Tips & Treasures

Bagel Bites $1.00 off coupons

2009-11-06T07:04:00.001-05:00

We love Bagel Bites around here. They make for an easy, yummy lunch some days!

I don't often get coupons for them though and they don't seem to be on sale very often. But, I just got this and wanted to share... it's a printable coupon for $1.00 off Bagel Bites!

Be sure to hit the back button and print it a second time!

Show me the money... (Weekly Recap)

2009-11-05T15:28:00.001-05:00

$1.00 off Venom Energy Drinks

2009-10-31T10:43:00.000-04:00

Just in time for Halloween, you can try these creepy looking drinks... Venom energy drinks!

Scary looking, right?

Anyway here's a printable coupon for $1.00 off.

Happy Halloween!

Get a free $10 Macy's gift card!

2009-10-30T07:27:00.000-04:00

Macy's wants to give you a special Halloween treat!

On Saturday 10/31/09 the first 100 people at each Macy's store will receive a free $10 treat to spend in-store!

For more details and for information on other Macy's Halloween activities going on, check out their site here.

I just snagged this great deal...

2009-10-29T15:58:00.001-04:00

Yay! I was so happy to snag this great deal, I figured I'd post it just incase anyone else was interested.

My daughter (3.5 yrs.) is taking dance lessons and needed a new leotard and tutu. I found this adorable one on the Danskin site.

It's a complete set with the leotard, tutu and tights! And it comes in a cute reusable box! Love it!

This is originally priced at $40. And I actually priced around and found it on other sites for $48! Even though Danskin is a quality brand, it's just not my kind of pricing, that's for sure.

But I noticed it was on sale for just $24!!! And I made that price even better with 15% off when I used coupon code: PUMPKIN (good through 10/31/09).

Then I was worried I was going to get hit with high shipping charges to make up for my great bargain... until I noticed they were offering free shipping on all orders through 11/1/09! Score!

So I spent just $20.40 on an adorable leotard, tutu, tights and reusable box set!

Of course I didn't remember to look for a cash back deal through Ebates for this purchase. And guess what? They offer a whopping 5% cash back for purchases at Danskin. Darn it. I missed out on $1.02 cash back. Ughhh.

If you're making a purchase, be sure to go through Ebates to get that cash back! If you're new to Ebates, you'll also get a $5 sign-up bonus!

Bath & Body Works Freebie

2009-10-29T14:18:00.002-04:00

Have you started your Christmas shopping?

In case you happen to be popping into Bath & Body Works for a little gift shopping, be sure to pick up a great freebie while you're at it!

Simply print this coupon and get a free Anti-Bacterial PocketBac Hand Gel with any purchase!

Great for yourself or as a stocking stuffer!

Also valid online with coupon code: POCKETAB. Offer valid through 11/1/09.

Show me the money... (Weekly Recap)

2009-10-27T17:06:00.000-04:00

Freebie Alert: Pampers Extra Protection Diapers!

2009-10-27T09:42:00.001-04:00

Yay, I LOVE the diaper freebies!

Sign up for your free Pampers Extra Protection diaper sample. You can choose between a size 4 or 5.

Easy enough and they will arrive in your mailbox in just a few weeks!

Thanks to Wylie Mom for the heads up on this freebie.

Show me the money... (Weekly Recap)

2009-10-23T21:35:00.001-04:00

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly re-cap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received in the mail.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for last week, 10/11/09 - 10/17/09.

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received

$5.00...... Magazines.com gift card rebate (No purchase necessary! Sign up for their emails so you can get these as well!)
$10.00.... Opinion Outpost surveys
$0.08...... YouData (View advertisements, get paid every Friday!)
$43.50.... Survey Savvy surveys
$15.00.... Amazon.com gift cards from my favorite search site, Swagbucks!

Total: $73.58

Coupon Savings

$3.87... Wawa
$1.50... Acme

Total: $5.37

Freebies

Free Mars Chocolate coupon
Dove shampoo & conditioner samples & a coupon
Martha Stewart Living magazine
Free bag of Eukanuba dog food coupon

Total 2009 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $1,636.79
Total 2009 Coupon Savings: $2,262..42

Find my previous weekly re-caps here.

New Swagcode!

2009-10-16T15:55:00.000-04:00

Did you receive your Swagbucks newsletter email today? If so, make sure you scroll to the bottom to find the latest swagcode!

Enter the code on the Swagbucks site by 3pm PST Saturday 10/17/09.

Not using Swagbucks yet? Sign up for free and start using their search engine. You'll randomly be awarded swagbucks. You can also find swagcodes that give you extra swagbucks.

