Getting Some Free Gift Cards

With the economy the way it is & the holidays coming quickly upon us, I've been hearing from people lately, "Who should I buy presents for & how do I afford them?"

My first suggestion is to join Swagbucks. I've got 280 something Swagbucks myself, after having recently cashed a bunch in for 2 Amazon.com gift cards, a Starbucks gift card and an iTunes gift card. If you haven't heard about Swagbucks, you need to! Basically, you log in and use their search engine (which uses Google & Ask.com) and you win Swagbucks which are redeemable for gift cards and other stuff. This is the coolest of my "free" recommendations because you are simply being rewarded for something you do anyway!

I also use Mypoints and InboxDollars. Both programs reward you for reading e-mails and then clicking on the links. The difference is that My Points pays in gift cards, whereas Inbox Dollars pays in cold, hard cash. Again, I can refer you to these programs if you'd like. You can simply click on this link for InboxDollars, but for My Points, I have to refer you via e-mail. Inbox Dollars will give you $5 just for signing up. Also, if you use credit cards, now is the time to cash in your rewards!

Also, here are some posts on how to make money on the internet, including my posts on getting a $500 Sears card & a $500 IKEA card. Believe it or not, I still have $75 on my Sears card & $375 on my IKEA card. Since I'm due to have a baby in the next few weeks, I'm not sure I'll be doing much Christmas shopping unless it's by e-card :)

The Shaw's Deals are Rolling!

I went to Shaw's yesterday & today, and the deal is working!

My first transaction, I didn't get any cats going through self checkout, and the customer service person said sometimes that happens at self checkout. Thankfully, they forced the cats for me. I heard later that the Old El Paso products are NOT producing a catalina, so I think that was the real issue.

Today, I went to a different store. I did the deal 2 more times, and it worked both times! I was careful to only buy things that were clearly marked with the big, red, "Get $15" tag. The $15 tags have the UPC on them, so you can double-check.

Here are the products I bought:
8.9 oz Cheerios
Progresso Beef Broth
Progresso Traditional Soups: Italian Wedding, Chicken Noodle, Chicken & Wild Rice
Scott's Mega Roll
PB Cookie Mix
BC Cake Mix: Yellow or Devil's Food
BC Frosting: Chocolate or Vanilla

In yesterday's transaction, I spent $14.67, and got $15 back for next visit. It would have been more of a profit but I bought my son a LaraBar :) Today, I spent $26.30 and got $30 back. 6 boxes of Cheerios, 2 cartons broth, 6 cans soup, 2 cake mixes, 2 tubs frosting, 2 cookie mixes, 5 rolls of paper towels. I didn't even use that many coupons!

Hope this information helps some of you :)

So Delicious Coconut Coupons!

When I was printing out some coupons for the Shaw's Deal this week, I noticed 3 So Delicious coconut product coupons are available at Coupons.com. There is alos a LaraBar coupon. Go print them out :) They're on one of the last "food" pages for me, and it allowed me to print them out twice.

Awesome Shaw's Catalina Deal This Week!

Do Not Miss the deals at Shaw's this week! Spend $30 on participating products through November 11 and get a coupon for $15 off your next shopping order!

They're fofering the usual cake mixes and frostings, but also soup, broth, taco ingredients, paper towels, cereal, tea, and pasta sauce. Definitely some natural-leaning products available :)

Check out Wicked Cool Deals for coupon match-ups. HotCouponWorld is reporting that this deal is doubling & tripling - meaning you don't have to do a ton of separate transactions!

I hope to go tonight or tomorrow to try this out. Woo-hoo! Free groceries!

Update on $25 Personal CVS Challenge

Still pregnant (37 weeks!) and still working on my $25 personal CVS challenge. Here's the update :)

Transaction #34 (October 6)
$2.99: Colgate Total Toothpaste
$3.99: Revlon Nail Polish

Used $1.50 off Colgate Total
Used $.50 ECB
Used $4.98 ECB (adjusted down)
Broke even - no OOP

I had some ECB's I needed to use, so I went ahead and bought my newspapers with them.
Transaction #35 (October 11)
$3.98: 2 4-in-1 Pumpkin Carving Tool
$.99: 1 Halloween Nylon Treat Bag
$.44: 1 bag Brach’s Candy Corn
$3.50: 1 Boston Globe
$2.00: 1 Boston Herald

Used $9.99 ECB
Used $4.99 ECB
Used $3.00 ECB
Used $2.92 ECB (adjusted down)
Broke even - no OOP

I have more transactions that CVS royally messed up because I used a raincheck that had been filled out incorrectly, so I'm going to do my best to make sense of it here.

