Free Victoria's Secret Panties!

Become a Facebook fan of Victoria's Secret and click on the "Secrets" tab. You can then print a coupon for 2 free panties with any purchase good TOMORROW, September 1, only.

You can't combine this with other offers, which is too bad, because I also have the free PINK Beauty Travel Kit with any PINK purchase coupon (good through September 24) from signing up for PINK Nation. Still, I could find two cheap items (one PINK) and do both offers tomorrow, just ring them up separately.

Thanks to Freebies 4 Mom for this deal!

Update: I went and bought a little antibacterial hand gel for $3 something and got my two free panties.

Savings this post: $16.00
Savings so far: $455.09

Free Mall Gift Card!

GGP Group Malls is running a promotion right now giving out $10 gift cards to selected malls, and the River Hills Mall in Mankato is one of those! There are 2 options: a $10 gift card when you bring in receipts totaling $75 or more, and a $10 gift card with no strings attached - just enter your e-mail and address on their site (you can do both, but only 1 of each per household it appears). For the free gift card, they will then e-mail you a voucher to bring in September 17-19 to claim the card, and I believe for the other one you just have to bring in your receipts on those dates.

Update: I added the link to the River Hills Mall site. Also, for the $75 deal, it can only be receipts from September 17-19, not from now until then, which would have been nice, because I would have maybe done that, as I am planning on getting my nursing bras within the next couple of days...

In the past they have simply e-mailed the vouchers to members of The Club, so this is a little different, but also is open to everyone...if you claim yours quickly enough. I claimed mine a little while ago, and it said there were 429 left for this location. Update: Still 405 left!

Thanks to Money Saving Methods for the hot tip!

Sometimes It Pays to Be Helpful...

I work at a hotel, and one of the most common questions I get is "Where's a good place to eat in this town?" Several restaurants (local and chains) have dropped off menus and coupons, so those are usually the ones I recommend. There is a trio of restaurants owned by the same people that gives us $5 off of $20 or more coupons to hand out, and if we put the hotel name and our name on the back, they give us a few dollars in gift certificates for each coupon that is turned in.

With the Vikings training camp in town last month, I had recommended quite a few people to the sports bar, Tav on the Ave, and I had $24 worth of certificates to spend there. Jesse and I went out for a nice dinner the other night for only $10 (part of which was the tip)!

Savings this post: $24.00
Savings so far: $439.05

Cub had some more good drink deals this week with coupons in their ad. We got two 24-packs of Pepsi products (Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew) for Jesse for $4.98 each, and a free 12-pack of Sierra Mist for me. And yes, that is about the frequency that we drink pop - he'll probably be done with his 2 cubes before I finish my 12-pack.

There was also a coupon for 5 free Propels with 10 Gatorade/G2s, which were 10/$10. Again, Jesse gets the Gatorades, and I get the Propels, and he'll probably finish first. I'm generally happy with just water and milk...

Savings this post: $8.94
Savings so far: $415.05

Contest Reminder: Honey Nut Cheerios

I got my $5 check in the mail today from winning this contest earlier this month, and guess what? I won another $5 today! You can play the game up to 10 times per day, and there is a $5 winner every 10 minutes.

Grocery Trip

HyVee had some great 1-day sale deals today. I spent $13.97 for everything in the picture above.

• Potatoes: 88 cents a bag
• Cheese: 99 cents
• Paper towels: 99 cents per 3 rolls
• Macaroni and cheese: 4 for $1 (I just bought these for the elbow macaroni noodles - much cheaper than buying a box with the same amount of noodles)
• Powerades: still on sale with the coupon from the tent sale ad for 10 for $5.90
• Secret deoderant: $1.68 each and I had two $1 off coupons from Sunday inserts
• Total saved: $4 in coupons, and much more in sales, but I didn't keep track of the original prices this time

Then I went to Walmart to pick up the rest of the weekly groceries (minus the meat, which we still have stocked up in our freezer). I spent $24.59, and I didn't have a lot of coupons or see any great deals. I did get the Yoplait Delights yogurt for half price with a $1.25 off coupon. Hopefully it's good - I haven't tried this kind yet. I also got the cans of pineapple for 26 cents each with 50 cent off coupons from coupons.com. Total savings: $2.25. Again, I buy store brand, so I save money that way as well.

