170acc6326b072d5d42a03a8e739928ab4ba650e6777f95b8b

170acc6326b072d5d42a03a8e739928ab4ba650e6777f95b8b

170acc6326b072d5d42a03a8e739928ab4ba650e6777f95b8b

170acc6326b072d5d42a03a8e739928ab4ba650e6777f95b8b

Homemade Mozzarella Cheese: I really need to try this!

Heart, Hands, Home: Homemade Mozzarella Cheese: Mozzarella is one of the easiest cheeses to make, it only takes 30 minutes and the taste can't be beat! The ingredients are simple alt...

Experience the Ultra-Fresh Hydration of NEW Dial® Coconut Water Body Wash

Experience the Ultra-Fresh Hydration of NEW Dial® Coconut Water Body Wash

Coupon Categories

Regardless of how you house your cut coupons, you should have some sort of categorizing system so that you can find the coupons you need either while you shop, or when you are formulating you lists.

Here is the list I use. You should organize them as you would use them. I split into three main categories, and then break it down into smaller alphabetized sections. If you think according to how aisles in the store are arranged, then you would sort this list much differently. You can also combine smaller categories into larger ones, or break some of them down even further to help you find your coupons as quickly as possible.

My GROCERY category contains:

Baking Supplies (this includes condensed milk and extracts, but not individual spices)
Boxed Meals & Sides (Hamburger Helper, canned soups, ethnic food components)
Bread & Bakery (pre-baked breads, but not packaged cookies and donuts)
Breakfast (cereal, pancake syrup (not KARO), but not frozen items)
Candy & Gum (this also includes fruit roll-ups and fruit snacks)
Canned Fruits & Vegetables (this includes tomato sauce and paste, but not ketchup)
Coffee & Tea
Other Beverages (canned and refrigerated juice, but not milk or dairy substitutes, water additives, but not Emergen-C or Air-Borne (these are in first aid))
Condiments, Sauces & Spices (this is where I put individual spices, gravy mixes, ketchup)
Cookies, Chips & Crackers (packaged donuts, granola bars (if they are not "healthy")
Dairy (this is where I'd put the "dairy replacements", cheese, milk)
Deli (any refrigerated meat products)
Other Refrigerated (canned biscuits, coffee creamer, pre-made Jello)
Frozen
Health Foods (meal bars, dietary foods (weight loss, diabetic) Ensure)
This one may seem strange to you, but since I consider my pet's food as any other food...although bird seed and the like would go in Seasonal
Pets - which I also break down into Dogs and Cats (also other supplies, as they will be in the same aisle)
Produce & Nuts (this includes nuts (not the baking variety), popcorn, dried fruits, produce)

My Personal category contains:

Baby (diapers, formula, Pedia-Lyte)
Clothing & Miscellaneous (shoe inserts...and I hate to use misc., but some things just have to go here)
Deodorant, Soap & Lotion (basically any type of "showering" product)
Face & Make-up (this includes lotions and creams specifically for the face)
Eye Care (eye drops and so forth seemed to fill up either first aid or face and make-up, so they got their own slot)
Feminine Hygiene (which also includes sexual health and incontinence products, for lack of a better place)
First Aid This category seems to need more definition - I'm thinking Internal and External (vitamins and supplements have their own category)
Supplements (this needs its own category for sheer weekly volume, plus it's great for when K Mart or Walgreen’s have their BOGO deals)
Hair (not shaving, but wash, style color, etc.)
Hands, Feet & Nails (polish, tools)
Mouth (any oral care products)
Shaving (razors, cream, etc.)

My Household category contains:

Appliances, Tools, etc. (light bulbs, toys and games, dishes)
Batteries, Cigs, etc. (tobacco, batteries, camera film)
The cleaning category is broken down for convenience
Cleaning: Air & Scents (candles, sprays)
Cleaning: Bathroom (toilet, shower) 
Cleaning: Floors (mops, cleaners and polishes) 
Cleaning: Kitchen  (dishsoap, dishwasher products)
Cleaning: Laundry (detergent, softener) 
Cleaning: Surfaces & Sanitation (sponges, wipes and spray cleaners)
Office & School Supplies (office store coupons, paper, pens)
Paper & Plastic (paper towels, toilet tissue, storage and garbage bags, aluminum foil) 
Seasonal (water softener salt, fireplace logs, bird seed, potting soil, charcoal, furnace filters)

Shopping trips, February 28 and March 1, 2012

Even with factoring in tax, I saved over 53%!

