Still Plinking Away...

So, here it is just a few short weeks away from Christmas...have you finished your shopping??
I'm almost done. I have a few quick gifts that I need to get...and then I will be done. So far, I am under my budget. Also, I have found some great resources to help me in getting good deals, or at least benefit me in the future.
One site, an all-time favorite, is www.mypoints.com. You simply sign up, and shop online through their site. When you have completed a purchase, you will get points back, which in turn can be used to earn gift cards to various stores. You can also increase your earnings by participating in short surveys, clicking on e-mails, and using their printable coupons.
Another site that I just recently found, www.shopathome.com. You sign up, shop through their site, which offers coupon codes for discounts and free shipping, and when you have completed your transaction, a percentage goes back to you!! You can easily cash out at $20.00, AND, you can earn $5.00 for referring someone once they register and make a purchase. I've already earned a rebate back!
www.ebates.com is similar to shopathome, however, I have found that shopathome gives you a higher percentage back at the stores that I prefer.
Granted, the point of these sites are to shop. Which means, you have to have money. I have budgeted my spending per person for Christmas. I made lists and have looked for great deals. The point is to save as much money as possible so I can throw that back at my debt...which I am struggling to not increase. So, any little bit that comes back to me, is great. Gift cards? Can easily be used at my favorite retailers to buy toiletries, printer ink, dog food, etc. Cash back? Can be thrown into my snowball.
Will be back later with pictures of some cards and projects that I have been working on - see you soon!

"Happy Birthday, Human"

Isn't this the cutest? AND, it's masculine!

I love it. It's for a co-worker's little boy who is turning 11. We are going over for dinner tomorrow so I worked on this little gift card holder for him. You can get the instructions for this cute idea here.

Paper: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Bashful Blue, Real Red

Stamps: Lots of Bots

Accessories: Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, atyou Spica Red, Crystal Glaze, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch

$2.00 Gift Card to Subway (CA residents only!)

Well, obviously I'm putting my new friend to good use...Subway is giving away $2.00 gift cards! Go here and register! Hope you get one!

The Beginning of My Christmas Crafts

I finally got my Stampin' Up products from my hostess night, plus some stuff I ordered from few other demonstrators of various craft products who have been super helpful and challenging. It's like Christmas, opening up the boxes and playing with all of my new items! I love it.

I've been gathering ideas from demonstrators across the country...carefully reading their blogs and watching all the tutorials that they post for inspiration and instruction. Let me tell you, I am in awe of some of these women. I only hope that I get to be as good as they are.

Here are some pictures of some of the crafts DD and I worked on this weekend. DS was way too busy to help...he recently discovered that his new teddy bear from Build-A-Bear has a hole in his back and he has been extra careful to "clean" and "re-bandage" his newest associate. Love it. I wish I could capture his sweet spirit in a bottle for when his Grumpiness errupts in tantrums.

These first two pictures are of a gift card holder I saw on Creations by AR. It came out super cute! Let me tell you, Adela is a GENIOUS! She is super talented and obviously very patient. I recommend checking out her blog at least once a week.

I used Pacific Point and Riding Hood Red CS, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, my new Snowflakes embossing folder from Provo Craft, and I embossed the sentiment from Holidays & Wishes. The bottom is stamped with snowflakes from Punch Pals.

This is a bag I cased from my demonstrator, Tina. We did this project last month with the Pampered Stampers and DD fell in love with it. I used Bashful Blue cardstock and had DD punch out the scalloped circle and she did the scalloped border on the bottom. She then picked out the stamp (the deer from the Deer Friends set) and used Chocolate Chip and Real Red. We then took some printer paper, ran it through the shredder, then ran it through the crimper and stuffed it into the bottom. We are waiting to fill up this little bag with goodies.

