Bank of America Gave Me $170

While my weekly shopping produced little in the way of deals my banking paid off big time. When I deposited my Rite-Aid check last week, the subject of my business came up and after some scrutiny I sat down and opened a fee-free business checking, saving and credit card account. With the checking and credit card I will receive a $50 reward each and $20 reward for opening the savings. I had to put $25 in the checking and $5 in the savings.

I was reluctant to open a business account for fear that I would incur fees but because I have a personal account, there are no maintenance fees, my first checks are free (and will probably last a lifetime since I use the card and internet for transactions), I get an ATM card and the credit card has a 0% interest rate on balance transfers for 6 months.

This will certainly make life easier to have the business and personal finances separate (and no extra expenses). I'm equally excited about that as I am about the $120 I made for doing this. When I told my sister she decided to do this for her small business and I will make another $50 for the referral.

If you have a business and would like to do this but don't have a personal account at Bank of America, consider opening one. There are ways to avoid maintenance fees, just ask the tellers and managers.

Free Dunkin Donuts Coffee & a New Favorite Blog

I was over at Coupons Rebates and Refunds and found a ton of deals including this one for free Dunkin Donuts Coffee.

Refilling Glade Car Air Fresheners

I was wondering what I was going to do with the Glade Car Air Freshener holder after the oil ran out (which was pretty quickly). Right now most purchases made here are needs not wants and buying refills is not something I need to do. In the past I would dab some fragrance oils on a rag or an old “Little Tree” if the car needed it.

My husband suggested refilling the bottle with my own oils. I thought this was a great idea and the variety is so much better too.

Here’s how:
1. Unscrew the cap on the empty oil bottle
2. Pull the plug out, keeping the wick intact
3. Pour in a few drops of fragrance or essential oil of you choice
4. Fill the bottle with water, not too full though
5. Replace the plug and wick
6. Replace the screw-on cap
7. Insert bottle back in holder in the car

If, after a day or so it doesn’t seem strong enough add a more oil.

Thank You

I'd just like to thank Jennifer at Sisterly Savings for featuring Free Is Fun on her blog today!

I am so excited and I have so many ideas for my blog. I am glad you all came to visit and I hope I can provide you with a lot of useful info to come.

Happy Savings!

New Resources

I just read an article at msn.com and learned of new resources and useful tips.

First I found the ppgazette.com which I will take some time to learn how to use. It seems promising. I will report back.

I picked up this great tip from http://www.thesimpledollar.com/ which is to save the Sunday coupons and in about four week, cut out the coupons you are interested in and go to the store. At this point a lot of these items are going to be on sale.

Since I have already been saving my coupons per couponmom.com, each week, while preparing for my shopping trips I will go back four weeks or so and try this strategy. I am very excited to have yet another possibility of saving money.

As far as the tips at the end of the article, the one that really hit home was "Don't Waste". Last night I threw $10 of fish that I forgot about then had to get in my car, and spend more money on prepared food. OUCH X3! That hurt.

English Muffin Pizzas

When I feel like having pizza but I don't have any pizza, English Muffins come to the rescue. Use them as a pizza shell and add sauce, cheese and other toppings. Bake in the oven or toaster oven until hot and melted.

These should have been called English-Mexican-American-Italian Muffin Pizzas because I used salsa, American cheese and pepperoni. They were different but very good. I would love to hear what you have substituted in a pinch.

Recipes

I am always looking for ways to make meals as easily and quickly as possible. Not that I don't like to cook, or that I don't want my family to eat a good homecooked meal (we hate eating out). It's just that I have about 152 other things I would rather be doing.

So I have my old standbys and I search allrecipes.com when I have the ingredients but not the idea. I've come to find a lot of easy recipes, acceptable substitutions and ways to simplify some of the more difficult processes called for.

Let's face it, who wants to stand there and "gradually stir in milk". Ok, sometimes I do have the ambition for homemade mac and cheese but for the most part I say throw it in a pot and call it DONE!

Is It Worth It?

When I tell people I got this for free or I'm going here to get this weeks deals, I often get the impression that they think "is it really worth all the running around"?