3 transactions at Walgreen's...
They were out of some of the RR items (I need to see if they will hold items at the beginning of the ad cycle)

retail         sale          pre-tax total
$153.16    $106.65    $34.01

2    Energize energy tablets (retail price $14.99) Sale price $8.00 RR $8.00
2    Arctic Naturals omega3 (retail price $15.99) Sale price $20.00 RR $10.00
4    Progresso soups (retail price $2.99) Sale price $2.75
2    Poise panty fresheners (retail price $3.99) Sale price $3.99
1    black olives, store label (retail price $1.59) Sale price $1.59
3    water, 1gal (retail price $1.29) Sale price $1.29   
2    Scotch Brite scrub sponge 3ct (retail price $3.79) Sale price $B1G1
2    baking powder, store label (retail price $0.99) Clearance price $0.59   
2    Centrum ProNutrients 100ct (retail price $11.99) clearance price $5.99
1    Natrol melatonin 100ct (retail price $10.49) Sale price $4.00
1    Colgate toothpaste 6oz (retail price $3.79) Sale price $3.49
2    Centrum multi-vitamin (retail price $8.99) Sale price $8.99

I used the following coupons (I did NOT have the $0.50 off Colgate from 2/24)
2X $0.50 off 2 Progresso soups, store coupon 4 Progresso soups for $5.00
2X $3.00 off Poise feminine wellness product, 2X store coupon (March book) $2.00 off Poise
store coupon for black olives $0.99
store coupon for gallon water $0.79
2X $8.00 off when you buy BOTH Centrum products
(even though these vitamins didn't qualify for the B1G1 50% off, the clearance and huge coupon made up for it)

I still have the following RRs:
$8.00 from 1 Energize
$4.00 from Natrol
$3.00 from Colgate

My local grocery stores (no double coupons anywhere near us)

retail         sale          pre-tax total
$190.61    $157.38    $112.16

coffee & cookie (cafe) $2.28 (this was a splurge!)
eggs, 1doz $1.68 with the store coupon, they were $0.99
yogurt, store label normally $0.59 on sale for $0.29 (12)
yogurt, Yoplait -shelf price $0.89 FREE with a coupon I won!
pizza, frozen normally $2.99 on sale for $2.00, bought 6, used 2 $1.00 off 3 mfg, earned $0.12 off per gallon of gas
birdseed normally $9.99 on sale for $6.99
Duncan Hines Frosting Creations shelf price $0.69 bought 18 with 9 B1G1 mfg
Spam $2.99 earned $0.04 off per gallon of gas
Minute Rice regular price $2.62 used $0.50 mfg
Pepsi Next 2ltr regular price $1.99 FREE with a coupon I won!
Zesta saltines normally $2.98 50% off sale on select items $1.49
Fritos corn chipsnormally $3.49 with store coupon 3 for $6.00
NatureMade vitamins, asst average $6.55 store's B1G1 50% off, plus $6.00 in mfg
Buddig lunchmeat 2oz normally $0.98 store 2/$1.00, first 2, plus mfg $1.00 off 4
fruit cup, Del Monte normally $1.50 store 5 for $5.00
cheese, Kraft slices normally $2.49 on sale for $1.69
coffee filters, 4 cup 100ct normally $0.99 clearance price $0.59 (I bought all they had left)
Powerade, asst 32 oz normally $1.19 on sale for $0.69 (stock up price, even without a coupon!)

Wal-Mart

retail       sale        pre-tax total
$51.97    $49.97    $29.48

lens cleaner & cloth (I don't know what retail would be, but it was free with a printable coupon)       
Di-Gel antacid liquid retail $4.87 used $3.50 mfg   
tooth bleach gel, PlusWhite retail $4.97 used $2.00 mfg 
toothpaste PlusWhite retail $3.37 used $2.00 mfg  
lip balm, Nivea retail $2.47 used $3.00 off 2 mfg   
lip balm, Carmex w/ free hand cream sample retail $0.98 used $0.50 mfg
screen stylus, clearance retail $9.96 sale $7.96

Dollar General - Using the $5.00 off $25.00 purchase - it was good on FRIDAY this week!

retail       sale        pre-tax total
$40.45    $26.93    $8.43

4    snack barrels  normally $4.50 clearance price $1.12       
3    Oreo cookies retail $3.25 used $1.00 mfg each, and the store coupon saved another $2.16
2    Frank's Red hot sauce retail $1.10 used $0.75 mfg each, and the store coupon saved another $0.48
3    Poise panty fresheners retail $3.50 3 mfg coupons saved me $9.00, and the store coupon saved another $2.36

How to save $5.47 on a fuel stop

I stopped for gas twice today, just to try out my new Hy-Vee/Casey's card

On the way to my shopping trip, I pumped 3.005 gallons @ $3.329 per gallon
Coming home, I pumped 13.664 gallons @ $2.929!

How did it vary so much in a few hours?
I shopped for the best "cents off per gallon" deals at Hy-Vee grocery, and earned $.40 cents off per gallon.
This mega-awesome deal came from shopping for groceries at our regular store, for food we purchase anyway!!!

