July Challenge and Mystery Shopping

I noticed late today that I was assigned a mystery shop for tonight. My shop was at a grocery store and the requirement was to buy $9 of merchandise ( to be reimbursed) and get paid $5. At King Soopers I bought a 6 pack of pop-corn, a gallon of milk, a deli chicken breast (required by shop), a pack of day old hot dog buns for 39 cents, straws because my son grabbed the box and started chewing on it and some grapes he ate a few of in the store. Since I had to be there anyways I transferred another prescription to get another $25 gift certificate. I paid $12.42 (with my other $25 prescription credit) and will deduct it from my $40 weekly grocery budget. Excluding that, I will have earned $14 for the mystery shop and $25 for the prescription transfer. I think I can transfer these prescriptions one more time and plan to send them to Rite Aid because they also offer $25 for transferring. I have a new RX I haven't filled yet because I have been waiting for Target to have another $10 offer then do the same thing with transferring them. I didn't use a single coupon at check out which was so weird but these are going to be reimbursed anyways by the mystery shopping so please don't hold it against me!

Amazon Diaper Deals

There are several diaper deals this week. Amazon has a big box of Huggies overnights for $10.63 for about 56 diapers after sale and signing up for auto delivery club (you can cancel right after or keep it and get this good deal every month). There are also good deals on wipes and Pampers. If I get my e giftcards from Swagbucks soon I'll test it out.

Also, at Target Huggies and Pull Ups are $8.99. Big packs of wipes are $5.49. You would use the $3 off Huggies from coupons.com and $2 off wipes (no longer available) and combine with the Target printable $3.50 off when you buy both for a price of $5.98 for both. You can also TRY to use the Target coupon for $4 off a Toy Story toy wyb Huggies Pull Ups. If you bought Pull Ups instead there is only a $2 manufacturer coupon so it would be $1 more which is still a good price for a pack, wipes and a toy. Some cashiers might not go along with using both Target coupons since one says diaper and the other says training pants so your mileage may vary on this. I'll let you know how it goes when I try it out.
UPDATE- worked perfectly, received my Huggies in two days for only $2.59.  I LOVE AMAZON 

July Challenge 3rd day

Ending the third day I am at a total of $373.42. I redeemed $10 worth of Swagbuck points which I am planning to use on an Amazon deal, $30 from Mypoints gift cards to be used for back to school shopping, $57.26 in grocery savings and $1 for music downloads won on Huggies. I also added $12 for the McNeil/Tylenol rebate. I had another great trip to Target to pick up a few things. Typically on Wednesdays I get my grocery budget of $40 so I am deducting $8.78 from that to leave me at $31.22 remaining for the week. The Target trip gives us meat for at least 5 dinners, breakfasts (cereal and waffles) for several weeks, a birthday gift and a few other things. Here goes:
Airwick starter kits x2 $4.49 each, used 2x $4.49
Cajun sausage reg $2.99, .54 cents each on sale, bought 5 for $2.70
Sirloin steaks reg $15 (?) marked down to $5.95
Special K Granola x3 $2.50 ea, used $1 manufacturer x3 plus Target $1.50 off 3 Special K
Fiber Plus x3, $2.66 ea, used 3 buy Kellogg's cereal get Fiber Plus free Target coupons 3xFREE
Eggo waffles x2 $1.75 ea, used $1/2 manufacturer & $1/2 Target 75 cents each
Target sample hazelnut coffee (not pictured)$1 each, used 2x$1 off coffee when you buy Kellogg's
SOBE Life water 4x$1 each, used 2 BOGO and 4 Target .50 cents off-FREE
gallon milk $2.29
4th of July chip bowl 50 cents on dollar spot clearance
Toy Story toy $6.04, used Target coupon for $5 off when you buy 5 kelloggs cereals
Paid $8.78
I didn't account for any extra value on the meat, that would have made my savings higher. There is a game on the SOBE website right now that you can play to win freebies and BOGO coupons so we will use the lids from these for extra chances to play. I will plan to use that Cajun sausage for our version of Zataran's dirty rice and maybe a sausage and rice crock pot soup. Also, the Fiber Plus cereal free coupon deducted $4.29 per box rather than the $2.66 sale price. I felt a little weird when I realized that, like maybe I should say something but I had just spent 20 minutes searching the isles for my son's lost left shoe. He has an interest in throwing his shoes lately. Last time was 4th of July when he tossed one out the car window. Thankfully Dad drove the path again and found it. Lucky for me a nice patron turned the shoe into lost and found today. Otherwise, all my couponing would have been a waste if I had had to buy another pair of shoes. The little guy was also playing that great game of throwing things out of the cart and watching me retrieve them. Boy, that game is a blast but I had had just about enough "fun" for one day and decided to head home.

