Another Great Deal: LOU LOU'S CORNER: Free shipping on $65+!

LOU LOU'S CORNER

LOU LOU'S CORNER has some of the most adorable children's items and I mean REALLY adorable! They also have some great looking items that I want for myself! Not only can you find great deals throughout the site, they are having a RED TAG SALE! Plus, get free shipping on orders $65 and up! Think Christmas, people! It's just around the corner.... Click HERE for the main Page and HERE for the Red Tag Sale.

Here are some examples of what's inside the red tag sale section:
 

small paul by paul frank - sierra wrap skirt

WAS $49.99

NOW $12.25! 

 
built ny - double thirsty tote

WAS $16.00

NOW $4.00!


 
built ny - strolling tote

WAS $19.95

NOW $4.99!

 
barefoot dreams - women's satin pj's

WAS $120.00

NOW $31.00!

 These are just SOME of the deals they have going on... shop now before they're gone!

Direct TV Deal!

I haven't had a chance to write anything for the past fews days- sick daughter and all. Here's a deal from Direct TV if you're looking to save some money with sattelite. Night now, you can get over 15 channels for $29.99 per month (for 12 months). I am locked in with my cable company for 2 YEARS! So I am unable to take advantage of this offer but here it is for anyone who is interested: CLICK HERE FOR DIRECT TV

I got my $500 Visa Gift Card & T-shirt form i-Deal today!

Check out this link- I was able to get this $500 Visa gift card and t-shirt for free thanks to moneysavingmethods.com! You know, those offers you see online "Take a short survey for a $500 gift card"? Some of those offers are actually legitimate and I am living proof. Check out her blog and click HERE for complete instructions on how to get this offer and many others!

Extra Frugal Friday!

So, I love being frugal 7 days a week, but I am going to see how being 'EXTRA FRUGAL' every Friday works out for this blog. I'll bring you some extra tips, money making advice, ways to save, or ways to bring in extra money every Friday if I can. So in this post, I would like to tell you how you can receive free gift cards for little to no money by completing trial offers. I have personally done these and they work. The offers with and asterisk (*) before the name is an offer that I have personally completed and received my gift card(s) from.

***IMPORTANT***

Scroll down below all of these offers before completing any of them for directions and tips to on how to correctly complete each offer. It's fairly basic, but you do need to complete each step and keep good records so please take the time to read first.

As of today, here are what the following companies are offering. These may change from time to time.

*Great fun is offering $20 towards any restaurant bill when you pay just $1 for your first month. To find out more about Great fun and this offer, go HERE. If you would rather get a $20 Starbucks gift card with trial, go HERE.

*Privacy Guard is offering a $30 Staples card with a free one month trial. To find out more about Privacy Guard and this offer, go HERE.

*Buyers Advantage is offering a $10 Target gift card with trial. To find out more about Buyers Advantage and this offer, go HERE. 

AutoVantage is offering 5 Exxon Gas card ($50!) with trial. To find out more about AutoVantage and this offer, go HERE.

*Clever Clubhouse is offering 2 $10 ($20!) Blockbuster gift cards with trial. To find out more about Clever Clubhouse and this offer, go HERE.

*Complete Home is offering 5 $10 ($50!) Lowes gift cards with trial. To learn more about Complete Home and this offer, go HERE. If you would rather get 2 $10 ($20!) Linens n' Things gift cards, go HERE.

Everyday Value is offering 2 $10 Linens n' Things gift cards with trial. To learn more about Everyday Value and this offer, go HERE.

HealthSaver is offering 2 $10 ($20!) Bed Bath & Beyond gift cards with trial. To learn more about HealthSaver  and this offer, go HERE.

*Livewell is offering a $20(?) Target gift card with trial. To leanr more about Livewell and this offer, go HERE.

PC SafetyPlus is offering a $15 Buy.com coupon with trial. To learn more about PC SafetyPlus and this offer, go HERE.

Shoppers Advantage is offering a 4 $10 ($40!) Home Depot gift cards with trial. To find out more about Shoppers Advantage and this offer, go HERE.