Swagbucks are then redeemed for all kinds of cool gear, games and gift cards. My fav is the Amazon $5 gift card for just 45 swagbucks. So far I've earned $360 in Amazon gift cards just from using the Swagbucks search engine.

So easy, so much fun and so profitable!

Triple points for Pampers wipes!

2009-10-15T16:27:00.000-04:00

Do you use Pampers diapers and/or wipes? If so, I hope you are taking advantage of their Gifts to Grow rewards program.

If you are collecting points to redeem for free gifts through their program, you will be happy to know that you can collect triple points for all of your Pampers wipes purchases!

Just enter your wipe codes as usual, and they will automatically credit you with three times as many points!

These triple point bonuses will only run through 11/5/09.

Burt's Bees Giveaway Winners!

2009-10-15T15:26:00.004-04:00

Sooooo.... I've finally gotten around to picking the two winners of the Burt's Bees natural acne products giveaway! Yay!

The lucky winners are #14..... Paige of Lenox Knits and #22.... Christina of Blingn' & Bloggin'.

Thanks to all of you for entering. Be sure to become a follower or subscriber of Tips & Treasures in order to keep up with all my giveaways, tips, coupons and freebie updates!

This is how Lowe's wants to leave my kitchen floor for the week...

2009-10-13T17:02:00.000-04:00

Looks charming, right? This is what happens when Lowe's Home Improvement sells you boxes of damaged flooring. Three times. Seriously.

We originally special ordered 19 boxes of flooring from Lowe's.

Two of which arrived at the store damaged.

Ordered two more.

Lowe's delivered the 19 boxes of flooring to our house.

Three of them arrived damaged.

Ordered three more.

They wanted us to pick them up.... even though we PAID FOR DELIVERY.

The three boxes were delivered to our house.

Flooring guys work on the floor for a day and a half, only to find out we don't have enough flooring because TWO MORE BOXES HAD UNKNOWINGLY BEEN DAMAGED in shipping.

Seriously, I can't even begin to make this stuff up.

Now Lowe's tells us they won't have the two replacement boxes till Friday.

Friday?

They can't overnight it?

No. Friday.

So we're supposed to keep our partially unfinished floor, in the busiest part of our house, just like this until Friday.

Without damaging the ends where it's unfinished.

In a household of five people, including two small children.

Nevermind the list of a million other things gone wrong with this Lowe's flooring install.

Like Lowe's not ordering our correct moulding, them delivering half the wrong moulding... unrelated to the wrong order, the install guys arriving late and leaving early yesterday, and then spending half the day on the phone today.

Nevermind all of that.

But this is what I'm supposed to deal with for the next several days.

And even though the flooring will supposedly be in on Friday, who's to say it WON'T ARRIVE DAMAGED???

And Hubby already took two days off of work for the job that should have only been two days.

And Saturday we will be away for the day.

So in actuality, our kitchen floor will be like this till atleast Sunday.

At the earliest.

And I'm supposed to accept that level of service after I've paid all this money?

No thanks.

______________________________________________________

(By the way, regular blogging will continue when I am relieved of this major headache.

Show me the money... (Weekly Recap)

2009-10-12T21:07:00.000-04:00

Save 100 square feet of rainforest... for free!

2009-10-09T14:57:00.000-04:00

Looking to do your part to save the earth? Why not do it for free?

I was so excited to discover this on my orange juice carton the other day. Apparently Tropicana has partnered with Cool Earth to create a program where you can save the rainforest!

It's as simple as purchasing Tropicana orange juice and entering the unique codes found on the packaging. For each code entered, you will save 100 square feet of rainforest!! How cool is that?

Oh, and with each code entered, you will also be entered into their instant win game as well as their sweepstakes. Not sure what the prizes are, but hey, they are prizes... sign me up! Lol.

After I registered and entered my code this morning, it showed me a Google map which pinpointed exactly where my patch of rainforest is located.... in the Ashaninka Corridor in Peru!

I always buy Tropicana orange juice, because I like it the most, but this gives me an extra incentive! I'll just have to keep an eye out for the specially marked packages.

Find more information on the program here.

Do Burt's Bees natural products work?

2009-10-07T10:13:00.002-04:00

I've been slowly trying to switch over to using natural products in my home and on my body. I can't stand to think of all the yucky chemicals that are in the other products that I've used for years.

As far as cleaners, it's been pretty easy to find good, natural cleaners. But as far as face, body and hair products go, it's been a lot of trial and error.

