a tiny 'how to' - for SAHMs

for sometime now, i've been wondering how i was going to get my hubby something for his birthday. Christmas wasn't an issue because adam and i don't exchange [& really haven't since we've had kids]. but for his birthday, which is the end of this month, i wanted to get him something. i know that i can go out and buy him whatever, but at the end of the day, he's really working for his own gift. 

then it dawned on me ... mypoints. 

[image source google]

i have been a mypoints member for YEARS. i've gotten numerous gift cards through them. i typically cash them in for a restaurant or Starbucks gift card! well i was browsing last night and realized they had Dick's GC's. aka: perfect for adam!
so, here is my way of actually getting adam a gift that he DIDN'T pay for. why haven't i thought about it sooner. i could potentially earn enough points throughout the year to purchase gifts for him and others without using any of our money. or, i could earn enough to eat out every couple months without affecting our budget. [which, speaking of budget, more to come on that later ...]

so here's how it works:

• sign up at mypoints. OR better yet, leave your email address and i'll invite you that way we both earn bonus points!
• receive emails from mypoints - usually 2-3 per day. open the email, click on it and BAM - 5 points earned. now, sometimes that can be a pain in the butt - especially if they back up BUT if you were to click on them as soon as they come through [and yes, you can do it through your smart phone] - it's over and done with in 2 [maybe 5] seconds.
• anytime you want to shop online - got to mypoints.com first and see if they affiliate with wherever you want to shop. you will earn so many points per dollar.
• print your coupons through mypoints. they affiliate with coupons.com and a few others. for every coupon you redeem, you earn 10 points! you can even earn bonus points for using so many per transaction. that's an easy peasy deal for those of us who coupon!
• link your mypoints with your bzzagent account. you earn points for everything you do. 

so that's FIVE easy ways for us SAHM's to earn points that can be redeemed for ACTUAL gift card. like i said, i've been a member for like eight years. it's not a gimic - you get real, ligit gift cards in the mail that you can use for dinner dates, presents, coffeeeeee! i even cashed in points to put a $50 payment towards my amazon visa. saved me a months CC payment!

ALSO - wondering what bzzagent is? another way to contribute a few things here and there to your family.

[image source google]

they launch a variety of campaigns, which based on the 2-5 question surveys that you've taken, you may be selected. they send you FULL SIZE product along with a bunch of coupons or samples to hand out to your friends. then you 'bzz' by tweeting, reviewing, facebook-ing your honest opinion. [plus, you get mypoints for doing all of those things!!!]
just to give you an example - here are my CURRENT campaigns and what i received:

• alphabits cereal - a full sized box and 10 coupons
• neutrogena hand cream - a full sized bottle and samples
• afrin - a full sized bottle and 10 coupons
• kelloggs crunchy nut cereal - a full size box and coupons
• morningstar farms - a coupon for a free box of veggie burgers and coupons

all those campaigns were in the last two months. i have had so many others before those and gotten some really neat products. another no brainer for us SAHM's to do with all our free time ;)


so, if you're a SAHM like me and look for ways to bring a little bit to the family without spending - this is it. some of the tasks can be tedious but i plan to step my game up even more now that i've realized what it CAN do for my family - and sanity [free date nights!].

disclaimer: all opinions are 100% mine. i was not paid/asked to blog about either company!

a little extreme

i am totally obsessed with couponing.  i watch 'extreme couponing' all the time wishing i could have a stockpile like they do. i want free things!
i do dabble but i am no where near as good as those people! not yet anyway ;)


so, i wanted to blog about some great deals that i got yesterday.
harris teeter was having a super coupon special - doubling coupons up to $2.00! (most places only double up to .99cents if at all)
so, i grabbed some coupons and hit the road.


i had a coupon for masterpeice BBQ sauce.

$1.00 off of 2 bottles. the bottles were $1.00 each on sale. since my coupon doubled to $2.00 off of 2 bottles - each bottle was absolutely free. i had 2 coupons so i was able to get 4 bottles of BBQ sauce for free! :D


the next was Tabasco sauce.

my husband loves hot sauce ... on eggs, on rice and basically anything else that isn't hot enough for him. the coupon that i had was $1.00 off any size bottle. again, that coupon would double to $2.00 off. the Tabasco (with habanero!) wasn't on sale but regular price it was $2.19, so i only paid .19cent!


another goodie was bic soleil savy!

it was on sale for $4.99. i had a $2.00 off coupon that would double to $4.00 off - so i only paid .99cents! whoooop!


i also picked up some mio water enhancer.

i've never bought this before but have wanted to try but didn't want to pay $3.00 for it. harris teeter had it on sale for $2.50 though. and i happened to have a $1.00 off coupon (that again, doubled to $2.00 off) so i only paid .50cents. that was reasonable to me considering if i didn't like it, i only wasted .50cents! i picked up blueberry lemonade. and when i went to use it today, discovered that the hub took it to work with him. jerk ;)


the best deal though - didn't even involve Harris Teeters awesome doubling coupons up to $2.00 event. 
it's mueller's pasta.

it's rare that this brand goes on sale as cheap as $1.00 each but when it does, you want to stock up! 
here's the trick. if you go to meullers.com and sign up - they will email you a .55cent off coupon that is good for a month. even though i had already signed up, my hubby hadn't - so i quickly signed him up and they sent him a coupon! 
when you go to print - you can print out multiple copies - but only once! so, i just printed 60 copies! 
the coupon says, in the fine print, 'do not double' but the bar code *begins with a 5 meaning that it will, in fact, double. 
this being said - i picked up 15 boxes at $1.00 each. i used 15 coupons and each box was free!
why did i only use 15? well i used 2 bbq, 1 tabasco, 1 razor and 1 mio coupon making my total coupons 20. harris teeter only doubles 20 coupons per day! 
i am really hopig Meuller goes on sale again soon - whether it be harris teeter, giant, shoppers or safeway because all double coupons up to .99cent every day! (meaning the pasta will be absolutely freeee and lets face it, we all use pasta AND it has a shelf life for up to 2 years!) 




so there's the most recent goodies that i got! i usually coupon with every trip to the store - even if i'm running to target for something, i typically go with a coupon. even if i'm not getting things for free, i'm still saving. i promise i won't be one of those extremers who buy dog food even though i don't have a dog just because the deal was SO good. i typically only coupon with things that i am going to use (toothpaste, razors, pasta, bbq sauce, mustard ...) but i promise to share all my good deals from now on.


here are some great sites for anyone who wants to get into couponing:


www.couponmom.com
www.thekrazycouponlady.com
www.coupons.com


* - coupon FYI - typically if a coupon doesn't say 'do not double' it means that it will. but a sure way to know is to check the bar code. if it begins with a 5, it doubles. 
in maryland - most places double coupons UP TO $1.00. meaning that if a coupon is FOR $1.00 off - it will not double and you will only get the $1.00 off. if the coupon is for .99cents - it will double to $1.98 off (but .99cent coupons are RARE). most of the time, the best deal is a .75cent coupon that doubles to $1.50! i try to save most of those coupons for grocery stores - even if it's something i typically buy at target just because the grocery store will double where as target does not.
another FYI regarding coupons and target - target allows stacking of coupons. meaning you can use one manufacturer and one target coupon. www.target.com is where you can find all the coupons. so if you have one $1.00 off target coupon and $1.00 off manufacturer coupon - you will receive $2.00 off! that's always a good deal especially for makeup and nail polish which i always get for free (or very close to it!)


hope that helps anyone needing it :)