How I Get my Husband on Board for Savings

First, I write this blog with COMPLETE selfishness. I am actually writing this blog to help pull my husband along the ride of all things savings.  You see, he doesn't understand how writing, reading and DEAL shopping can be fun.  I love ALL these things.  This is one more way to get him on board.

Before I get into the post, I want to share a little more with you about SwagBucks. Today is a big SwagBucks day, and I thought it was important to share how to SAVE ON CHRISTMAS GIFTS--or really all year. 

The essence is this: 1) sign up for a SwagBucks account here and get 30 SwagBucks as a new account!, (enter BIGTIMEBUCKS for an extra 70 bucks LAST DAY!!) its free and I like to recommend people set their homepage to Swagbucks.com. 2)Then, just search for things (I search for Google, Facebook, Gmail, and other regular things in addition to many others).  You start earning points or bucks and can redeem 450 Swagbucks for a $5 Amazon Gift card!

BACK to Hubby....
I really needed him on board a LITTLE bit with these small things: time and space.  For time, I needed a few hours per week to have without my little guy. Hubby is extremely gracious and gives me lots of time for my retail Savings therapy.  Space--well, that is a big thing. I need somewhere to store all my amazing deals and lovely plunder!  I have a few cabinets downstairs, but I'm sure he would want it organized better.

I also must get hubby on board and SHOW HIM the benefits. He never has to run out in the middle of the night (or early morning) for diapers, toilet paper, womenly needs products, razors, candles paper towels, or soap of any kind.  At this point in time, after nearly four years of couponing, he MIGHT be taking this for granted.  For instance....He was frustrated at me when I bought two Sunday newspapers to arrive on our doorstep.  I really wanted 8--but just compromised down to two.  I gently reminded him that I could get 6 additional papers ordered.

Lastly, I help hubby get what he wants. He gets to shop at the local butcher instead of a regular grocery store (grilling meat is a high priority here!) and he can choose to drink yummy beer instead of light/cheap/not-as-good-in-our-opinion-beer.

 In addition, this means that I do most of the shopping for all things home and all things meal related.  This also often translates into me organizing and cooking many meals (minus the grilling which we do often).  SO, all in all....hubby should WANT me to be obsessed with deals, coupons and price-matchups.  In addition to loving the thrill of couponing, he gets a fully stocked home, good meat, good beer and a FOUR HOUR BREAK from his wife when I shop.  These sound like great benefits to me!

Awesome deal at Walgreens!

Back in the game. Why I love to save money...well, for crazy situations like this one.  I lost my job. Yes, it has been a few weeks, but I was trying to figure out how to spend my time. I'm back in the coupon game HEAVY this time....and want to share a great deal on a kids item.

Super cheap sippy cups at Walgreens or Target this week!


Register here for the Playtex newsletter. (You will get an email within 24 hours with a link to a coupon. Can print TWICE....click link push print, then hit the back button and it will let you print one more!)

Then, look for the Infant Care booklet at Walgreens (OR, if you live locally give me a shout and I will give you one. I have a few extras!!!)  There is a $2/1 Playtex feeding item Walgreens coupon. Combine with your $2/1 cup from their site and you get a sippy cup (or TWO!) under $1 a piece!

At Target, they are on sale this week, buy one get one 50% off.  If you got the Target Baby Mailer, you can use the coupon off any playtex feeding item!  If no baby mailer, you get them for $1.50 per cup or with coupon $0.89 each!

I scored a few of the NEW Cars 2 cups at Walgreens two weeks ago for $3 each. I thought THIS was a good deal.  If you have a printer and no need for sippy cups, SEND THE COUPONS MY WAY! I would love to stock up for another baby and go through our not-so-great cup collection and renew for Eph!
Happy Shopping!

Target Deals THIS WEEK!

Yes, its late Wednesday night--half way through the week's sales, but I do have some good things to share with you!

First, while at Target picking up my dear son's SIXTH round of antibiotics since February, I had a little time to kill and some household necessities to pickup.  I needed eggs, milk and a dessert for a visitor I had tonight.  I saw Seattle's Best Coffee for $6.49/ bag.  (Pretty good deal!) I did this deal a few weeks ago too....print the TARGET COUPON for Seattle's Best $1/1 bag of coffeeNEW $2/1 Coupon Seattle's Best Coffee.  This makes the coffee $3.49!  Thanks to Money Saving Mom for alerting me about this great deal! and then print this

More Target deals!