Transaction #36 (October 27)
$9.99: Nova Max Glucose Meter
$9.99: Gillette Fusion Razor

Used $4.00 off Gillette Fusion Razor coupon
Used $10.00 ECB
Used $3.00 ECB
Used $2.00 ECB
Used $.98 ECB (adjusted down)
Broke even - no OOP

Transaction #37 (October 27)
$4.99: 1 Vaseline Sheer Infusion Body Lotion

Used $1.50 off Vaseline lotion coupon
Used $3.49 ECB (adjusted down)

Total spent so far: $4.28 + $3.41 + $8.67 + $1.05 + $1.01 + $.27 + $2.16 +$0 + $.59 + $.17 + $.97 + $1.78 + $2.59 + $0 + $2.59 + $4.11 + $6.16 + $0.00 + $.02 + $.03 + $.25 $.07 + $.66 + $.00 + $.06 + $.00 + $.92 + $.85 + $.04 + $.75 + $.00 + $.00 + $.00 + $.04 + $.00 + $.00 + $.00 - $10 rebate - $7.99 rebate = $24.73

ECB's earned: $15.49 (This does not include the ones I cashed in)

I still have my 27 cents left to spend, but I no longer have a profit margin. I'm OK with that because look at all the stuff I've gotten!

1 bottle CVS Chewable Aspirin, 36 count
1 bottle Excedrin, 10 count
3 bottles Mylanta Ultimate Strength Mint
2 Neutrogena facial soaps
2 Stayfree Pads, 16 ct
2 bottles Natural Dentist Mouthwash
1 Extreme Energy Shots
1 Renuzit TriScents Air Freshener Starter Kit
1 Maybelline Dream foundation
1 Irish Spring Body Wash 15-18 oz.
4 Dry Idea roll-on deodorant
1 Colgate Maxwhite toothpaste
1 CVS Vitamin D 400 iu, 100 ct
1 Schick Intuition Plus razor
1 Bayer Contour blood sugar meter
4 Crest ProHealth toothpastes
4 boxes Post Trail Mix cereal
1 Ensure 6 pack
3 packs gum
1 Paas Egg Dyeing Kit
2 bags Easter Grass
2 Easter baskets
1 Skintimate Shaving Cream
1 Edge Infused Shaving Cream
6 3M Hooks
1 Garnier Fructis Conditioner
2 boxes Frosted Mini-wheats
1 box Frosted Flakes
1 Adidas A3 Deodorant
2 Speed Stick Pro deodorants
5 Colgate Total Advanced toothpaste
2 Mennon Speed Stick Pro deodorants
1 Pampers Cruisers packages
16 SoyJoy Bars
2 Thermacare Heat Wraps, 1 ct boxes
2 Always Infinity 32 & 36 ct maxipads
2 Caliber 1-Subject Notebooks
2 12″ Wood Rulers
2 School Glue
2 5″ Pointed Tip Scissors
3 Paper Mate Grip Pens (8-ct.)
2 CVS 5-Subject Notebook
2 Tylenol Arthritis
2 Papermate Pen, 10-ct
2 Pencil packs, 24-count
2 Filler Paper packs, 150 sheets
1 CVS Tampons, 10-ct
2 Composition Books, 100 sheets
1 Pencil Case
1 Cow tale candy
2 Pilot Easytouch Pen, 2 Pk
2 Caliber 100-Page Composition Books
1 Caliber Index Card Case
1 Caliber Sticky Notes
1 Blink Tears eye drops
2 Stayfree Pads (28-48 ct.)
2 Caliber Brand Pens (20-ct.)
2 Caliber pharmacy 1-Subject Notebooks
2 Caliber Compass/Protractors
2 Caliber Flexi Rulers
2 Caliber Glue Stick (3-pk.)
1 CVS Mouthwash, 250 mL
1 Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mouse Makeup
2 Paper Mate Pens, 10 pk
2 Caliber Filler Paper (150-sheets)
2 Caliber Mini Composition Notebook
2 Caliber Recycled School Box
1 Philips Earhook Headphones
2 Caliber Composition Books
1 Carefree Ultra Protection pads
1 Tot Stapler
3 Larabars
1 Glade Scented Reed Diffuser
1 pack Schick Slim Triple ST3 Disposable Razors
1 Crest with Scope Outlast Toothpaste
1 Crest with Scope Outlast Mouthwash
1 Dyna Pep Energy Micro-Shot (2-pk.)
1 Duracell AA (16-pk.)
1 Bounty Basic 6 Big Rolls
1 Dawn (10.3-oz.)
2 Bounce Dryer Bar (1-ct.)
1 32 ounce bottle CVS Brand Apple Juice
1 2-liter bottle Sprite
1 Revlon Nail Polish
2 4-in-1 Pumpkin Carving Tool
1 Halloween Nylon Treat Bag
1 bag Brach’s Candy Corn
1 Boston Globe
1 Boston Herald
1 Nova Max Glucose Meter
1 Gillette Fusion Razor
1 Vaseline Sheer Infusion Body Lotion

