Today Only!! Free Suave Coupon!!

Today, January 14, 2009, you can request your coupon for a FREE bottle of Suave.

http://www.suave.com/nomics/index.html

Instant Win Games

I have recently discovered instant win games and LOVE them. I have won, in the past 6 months, everything from a $5 Subway gift card to a $25 Exxon gift card, and just yesterday, a coupon packet of up to $15 worth of free Kraft products.

Although I could not possibly list all of the instant win games going on now, I will give you the link to the Kraft game. You can enter 4 times per day. The game ends on February 2, 2009, but they are giving away a TON of prizes (I'm thinking upwards of 1,000 per DAY) because it is/was a short contest period. Anyway, enter here.

Enter daily and hopefully you can score some free groceries!

*** And, because I just happened to come across the link for the instant win game from GMAC for the $25 gas card, here it is as well. ***

Another Holiday Season Gone

Wow, it's really hard to believe another holiday season is gone. Am I the only one that counts everything from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day as the holiday season? The boys have gone back to school (I am still free until Thursday) and I still have tons of things that I was going to do on my Christmas break which remain unfinished. The biggest two items left to do? Clip and organize my coupons and FINALLY put away the books that've been scattered here, there and yonder since the move.

Right now we're all fighting off problems with our sinuses. Gee, maybe it's the fact that we were literally in shorts and tee shirts the day before New Years and the day after we were literally freezing. Good ole' Arkansas weather (unless, of course, you live in Texas or Missouri or one of the other many states that has weather as convoluted as ours). In any case, I'm sure I have coupons for every medication available OTC but it's probably not clipped, so I know without a doubt that I will overpay for medicine later today. Unfortunately, I will gladly do so for some relief from the crud.

Extra Budweiser Holiday Rebate Form

If you bought any holiday decorations (or are buying them now when they are heavily discounted), I have an extra Budweiser rebate form. No beer purchase required. Must purchase $148 worth of holiday decorations for this $25 rebate. Not something to go out and do just for the rebate, but if you're already going to buy decorations, why not get some money back? Decorations must be bought by 12/31/08 and the form must be received in El Paso, TX by 1/14/09. Not much time. This form is good in AL, AR, CT, HI, KY, MA, ME, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NY, RI, SD, UT, VA and WV. Either leave me a comment or contact me through the link at the bottom of my page. First response gets it!

Long Term Ways To Save Money

Saving money isn't difficult. What you do today affects the finances of tomorrow. None of these tips are going make you rich overnight but by consistently practicing one or more of these, you will begin to see your savings accumulate.

• Turn the water off. Whether brushing your teeth, shampooing your hair or rinsing dishes... if you aren't using the water RIGHT THEN, turn it off.
• Use up leftovers. Just because there aren't enough veggies left for everyone a serving doesn't mean you have to throw them away. Let everyone pick one veggie for their meal tonight, make a stew or soup, or even make homemade dog food. The internet is chock FULL of recipe sites, so make the most of it and stretch your food dollars! I like Group Recipes, which enables you to search by ingredients and even lets you take a short test on foods you prefer to "predict" which recipes you will probably like.
  
• Keep your car well maintained. Yes, we've all heard this one ad nauseum, but there's a reason for that - it really DOES help extend the life of your car and decreases the amount of fuel consumed by it.
• Turn your thermostat down at night. Some people swear by a thermostat gizmo that automatically adjusts your temperature at night. I say unless you're very forgetful to skip that, lower it yourself and invest that money in a nice down comforter :)
• Buy quality pet food. Yep, that seems like an oxymoron but actually the better quality pet foods mean that your pet eats less and gets more nutrition (and since better quality means less fillers.....which is mainly byproducts that they cannot break down.....there's less ahem........ waste materials from your little darlin'). Coupons can be found for this if you sign up on their websites.
  
• When buying online, always look for coupon codes and/or go through reward sites. I prefer to use Alex's Coupons to search for codes since they donate to children's cancer organizations. Try Ebates for your starting point when ordering online. You get a percentage of your purchase price back!
  
• Don't spend your change. Seriously. We have 2 different change "jars" in our house. One for pennies, and the other for all other silver. Every day empty your pockets, purse, wallet, car, couch, or whatever you store your change in and put it in a change jar. If it's not on your person tomorrow, you won't spend it. Let it accumulate and cash it in towards your vacation, Christmas, or whatever you want.
• Ignore your dryer. It may take some adjustment, but if you pretend that you don't have a dryer, a family of 4 can easily save $20 or more per month on their electric bill. This assumes, of course, that you have an electric dryer and is based on a very messy family of 4. If you want to get EXTREME, you can string up clothes line on your porch or patio, even in your attic, basement or bathroom. Our dryer actually went out a few winters ago, and I got some very strange looks when our neighbors started talking about me hanging out clothes after dark. I was working at the time, so it was dark when I got home. I would take a load down before the dew got on them and hang another load (or 2 or 3 or 4) up as soon as the others were down. Ever played "cat's cradle" as a kid with yarn on your hands? That's what one of our porches looked like from all of the clothes line we had strung from post to post for rainy day clothes hanging!

These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many, many more options out there. Some are a little more extreme (wash and reuse your plastic sandwich bags) than others (use coupons), just use the ones easiest for you to incorporate!

2 Weeks of Maisey

Two weeks ago I rewarded my completion of another semester of school with something I've been thinking about getting for quite some time... a house dog. While I grew up with hounds (especially basset hounds), I wanted something a little smaller and not quite so easy to trip over in the house. Something that would be a faithful sidekick to not only ourselves, but even our cat, Lucky.

I have been amazed by the cairn terriers for quite some time, ever since encountering one when I worked at a veterinary clinic when I was a teenager. After much research, I decided that a cairn terrier would work well in our home and began actively searching for one. When you begin looking for a specific breed, though, you quickly discover that unless you want a lab, lhasa apso or poodle, you may be out of luck. After searching for a few months, I finally found my dog, and two weeks ago 4 month old Maisey came to live with us.

I have friends that cannot understand why I would willingly bring something else that needs feeding into my household. The answer is quite simple.... everyone has their priorities and, unless it interferes with your family's health or well being, nobody's is better than anyobody else's. Yes, it might be cheaper for us not to have another pet. That would be less dog food bought and less veterinary care BUT it's also another friend to all of us. Someone to listen to us rant and rave without judgment. Someone who doesn't mind that we're not perfect and kind of clumsy even on our best days. Research has proven that pets can lower stress levels. Considering the costs associated with doctor's exams and medication, I'd much rather choose a dog for my treatment.

Cola or Soda Type Rewards

Although I've posted on what reward sites are, I deliberately left out the different cola type reward sites. Why? Because they are not contingent upon you reading emails or buying online. They are based on your ability to redeem codes online. While all of the cola companies offer some version of entering codes, www.mycokerewards.com has been going for a couple of years now. As long as you either enter new codes or redeem some of your points every couple of months, your account will remain open. I have used gift certificates from the redemption of points to enhance Christmas and birthdays (specifically, Football Fanatics gift cards redeemable online). The best part about it is that, although I drink Coke, I prefer a cold Mountain Dew to get me going when there is no good coffee around yet I still am able to accumulate a TON of codes. How? My mother-in-law walks daily, preferring dirt roads to avoid the traffic. Most dirt roads or "back roads" are literally covered in "tossed out the window" 20 ounce bottles, and most all of them have the caps attached. I literally get a minimum of 20 per week from her. I have also been known to walk under the bleachers after a ball game and score pocketfuls of these caps. Yes, I do toss the actual bottles into the trash. In my own way, I am getting paid to do so.