Savings this post: $6.25

Savings so far: $406.11 (we broke $400!)

Free Eos Lip Balm

I signed up for this, and it's really cute looking. Plus, who doesn't want free lip balm? Get the details from Freebies4Mom here.

Exercise Ball

At our childbirth class the other night, we all got to try sitting on an exercise ball as we talked about comfort during the last weeks of pregnancy, as well as during labor. It was very nice, and I wanted one.

I went to Target yesterday, and found one on sale for $6.98 (originally $9.99). I thought they would be a lot more than that, so I was pleasantly surprised. I did also discover later on that there was one at Walmart for $6, but I like the one I got.

I also got a few more sample size items for free with coupons.

Savings this post: $5.76
Savings so far: $399.86

Free $5 for Kohl's

I signed up earlier this month for Kohl's e-newsletter, and as part of their thank-you, I got an e-mail coupon for $5 off any purchase of $5 or more. I went browsing last night and found a great pair of earrings (originally $12) on sale for $4.99. Free!

Savings this post: $12
Savings so far: $394.10

Day of Deals!

Here are my deals for the day. I only spent $19.05, and got over half of these items for free!

Walmart: Jesse needed deoderant, and I had a buy one get one free coupon for the Speed Stick Pro brand. Total spent: $3.41 for 2. Total saved: $2.97.

Walgreens:

• The Angel Soft 12-pack of double rolls was on sale for $4.99. I also had a 50 cents off coupon. (Normally we buy the 24-pack of double rolls at Walmart for $11.xx. Since we're at the end of the month I don't have a lot of household money left to spend, so I just got one.)
• The Huggies wipes were $3.29. I used a $2 off coupon from the in-store coupon booklet, and a 50 cent manufacturer's coupon. So far, this is the only store I've found in Mankato that will let me stack coupons like this. I paid 79 cents for the wipes.
• Finally, they're hard to see, but I got a Covergirl nail polish and eye shadow. All Covergirl items were on sale for buy 1 get 1 half off. I also had a $2.50 off of 2 items coupon. I paid $5.74 for the two.
• Total spent: $9.54. Total saved: $10.05

Target:

• The three Gerber bottles were 99 cents each. I printed off three $1 off coupons here. Free! (There are also several other good Target coupons available to print right now.)
• The Kashi single serve cup was 99 cents. I printed off one $1 off coupon here. Free!
• The 3 Tide trial size and 1 All trial size were 97 cents and 99 cents, respectively. I used $1 off coupons from Sunday inserts to get these for free also. Normally for detergent we buy the bulk All Free n' Clear (with no dyes or bleach or anything), but I'm willing to try others for free.
• The 4 energy drinks were $2.29 each. I had 2 printable buy 1 get 1 free coupons (no longer available).
• The Reese's 8-pack was $1. There was a 55 cent off coupon in this last Sunday's insert.
• Finally, my only flub of the day. I had a coupon for 50 cents off of a Betty Crocker cake mix and frosting. You will notice that the cake mix is Pillsbury. I was so excited about finding a cake mix for 89 cents and a frosting for 68 cents (cheaper than Walmart!) that I didn't notice that it was the wrong brand. Oh well. Still cheap!
• Total spent: $6.54. Total saved: $14.00.

Savings this post: $27.02
Savings so far: $382.10

Free Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works!

Go here for links to print coupons! Thanks to Common Sense with Money.