Close to Wrapping Up My CVS Challenge

I only have 27 cents left to spend in my $25 personal CVS challenge! In aniticipation of wrapping this up, I've actually been letting the CVS cashiers adjust my ECB's down. I've only lost pennies here & there, but I'm trying to maximize the ECB's I do have. Because of this, my profit margin has decreased. Plus, my transaction today cost $3.80 (the balance when figuring in coupons & ECB's spent versus earned), but it was stuff I needed for after the new baby comes.

In other great news, a brand new CVS opened just a few blocks from my house!! They sent out some coupons, which I used in Transaction #33 below. It's quite large and has a different set-up than I'm used to, but I couldn't be more excited!

That said, here's what I've been up to:

Transaction #28 (September 11)
$6.99: Schick Slim Triple ST3 Disposable Razors
$6.98: 1 Crest with Scope Outlast Toothpaste, and 1 Crest with Scope Outlast Mouthwash

Used $3/1 Schick Disposable Razor
Used $1.98 ECB
Used $3.98 ECB
Used $3.98 ECB
Used $6.99 ECB
Put $.04 on a gift card

Transaction #29 (September 14)
$4.99: 1 Dyna Pep Energy Micro-Shot (2-pk.)
$2.99: 1 Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste

Used $1.50 off Colgate coupon
Used $1.98 ECB
Used $3.79 ECB
Put $.75 on a gift card

Transaction #30 (September 21)
$5.98: 2 Dry Idea roll-ons

Used 2 $2.00 off Dry Idea roll-on coupon
Used $1.98 ECB
Broke even - no OOP

Transaction #31 (September 21)
$2.99: 1 Dry Idea roll-on

Used $.99 ECB
Used $2.00 ECB
Broke even - no OOP

Transaction #32 (September 29)
$10: 1 Duracell AA (16-pk.)
$6: 1 Bounty Basic 6 Big Rolls
$1: 1 Dawn (10.3-oz.)
$8: 2 Bounce Dryer Bar (1-ct.)

Used $1.00 off Duracell multi-pack coupon
Used $1.00 off Bounce multi-pack coupon
Used $.20 off Dawn coupon
Used $1.50 off Bounce Dryer Bar coupon
Used $2.50 off Bounce Dryer Bar coupon
Used $5/$20 coupon (for giving CVS my e-mail address)
Used $1.00 ECB
Used $1.81 ECB
Used $6.99 ECB
Used $4.00 ECB
Broke even - no OOP

Transaction #33 (September 29)
$2.99: CVS Brand Apple Juice
$1.99: 1 2-liter bottle Sprite
$.05: bottle deposit

Used $1.99 off Srpite
Used $3 off any CVS product

Put $.04 on gift card

Total spent so far: $4.28 + $3.41 + $8.67 + $1.05 + $1.01 + $.27 + $2.16 +$0 + $.59 + $.17 + $.97 + $1.78 + $2.59 + $0 + $2.59 + $4.11 + $6.16 + $0.00 + $.02 + $.03 + $.25 $.07 + $.66 + $.00 + $.06 + $.00 + $.92 + $.85 + $.04 + $.75 + $.00 + $.00 + $.00 + $.04 - $10 rebate - $7.99 rebate = $24.73

ECB's earned: $25.99 (This does not include the ones I cashed in)

Profit: $.42 (minus 2 42 cent stamps)

