$20 Olay Rebate

LINK Follow the link to the rebate form. Receive a $20 rebate when you purchase $50 worth of Olay Facial Moisturizers or Facial Cleansers. Simply download and complete the rebate form and mail back to us along with the original sales receipt(s). All requests must be purchased by August 9, 2009 and postmarked by August 23, 2009.

Free Town and Country Magazine!

LINK Join Rewards Country survey panel and get a year subscription of Town and Country Magazine!

Back To School!

OK, the kids don't go back until September, but the stores are starting there back to school sales now.

Walmart has this sale from 7/26 to 8/1
· Crayola crayons 24 ct, Elmer’s glue, Elmer’s glue sticks 2pk for 25 cents.
· Spiral notebooks 70 sheet, 2 pocket folders (w or w/o prongs) for 15 cents.
· Mead 3 ring binder folders, Trapper Keeper spiral notebooks for .50 cents.
· Crayola clr pencils, Crayola markers, Bic Crystal pens 10pk, Dixon pencils 24pk for $1.
· Bic mechanical pencils 10 pk, Expo 2 pk for $1.50
· Avery 1” binder for $2.
· Texas Instruments Scientific Calculator (TI 30Xa) $9.
. Purell 8 oz for $2.
· Ziploc bags for $2.
· Puffs pk box of tissues (108 per box) for $3.24.


Walgreens has this week
* folders 9 cents
* Pencils 9 cents
* Highlighters 9 cents
* Papermate 10 pack of pens or mechanical pencils 19 cents
* Plastic school boxes 49 cents
* Crayola Colored pencils 99 cents
* School Glue 39 cents
* Plastic binder 39 cents
* Eraser 2 pk 29 cents
Also Pilot G2 Pens are Free after RR. Some of the 9 cents items you may want to stockpile.

Shopko ( starts July 23rd. they also have a $10 off coupon if you spend $50 on their home mailer. That may help you if you plan on buying alot and need alot of supplies)
* 10 cents notebooks and folders ( solid colors, Limit 18 of each)
* 20 cents 24 pack crayons (Limit 4)
* 20 cents glue (Limit 4)
* 50 cents school box (Limit 4)
* 50 cents composition book (Limit 6)
* 50 cents 150 count filler paper (Limit 6)
* 99 cents Crayola Markers (thin and thick) (Limit 2)
* 99 cents Crayola Water Color ( Maybe not needed for school, but great for home learning! Limit 2)
* 99 cents kids scissors
* 99 cents Crayola Colored Pencils (Limit 2)


I have finished my school shopping for fall. I had everything needed in my stockpile. So, now, I will pick up the loss leader sales or wait until after school starts clearance sales to pick up more glue, folders, etc to use for future years. My child's school gives you a list so you can see what is on each grades supply list (My list has 3rd, 4th and 5th) so I can get an idea of my kids upcoming needs. By doing this, I save money with all the sales.

Another tip, don't buy the "theme" notebooks and folders. Those cost WAY more then regular folders! Instead, if you child insists on having those, find stickers she/he may already have and decorate the folder themselves.

When you buy these items, not only think about what the school supply list says, but think about the rest of the school year. Does your child use up crayons quickly? Maybe buy an extra box, so you don't have to overpay mid year. You may also want to consider your kids other events. Do they need supplies for their scout troop? Do you do crafts as a family and the watercolors or markers be an added supply? You may not need the water colors or colored pencils right away, but they don't "go bad" and you can stockpile those items the same way you stockpile canned goods.

Also, I don't buy "back to school" clothes. I think that is a big waste of money. You can use the clothes your kids have or maybe pick up so clothes back in spring on the clearance racks to plan for back to school. The "back to school" clothes sales are never that good and cost the families more than it's worth. Save your money and figure out what your child has that they can already wear.

Now, back to summer fun!!!

Stay Frugal!!

Catching up and Murphy moving in....

It's the 18th of July....I am really behind! I haven't worked on my coupon binder in 2 weeks! (One week was family trip and the other week was my trip for professional development!) So, I am really behind. So, I am hoping this week I can catch up!