Get some great coupons from French's Mustard. Sign up to get them in your email and print as soon as you want!  Then, visit Target and look for the Bonus packs of French's Mustard (plus 12oz Honey Mustard) priced at $1.54.  Use the $0.50/1 coupon and get two bottles for $1.04!

How about travel sized Dial Lotion--priced at $0.97.  FREE after you use this facebook coupon here.

Thanks to Totally Target for some great match-ups!

I also saw some great clearanced Halls Cough Drops. The price near me was $0.62.   Use the $0.50 off coupon from Target's site and they are SUPER cheap.  Use now, save for the fall/winter or DONATE to somewhere like The Affton Christian Food Pantry.  They are in my community, and I donate a lot of my extras to them!

REMEMBER:  For MOST coupons sites, you can print TWO of each per computer!  Either use the back button and reload or just click the link from my blog twice.  Each coupon will have a new number.

Since this blog is also Christian based, I thought I would share a fun giveaway that one of my favorite bloggers/authors is doing right now.  Lysa TerKeurst is giving away a set from her new book (here it is on amazon) What Happens When Women Say YES to God.  I enjoy reading her blog and would LOVE to win this Bible study set.  If you think its fun, enter too!

OFF to bed!  Happy Shopping!

HOT deals TODAY!!!

Being up super early with a cranky toddler is enough to get you moving early in the morning!  I thought I would share with you some GREAT deals!  These were TOO hot to keep to myself.  Thanks to Jonna for sharing, too!

At Target....checkout the Suave coupon on their site here.  Print two per computer and go into Target searching for your Suave Naturals 15 ounce Shampoo and Conditioner for $0.97.  PAY ONLY $0.22 after coupon!

If you don't want to use it, give it to a shelter or military man or woman.  Nearly free is awesome!

Want a beautiful spring collage?  Checkout Walgreens!  Login with your photo account.  Create an 8X10 collage.  Enter FREECOLLAGE as a coupon code.  Choose in-store pickup for free shipping!  A great gift or keepsake!  This deal won't last long: expires May 7th.

More...how I save money

First and foremost, MAN a lot of time has passed since the last blog.  Well, I have to say that I was busy. Not in just the normal RUN AROUND CRAZY kind of busy.....but the....guard your time to spend it mostly with family.

Batson Family, Easter 2011

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE blogging, couponing, searching for deals and Targeting. I needed a little break to support my loving husband.  You see, this is his LAST week of his MBA classes.  With those classes two nights per week, a Bible study one night per week and me teaching one night per week....that leaves us with.....crashing on Fridays!  No, really....we sit on the couch staring at each other like "What just happened to our week?  Why is our house SO dirty/messy/undone?"  We both made a lot of sacrifices for his program, but Jerret made a HUGE one when he couldn't spend time with me and Eph.

Speaking of SCHOOL....I SAVE MONEY on Amazon Prime!  And, as a student or person in school with an ".edu" email address, you can get FREE Prime!  Check it out here.  I have had an Amazon account forever....but I just logged in then added my .slu.edu address and YAHOO! I have FREE Prime.  If you are a mom and don't have a .edu address, try out Amazon Prime for moms here!

(If you are thinking....she keeps putting links in so she gets paid from Amazon.  WELL, at the moment, I am attempting to figure all this money making on the blog deal. SO, I am flat broke and don't get much of anything at the moment for sharing my opinion with you. I do plan on having that change in the near future, so check out my disclaimer here.....although it doesnt apply yet....since I'm not making any money!)

What is Amazon Prime you might ask?  It is FREE Shipping (and super fast too) on MOST orders that are shipped by Amazon. I seriously NEVER buy from "the other guys" anymore if I can get a brand new book/dvd/movie or whatever for the same or cheaper through Prime. It just doesn't make sense!  There are NO minimum orders (the trick is, that usually the used books are like $0.50, but those arne't shipped through Amazon.  So, that wouldn't apply)  

Check it out....I just bought this book by Jon Acuff.  I pre-ordered the book and it was released through Amazon BEFORE it was released on the webiste.  I thought it was a great idea.....starting what I love instead of my regular day job.

 I also ordered something I thought would be pretty funny....by the same guy, Jon Accuff.  I ordered Stuff Christians Like.  The book is a bunch of "thoughts" on traditional (annoying?) things Christians do. 

My point? Amazon Prime is AMAZING!!!!!