This is a second gift card holder...I just kind of winged it. The sentiment is from Big On Christmas and I watercolored it with Bashful Blue and embossed the snowman's hat in black. I used Pacific Point and Riding Hood Red and White grosgrain ribbon. The sentiment I had done last night. I had wanted to use it for the first card but once I put it all together, I realized that the sentiment covered up the majority of the cover on the holder and it wouldn't work quite as well as I hoped. So I made a library card pocket quickly, punched holes on the right for the ribbon, took another scrap of Riding Hood Red and used the Slit punch to hold the card in place. I then punched a hole at the right of this card, ran the ribbon through and tied it in a bow. When the recipient unties the ribbon and pulls it, they will also pull out the gift card.

As I was typing this, I realized I could quickly make this card that much better. I used my Crop-a-Dile and put silver eyelets in place of just the punched holes for the ribbon to slide through.

It does look a little bit more polished this way.

I hope you enjoy checking these few things out as much as DD and I did making them.

Rebates

So, I've been pretty busy with life in general these past few weeks. But I have also been trying to figure out how my rebates work.

I obviously figured out Walgreens. It takes a few weeks, but you eventually get your gift card in the mail and you can always put that back to good use. This past month, I submitted for an $18.00 rebate from Walgreens. I bought the Pledge, that came with a duster, plus I used my BOGO coupon and got free Pledge Multi-purpose wipes (a $4.99 value), and I purchased Windex (and used my $.75 coupon) so that is a $2.00 rebate right there. And of course I bought the AirWick Ultra and Mini, which were on sale at $9.99 each. I used my $4.00 printable coupons which brought the price down to $5.99 each. And then I claimed my $3.00 rebate, each, and so I ended up getting them both at $2.99. Not too bad. I also bought DH the Dr. Scholl's inserts (x2) and $14.99 each, and of course I claimed my $10.00 rebate. I know, still expensive. But he wanted them for his work boots and when are you going to find a deal like that? Oh, I also bought my last Zyrtec (45 count) at $26.99, so now I can mail off that $10.00 rebate. (Which reminds me, I'm still waiting for my Clear Eyes rebate...that was $9.99. I will let you know when I get it.)

This month I also tried out the Rite-Aid Rebates. I bought the Venus Embrace Razor (-$2.00 coupon - $5.00 rebate = $4.99), the refills at $13.99 (-$2.00 coupon = 11.99), Crest Premium white Strips at $27.99 (already on sale from $34.99 - $5.00 coupon - $10.00 rebate = $12.99), and two Oral B Cross Action Power toothbrushes on sale at $5.99 each (- BOGO coupon -$4.00 rebate = $1.99), for a total of a $19.00 rebate. I basically went in, picked up $73.55 (with tax) worth of stuff, used my coupons and paid $57.89, and will still get back $19.00. Not too bad. Oh, Rite Aid Rebates come as a check, they don't offer gift cards, and they don't deduct for mailing. Plus, their site says you will get a check within two to three weeks.

I don't think I did too bad. Still working out some of my flaws but I'm getting better! How are YOU doing?

Walgreens Deals

Okay, so I've mentioned Walgreens a few times, so now I'm going to try to break you into the deals you can get, just like I'm learning.

Today I headed to Walgreens and picked up a couple of their EasySaver catalogs and a few more weekly inserts. Also, thanks to MoneySavingMom and the people that contribute, I picked up the Walgreens Children's Activity Book for $0.99 (I actually picked up two).

The Activity Book is packed with coupons for the kids - $1.00 off Crayola Color Explosion or Color Wonder, $1.00 off character Band-Aids, $1.00 of Johnson & Johnson baby products, $1.00 off Flintstones Vitamins, and a ton more.