Travelers Advantage is offering 2 $10 ($20!) Exxon gift cards with trial. To find out more about Travelers Adantage and this offer, go HERE.

Here is a good offer if you want to try Netflix. When you pay for your first month of Netflix, it looks like you can score a free $10 Papa Johns Pizza gift card! go HERE to check out this offer.



Directions for completing these offers:

Create a special email account for these offers. You WILL get spam/junk mail from these offers and you don't want it filling up your everyday inbox. Trust me on this one! Hotmail, Google and Yahoo are all free.

Grab a calendar. You will need to write down the name of the company, phone number, and cancellation date if you do not want to go past your free trial. I also like to keep track of all these offers on a spreadsheet. Just make a column for every piece of information you have for an offer and repeat that information for your other offers. Also, update your spreadsheet each time you email or speak with anybody regarding thse offers and get a name and/or rep ID and keep track of that, too. If you aren't Excel savvy, either Word or a piece of paper for each offer will do. jot down every dingle detail of the transaction from the sign up date, to the membership # once you receive it, to the cancellation date and everything in between. Print off screen prints of all the offers if possible.

Sign up. Use the form in the link and submit your information. Most offers above are $1 for the first month and some are free. Read the terms and conditions. Follow all directions.

Check your email. You will receive an email (check your junk mail!) entitled something like 'Here's How to Get the Item You Requested'. There will be a link to sign up for your free gift cards.  Follow all driections.

To cancel or not to cancel? This is an easy one. Do you like the service? Is it something you/your family can use and afford and want or need? If the answer is yes, then keep it! It's as simple as that. If the answer is no, then contact each company before the trial ends to cancel. I personally feel more comfortable emailing each offer and being very clear with my instructions, stating I want to cancel as of this date, with no further charges to my credit card, etc. They will almost always email back saying you must call them to cancel but if you email AGAIN and politely demand cancellation without calling, they will (in my experience) simply cancel you and provide you with confirmation. ALWAYS BE SURE YOU GET CONFIRMATION and print it out for your records. If you would rather call, feel free and be sure to get a cancellation # from the rep. If you do not get a cancellation #, your membership may not be cancelled even if the rep adivsed otherwise!

Forgot to cancel before the trial period and they charged you? Here's what you do. Call them up. They are able to refund you the amount you were charged.

Other Tips: 
Keep each offer and all materials printed for each offer in a file folder seperate from all other offers.
Always read the fine print for each offer and follow directions exactly.
Use a virtual credit card # of available to you or a credit card.
If using a debit card, keep a CLOSE eye on your bank account from now on (you should do this already though, right? :)


HAVE FUN!

My Target shopping day: Paid $6.78 + tax for everything you see!

I did 2 transactions here:

Transaction #1

5 MOTT'S ITEMS ($5 gift card promo I mentioned in my earlier post)

 $8.75 Subtotal

-$0.05 Reusable bag (promo for .05 for each reusable bag you bring)
_______
$8.70 OOP (out of pocket)

Received a $5.00 Gift card back to use on next transaction

Transaction #2

2 large Glade candles, 1 bag of Chex Mix, 1 jar of Skippy PB, 1 box of Celestial tea, and 2 travel sized Ponds facial wipes (the cashier gave me overage on the Ponds!) and all coupons mentioned in my previous post.
  $3.08 Subtotal

+$0.86 Tax

_______

  $3.94

-$3.94 Payment from $5 gift card

_______

  $1.06 Leftover on gift card!

SO: $8.70 OOP for transaction #1

     -$1.06 balance leftover on gift card for me to use on my next Target shopping trip

     _______

       $6.78 before tax/$7.64 including tax!