-- A free 1 oz. Victoria's Secret Pink Body Lotion (expires 8/24/09) with no purchase necessary (just go to the checkout counter and show them the coupon)

-- A free lip item (up to $7.50) with any purchase at Bath & Body Works (expires 8/23/09). I got a Pink Mint gloss that is really nice (retail value $7.50), with my purchase of a travel size lotion for my purse (which I needed anyways).

That's not a lot of time to print and use these, but if you are heading to the mall this weekend anyways...

And, as a note to add to my savings total, I also used one of my Wendy's Twisted Frosty promotion coupons for $1 off.

Savings this post: $8.50 (+ the retail value of the Victoria's Secret lotion, which is unlisted since it is a promotional item)
Savings so far: $355.08

Free Halls

Go here to sign up for the Halls e-newsletter, and they will supposedly send you a survey. Once you fill out the survey, they will send you a coupon for a free package of Halls (up to $2.29). We love the Vitamin C's during the cold season, so I will definitely take a free bag!

Yogurt Rebate

There is a rebate opportunity to get a coupon for free 4-pack of YoPlus Yogurt. You just have to buy a 4-pack of Activia and send in the receipt, UPC, and rebate form. The Activia was on sale at Target for $2 (normally $2.68 each) and I had two $1 off coupons. The Milano cookies were also on sale 2/$5 (normally $3.39 each), and I had two $1 off coupons for those as well. And the corkboard was on sale for only $5 (normally $6.19).

I also got the Austin snack packs for $1 (normally $1.50 each). They were on sale at Walmart for $1 each, and I had a $1 off of two coupon. The cherry coke was the only thing not on sale, but I'll splurge on my favorite pop...

For this shopping trip, I spent $10.37 at Target and $2.61 at Walmart. I saved $8.33 at Target and $2.00 at Walmart. I'm not sure how much the YoPlus Yogurt is, so I'll mark down that savings when I actually use the coupon for the free 4-pack.

Savings this post: $10.33
Savings so far: $346.58

Powerade and Ice Cream

Everyone seems to be running the deals on Powerade lately...HyVee had 10 for $7.90, with a $2 off coupon in their ad. That means the Powerades were only 59 cents each. Good deal! (The carbonated waters and the candy corn are just treats for me). Total spent: $8.83. Total saved (assuming Powerades are normally about $1 each): $4.10.

When did ice cream get to be so expensive? I must not have noticed because I usually buy the Walmart brand. Cub Foods was running a buy one get one free deal on Blue Bunny ice cream, and had a coupon in their ad for a free Smuckers topping with purchase of 2. I also had a $1 off coupon. However, the Blue Bunny ice creams were $6.19 each! Who pays that much for ice cream normally? I really only saved on the topping, because my normal ice cream buys are about $2-$2.50 each. But I'll still count it. Total spent: $5.19. Total saved: $9.08.

Savings this post: $13.18

Savings so far: $336.25

Free Juicer

A juicer is one of those random kitchen gadgets that I wouldn't necessarily use very often, but wouldn't be bad to have. And, even better, I just requested a free Valencia juicer here! I just had to fill out a short survey.

Contests/Sweepstakes

I won $5 from this Honey Nut Cheerios sweepstakes this morning! You can play up to 10 times a day, and the sweepstakes runs until 3/9/10.

Here are some other daily contests I've been trying (but haven't won yet):

• Wendy's Twisted Frosty Twist and Win: Create a virtual twisted frosty for a chance to win $10,000 or other prizes. I haven't won anything here, but even if you lose, you can print off a coupon for $1 off a twisted frosty (up to 2 coupons per person). That makes the frosty only $1.49, and they are delicious. The contest runs until 8/30/09, and you can play once daily.
• Starkist Tuna Creations: Open a tuna packet and enter your info to see if you win $500 or free tuna products. I just started playing this one, and I don't like tuna, but Jesse does. If you lose, you get a coupon for 50 cents off. The contest runs until 10/11/09, and you can play once daily.
• Pace Salsa: Enter a code (they will provide one if you don't have one) from under the cap of a Pace product to see if you win free salsa. You can win up to 5 times throughout the promotional period, which goes until 7/31/10.

