Weekends...

I love weekends. Tonight I'm supposed to attend a joint birthday party across town at a Colombian restaurant... we'll see. Hopefully the rain goes away.

Tomorrow, my best friend's youngest is having a birthday party, he's 4 and super cute. I spent approximately $32 and got 2 pairs of shorts, 3 shirts, 2 packages of undies and gift wrap. Gotta love clearance racks.

Then for the rest of the weekend, I will probably sit on my ass and watch the movies I get from Netflix. And somewhere in there, I will make bran muffins from a mix I bought a while back. I'm gonna play with the recipe, maybe mix in yogurt or that one lonely frozen banana... Ooo I also have some frozen pineapple. Oh the possibilities. I'll let you guys (I'm referring to my ONE follower and the imaginary people I think read my blog) know how it all turns out.

Until Monday, Have a Happy Weekend!

PS I have no idea why I used this picture other than it says weekend, and looks vintage-y. I like vintage... have I mentioned that. ok I also like cheese... Ooo cheese bran muffins... um maybe not.

Free Crap # 1

I love free. I don't really care what it is, that's not the point. It's free; I love it.

"Nothing in life is free"

False.

There's plenty of free crap out there, you just have to find it. Recently I have become obsessed with samples. I don't care if they're giving away adult diapers; I want one if it's free. Free Coffee Sample:

Free Tacos from Jack in the Box (August 4th only)

Free Cereal

Can you tell I'm hungry? Geez.

Rewards #1

I am a total sucker for Rewards/Prizes/Free Crap! I love earning points for doing things I would normally do anyway.

Here's a couple reward programs I use:

• Nature Made - Yep, the vitamins. I have a huge stockpile of vitamins that I never take... erm I'm working on that. But not all that money has to go to waste. There are wellness reward codes on each bottle. You can earn 25 to 250 points per bottle, depending on the type of vitamin and quantity. Prize values start at 300 points. They have some pretty cool prizes, not many but cool. Coupons, yoga DVD, lunch kit, etc.
• Wells Fargo - At some point I was on the phone with a banker, changing my address or something. Well they signed me up for their rewards program. I think it may have cost me something up front (no more than 20 bucks) but every time I use my debit/credit card as CREDIT I earn points! I earn 1 point for every $4. To maximize my points, I pay most my bills online with my credit card and make sure I use the credit option for my purchases. Rewards include CASH and gift cards mostly. They also are partnered with several websites who you can earn extra rewards through.

So check your medicine cabinet for those Nature Made Vitamins. And check out your banks website for any reward programs. I think they're well worth it.

Coupons #1

I remember my mother staying up to all hours of the night clipping coupons. She'd sit at our kitchen table just cutting away; trying to save a little here and there. After all, she had quite a few mouths to feed. My friend used to work at CVS. She would tell me about these 'crazy coupon ladies'. She said they'd come in, buy $80 worth of shit and only pay 19 cents. I wondered if my mom was one of those ladies. I doubt it, she doesn't have much snap.

In the past months I have been clipping coupons, waiting for sales and jumping at the opportunity to save 47% off my grocery trip. Like who the fuck wouldn't in these times. Couponing is really an art form. I'm not super serious about it. Hell I can't be, it makes my brain hurt. I figure if I can save something on the things I already buy, then count me in.

Here's a few of my tips (surely stolen from someone else) :

• Only clip coupons for products you currently buy. Buying something just because you have a coupon isn't helping you save.
• Compare store brand products. I've found buying a store brand product is sometimes cheaper than a specific product with a coupon.
• I have store shopping cards that allow me to load coupons directly onto the card. Go to P&G eSavers, CellFire and/or ShortCuts. Most of these sites have the same coupons.
• I also visit product websites. I needed Sweet-N-Low this week (I don't like the generics). So I went to their website and found coupons there. Sometimes contacting them requesting coupons works.
• Check store ads online. I check my store ads online to see what's on sale each week. I make a list of everything on sale that I want, then hunt for coupons.

After saving close to 60% on my grocery bill, I sent my friend a text...

"I'm turning into a crazy coupon lady"

Once Again

... I have redesigned my blog. My main focus will be money, cash, dough, moo-la, you get the point. The lack of, how to save some, how to make it disappear (that's my favorite), and every now and again how I manage to juggle things around just enough to make things work. If anything maybe you could learn what not to do from me. So print out your bank statement, grab a calculator... eh fuck it, drain you bank account and go to JC Penny, they're having a badass sale.