And then Murphy moved in! (Have you ever heard that before?). Murphy is the "thing" that moves in to makes choas! First, I spent some money on my trip (ON the credit card) I figured no big deal, we have been keeping up with our expenses and I wanted to get everyone a souvenir. HAHAHA! Come back from my trip to find my car engine light goes on. I have $400 in repairs; just to have the engine light go on again last night!!! So, I have to wait until Monday to get it looked at again!

Then I find out in order to qualify for a mentorship program I am trying to get involved with, I had to pay $375 for the national test which I had in applied for but had waited on processing. So, I paid for that. So, now souvenirs, car repairs, national test, and baggage fees. I had $40 in charges to ship my bags on the airplane. So, add that $40.00...that brings me up to $1,000 in credit card charges. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am soo mad!! That is in less than 3 weeks!! Thankfully, I have the money in my emergency fund and we can use that money, so no interest will grown in the credit card, but UGH!!! I blame myself completely for the souvenirs. But the car problems and the testing expenses were unplanned.

I am glad I keep notes here. Someday I can look back on this and say,"YEAH! glad that is over!!".

Free Pastry at Starbucks!

We’re making a change: your food not only tastes better, it is better. To celebrate, we’re inviting you to bring this invitation to a participating U.S. Starbucks store to enjoy a FREE pastry* from opening** until 10:30am on July 21st, 2009 (while supplies last) with the purchase of any beverage*.

Click to print your invitation:
http://www.starbucks.com/retail/print_free_pastry.html

Or open this page in a mobile device and show your barista:
http://www.starbucks.com/FreePastryDay

* Pastries included in offer are: Muffins, Scones, Bagels, Croissants, Rolls, Breads, Pound Cakes, Morning Bun, Coffeecakes, Cheese Danish, Apple Fritter, Doughnuts, Tarts, Pies, Gluten Free Orange Valencia Cake, Tropical Paradise Bar.

Offer available at participating U.S. stores with the purchase of any handcrafted beverage (handcrafted, brewed, iced). Limit one free pastry per customer. Offer good between opening and 10:30 a.m. or until pastries are gone, whichever comes first. Opening hours and pastry selection vary. Supplies are limited. Offer not valid in Hawaii, airports and travel plazas or at Barnes & Noble cafes. Starbucks reserves the right to cancel, amend or revoke the offer at any time due to business considerations or circumstances beyond its control. Starbucks is not responsible for errors, omissions, malfunctions, interruptions, deletions, delays or failures of operations. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts. Cash value 1/20 cent. Not valid if photocopied, altered or reproduced. Barista, please ring discount code 563. Our new food is not yet available everywhere; ask your barista for details. **For 24 hours stores – opening is 4 a.m.

Shoes!!!

Well, I needed shoes for a dress I will be wearing to a wedding this weekend. I stopped at every store around my job, every store around my hometown and NOTHING!
Finally, My husband had to go into the city. I went with him, knowing in a last ditch effort I could stop at the mall. Expecting to pay full price there, I found a shoe store that had 50% off the already reduced shoes!! I got 2 pairs of shoes for the dress. One pair was $6.50 and one pair was $8.50!! WOO HOO!!

Also, I got a $10 gift certificate for VS for my birthday. SO, I went over there and I bought 8 items and paid $3.38 out of pocket!! WOO HOO!!

So, I had a fun "shopping" day. Which is rare for me!

Free Single Cone for Teens!

Go to this LINK and if you are ages 13 to 25, you can enjoy a single serve ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins.

ENJOY!

Trip To Menards

Sorry, I didn't have a photo. My husband ran to Menards while I was gone on my vacation. At Menards, he bought the Irish Spring Deal, Crayola Deal and Wasp Trap Deal. Total bill was $43.59, He used a merchaise rebate card from the last rebates and spent $23.59 OOP. I am now mailing in the rebates on those items for $19.00 back in rebates.

The Crayola items will be used as gifts. So, a few more gifts bought!

Free Starbucks Pint of Ice Cream

Through July 19, those with a Facebook account can sign up to share a coupon for a free pint of Starbucks icecream with a friend (you can send it to yourself, too, if you'd like!). Starbucks has promised to give away up to 20,000 coupons per day (a maximum of 800 per hour)
LINK

Free Cafe Mocha at McDonalds

Follow this LINK and click on the Free Cafe Mocha link at the bottom of the page. They are giving away warm or cold mocha every Monday.