July Challenge update 7/7/10

I took the day off from shopping yesterday to catch up on rebates. I have the following ready to mail out:

Covergirl/Olay $12

SC Johnson x2, $5 each

Kotex x2 $4 each

Red Baron $3.99

Seventh Generation $5

Total is $38.99 less $3.08 for postage=$35.91 profit

I also listed a box of things from my overflowing hall closet on Craigslist for $50. We won't count that unless it sells. I reviewed the Tuesday grocery ads and didn't find anything to get excited about. This might be a week that we just buy milk and produce unless anything good comes up.

Swagbucks

I discovered a site called Swagbucks. You are rewarded for polls, shopping and searches. By not doing anything but searching I have earned enough for 4 gift cards. Most of the redemption's are e gift cards which come to your email rather than waiting for snail-mail.

Look for Swagbucks logo at bottom of home page to join.

Update- Just this month I have cashed in 3 $5 Amazon gift cards which will help pay for the upcoming diaper deals.

But I don't have time to cut coupons!!!

Wow! It's a lot of work to sign up for all these sites, and programs and remember to send in my rebates. Maybe it's not worth it. Hopefully you can see from my July challenge that yes, it is worth the time and effort. I made $227.20 in one day with free merchandise, gift cards and rebates. I probably invested two hours driving and half an hour printing, clipping and organizing my coupons for three stores. So if you divide $227.20 by 2.5 it comes to $91 per hour. I may not always do as well but it is certainly more than I would get paid from working for someone else for 2.5 hours and I didn't have to pay for childcare. During a typical week, I spend about 15 minutes in the morning checking out my favorite deal sites and printing coupons. On Tuesdays when the grocery ads come out I spend about an hour pouring over them and pulling and printing coupons to match the sales. I usually do this again on Sunday when the drugstore and other ads come out. Then with everything organized and pulled, I can make a meal plan for the week based on the sales (30 minutes) and spend a minimal amount of time in each store. I don't go up and down every isle anymore and try to go in just for the sale items so I don't make the mistake of making expensive impulse items. I do take my coupon folder just in case I see any great unadvertised deals. Yes, it does take more time than going to just one store but I think what I am saving is certainly worth the extra effort.

July Challenge Part #3 and Daily Recap

After Super Target I went to Rite Aid. I was crushed when I realized I only had one $5/$25 coupon which only allowed me to complete one out of three deals I had planned. I chose to do the Aveeno deal since it was the most profitable and will need to make another trip back this week to finish it. I had something to return which gave me a store credit of $17, I spent $11.02 and have $7.67 remaining for the other deals. I bought:
2 Aveeno Positively Ageless sunscreens at $11.99 each, used 2x$5 off http://www.aveeno.com/
1 Aveeno baby lotion $5.69, used $5 off coupon from emailing company
also used my Rite Aid Wellness card to collect points and $5/$25 coupon (hand first). By buying these items I will get a $15 rebate (cash?) from Rite Aid and a $10 rebate from Aveeno. If I go back I will do the same deal (or similar) to collect a second $10 rebate from Aveeno and the Rite Aid rebate will go to $30. So basically, $50 for spending about $20 which isn't really out of pocket if you transfer a prescription and get the $25 gift card.

Today's recap: $167.25 in merchandise, $25 gift card for King Soopers, $35 rebates, rewards points for Pampers, Tropicana and Rite Aid, lots of deli meat, juice, shampoo, sunscreen and some snacks. All for 5 cents out of pocket.