I do these because they're fun, quick, and easy. I have an e-mail sent to myself with the links, and I update that as I find new ones so I can just click right through them all. Good luck playing!

Free Schwann's Food

I'm a little behind on posting about this, and I'm not sure if it's still available, but Schwann's is offering $10 of free food to new customers on current delivery routes. I got my $9.99 free mini-cinnamon rolls delivered today, and they are delicious.

Savings this post: $9.99
Savings so far: $323.07

Survey Panels - Greenfield Online

Here's irony for you: I was going through all of the survey panels I joined last month and seeing which ones were worth my time. I almost deleted this one because I wasn't sure it was worth the effort, but I decided to keep it for another month to see if anything came out of it. This afternoon, I got an e-mail saying I had won 3rd prize in one of their July sweepstakes - $100!

Greenfield Online is definitely more of a panel for people who enjoy taking surveys than for people who want to make a few extra dollars, because the majority of the surveys only give you sweepstakes entries.

In the past month I've only earned $4 off of surveys, although they don't seem to have a minimum cashout threshold, and I was able to request my $4 through Paypal this morning (and my $100 this afternoon!). I am not sure how long it takes to actually get the money yet, but the confirmation page says 2-3 weeks.

I have been taking all of the surveys that were sent to my e-mail, as well as occasional extras when I have free time, which as of today (approximately 1 month after joining) has given me 51 sweepstakes entries split between 3 contests. I should note that the contest I won only had 3 of those entries.

They e-mail survey invitations, or you can log into the site and take as many as you want - once you finish a survey, you have the option to take another survey right away, or go to your account. The surveys vary from just a few questions to 20-30 minutes long.

Old Navy Deal Again!

Old Navy is running the $2 tank top special again (limit 5) this Saturday (8/15/09)! I may or may not stop by, as we are traveling to my parents' that day, but I know I got my 5 last time that I wear constantly (maternity is not included, but I got XL and XXL and they work just fine).

Survey Panels - Opinion Outpost

I earned and requested another $5 payout from a survey panel today, so I figured I would share...

Opinion Outpost is another one of my favorites. They send e-mails with links to surveys, which earn you points, or you can log into the site to check for any new surveys, although so far, any I've logged in to see have been e-mailed to me as well. I have not gotten any spam from this site either.

I do have to wait 4-8 weeks for my $5.00 check to be mailed to me, as this site does not have a Paypal option, but it only took 500 points to get that check (1 point = 1 cent if I can do math appropriately...).

If you do not qualify for a survey, this site gives you 3 choices: sweepstakes entry, instant win game for $50.00, or donation to a charity. I have been trying the instant win, but haven't won yet. Still, it's nice to get something for not qualifying.

Free Sample - Brilliant Brunette

There is a free sample for John Freida Brilliant Brunette shampoo and conditioner available here while supplies last. I am of course a brilliant brunette, and I've always wondered if there was anything special about this product line, but I never wanted to spend the money. Yay sample! Thanks to Money Saving Mom!

Grocery Trip

This is pretty much a typical Walmart trip for us (minus the meat we normally buy, which we got on sale at HyVee this week). It is mostly stocking up on the essentials, as well as whatever cleaners we need and any recipe specific foods we don't have. We freeze our bread so that we don't have to make multiple trips to the store during our 2 weeks. Total cost: $45.86. Total savings from coupons (including the free Starbucks ice cream from the Facebook promo, a printable Betty Crocker brownies from coupons.com, and some from the Sunday inserts): $6.75.

I went to Cub specifically for these deals: the pizzas were 3/$9; the Powerades were buy 10/$9, get 5 free with coupon in coupon book (available at the store); the Pantene shampoos were on sale for $3.33 each (and I had a $1 off of 2 coupon from the Sunday inserts); and the Healthy Choice dinners ended up costing $1 total because I had 4 printable coupons (two for $2 off, two for $2.50 off, both of which are no longer available). Total cost: $26.15. Total savings: $14.50.

