Found It, Kept It

Last January I decided to start keeping track of things I get for free, including rebates I get.

Through the year I tried to keep track of the things I got. I think I may have forgotten some of them, but I listed the majority of them.

The purpose of tracking it was to show myself (and Burke) that the rebates actually end up being worthwhile. So now he just lightly teases me when I am filling in tiny lines on rebate forms and stuffing the envelopes with grocery receipts.

I ended up with nearly $300 this year, which would have been enough to pay for an Ipod if Santa hadn't brought it.

WooHoo!

Grocery Deals

I went grocery shopping.

I got:

Eight boxes of cereal

Two three packs of juice boxes

One package of plastic bags

and

Two gallons of milk (one is chocolate, for Burke)

Best of all...

I only paid $1.04 out of pocket for all of it!

Even better:

As I was feeling a little lucky, I opened all the boxes of cereal (not the actual bags) and found two $5 gift cards inside!

Happy....Happy....Happy

We have had a busy weekend and I have lots to post.

Stay tuned...

Show Me the Money...er, Ham!

I just got another rebate today! Woo Hoo! Gotta love free money.

This was one of my better deals. I have to record it for posterity.

I can hear my great-great-great-grandchildren now:

"My great-great-great-grandmother once got paid for buying a ham. Wow, I am so proud to be her descendent."

Anyway, this is how the deal went down:
There was a sale on some Unilever items at our local grocery store. If you purchased $50 worth of the sale items, you got an instant $20 off the purchase of a ham.
I got $50 worth of items for about $30 after the coupons, included in this I got two hams worth $30, but had coupons for those as well, so I paid $7 out of pocket for two hams after the instant store rebate.

Clear as mud?

Now, there was a mail in rebate through Unilever at the same time for $20 back if you purchased $40 worth of Unilever products (which I did at the above sale).
I also had a beer rebate (see this link for more information about beer rebates) for $10 off a Hormel Ham.
So...

I made money on this deal. About $23!

Yippee!

Good Deal!

Things that make me happy: hugs, hot chocolate, honesty, an empty laundry hamper...

and a Good Deal!

I went to the grocery store today and got all of this:

for $1.66, including sales tax!

Happy Dance.

On second thought, maybe it is a little pathetic such things make me happy and show up on my blog.
Don't you love Adrienne's pose? She never met a camera she didn't like.

I've Been Busy

I got a bit of a kick in the pants the other day and decided to organize my food storage. It was not a small undertaking either. This is the before:

We got a Shelf Reliance rotation system to help keep things organized so that this doesn't happen again:

The garbage can was already half full before I finished filling it up with the rest of the old expired stuff that didn't get rotated into my food storage, but it is sickening and not even all of it! An expensive lesson in planning and taking care of food storage.

This is the during:

We worked on it during a break in the chaos on Saturday. Burke, Nathan, and I put together the shelving system, and loaded it up with the cans.
I took care of the rest today: I sorted and shelved the items according to expiration date. Hopefully we will be able to keep it organized. It can be difficult when the kids are rifling through things to find the goodies they especially like.
This is the after:




I am hoping to add to my long term food storage with the case lot sales that are currently running as well as some that are coming up.
I found a spectacular blog about preparedness. There is a link to it on my sidebar if you ever need to refer to it in the future. This lady knows her stuff and is super-organized.

Rebate Debate

Rebates are a tricky thing. Everyone knows they are a gimmick, so I generally don't factor the rebate into the cost of an item because who knows how much of a headache you will have to endure in calling the rebate center if you don't get the rebate for some obscure reason. I got something a few years ago for Black Friday with a rebate, that was the last time. It took a year of letters exchanged, faxes, phone calls, and frustration to get my $150. As a rule, I generally avoid them, unless I would already purchase an item without the rebate included.

Except for these:

They are beer rebates. No, you don't have to buy beer to use them. They magically show up in beer displays in grocery stores, convenience stores, and who knows where else at the beginning of the month.
They come in different shapes, sizes, and forms, but generally are really easy to redeem. As you can see in the first one, all you have to buy are things that you probably normally purchase. Just save your receipts and send them in. I have never had a problem with getting my rebates.