Now, for the deals that I'm going for! In the EasySaver Catalog they are offering a $3.00 rebate for the purchase of any Airwick Fresmatic Ultra Automatic Spray (regular or mini) or the Neutra Air FreshMatic Kit. You can buy up to four of these items for a total of a $12.00 rebate. I plan on buying the Airwick Freshmatic Ultra - both the regular sized and mini. The mini sells for $9.99 and the regular sells for $11.99. So right there, I'm going to be getting back $6.00. Now, the Bargain: remember that website I showed you where I printed a bunch of coupons for the home? Go Here for a refresher. There you can print off coupons for $4.00 off the Mini and the Regular sized Airwick Freshmatic Ultra. That right there is $8.00 in automatic savings, plus, don't forget the $6.00 in rebates (and the 10% added in if you request the gift card which totals $6.60!!). So now I will be getting the Mini for $2.99 and the Regular for $4.99. Smells great to me!! Plus, there is also a deal for a $2.00 rebate on the Veet Bladeless Razor System (only one available!!). So, I priced that at $8.49. And now you are getting $2.00 back, so really it's $6.49. Plus, that website you just checked out for the AirWick is offering a $2.00 coupon for any Veet product. So now you are paying $4.49! And, your rebates just grew. I have a couple more floating through my mind, just deciding if I want to go for it or not. Like the Spray'n Wash Laundry Stain Remover with Resolve. Right now it's normally $3.79 for one but they have a deal this week for two for $5.00. Plus, the Catalog is giving a $2.00 rebate for the purchase of one. So, even though you are buying two for $5.00, you still get the $2.00 rebate so it's now two for $3.00 (Rebate plus 10%) and I printed off a coupon for $0.75 from the Home Solutions website, so guess what?!?! That's two for $2.25!! And if I get lucky, the coupon will end up applying to both items and I will save more, but let's not forget Murphy and just move on with what I have.

Hopefully you find something useful for you, too. I love getting deals!!

Gift Cards

Since I've been working with the Total Money Makeover and trying to abide by Dave, I no longer carry any credit cards. I actually feel a little sad about this, because before I used to have a HUGE card organizer that held all my credit cards. I always thought I was impressing others with my huge collection. It took a horribly long time to realize I was just ruining my life with those little "money suckers". So now I'm addicted to gift cards. I try to "earn" them as often as I can.

Like Sunday, Target had in the circular that if you bought two specific paper items, you could get a gift card for $5.00. So I went and bought one of each of the advertised paper items, used a $0.35 coupon for one and a $0.75 coupon for the other and I STILL got my gift card. And considering that every other store was advertising similar paper products at the same price (with no gift card) I figure I got a GREAT deal. And seriously, a Target gift card ALWAYS comes in handy.

And just a side note: Walgreens does this rebate program, which I will explain more about later, that gives you your rebate back by gift cards or check. But, if you request the gift card, they automatically add an additional 10% of your rebate onto your card. Cool, huh?

I also earn gift cards through a website called MyPoints. It's pretty neat because they send you an e-mail or two just about every day. Almost every e-mail is worth 5 points. Plus, their surveys they send are worth at least 10 points and if you a qualify and finish them, it's 50 points. (These are actual surveys, they only want your opinion.) You can also earn points by shopping online. Just browse through their links and click on through. It depends on each store how many points you earn per dollar, but the least amount you can earn is 2 points per dollar, some have deals where you earn 10 points per dollar. And the stores aren't some crazy place you never heard of; nope. Gap, Joanne's, Target, Payless, eBay, some good places. You can also earn points by playing games, doing searches, and printing and using their coupons. It's really great. I almost always have enough points every month to cash in for at least a Starbucks gift card. The places you can redeem your points for are great, too. I've gotten gift cards to Circuit City, Target, Walgreens, Starbucks, Subway, Barnes & Noble and Gap. They also offer gift cards to restaurants and charities, it all depends on you.

Now that you have all of these cards, you need to check out one more place every gift card holder should have: leveragecard.com. On this website, after joining for free, you register your gift cards. All you need is the card number and it usually does the rest, so you don't have to scratch off the little PIN ID or anything like that. I did notice, however, with my Victoria Secret card, that I had to type in all the info, including the balance. Apparently the site is still new and they are trying to get more merchandisers to allow leverage access to gift cards. What I like about leverage is that they give you interest for the cards that they can verify. I haven't even been with them a month and I've already earned $0.04 cents for the few cards I have. You can also buy more gift cards and even trade your cards using this site.

Check out the sites. I by no means promise miracles by joining up with each site, I personally enjoy them. I love going somewhere and using a gift card that I earned. I love the fact that just by doing what I would normally do, someone sends me little plastic cards with money on them...which I can spend however I want. No budget attached.