Stuff I've gotten:
1 bottle CVS Chewable Aspirin, 36 count
1 bottle Excedrin, 10 count
3 bottles Mylanta Ultimate Strength Mint
2 Neutrogena facial soaps
2 Stayfree Pads, 16 ct
2 bottles Natural Dentist Mouthwash
1 Extreme Energy Shots
1 Renuzit TriScents Air Freshener Starter Kit
1 Maybelline Dream foundation
1 Irish Spring Body Wash 15-18 oz.
4 Dry Idea roll-on deodorant
1 Colgate Maxwhite toothpaste
1 CVS Vitamin D 400 iu, 100 ct
1 Schick Intuition Plus razor
1 Bayer Contour blood sugar meter
4 Crest ProHealth toothpastes
4 boxes Post Trail Mix cereal
1 Ensure 6 pack
3 packs gum
1 Paas Egg Dyeing Kit
2 bags Easter Grass
2 Easter baskets
1 Skintimate Shaving Cream
1 Edge Infused Shaving Cream
6 3M Hooks
1 Garnier Fructis Conditioner
2 boxes Frosted Mini-wheats
1 box Frosted Flakes
1 Adidas A3 Deodorant
2 Speed Stick Pro deodorants
4 Colgate Total Advanced toothpaste
2 Mennon Speed Stick Pro deodorants
1 Pampers Cruisers packages
16 SoyJoy Bars
2 Thermacare Heat Wraps, 1 ct boxes
2 Always Infinity 32 & 36 ct maxipads
2 Caliber 1-Subject Notebooks
2 12″ Wood Rulers
2 School Glue
2 5″ Pointed Tip Scissors
3 Paper Mate Grip Pens (8-ct.)
2 CVS 5-Subject Notebook
2 Tylenol Arthritis
2 Papermate Pen, 10-ct
2 Pencil packs, 24-count
2 Filler Paper packs, 150 sheets
1 CVS Tampons, 10-ct
2 Composition Books, 100 sheets
1 Pencil Case
1 Cow tale candy
2 Pilot Easytouch Pen, 2 Pk
2 Caliber 100-Page Composition Books
1 Caliber Index Card Case
1 Caliber Sticky Notes
1 Blink Tears eye drops
2 Stayfree Pads (28-48 ct.)
2 Caliber Brand Pens (20-ct.)
2 Caliber pharmacy 1-Subject Notebooks
2 Caliber Compass/Protractors
2 Caliber Flexi Rulers
2 Caliber Glue Stick (3-pk.)
1 CVS Mouthwash, 250 mL
1 Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mouse Makeup
2 Paper Mate Pens, 10 pk
2 Caliber Filler Paper (150-sheets)
2 Caliber Mini Composition Notebook
2 Caliber Recycled School Box
1 Philips Earhook Headphones
2 Caliber Composition Books
1 Carefree Ultra Protection pads
1 Tot Stapler
3 Larabars
1 Glade Scented Reed Diffuser
1 pack Schick Slim Triple ST3 Disposable Razors
1 Crest with Scope Outlast Toothpaste
1 Crest with Scope Outlast Mouthwash
1 Dyna Pep Energy Micro-Shot (2-pk.)
1 Duracell AA (16-pk.)
1 Bounty Basic 6 Big Rolls
1 Dawn (10.3-oz.)
2 Bounce Dryer Bar (1-ct.)
1 32 ounce bottle CVS Brand Apple Juice
1 2-liter bottle Sprite

More CVS: $25 Personal CVS Challenge

I am close to coming to the end of my $25 CVS challenge! It's been over 7 months, and I've acquired a whole lot of stuff: 142 items so far! I've spent $23.90, leaving me $1.10 to spend in addition to the $32.67 in ECB's I have.

Here are my last few transactions:

Transaction #21 (July 27)
$.13: 1 Cow tale candy
$1.98: 2 Pilot Easytouch Pen, 2 Pk
$1.98: 2 Caliber 100-Page Composition Books
$.99: 1 Caliber Index Card Case
$.99: 1 Caliber Sticky Notes

Used $6.00 ECB
Put $.07 on a gift card

Transaction #22 (August 2)
$7.99: 1 Blink Tears eye drops
$10.00: 2 Stayfree Pads (28-48 ct.)

Used BOGO free Stayfree
Used $1.50 off Blink Tears eye drops

Used $.99, $4.00 & $5.98 ECB's
Put $.66 on a gift card

Transaction #23 (August 2)
$1.98: 2 Caliber Brand Pens (20-ct.)
$1.98: 2 Caliber pharmacy 1-Subject Notebooks
$3.00: 2 Caliber Compass/Protractors
$1.98: 2 Caliber Flexi Rulers
$1.98: 2 Caliber Glue Stick (3-pk.)
$2.59: 1 CVS Mouthwash, 250 mL

Used $1.98, $4.96, & $3.98 ECB's
Broke even - no OOP

Transaction #24 (August 11)
$9.99: 1 Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mouse Makeup

Used $1.98, $1.98, $1.98, $2.00, & $.99 ECB's
Used $1 off Revlon coupon
Put $.06 on a gift card