These are extra foods, if I don't feel like cooking one day, or we need a quick lunch, and the Powerades are a good deal because Jesse likes to have one for work, and this is cheaper than his spending $1.28 on a soda each time.

Finally, my Target stop - the All 96-load detergent was on sale for $12, and I had a $2 off coupon from the Sunday inserts. I paid $1 plus tax for the rest of the items because of coupons that I had (candy coupons from realchocolate.com, a Sharpie printable for $1 off (thanks to Freebies4Mom), and a BIC $1 off of two from coupons.com). Total cost: $12.11. Total savings: $6.55.

Our grocery/household budget for the month is $150. Today I spent $84.12. With our stocking up on ground beef from HyVee, at an additional $47.70 for 30 lbs., that brings our monthly total to $131.82. However, I won't have much to purchase for our second grocery trip later on this month, and the next two months will have extra money due to not needing to buy meat. I may even splurge and buy Jesse a steak dinner next month... :)

Savings this post: $27.80

Savings so far: $313.08

HyVee Ground Beef

I got so excited about my Sharpies I forgot to post our other deal of the day:

Our local HyVee ad has a coupon for a 10-lb. roll of 80/20 ground beef for $15.90. Normally we buy a 5-lb. roll at Walmart for $12. Huge savings! Luckily, it's the paycheck week of the month where we take out our cash for groceries, and we will have enough extra to take advantage of this deal to stock up.

We bought our first roll today, a savings of $8.10 over what we would normally pay for 10 lbs. of ground beef. I plan on going back tomorrow while I'm doing the rest of my grocery shopping to get a 2nd, and Saturday to get a 3rd (the limit is 1 coupon per customer per purchase).

We go through about 5 lbs. every 2 weeks, so we'll have ground beef in our freezer for 3 months! Huge savings for our grocery bill for those months, which I can then turn over into diaper money, or good stocking up deals, or even Christmas presents (I was going to post on some of my Christmas ideas already, but I'm not sure if my family members read this and I don't want to spoil their surprises...).

Savings this post, including the 3 trips for ground beef: $24.30
Savings so far: $285.28

Office Max Deals!

'Tis the school supply season, and Office Max has some decent deals (just like everyone else). I got these items for 17 cents, a savings of $9.77. I would also like to note that this is the 2nd time I have actually been in this store since moving to Mankato almost 5 years ago.

Here's the breakdown:

- 12-pack of pencils, regularly $0.99, on sale for $0.10

- Sharpies, regularly $1.49 each, $0.01 each with this coupon (limit 3 per person, but I took Jesse and an extra coupon along). Thanks to Coupon Cravings! The coupon is good through Saturday, August 8. The coupon is good on any individual sharpies, highlighters, or little clip-on sharpies, but they're going fast, at least at our location.

I was also going to get two 10-packs of BIC pens for free (online I believe the ad said they were buy 1 for 99 cents, get one for 1 cent, and there's a printable $1 off of 2 BIC products at coupons.com), but the cashier said my coupon wasn't valid. Oh well. I'll just check Walmart when I'm there tomorrow.

Savings this post: $9.77
Savings so far: $260.98

Lightspeed Panel Online

This month I have looked into survey panels online which pay you for taking their surveys. I decided not to post any until I had actually earned money, and I've gotten my first payday.

Most of the legitimate survey sites have a certain cash-out minimum you have to meet, so while I've earned something on most of the ones that I've tried, I haven't gotten to that point yet.

However, one which I really like is Lightspeed Panel Online. After signing up on their website, you can fill out the initial profile surveys, which don't earn you points, but help them to send surveys that you will actually qualify for and can complete for points. Then you can either log back into the site every so often to see if there are any new surveys, or just wait for the e-mail invitations. They don't send junk e-mails, and so far I have qualified for nearly every survey they have sent me.

