Swagbucks!

If you haven't yet started using Swag Bucks, there's never been a bigger bonus code for those signing up! Create an account here and you'll be rewarded with 30 Swag Bucks. Then enter the code SBPAYSFORME (try typing it in instead of cut & paste) in the Swag code box during registration and you'll get an additional 80 SwagBucks!  

That makes newbies start out with 110 SwagBucks! 

This would be a great time to add an account for each member of your family!  

{Code is valid only when entered by new members during registration and expires 11/18 at 10am MST.}

Basically, Swag Bucks is a search engine. As you search the internet, you periodically earn Swag Bucks, which you can redeem for gift cards to a variety of stores. Each year I spend my Swag Bucks on one thing and one thing ONLY: Amazon gift cards for items on my Christmas list! 

$10 iTunes and Starbucks gift cards also make great gifts!
Here are a few tips for anyone new to Swagbucks!

• Download the toolbar and use it consistently. Instead of using your "Favorites" to access web pages, type it in Swag Bucks. You'll also earn 1 Swag Buck everyday, just for having the toolbar installed.
• Don't anticipate earning a lot in the first 2 weeks. It starts slow and that's okay! If you continue to use it to search, you will soon win Swag Bucks regularly. I search about 10-15 times each day and win 2-3 times, totaling about 20-25 SB each day.
• There are tons more ways to earn! You can print coupons, take surveys and even purchase Groupons through SwagBucks- all while earning a SB bonus! Visit the "Earn" tab in the toolbar to see all the ways you can earn more.

What are you waiting for?  Try it out!!

Coupon Binders

So I have fallen a week or two behind with my coupon binder and was wondering if anyone was interested in seeing it?  

I spent about an hour Sunday afternoon going through it and putting it back into ready to spend shape!

Now that it's all organized and pretty I thought I might post how I keep mine, categories, etc.  

And how it helps me shop like this

For less than half or more of retail prices!

Garage Sale Stories Week #11

Sadly enough, this might be the last week of sales here!  I'll start hitting the local D.I.'s for some deals, but I'll be excited for the yard sale season to come around next spring!

This week I found...

 CAbi Jungle Wrap Dress

 CAbi shirt (Retails $108!)

 Banana Republic Merino Wool Sweater Small, New!

Jones New York Size 8 Dress

Garage Sale Stories Week #10

Here are just a few things I've found lately that I think are FABULOUS!  Garage sales are winding down quickly around here and I am starting to get sad about missing out my my cheap deals!

 Lavendar Gap Trenchcoat

 Gap Brown Leather Pants - SOLD!

Ann Taylor Velvet Jacket - SOLD!

 Cole Haan Men's Dress Shoes - SOLD!

Coldwater Creek (new with tags!) Black Velvet Dress - SOLD!

I've got them all listed in my ebay store plus a few other fun finds.  I'm hoping I have one more fun Saturday to yard sale it up before people stop selling!  

What's it like where you live?  Are the sales still going strong or waning off?

Garage Sale Stories Weeks #8 & 9

I can't believe I forgot about posting last week...I took Graham and Lauren with me this week and we managed to find a few goodies.  Graham had money burning a hole in his pocket with no luck to go with it.  Poor little guy.

This is what I found....

 Gap Velveteen Swing Coat - $2.00

 Rare Editions Holiday Dress - $1.00

 Classiques Entier from Nordstrom Brown Leather coat - $1.00!!!!  

I KNOW!!!

Eddie Bauer Red Jacket - $1.00

I've got them listed in my Ebay store already....and of course I took Graham to Target to buy a Bey Blade spinner since I felt so badly for him.  He was a good trooper.  

Lauren found a Dora mermaid doll that talks and a princess puzzle...fun fun!

 What did you find?

Smith's/Kroger Case Lot Sale

 Lauren was my little helper yesterday at the Case Lot sale...she happily pushed around her little cart and did not run into the back of my heels once! 

I had a budget to stick to.  It's easy to go crazy at these sales thinking you are getting a screaming deal, when really most things are normal prices or just a little bit less.  I only got the items that I have been watching and know have gone up in price over the last 6-12 months.  

Sugar - $19.90 per case

Flour - $12.00 per case

Pasta Sauce - .88 cents per can

Chunky Peanut Butter - (kids hate it but it's good for recipes) - .79 cents per jar

Ham - $3.99 each

Langers Apple Juice - $10.00 per case (this used to be $1.00 each at case lots, but prices are up!)

TP - $5.49 each

Pineapple - $21.12
Diced Green Chilies - $12.00

Peaches - .79 cents per can

Ketchup - .88 cents each

Febreeze - .99 cents each

Deodorant - .49 - .99 cents each

Shampoo - .89 cents each

Some of these items were part of the P&G sale where you buy 4 items you get $4 off.  Then with the coupons on top of that, they turned out to be a really great deal!

Total before sales: $362.00

After sale and with coupons I PAID: $165.37!!!