I gassed up with $25 in FREE GAS!

Earlier this month, I requested a serve pre-paid American Express card. After I opened the account, I attached my other debit card and added $25 to my serve account. That same day, American Express gave me $25 for doing that!!
A few short days later, my card arrived in the mail, and I put $25 worth of FREE GAS in my tank!
You only have until December 31st to get this bonus, so hurry, hurry, hurry!

PROOF

Another Giveaway!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sit & Earn

As of November 15, 2012, these are my standings. Check out this post to make organizing these programs a cinch!

Crowdtap: 3400 38,235 points
DealsNcash:  $13.21
Gomez Peer Zone:  They have been paying me since August 2008

May 2012 $7.30

June 2012 $0.0

July 2012 $7.46

August 2012 $0.00

September 2012 $8.65

October 2012 $5.76

Hits4Pay: $22.70
InboxPays:  $40.20 (Payments are made in multiples of $50, i.e., if your balance is $52.70, you will receive a payment of $50; the remaining $2.70 will roll over.
InboxDollars: $14.61 $23.82 Payment History:

Amount			Date Requested	Date Paid
$34.15			Feb 25, 2012	Feb 29, 2012
$50.02			Jun 18, 2011	Jun 22, 2011
$34.87			Nov 14, 2010	Nov 17, 2010
$31.92			May 08, 2009	Jul 01, 2009

iRazoo: 1829 points
Jingit: $5.06
MyPoints (Send me first & last name and email address): 7335 points (That's a $50.00 Gift Card!)
Recycle Bank: 450 621 points
Swagbucks: 312 points (This is after a cash-out to my PayPal!)
Vindale Research: $12.33

Free eyeglass frames PLUS 6% cash back!

Are you in need of glasses or contacts? Whether it be first pair, replacements, whole family, etc. - Try your order this way (you'll get an even better deal than I did, because I just discovered the bonus!

First, have your prescription and measurements handy. This was my first time ever with the glasses experience; I had no trouble ordering, and my glasses fit great!

Go HERE to set up an account to order your glasses or contacts. You can go as far as making all of choices and putting items in your cart, or stop at account set-for now.

Then go HERE to get started with a cash-back program which pays you at the beginning of every month for purchases made during the previous month!

When your sign-up is complete, use the search to locate the store coastal.com. If you were still logged in, it will open your to your account, where you can simply go to your cart and complete your order.

Double check your choices, prescription and measurement information and use one of the following codes:

FIRSTPAIRFREE this code is only good for qualifying frames and only if this is your first order for glasses at this site (my frames would have been $89, and I got them FREE!)

2FOR89 is kind of self explanatory, and you also get FREE SHIPPING!

FREESHIP if you are ordering contacts instead of glasses - your order (not including shipping, processing or tax) must be over $99.

Complete your order (I had my glasses in about 7 days) and MrRebates will pay you back 6% of your check out payment.

You can make either or both of these accounts even better by referring your friends - MrRebates will credit your account $5 for each friend who signs up under your referral link, and Coastal.com will credit your account $20 for friends who order through your referral link.

I was given the opportunity to try UNREAL candy through BzzAgent.com, in the form of  BOGO coupons.
I tied to find this candy for a couple of weeks before finally locating them at my drugstore. I wasn't crazy about the price, so I decided to try for another day or two, first. My next stop was my office supply store...and believe it or not, they had the UNREAL candy...in more varieties, and at a BETTER price!
I used all of the coupons, and I and a family member and friend have tried three of the varieties. I let them know, that this was not only a gift from me, it was also a gift from BzzAgent.com, and that I wanted to know what they thought of it after they tried it.
The chocolate covered nougat and peanut candy bar was Delicious! It tastes very much like another similar candy bar that I really like. The nougat is just the right texture...not too dense, not too fluffy, and there are plenty of peanuts.
The peanut butter cup was very good, too, and I like that their candies have their logo imprinted on the bottom of the chocolate - how cute! My favorite part about the peanut butter cup was that they don't have extra packaging in the form of a fluted paper cup. Less waste, and who doesn't like to extend the enjoyment by licking the chocolate off of their fingers?
Now for the bad news... I have a favorite candy coated chocolate; I even collect all the character "dust-ables" that I can. The UNREAL counterpart in no way compares to them. Although I adore the awesome, vibrant colors of the candy, the chocolate inside, for me, leaves much to be desired. I've been trying to come up with the right term for it, and all I can think is...STICKY. Not smooth and creamy, like I prefer chocolate to be.
All in all, UNREAL candy gets a two thumbs up from me...Will they be selling multi-sized packages soon? I sure hope so!