I was recently sent some of the Burt's Bees Natural Acne Solutions products to try. I was thrilled to try these since I hadn't tried them yet.

You can try them too! Giveaway with 2 winners at the end of this post!

I received the Purifying Gel Cleanser and the Targeted Spot Treatment from BzzAgent. (BzzAgent is a program that sends you free stuff to try out and tell people about. FYI: These opinions are my own and I will only give honest reviews.)

The Gel Cleanser is 99.4% natural and is great for reducing acne, removing make-up, excess oil and dirt. It has a strong, but pleasant scent. The scent only lasts while you wash, so no worries about your face smelling weird all day, lol.
The Gel Cleanser is very watery, so you need to be careful when you're squeezing some out of the bottle. But then it does foam nicely up once you rub it in your hands.

I really liked the way this cleanser left my skin feeling fresh, smooth, non-oily, but also not dry. I also liked that you only needed a small amount for each use. So your bottle, which sells for $9.99, will last quite some time.

I also got to try the Targeted Spot Treatment which is 100% natural. This stuff reduces redness within 24 hours, begins to reduce acne with 48 hours and helps to prevent future breakouts. The Spot Treatment is another one that is watery, but you simply use a cotton ball to put it on your face and again, a little bit goes a long way. So this $9.99 bottle will last for awhile as well!

I was very pleased with the Spot Treatment. It didn't dry out my skin like other acne products that I've used in the past.

These two Burt's Bees products have worked wonderfully for me. I have used them for about 2 weeks and my skin has been less oily and I've had less breakouts. The few breakouts that I did have, were cleared up quickly with the Spot Treatment.

Burt's Bees also makes a Pore Refining Scrub and a Daily Moisturizing Lotion. I'm looking forward to trying these out sometime too. Have any of you tried these yet? I'd love to know what you think about them.

Would you like to try out the Burt's Bees Targeted Spot Treatment? I have a few sample packs available and will send four samples to two lucky readers!

To enter the giveaway, simply fill in my giveaway entry form below. Please enter your name and email address in the form and not in the comments. I do this so your email address will not be visible to all and you won't get spammed.

The Burt's Bees giveaway will be open to US residents only. Entries will be accepted through Monday 10/12.

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Vegetarian Times - 1 year - just $3.99!!!

2009-10-06T14:03:00.002-04:00

Are you vegetarian? Interested in the Vegetarian Times magazine?

Today only, you can get a full 1-year subscription for just $3.99! Really, that's it.

Just head over to Best Deal Magazines to take advantage of this fantastic price. No coupon code needed.

Offer good through midnight EST 10/6/09.

Yardsale profits?

2009-10-06T11:48:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday we had our yard sale and it turned out great!

We managed to get rid off 8 boxes of stuff as well as our Jumperoo! Soooo happy!

This yard sale was held at our library's annual Community Yard Sale. So we had to pay a $10 fee for each space. We've done this for 3 years now and in the past we've only gotten one space.

This time we decided to get 2 spaces and paid $20. We could have fit all of our stuff in one space and we could have even spread out and taken up a little more than one space without it being a problem. So next year, we'll definitely just do one space and save the $10.

Anyway, we ended up making $149.20! Just from selling the kids' old clothes and toys. And like I said before, we came home with 8 less boxes and without the Jumperoo! I was so happy to do that well considering it was threatening rain all morning and then it actually rained for about 15 minutes or so.

We'll be having another yard sale at my parents' house in a few weeks so we hope to make another $100 or so there. I'll keep you posted on that.

Coming up soon... hopefully later today, if I can get my act together.... I'll post pics of our project in progress.... painting and getting new flooring in our living room, kitchen and hall. Busy, busy, busy around here.

Show me the money... (Weekly Recap)

2009-10-05T14:44:00.001-04:00

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly re-cap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received in the mail.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for last week, 9/27/09 - 10/3/09.

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received

$35.00.... Amazon.com gift card from Chili's Chit Chat surveys
$3.00...... PineCone Research survey
$0.36...... YouData (View advertisements, get paid every Friday!)
$20.00.... Amazon.com gift cards from Swagbucks (Get paid to use their search engine!)
$9.99....... Rite Aid Single Check Rebate

Total: $68.35

Coupon Savings

$2.10..... Acme
$0.99..... Wendy's (free frosty coupon!)
$1.29..... Wawa (free coffee coupon!)
$5.00..... Friendly's
$45.00... Lowe's

Total: $54.38

Freebies

2 free Kindle books from Amazon
Disney stickers from some junk mail

Total 2009 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $1,558.03
Total 2009 Coupon Savings: $2,205.10

Find my previous weekly re-caps here.