Yesterday I got a Single Check Rebate from Rite-Aid for $63.91 for the month of May. Since August I have not paid for toothpaste, toothbrushes, deoderant, shampoo, conditioner, razors, contact lense solution or band-aids and I have gotten a bunch of other useful things for free.

Uh-yeah, I think it's worth it.

As for the "running around" part. There are times that, if I am in the area, I will run into a store, not find what I am looking for and leave empty handed. That can be frustrating but I look at it as much needed excerise so it's all good.

Found coupon specific to my area?

The Rite Aid flyer is usually the first thing I read Sunday. Then I go to "Find your store's Grocery Deals list" on couponmom.com and click on Rite-Aid.

This is one deal listed:

Crest Pro Health Night Toothpaste 6 oz, Free after $2.99 mail in rebate

The couponmom's list shows that there are no coupons for these items but some how I lucked out and happened to be looking in the right place at the right time and found this:

$1 off any one 4.1 oz or larger Crest Paste in PG 6/1 exp. 6/30

So I made $1 on this purchase.

How I did week of June 21st.

This is how I did freebie-wise this week.
















Walmart:
Zout Stain Remover
Gillette Body Wash travel size
Old Spice Red Zone Body Wash travel size
Gold Bond Lotion travel size
2-Kotex Lightdays Liners 14 and 16 counts
The above is thanks to Freebies 4 Mom (she rocks)
Glade Car Air Freshener-this was the 2nd I received free after I received a letter in the mail yesterday that said the check from the 1st one may have had an error so here is a coupon for another freebie-cool!
Oral B floss
Rite-Aid:
Fuji Disposable Camera
Nexcare bandages
DiaperMate diaper bags
Herbal Essences Shampoo
Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo
Glade Flameless Candle-made $5
From Walmart.com free Samples:
Pack of two Pull-Ups training pants
NatureMade 14 Liquid Softgels Multi
Not pictured-The winner of the fastest turnaround time EVER:
Bausch & Lomb Alaway antihistamine eye drops sample thanks to Freebies 4 Mom again. I recieved this TWO days after requesting it! WOW. Although...I may have requested this 6 months ago, who knows ;-)

All the above: Free.
Roses from yard: Free
A reason to clean off the table: Priceless!
Thanks Money Saving Mom

Food purchases-not as good. Well most of those purchases were made with coupons and on sale (nothing great like .50 Hellman's) except for things my husband had to have like canned sardines and clams (just don't make me try them because you think they're great).

My Stores

These are the stores in my area that I will be searching for great deals.

Giant
Walmart
CVS
Rite-Aid
Staples
K-Mart
Walgreens unfortunately is too far for me to drop by every week but when I am in the area I hit it up. I think they actually have the best freebies.

My Favorite Sites...So Far

The Coupon Mom-learn the system and come back every week for the lists

Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom-learn how to save big at CVS and Walgreen's

I find great deals with Sisterly Savings & Freebies 4 Mom

I check Walmart.com for free samples

Amazon.com for the reveiws and free shipping over $25

Finding My Deals

I live in NE Pennsylvania. I got started saving money on groceries with couponmom.com and her free e-books that teach you how to save lots of money on your groceries. This is the first site I visit on Sunday morning and I refer back to it throughout the week as well. Despite the fact that she has a list of coupons for each state, I often find that the list for my state does not match up with what comes in my Sunday paper. If anyone knows why this is let me know. I am always trying to better understand couponing.


I have been reading other shopping blogs to find deals and have had a lot of luck but again these bloggers are not near me and the deals are not always available in my area. In fact some of their stores I have never heard of. I t makes me wonder what deals I am missing out on in my stores! My goal is to find more deals local to me and save even more, like the “pros”.

Week of 6/28

I didn't do as well this week with shopping deals as I have been. Could it be it's the end of the month, the holiday? I don't know but I did make out like a bandit at the bank so be sure to read about that.

-CVS finally came through with the free Oral-B CrossAction twin pack
-Crest Pro-Health Night was free after SCR plus $1 with coupon
-Walmart.com samples of 3 Platex tampons and Vaseline Men body & Face lotion
-Gillette sent a sample of Face and Body Wash
-mesh bag for opening an account at the bank.

I'm learning so much about finding great deals. I can't wait to get my coupons and lists organized and go shopping!