Once you get enough points, you can pick something to cash out on. I think the lowest is 500 points. I chose to do a $5 Paypal transaction for 575 points, which I was able to get in about 3 weeks. Certain surveys also give you sweepstakes entries (I apparently have 37 of those), especially if you don't qualify for the survey, but I generally don't pay too much attention to those.

Obviously, this is not going to be a huge money maker, but a few extra dollars (or Amazon gift certificates, or prizes, or whatever) will be nice. As I get to the cash-out point on more of the sites, I'll post more about them here. I'm finding some are a lot more valuable for my time than others...

Kellogg's Rebate and Wendy's Frosty continued

I got all of this food for $6.41. (Also, see my pretty anniversary flowers in the background...)
This is part of the Kellogg's Fuel for School rebate that I talked about yesterday. The original out of pocket price for all of this would have been $25.56 plus tax. I saved $9.30 with coupons (most from the Kellogg's insert in yesterday's paper, but a few printable ones from coupons.com as well), and I get a $10 rebate by mailing in the UPCs and the receipt.

Everything except for the Cheez-its was already on sale as well. Can't get much better than sales, coupons, AND rebates.

The Sprite Zero was an added bonus, because on the Cheez-it box, there was a $2.00 off of two 2-liters or one 12-pack, and the 2-liters were $1. Free soda!

To celebrate my good deal, I went to Wendy's to use my printable $1 off a twisted Frosty coupon (the online contest promotion that they're running right now which gives you a printable coupon whether you win or lose), so I got that for only $1.49.

Savings this post: $20.30, once I get my rebate check
Savings so far: $251.21

Free Johnson's Soothing Natural Gift Set

Not sure if this includes full-size or samples of the different products, but it was easy and free. Fill out the registration form here and click through the confirmation e-mail.

Kellogg's Rebate Offer

I actually bought the Sunday paper today. I really should look into getting the weekend subscription, but I haven't done that yet. There were several coupon inserts - I'm not sure if it's because it's the beginning of the month, or if I just picked a good week, but yay! for lots of coupons.

One of the inserts was for Kellogg's. They are doing what could be a pretty cool offer. Buy 10 of their specified products, send in the receipt and UPCs with the form, and get $10 back. The insert was full of coupons for the products, so they'll already be decently priced. The part that really caught my eye was that you also get a $70 coupon code for Dell. Jesse wants to get a Mini 10v laptop, and that appears to be part of this deal (the laptop is currently $299, so $70 would definitely help). You can also download the rebate form and get the list of products here - you just have to register with them.

So...within the next couple of days I'm going to go buy our 10 products (a lot of it is snacky food, or cereals, but since I get cereals with WIC, I'll probably stick with Poptarts and Cheez-its and Eggo waffles) and send in the form. I am curious if the Dell coupon will be online only, or if it will have a bar code to scan at retailers too (in case the computer goes on sale somewhere else). We shall see...

Glade Sense and Spray

I don't normally buy air fresheners for the house. I have a bottle of Febreeze that I use every once in awhile, and I'll occasionally light a candle, but generally we just rely on open windows and fresh air. But...I found a coupon for $4.00 off a Glade Sense and Spray starter kit in one of my recent magazines (I think it was Parents?).

It has a motion sensor, and locks up for 30 minutes after each spray (so it doesn't constantly spray). You can also make it manually spray. It smells pretty decent too. I just have to find the right spot for it so it freshens without being overpowering.

I was browsing the cleaners section at Walmart today to see if there were any good deals to pair my coupons with, and I found the starter kit on sale for $5.00. It even came with batteries. The original price was $7.97, which I would not pay. I got it for $1.00, and it even came with 2 coupons ($3.00 off another starter kit, and $1.00 off of 2 refills, which are $3 something apiece, so I'll have to watch for sales on those too).

Savings this post: $6.97
Savings so far: $230.91