Transaction #25 (August 16)
$1.98: 2 Paper Mate Pens, 10 pk
$1.98: 2 Caliber Filler Paper (150-sheets)
$3.98: 2 Caliber Mini Composition Notebook
$3.98: 2 Caliber Recycled School Box
$6.99: 1 Philips Earhook Headphones

Used $.93, $7.99 & $9.99 ECB's
Broke even - no OOP

Transaction #26 (August 24)
$1.98: 2 Caliber Composition Books
$3.79: 1 Carefree Ultra Protection pads
$.99: 1 Tot Stapler

Used $1.89 & $3.00 ECB's
Used $1 off Carefree coupon
Put $.92 on a gift card

Transaction #27 (August 31)
$3.75: 3 Larabars
$6.99: 1 Glade Scented Reed Diffuser

Used 4 $1.98 ECB's
Used $2 off Glade Reed Diffuser coupon
Put $.85 on a gift card

Total spent so far: $4.28 + $3.41 + $8.67 + $1.05 + $1.01 + $.27 + $2.16 +$0 + $.59 + $.17 + $.97 + $1.78 + $2.59 + $0 + $2.59 + $4.11 + $6.16 + $0.00 + $.02 + $.03 + $.25 $.07 + $.66 + $.00 + $.06 + $.00 + $.92 + $.85 - $10 rebate - $7.99 rebate = $23.90

ECB's earned: $32.67 (This does not include the ones I cashed in)

Profit: $7.93 (minus 2 42 cent stamps)

Stuff I've gotten:
1 bottle CVS Chewable Aspirin, 36 count
1 bottle Excedrin, 10 count
3 bottle Mylanta Ultimate Strength Mint
2 Neutrogena facial soaps
2 Stayfree Pads, 16 ct
2 Natural Dentist Mouthwash
1 Extreme Energy Shots
1 Renuzit TriScents Air Freshener Starter Kit
1 Maybelline Dream foundation
1 Irish Spring Body Wash 15-18 oz.
1 Dry Idea roll-on deodorant
1 Colgate Maxwhite toothpaste
1 CVS Vitamin D 400 iu, 100 ct
1 Schick Intuition Plus razor
1 Bayer Contour blood sugar meter
4 Crest ProHealth toothpastes
4 boxes Post Trail Mix cereal
1 Ensure 6 pack
3 packs gum
1 Paas Egg Dyeing Kit
2 bags Easter Grass
2 Easter baskets
1 Skintimate Shaving Cream
1 Edge Infused Shaving Cream
6 3M Hooks
1 Garnier Fructis Conditioner
2 boxes Frosted Mini-wheats
1 box Frosted Flakes
1 Adidas A3 Deodorant
2 Speed Stick Pro deodorants
2 Colgate Total toothpaste
2 Mennon Speed Stick Pro deodorants
1 Pampers Cruisers packages
16 SoyJoy Bars
2 Thermacare Heat Wraps, 1 ct boxes
2 Always Infinity 32 & 36 ct maxipads
2 Caliber 1-Subject Notebooks
2 12″ Wood Rulers
2 School Glue
2 5″ Pointed Tip Scissors
3 Paper Mate Grip Pens (8-ct.)
2 CVS 5-Subject Notebook
2 Tylenol Arthritis
2 Papermate Pen, 10-ct
2 Pencil packs, 24-count
2 Filler Paper packs, 150 sheets
1 CVS Tampons,, 10-ct
2 Composition Books, 100 sheets
1 Pencil Case
1 Colgate Total toothpaste
1 Cow tale candy
2 Pilot Easytouch Pen, 2 Pk
2 Caliber 100-Page Composition Books
1 Caliber Index Card Case
1 Caliber Sticky Notes
1 Blink Tears eye drops
2 Stayfree Pads (28-48 ct.)
2 Caliber Brand Pens (20-ct.)
2 Caliber pharmacy 1-Subject Notebooks
2 Caliber Compass/Protractors
2 Caliber Flexi Rulers
2 Caliber Glue Stick (3-pk.)
1 CVS Mouthwash, 250 mL
1 Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mouse Makeup
2 Paper Mate Pens, 10 pk
2 Caliber Filler Paper (150-sheets)
2 Caliber Mini Composition Notebook
2 Caliber Recycled School Box
1 Philips Earhook Headphones
2 Caliber Composition Books
1 Carefree Ultra Protection pads
1 Tot Stapler
3 Larabars
1 Glade Scented Reed Diffuser