March Freebies & Money Saving Tips

This month was a big hit! I do believe this just might be the best month yet since I started keeping track of my freebies & couponing. I can't believe how much money our family has saved & how much below our grocery budget we are every month now. This really helps when the kids are in sports, theres school fundraisers, birthday parties, and the rising cost of gas. At the end of this post, I will give you some tips that we've found has helped us to save money. But, for now....here's the March Freebies!

 

Victoria Secret Mini Cheeksters Panties $9.50 (not pictured)

Hammermill Copy Paper $6.99

Schick Hydro 5 Razor $8.34

Poise Body Cooling Towelettes x 2 $2.97 each ($0.06 mm)

Beech-Nut Fruitie $.98 ($0.02 mm)

Sun Bird Seasoning Mix $.78 ($0.02 mm)

Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Flavor Mix x 2 $.84 each ($0.32 mm)

El Monteray Chicken Burrito $1.00

Playtex Gentle Glide 360 Tampon Sample

Bath & Bodyworks Beautiful Day eau de toilette spray $3.00

Del Monte Mango Fruit Chuncks $1.00

Friskies wet cat food $.57

John Fridea Frizz-Ease Hairspray x 2 $1.49 each

Nivea lip gloss $2.99

Eco Tools mini puff $.87 ($0.13 mm)

U by Kotex Pantyliners $1.24 ($0.76 mm)

Almay Makeup Remover x 2 $5.99 each

Mountain Dew Kickstart $.99

1 Gallon of Milk $2.59

 

 

That's a total of $63.42 saved and an extra $1.31 in moneymakers (which are applied towards your ending total at Walmart).

 

So, how does our family save money? Well, here are the websites that I check out before I go shopping: The Krazy Coupon Lady and Safeway. I love The Krazy Coupon Lady because you can sort by store and also by typing in the word "Free" in her search bar. I usually check out Walgreens, Safeway, Walmart, Albertsons, and Rite Aid. I only go to Walmart a couple of times a month however I stock pile my coupons, adding these items to my list. Walgreens usually has some great deals and definately take advantage of the Register Rewards. These can get kind of confusing with their new point system and Register Rewards however, once you get the feel for it, it's not so bad. Rite Aid is one store that I have found sometimes has great deals however, they are pretty few and far between. Albertsons I have found has some GREAT deals when they have the coupon round-up or the Twice the Value coupon deals. The only problem with our Albertsons is that they run out of the great deal items really quick. I do my shopping on Tuesday afternoons and a lot of times I find that they have run out of the great deal items. I love Safeway....what more can I say! It's not crowded like Rosauers and Albertsons, everybody is really friendly and if you use the Safeway card, take advantage of the Just 4 U program, and combine your personalized deals with coupons, you can get items for really inexpensive. It does take time, I usually spend an hour or two on Monday afternoons going through, coupon matching, and making my lists. Another hint, sign up for all of those cheesy store cards, they do help and they do save you money.

 

What do I do with all of those weird off the wall items that our family won't eat or use? I give them to family and friends that will! We don't have a cat however, I always take advantage of the coupon from Petco for the free kitty food because we have good friends that have a cat; we give our free kitty food to them! We also donate items to various things. For instance: For the past few years the boys attend a week long Bible School at one of the local churches during the summer. Each year during this Bible School, the kids are asked to donate items to that years cause. Last year, they had a  missionary that was going to a remote village in Alaska and the kids were asked to donate all sorts of various items that the villagers could use. I went through my stockpile and was able to provide all sorts of things. Another thing to do with grocery items that your family might not eat and that you can get for free, is to donate them to your local food bank. A couple of months back, I was able to get Grapefruit juice for free, our family doesn't care for Grapefruit juice so we donated it to the foodbank box at our church. What your family might not care for or use, another family can and will appreciate it.

 

Another tip is to take advantage of the Register Rewards and rebates. You might have to fork out some money up front however, if you can get that money back in another form, take advantage of it! An example is the Hammermill paper from Staples. I never pay for paper for our printer. I wait until Staples offers their rebate deal and take advantage of it. I have to pay the $6.99 up front however, by submitting the rebate (which is super easy and only takes a few minutes online) I will get that money back in a rebate check within a couple of weeks. Same with the Register Rewards...these can really help on future purchases (you just have to remember to use them within the time period given) and it's like getting your money back. The Mountain Dew Kickstart is one example of this. I had to pay $.99 up front however, I got a $.99 Register Reward that I in turn used to purchase a 2 liter bottle of Sunkist Orange for $1.00 which I then recived a $1.00 Register Reward on. In a long about way, I actually made $.99 on these transactions. :-) It can get complicated and take time however, if you are trying to stick to a budget or save for something special, this is the way to go.

 

Some additional tips that we've done that don't require couponing: We started recycling a couple of years ago and as a result, we have not only helped the environment but, we were able to get a smaller garbage can which saved us a little bit a year on our garbage bill. We also save cans and take them to the recycling center during Earth Week which offers a little bit more per pound on aluminum. We have been doing this for several years to help save for Disney World vacations! To save for those special/big vacations (in our case Disney World vacations) we place all of our can money into our Mickey Mouse jar. We also have a yearly yardsale where we usually earn a couple of hundred dollars which is also placed into our Mickey Mouse jar. The kids set up a food/drink stand and place the money they make into their Disney World envelopes so they can buy items they want while on vacation. Another thing we have done is cut back on our Costco trips. We used to go to Costco a couple of times a month and each trip costs a lot of money! We started going once a month and waiting until the coupon book comes out with that months specials. Believe it or not it has saved us (on average) a couple of hundred dollars a month. We make a list of items we need and then do it all in one big trip. And by not impulse buying (which is really hard to do at Costco) and sticking to our list, it has helped lower our Costco bill and therefore our grocery budget! There are so many different things you can do to help offset the rising costs of items and save your family money. It's just a matter of taking a little bit of time, planning ahead, and being creative. What works for one family may not work for another. Share your ideas and get creative! Good luck & please leave a comment sharing your money saving tips! :-)