Another great way to save money is by subscribing to FREE magazines!  I check out this site for their freebies about once per month.  They do change, and there are good "deals" all the time.  I don't pay for any magazines.  I only get them free.  The site is called SlickDeals, and I have a love/hate relationship with it.  For me, it is WAY too much information in one place. I really don't know how or where to start.  I get stuck in a rut and can't find my way out!  So, I stick to the main page of deals that gets updated regularly and the Freebies link (I sent you to that one above!)  At the moment, there are a ton of boy magazines.  NOTE: when you sign up for these things, you end up getting a lot of junk mail and email.  Give an old email or one you don't check often!

I have paid for two of Jerret's magazines, but with Amazon gift cards from Swag Bucks, not with money out of my paycheck.  Remember Swagbucks?  Checkout these other posts about Swag Bucks if you forgot!

Some printable grocery coupons to hold you over....checkout Coupons.com or SmartSource.com

Next post is coming soon....I'll talk with you about my grocery savings struggle.  To be a grocery store snob or to not!  I will post before Monday, May 9!  Be on the look out!

My Favorite Things--Ways to Save

I have personally used these methods in helping my family save money and get great deals. If you have questions, I would love to answer them!

I'm currently a Bzz Agent. Checkout the website, its a pretty awesome concept. In essence there are agents all over the country to "bzz" (or talk about) different products they are trying or get for free to try out. I have tried nearly a dozen different products and love getting feedback from the structured forum (you submit two "reports" and someone reviews the reports and gives you a honeycomb....the more honeycombs the more products you get to try!)

I was just picked to participate in the Covergirl NatureLuxe product. While I haven't received me free product and bzz kit (coupons and sometimes product to SHARE!) I did receive a free sample from the company. I tried the NatureLuxe silk foundation sample for four days, and I really do love it. My face felt HYDRATED and covered without feeling bulky or thick. I will update you once I get my other samples from being a BzzAgent and try the product for two full weeks! Interested in sharing your opinion as a Bzz Agent (you don't need a blog! Word of mouth is bzz too!) Check out the FAQs here

All You Reality Checker is a panel and a fun way to learn about new products and to share your opinion on products you like. They also give you free products to try and offer great coupons and incentives.

We often rent movies through RedBox because they are cheap, located in many places and have movies we like. If you have never rented through RedBox.com and you go through this link, you can get a FREE one-night rental! As I increase the blog posts, I will post additional FREE codes to rent movies for free.

In addition to AllYou Reality Checker, I also subscribe to the AllYou Magazine. It has TONS of great coupons and I can usually pair the All You Manufacturer coupons with STORE Coupons (like Target or Walgreens) to get double savings!

A link below to checkout the magazine on Amazon.

This bring me to my FAVORITE online shopping site....Amazon.com. WHY do I like Amazon so much?

1. Well, first you can get FREE shipping on everything through the Amazon Prime account. There are several ways to get a FREE Amazon Prime account like Amazon Mom or if anyone in your household is a student with an .edu address, you can join Amazon Student here
2. I earn FREE Amazon giftcards through SwagBucks, the search and win program
3. Amazon often has coupon books you can use like the ones here. It is SUPER easy to apply an Amazon coupon to your order and just watch your order total go down! I love that.
4. And finally, I do find great deals and prices on Amazon.com. In fact, I even have an app on my phone for Amazon checkout. Its pretty awesome. I will post additional periodic deals and steals on Amazon because I love it and get so many great prices on diapers, wipes, Charmin Toilet Paper, Bounty Paper Towels, wedding gifts, shower gifts and even SHOES!
   

More God and more deals!

Its Monday night and I couldn't leave my 18 NEW followers hanging. I just left my small group and felt lots of encouragement from good, Christian friends. I was especially encouraged tonight by Psalm 19:14 "May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." We talked a lot about accountability, mentors and our marriages. I was once again encouraged and want this blog to continue to be about saving and deals for you, your family and those you care about.

On with the deals:

I would love to win this amazing BOB Stroller--how about you? Sign up on Classy Mommy's blog here!


Like Coca-Cola products. Get a $1/2 coupon for Coke! YUM

How about a FREE beauty product from CVS? LIKE them on Facebook and you get a free full-sized Essence of Beauty product!

I like printing coupons from Swagbucks, too. Did you know you can do that? Print coupons through Swagbucks and EARN free Swagbucks! Its my favorite search and win site....with real prizes! (I posted recently about it here)!