Monday, July 5th 2010 Part #2

Later that day I was able to get out sans kiddos. I planned to go to the bank buy got sidelined by spending way too much time at Super Target. I think the time spent was worth it but you be the judge. Target total $98.66, saved $92.84 for a savings of 94%. I returned an item on the way in and had $8 to spend. I found a gift card in my wallet with $6.02 on it so I didn't spend any new money, have 20 cents remaining plus the $8 I received for the return. I bought:
Pampers wipes $1.97, used $2 coupon
Gerber formula $22.59, used $22 formula check -sign up here http://www.gerber.com/AllStages/Special_Offers.aspx
Airwick Motion starter sets x 4, $4.49 each, used $4 off each http://www.airwick.us/access/index.html
Drano Max $6.99, had freebie coupon from emailing company for $6.75 off
Tide, 2 sample packs, 97 cents ea, used $1 off coupons
Oscar Meyer deli meat, family size x2 99 cents each, used $1 off coupons
Hillshire farms deli meat x 8, 75 cents each, used 75 cent off coupons on package
Bar S 16 count corndogs $5.29, used $5 off coupon from emailing company
Tropicana juice x2, 50 cents each, used one $1 off coupon http://juicyrewards.tropicana.com/login/home.aspx
Market Pantry juice 50 cents

There were a ton of items marked down today because they were getting close to expiration which doesn't bother me at all since we go through it so quickly. I have found that lunch meats freeze well so I try to buy them at a low price and freeze. I purposely did not clear everything out as I was tempted to do so there would be good deals for the next person. It really bothers me when someone uses coupons to clear shelves to buy excessive quantities, especially when it is too much for them to ever use. Tropicana Juice has a reward program I entered the juice codes for which I can exchange for discounts like BOGO museum tickets or BOGO eating out. Airwick has a new reward program that you can enter your codes in exchange for contest entries and more coupons. I used the ones I had to print 2 more $4 off coupons to get more 49 cent starter kits.

Monday, July 5th 2010

Started off the day with a frugal breakfast. My daughter and I treated ourselves to Chicken Mini's from Chick Fil A. We used two free coupons we received in the mail. I had two because we were in the process of moving when these were sent out so we got one at each house. Then we went to King Soopers where we had free fruit samples and got the free kids cookie from the bakery. Yum! I transferred a prescription to get the $25 gift card. At checkout we spent $.05 with a 101% savings on or order, our total would have been $38.92 prior to coupons. This wasn't a major trip for us but more of an opportunity to get out of the house and start the challenge off on the right foot by using some freebie coupons we had. Here is what we got for that shiny nickel:

Hubbla Bubba Tape Gum-$1- payment for the "shopping helper"

Sister Shubert Rolls $3.29, had freebie coupon from sending email to company, also I think there is a Upromise bonus on this I will add to total when I find

Clorox Ultra bleach $1.99-had freebie catalina coupon

Kroger Deluxe ice cream $1.88 had ecoupon for 50 cents

Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls $1.65, had 95 cents off bricks coupon, doubled to $1

Kids Clif bars x 2 79 cents each, had freebie coupons from emailing company

Pantene shampoo and conditioners, trial size, $1 each x 5, used 4 $1 off & 1 $1.50 off manufacturer coupons

Gold Bond lotion, trial size, 79 cents, used 75 cents off coupon, doubled to free

Saved today:

$38.92 on groceries, $5 on breakfast and got $50 in gift cards to fund grocery shopping for the month. 

July Challenge

So my goal for this month is to create $1000 in additional income/value by coupon shopping, rebates and reward programs. To make this even more inspiring I am planning to use only the money I make as profit to fund the project. I started Monday this week and will report my progress as I go along. Feel free to join me in this and report how your challenge is going. What goals will you set for yourself and what are some frugal ideas you use that help to keep your family, fed, clothed and entertained? With summer break we are finding some inexpensive activities to fight boredom and there are a lot more snacks to buy. There is also back to school shopping looming large and that can derail any one's budget.