TARGET DEALS THIS WEEK! 10/04-10/10

Here is a compilation what what I think are some of the best Target deals this week:

CHEX MIX: Regularly $1.99 each
WITH THIS DEAL: .49 each!
Use this .50/1 Chex Mix coupon HERE
AND stack with the $1/1 Target coupon HERE

POP SECRET POPCORN: Regularly $2.29 each
WITH THIS DEAL: .65 each!
Use this $1/2 coupon HERE
AND pair with the current BOGO sale (no coupon needed for this)

PONDS TOWELETTES (5 ct. travel size): Regularly .97 each
WITH THIS DEAL: FREE OR BETTER THAN FREE! (possible overage)
Use this $1.50/1 coupon HERE
**Target, in my experience, almost always adjusts the price of the coupon down HOWEVER some cashiers just push it through and give you the full value of the coupon. Target's coupon policy states that if a coupon is for more than a product sells for, they can adjust the coupon down.


GLADE FRAGRANCE COLLECTION 2 WICK SOY CANDLES: Regularly $4.49
WITH THIS DEAL: .99 each!
Use this $3.50/1 coupon HERE

CELESTIAL SEASONING TEA: Regularly $1.75 (sale)
WITH THIS DEAL: .75 each!
Use the $1/1 coupon from the 9/27 SS

MOTT'S APPLESAUCE OR JUICE: Regularly $1.75
WITH THIS DEAL: .75 each! (when you buy 5)
Use the current $5 Target gift card when you buy 5 promotion (no coupon needed for this)


SNUGGLE DRYER SHEETS: Regularly $3.99
WITH THIS DEAL: .99 each!
Use the $3/1 coupon from the 10/4 RP

SKIPPY PEANUT BUTTER: Regularly $1.79 (sale)

WITH THIS DEAL: .39 each!

Use the .40/1 coupon from the 10/4 RP
AND use this $1/1 Target coupon HERE

DON'T FORGET TO PRESS THE BACK BUTTON FOR ALL INTERNET COUPONS- YOU CAN USUALLY PRINT EACH ONE TWICE AND SOMETIMES MORE!

Get FREE Gift Cards, prizes and more!

I highly recommend Swagbucks. Heard of it yet? Super easy way to earn free stuff just by doing what you would normally do anyway- search the Internet! It took me a long while of hearing about Swagbucks before I gave it a try and even then, I was skeptical. But, it's only been a few months and I already have enough to get a few $10-20 gift cards! You can use the giftcards to places like Amazon.com (where you can buy just about anything) or buy giftcards for Paypal (which is just like getting cash). You can also win prizes or purchase items. Points accumulate pretty quickly and if you get your friends to sign up, you get a Swagbuck each time they get one (up to a certain amount)! I have one friend referred and she's earned me 55 Swagbucks alone. Some things you could use your Swagbucks for:

Christmas, birthdays, other celebrations
Buying necessities
Buying something you have wanted but didn't want to fork out the cash for (after you have given careful thought!)
Giving to charity

If you haven't already, sign up HERE!

Save Money on Bills!

This is a big one, especially for those of you who are just beginning to toy with the idea of a budget. You think "Where can I cut down?" and "What can I cut out altogether?"... Everything you have now may feel like a necessity but you can more than likely trim some of the fat, so to say and it ADDS UP BIG! Start here:

Cable/Internet/Home Phone-  
Cancel these if you can! There was a time when people lived without Cable, Internet, and a Home Telephone (I know, can you believe it?!).Go outside, spend time with kids, read!

Bundle all of these services together for a cheaper rate. If you only have 2 of these services, it might be cheaper to ADD a third service. Check with you local cable company.

Remove or reduce some of the channels or features. Premium/movie channels, DVR (recording device), special subscriptions, call waiting, long distance, etc. all add up to a higher bill. Call your cable company and ask them how you can save money on your bill (this will work with just about any service) and see what they suggest!

Auto/Home/Life Insurance- 
 

Bundle all of your insurance with one company. Saves you time AND money.


Shop around every 6-12 months! This is a HUGE one. Call around (or Internet shop) to somewhere around 3-5 companies to see where you might stand with switching insurance. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Ask about what discounts may be available. Ask if they have a list so YOU can check it and be sure you are getting what you are eligible for. My insurance company gives a multi-car discount for auto and lets us keep a car that we no longer own in "storage" which gets us our discount and costs less than $15 per YEAR!