I used my $17 credit from Smith's Gold Coupons that came a few weeks ago.  I also used my double points coupon to make my amount decent for when the checks come out next time. 

Going to price match rice and salt at Wal-Mart this weekend, the prices were considerably lower at Reams this time. 

Have you hit the case lot sales yet?

Dry Pack Order

Here in Utah, the LDS Church has a place we call the Dry Pack.  Every so often I try to add a few of the #10 cans from the Dry Pack Cannery to our long term food storage.  I sometimes want to go crazy and order TONS - but really, I want this to be the stuff that we keep around for a loooong time in case the world ends or something.  I have a few #10 can of Fruit Loops I made up for my kids should that ever happen.  (I'm not kidding....)

 There is a woman in our ward who has the title of "Food Storage Specialist."  Is that the coolest thing or what?  When the powers that be are wanting me done with Cub Scouts, I TOTALLY want the Food Storage Specialist calling.  I would be awesome at it!!

This time around I ordered some dried carrots and apple slices, rice, quick oats, hot cocoa, refried beans, etc.  I came home and there were all my cans neatly placed on my front porch!  How easy is that?

 The food in these cans can last for YEARS.   Dan and I went with a few other couples to the Dry Pack on a date a few years ago.  We all filled the orders for the ward and went out to dinner afterwards.  It sounds nerdy, but we had a really great time!

I also picked up some pancake mix to use - hard to pass up for $3.50 per bag.

I love building my food storage without breaking the bank - I didn't spend more than $50 on this order!

Case Lot sales are starting this week around here....now is the perfect time to stock up on items like cream soups, wheat, flour, sugar, salt, canned veggies and fruit, oil, powdered milk, canned beans,tomatoes and paste, etc.   I'm getting my list together for some serious shopping this week!

How is your food storage doing?  Do you have a three month supply?  We are looking at stocking up on both food items and non-food items as well, sometimes you need things in your home for an emergency.  A good place to find things is CentrSource.

Garage Sale Stories Week #7

Greg came and woke me up on Saturday morning...it was 6 am and he was all dressed and holding his little basketball wallet full of change.

"MOM!  Can we go garage sale-ing?"

We did and we weren't gone very long.  Because the first one we hit was GOLD!  This woman was amazing...I was in OCD yard sale heaven!  Everything had a perfect label on it with the price in neat handwriting.  Toys were laid out in perfect rows.  The prices were great and the she had AWESOME stuff!

 Remember the crazy book lady from a few weeks ago?  I found revenge!  All of these books were .10 or .25 cents.  This is half of the pile I bought.  She had tons of brand new ones and I tucked them away in a bin for Christmas.  I picked up 3 Wii games for free too!

 Puzzles for LuLu - my 3 year old has mad puzzle skills. 

 She is also loves her Barbies.  Picked this folding Barbie bedroom up for $5.00.  It's been played with non-stop since Saturday!  I also got several sets of Barbie items, $3.00 each.  I put those away for Christmas as well.

 Greg bought LuLu the horses with his own money - sweet brother.  $1.00

 He found a great MatchBox car track and this Hogwarts set complete with 3 bags of figurines. $8.00 for both sets together.

It opens up and is pretty cool.  My boys are just now getting into Harry Potter so this has been a lot of fun for him.  Resale value on it runs $25 -$100 depending on condition and how many extras you have.  Crazy!

 LuLu was sad not to go, but I was glad she wasn't along - Christmas is going to be Barbie heaven for her!

 I found this Bloomingdale's black silk trench coat for $1.00!  I've already have it listed in my ebay shop, we'll see what I can get for it this month.

 

Garage Sale season is winding down around here  - but I'm going to see if I can make it out for a few more weeks!  Did  you find anything good this last Saturday?

Garage Sale Stories Week #6

Sloooow week!  

I slept in after getting strep (again!) this summer but I did manage to hit 2 after I took Lauren to get her some dance shoes....

 Banana Republic Silk Turtleneck $1.00

 Ann Taylor LOFT hounds tooth checked dress - $1.00

 Nine & Co fall plaid skirt - new with tags!  $1.00

Nicole Miller gunmetal gray satin skirt $1.00

I've already got these listed in my ebay shop...we'll see if they sell this week!  I'm determined to hit it hard next week before soccer season kicks in!

How did you do?

Garage Sale Stories Week #5

I couldn't wait to get out Saturday morning!  Only problem was Dan was forced volunteered to be Greg's soccer coach and he had to go and pick up equipment.  So I didn't head out until 10:30 a.m. - that's like rookie starting time!  I usually leave by 7!!!

I managed to find a few goodies....can you tell it was coat week for me?

 Gap Limited Edition Jean Jacket

 Coldwater Creek Floral Jacket

 Coldwater Creek Jacket - New with Tags!!

 Banana Republic Corduroy Blazer

 CAbi Tapestry Coat

I don't see CAbi too often around here - it's sold strictly at trunk shows and in the south.  This coat isn't really my personal taste but they have a lot of other things I like!

What did you find at garage sales this week?