Free bag of Eukanuba dog food!!!

2009-09-29T18:01:00.005-04:00

Gotta love freebies!

And right now you can get a free bag of Eukanuba dog food.

Sign up here for your free bag and they'll send you a voucher in the mail.

Special thanks to Confessions of a Stay at Home Mom for the heads up on this freebie.

Yard Sale Prep

2009-09-29T15:18:00.000-04:00

There's nothing worse than having a yard sale and not making any money. I mean, you wouldn't want to go through the trouble of laying out all of your old stuff, for the world to see, and then you simply have no customers or no buyers.

I'm getting ready for a yard sale on Saturday. Luckily it's a community yard sale at our library. So they've already done the advertising. They have this yearly and it's always a huge turnout so we know we'll easily make back the $20 we spent for the 2 spaces.

We have TONS of stuff to sell. With two kids, we have plenty of old clothes, shoes, toys and books to get rid off. We're not having any more kids, so we can finally say good bye to so many baby things. So excited about that one!

Anyway, as I'm prepping for this yard sale, I wanted to offer up a few tips for anyone who might be considering holding a yard sale in the future.

1. Advertise well. This can include signs around the neighborhood, an ad in the newspaper, an ad on craigslist.

2. Price your items. Nothing annoys me more than yard sales without prices. I don't like asking what each and every item costs. I also wouldn't want to be having all my customers constantly asking me for prices.

3. Price your items REASONABLY. You don't have to go super-cheap. But also try to detach your sentimental side and align yourself to your reasonable side. Don't go too high. What would you pay for each item if you were the customer? What condition is the item in? Also, you can price a little higher and leave room for negotiations if you choose to. Just keep in mind, people tend to walk away if they see all of your items are priced too high.

4. Wipe off the dust. Don't spend forever cleaning every single item to a shine, but it is nice to wipe away the dust or wash clothing before you sell it. I've been to too many yard sales to count where things have been unreasonably dirty and I wouldn't even want to touch them, let alone buy them.

5. Bigger yard sales = more customers. I don't even stop the car when I see a yard sale with one measly table out front. Find more stuff to sell or try combining with a friend.

6. Have plenty of change. Some people will have small bills and loose change. MOST people will come with $20 bills and will buy items for $2 or less. Be prepared for it.

Well, that's what I can think of for now. Feel free to add your own tips in the comments!

I'll update you guys after the yard sale and let you know how we did!

Free Home Fragrance Diffuser or Refill

2009-09-28T09:51:00.000-04:00

Bath & Body Works has another free item offer!

Get your free Home Fragrance Diffuser or Refill (up to $12.50 value!) with any $15 purchase at Bath & Body Works.

To get your free item in-store, simply print this coupon. To get your free item online, use coupon code: FREEHF2.

Offer good through 10/13/09.

Show me the money... (Weekly Recap)

2009-09-27T15:28:00.001-04:00

Show me the money... (Weekly Recap)

2009-09-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly re-cap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received in the mail.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for last week, 9/13/09 - 9/19/09.

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received

$25.00..... Amazon.com gift card (Credit card rewards)
$0.01........ YouData (View advertisements, get paid every Friday!)
$29.38...... Inbox Dollars (Paid to read emails!)
$15.00...... Amazon.com gift cards from Swagbucks (Get paid to use their search engine!)

Total: $69.39

Coupon Savings

$34.62.... Acme
$1.29...... Wawa
$26.30... Old Navy
$20.00... Fashion Bug
$6.95...... Drugstore.com
$38.00.... Target
$33.24.... Kohl's (30% off coupon... Use code: SAVE30 online) (Plus I got $10 Kohl's cash back)

Total: $160.40

Freebies

Coca-Cola glass from McDonalds (with purchase of a large meal)
Ideal Natural No Calorie Sweetner samples and a coupon
A lemonade and a soda at Sesame Place (The register was broken so they gave them to us free!)
Aveeno Nourish shampoo & conditioner samples and a coupon

Total 2009 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $1,479.37
Total 2009 Coupon Savings: $2,089.20

Find my previous weekly re-caps here.

Doggie Ice Cream?

2009-09-18T09:02:00.000-04:00

Summer may be coming to an end, but apparently your four-legged best friend would like a nice ice cream treat.

And you can get that doggie ice cream for free! Simply go here and fill out the Nature's Variety registration form.

They will give you a coupon for a free carton of SweetSpots with your next purchase of Nature's Variety natural/holistic kibble.