Change driving status. If you worked when you signed up for insurance but no longer do, change your driving status to 'pleasure driving' instead of 'commuter'. This does bring your rate down (not driving in rush hour, back/forth to work, etc.) and saves $!

Raise your deductible. Now, some may argue with me on this one, but if you need to lower the amount that is going out of your bank account each month (even if it's only a temporary change), this one will make a big dent. If this worries you, make sure you have a little extra in savings (assuming you have one) to cover yourself in case of an unexpected event. This will also work for homeowners/renters insurance.

Mortgage-

Raise your deductible. Just as I said above, if you raise your homeowners deductible, it will save you money. If this worries you, make sure you have a little extra in savings (assuming you have one) to cover yourself in case of an unexpected event. If you have an escrow account (where they pull taxes/insurance automatically and it's calculated into your monthly payment), this can decrease your monthly mortgage payment. Normally, most mortgage/loan servicing companies I have dealt with review your escrow account around every 6 months. They look to see if they are charging you enough money to add up to your tax bill and insurance premiums and if they're not, they may raise your payment or request an escrow shortage payment. They also look to see if they are charging you more money than they need to be in which case, you will most likely receive a lower monthly mortgage payment. When you call your insurance company and lower your homeowners insurance, be sure to give him the fax # and contact information for your mortgage holder and ask your agent to fax an updated binder to them. At this time you have already either requested your mortgage company to reveiw this information contingent on a binder being faxed, or you will hang up with your agent and call them directly afterward. You do not need to request this if you are told by your mortgage company that your escrow account will be reviewed within the month.

Car-

Keep tires inflated. The sidewall of your tire displays this information for you. Most places allow you to use FREE AIR just by asking; especially if you purchased something at their location.


Drive at 55-60 MPH. This can save you hundreds per year!

Keep up all maintanance. This will cost you less in the long run and prevent many headaches not to mention lengthen the life of your car.

Cell Phone-

Examine your useage. I cannot stress this enough. Personally, I go through a certain company that uses minutes that 'rollover' to the next billing cycle if you don't use all of your minutes. In the bill, they call the actual minutes used from your plan 'rollover minutes'. To me, this sounds like the total under "rollover minutes" would mean rollover minutes that I have used, also meaning I went over my plan minutes! But no. Come to find out that for 3 years (!!!) I was paying for 2100 minutes when I was only using around 1000 simply because I didn't do the math on my bill. Their wording may be tricky, but all I had to do was check numbers against eachother.

Reduce your minutes. If lowering your available minutes would make you 'go over' on them, cut down. Use the home phone if you have one. Use a pay phone or email. Wait until after dark if you have free night/weekends. This can save you a good amount of money.

Reduce or eliminate text messaging, web browsing, and data plans.  Review how many text messages each line uses per month and see if you REALLY need unlimited family messaging, 1000 texts, unlimited browsing, etc. See what options you have to choose from and if you can save a few bucks here.

Ask for discounts. My husband receives an almost 20% discount on our bill simply because he is employed by a company the our cell company provides a discount to. Not only do we receive a discount on our whole bill, but we also receive 24 hour (instead of 9am-9pm) customer service, speedier and friendlier service, and he didn't even have to provide them proof that he worked there! I'm not saying you should lie, but I am saying it was simple to get our discount applied and it was immediate.

Gym Membership-

Cancel your membership. This is a luxury that can be gone without. Excersize at home. Take the dog for a walk. Play with the kids. Right now, I am into the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels and lovin' it. Also, my cable company provides me with free excersize TV on demand- tons of great excersize programs for free in my living room. Maybe yours does, too!

I will be adding more to this list.. watch out!

The Start of it all!

Well, this is where it all begins. ME: putting all of the best money saving advice, tips and deals, budgeting strategies, and organizational tips (among other things, I am sure) out there for you to find and YOU: well, finding this page and reading them...

Here goes nothing!