If you find one, try it out (and send an extra one to me). It is an easy way to get some extra money. Check out my "Found Money" sidebar to see how much I rack up through the year. (I am looking forward to watching this as well, as Burke doesn't think all of this is worth the effort).

By the way, I found a new one at the grocery store the other day and grabbed a few extras. If you live in my state I can send you one to try, just leave a comment with your info.

These are a few of my favorite things

Here and there, you find things that become hobbies. Over time, I have come to really enjoy doing my girls' hair. I love to cruise around the hair blogs and see what those talented and creative ladies have come up with that I could attempt. I found this Valentine's hairdo at Girly Do's. It turned out okay, but did take quit a bit longer than I wanted.
It is supposed to look like a heart, but I didn't make the first ponytail low enough on her head. Annika was happy with it though, and got lots of compliments that day.

I have also been actively pursuing my hobby of "find the money". It has become a personal challenge for me to find ways to squeeze every last bit of money out of whatever I can. I guess it would have been a more useful hobby for me to have picked up while we were starving students, but I figure it is better late than never.
This past week I got some money in the mail. There was a rebate for soda that offered over the holidays. 2 Liter bottles of soda were on sale for $1. If you bought 10, you qualified for a $10 rebate. I couldn't pass it up, so I got 20 bottles, spent $20 dollars, and just got my two $10 rebates in the mail. That same day, I received a $4 check from a survey company for doing a survey about frozen dinners.

I also love learning new things. I have been taking classes through community education since I moved here and have dabbled in several different things including watercolors, Tai Chi, and pottery. I am currently taking a digital photography class with my sister. I have learned quite a bit, although my sister and I spend a lot of time talking. Hopefully you will be able to see some improvement in the pictures I post...eventually. I am enjoying it, despite the teacher being a little strange. You know that saying: Working hard, or hardly working? Here are some photos I took during class to test out some features on my camera.
My final favorite for this post is my "little" sister featured in the above pictures (sorry, but they were so flattering). She is one of my best friends and a great example to me for lots of different things. I am glad she and I can get out of the house and spend some time together.

Free Stuff Alert!

I was able to download the entire Enchanted album for free on Saturday!

This is how I did it:

I purchased my new camera from Amazon during the Christmas shopping season (Black Friday deal, of course). I then received a $5 credit from them for any MP3 download until January 31, 2009.

Amazon had the Enchanted album on sale for $1.99, so with my credit, I got it for free and still have $3 left over.

After looking around on the site, I found a few free downloads that I liked, including OMD's If You Leave. That was a blast from the past! I used two more dollars downloading two songs from Phantom of the Opera, so I have one left... Hmmm...

Finders Keepers

I am really excited to begin a new running bit on my blog for this year. I have been working hard to find great buys and save money as much as possible for the past few years. This past year I have gotten lots of help from Pinching Your Pennies. I have also gotten creative and resourceful and found some on my own.

I have found lots of great deals, rebates, and other ways that I can "find" extra money. It is usually fairly small amounts at a time, but I know it adds up. I am going to add a spot to my sidebar that keeps a running tally of the small bits of money that I make over the year, and share those money making ideas with you.

Now, this won't include the great grocery deals I get by using coupons and shopping deals, it will only include things that come to me in cash (or gifts- I am currently waiting for a few things that should be coming in the mail, including a pair of Crocs).

When the money starts trickling in, I will begin the box on the sidebar, so keep a watchful eye, and we will see if it adds up to anything substantial.

Savin'

I found this fun website for mobile saving... You just put in your zip code, what you are looking for, and they will send a coupon to your phone to show the checker and you get your discount right then. If you don't have texting on your phone, you can just print out the coupons before you go. Pretty fun.
There are deals for dining out, shopping, and even for the movies. Check it out.

Ready, Set, Go

For those of you who don't wade into the hazards of Black Friday, you might as well move on.
But for those who love the adrenaline, angst, and euphoria associated with waiting outside in the cold at 4 AM for a great deal, check out this site.