girls Cinderella slippers for the same price!


                        

Thanks, Hip2Save!

Mega Swagbucks Day!

Have you signed up for Swagbucks? If not, today is a great day to do so. Since joining in 2010, I (and many others) have gotten tons of FREE gift cards! All of those gift cards can really add up and even help to supplement the Christmas budget. And it's not a scam!

One of my friends just joined a few months ago and she almost has enough points for her third gift card!

It's really easy to use this site. Instead of using Google's search engine, you use the one on Swagbucks! Sometimes during your searches, you will be awarded points or "swagbucks." Something like this will pop up:


It's not often that a message will pop up saying that "You've won 47 Swag Bucks." Usually, you will win between 6 and 15 swagbcks. Sometimes you'll get a lot of points and sometimes you won't. On Fridays (which is Mega Swagbucks Day), you are more likely to win more points. There are tons of other ways to earn swagbucks besides searching, including taking surveys and shopping!

You can also follow the Swagbucks facebook page because they often tell you where to go to find codes which will give you more swagbucks.

If you are confused, don't worry! I will be doing another post that explains Swag Bucks even more!

Until then, head on over and get signed up if you're interested.

Swagbucks' Makeover

If you've been on Swagbucks recently, you've probably noticed that they've changed their swag. They have a new style and finding things may take some adjusting, but it's oh so worth it when you're getting paid to use their site!

Here's how to get your daily swagbucks:
Daily poll (1 sb): You go to "Answer" tab at the top of the page.
NOSO (2 sb): This is found under "Discover."

Here's how all the tabs are broken down:

• SHOP: This is where you go to do your shopping & earning. All you have to do is pick your favorite store, but be sure to go to that store's site through Swagbucks' link. This is how they keep track of how much you spent so that they can award you swagbucks!

• SEARCH: This page is pretty identical to Google's page, but it's for Swagbucks. You can even make it your home page. Go here and search for whatever it is that you're looking for.

• WATCH: Swagbucks TV is where you can earn swagbucks by watching videos.

• PLAY: Go here to relax and play tons of fun games!

• ANSWER: This is where you go to earn swagbucks by taking surveys, doing the daily poll (as mentioned before), and other tasks

• REWARDS: Of course this is my favorite tab on the Swagbucks page. This is where you cash in your hard earned swagbucks for gift cards and other amazing rewards!

You can also learn how to redeem swagcodes here.

How are you doing on Swagbucks? I started at zero at the beginning of the year and now I have almost 1,500 swagbucks. That's enough for three $5 Amazon gift cards (if I choose to go that route). If you have done the daily poll and NOSO every day since the first post I wrote about Swagbucks (November 29) you would have around 288 swagbucks. More than halfway to a $5 gift card JUST by doing two easy peasy things. You've got this!

Disclosure: This post contains referral links. If you sign up for Swagbucks through my links, I will receive an incentive (when you earn swagbucks, I will earn that same amount).

Coupon 101 Lesson 5: Hitting the Stores

We've covered quite a few topics about coupons--from coupon lingo to coupon organization. Now that you know all of the important aspects (like where to find coupons), it's time to plan! When I first started couponing, I stuck with one store. It makes things so much easier and helps you to not become overwhelmed. You will have to decide what store you want to start with. I chose to start with a drugstore (like CVS and Walgreens). You don't have to do this! You can go straight to shopping at a regular grocery store. Alright, do you have a store in mind? Let's get started.

These are the steps you will need to take:

1. Find a great blog.

• I follow the Krazy Coupon Lady for the drugstores. She explains things really well. In order to get to the drug store on her page, you go to the "Find My Store" tab.

• In order to find a blog in your area, do a Google. Seriously, I just typed "coupons Arizona" or "coupon matchups Arizona."

• Most blogs tell you the price of the item on sale and where to find a coupon to make it even cheaper. Sometimes they will give you a link to a coupon and other times they will tell you that it's in an insert. If the coupon is in an insert (these are found in Sunday newspapers), you will see something similar to SS 12/9. This means that you can find the coupon in the Smart Source insert that came in the December 9th newspaper. 

• Getting started may seem difficult because you might not have the inserts that people (blogs) are talking about. It's okay! I promise! I started that way, too, and I missed a few hot buys but I have since caught up. The sales ALWAYS come back around!

2. Go to your selected store's website and find their coupon policy. You can even Google "(insert store name) coupon policy."

• What is a coupon policy? It tells you how the store allows you to use coupons at their store. It lets you know if this store allows you to use free coupons in their store and other things like that. The policy might also let you know if your store doubles coupons (a 30 cent coupon might actually be worth 60 cents instead). My store makes all coupons $1. If I have a 10 cent coupon, it automatically gets rounded up to $1. 

3. Go shopping!

• Before leaving home, I make sure that I have my list of items that I hope to buy. I also write down what the price should be before the coupon and after the coupons. The reason I do this is to make sure that things are ringing up correctly at the register and I'm not being overcharged. Here's an example:

          Frosted Flakes 1.99 (I have a 50 cent coupon)
          Chicken Noodle Soup 1.29 (I have a .20 coupon)
          Gallon of milk 1.57

          Total before coupons: 4.85
          Total after coupons: 4.15 (or 2.85 if your store doubles coupons!)

• I put all of the coupons I'm using into an envelope to keep everything organized.  

4. Rainchecks!

• These are little strips of paper heaven. Upon entering the coupon world, you may find that there are a lot of couponers! You may find that some items have been wiped clean off the shelves (which is evidence of there being a lot of couponers). This happens A LOT at drugstores because they don't carry a large quantity of each item. If you go into the store and the item that you want isn't there, no need to fear! Get a raincheck!

• What is a raincheck? It's basically a piece of paper that guarantees that you can buy the item that you want at the sale price listed at a later time. (Example: "X" shampoo costs 1.99. Your store doesn't have any of that shampoo left. When you go to check out, ask for a raincheck. They will write down the name of the item, price, and how many you want. If the item still isn't in stock when the sale ends, you have your raincheck for the sale price.

• How to use the raincheck: Be sure to go to the store before your raincheck expires. (NOTE: CVS rainchecks are awesome because they have no expiration date!) Pick up the item(s) that your raincheck is for and go to the cash register to check out. BEFORE the cashier scans your items, tell them that you have a raincheck. The cashier will do their fancy work and give you the price listed on the raincheck. Tah-dah. Work's all done.

When you are all done shopping, breathe a sigh of relief, and enjoy your new found savings ability
Remember, if you have any questions, just ask. Unasked questions go unanswered. Welcome to the fabulous coupon world!