The Best List Ever

K has compiled a list of Retail e-mail, reward and loyality programs that you should know about. Click here!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

"Real Simple" savings!

I'm addicted to the magazine "Real Simple". (Ugh. Does it bother anyone else that I can't underline the title and therefore can't properly cite the mag? Just me then?)

I should have participated in the $5 subscription sale (via Amazon.com) that all the major savings/coupon bloggers posted back around the holidays, but I didn't.

For those of us who weren't that cool, and for those who did subscribe but haven't received their first issue yet because it takes 6-8 weeks for everything to kick in (A!), *here is a $2 coupon towards the purchase price of ONE individual magazine. (Sorry, I just felt like I needed to preface that the coupon is not valid for a subscription.)

*the information in the survey is in response to a recent purchase of a "Real Simple" office or cleaning item; Target carries the whole wonderful line of varied office supplies and solutions, as well as cleaning utensils, so just select whatever floats your boat and then you're ready to submit!

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Oh, but that's not all!!!
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Are you - or anyone you know - getting (or planning on getting) married anytime in the foreseeable future? You can get a free one-year subscription to Real Simple when you buy a copy of Real Simple Weddings: 2010! (Current Copy Pictured Below)


Unlike Martha Stewart, The Knot, InStyle and all of the other weddings glossies, Real Simple Weddings is produced annually, so no need to buy a new (or twelve) $10 magazine(s) as the seasons change, which they do four times a year.

I've also found that RSW is mostly comprised of actual tips, time lines, real wedding photos and ideas - it's one mag that takes you from "Hell yes I'll marry you!" all the way to the "I dos", which is completely unlike the other "bridal guides" which devote 475 of their 500 pages to ads of dresses, venues halfway across the country, tent rental-ists, "balloon designers", pictures of $10,000 cakes that are too-pretty-to-eat yet taste-like-Styrofoam-when-you-do and engagement rings. (Which I think is a bit odd - the majority of the people who purchase a wedding magazine are already engaged, so why devote so much attention to engagement rings?)

(Anyway.)

Real Simple Weddings is hands down my favorite in the wedding section of the news stand. Yes, it's pricey compared to the others ($13.95 vs. $9.99) BUT if you purchase the current 2010 issue, there is a tear-out post card (between pages 128 and 129) good for a FREE YEAR of Real Simple! (Make sure that the card is there before you leave the magazine stand.) I'm not sure if every issue has the card, so for-sure check it out before you buy it. (There should be a sticker on the front cover - I'm thinking that only the issues sold at Target contain the card, because I don't recall seeing the sticker-ed copies at BN, and because Real Simple and Target are partners in crime, BUT I could be 100% making stuff up right now and all the issues could in fact contain the card. I don't know.)

The fine print of it all: the offer is valid now through the end of January 2011 and is a one-per-household thing. If you already have a subscription: they will tack the free year onto your already existing account. How great is that?

If $13.95 is just too pricey, use the above $2 coupon - it will for sure work at Target, not sure about news stands and bookstores. Or if the copies at BN (Barnes & Noble) and Borders DO in fact offer the freebie, wait for one of the awesome 20% or 30% off coupons to come around again, because you have until NEXT January to redeem.

If you want to buy the mag but can't justify it because the engagement is still a ways off, don't worry - all of the information is completely relevant, despite the minor changes in current pallet trends; all of the check lists, spread sheets, tips on whom to invite and how to politely tell your in-laws that they can't invite every member of their garden club ... *breaths* ... haven't changed that much in the three years that this special issue has been around.

(I feel like some of you are pondering my knowledge of this topic; no, I'm not getting paid by Time Inc - I wish! - I've just been dating the bf for what will be 7 years this weekend and I've been planning this wedding for the past 3. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm getting engaged this weekend, but whatever happens I've decided that we will be getting married this fall whether he likes it or not :-P I was just soooo excited to have found this free magazine offer that I HAD to share it with all of you!)
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And with all of that, I am going to bed. I hope you have a GREAT day!
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~K

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Free Sample of Spark

There is a company called Advocare which operates like Mary Kay, Avon or any other "home-biased", "pyramid" independent distributor company, where one person sells the products directly to others via catalogues, home parties and the Internet.

Advocare sells "healthy supplements" and things of that nature; go here and get a free sample of "spark", which (I'd say) is a combination of energy drink + crystal light.

Now, I can't be 100% on this, but, I would assume that a distributor in your area will receive your information from this sample request and contact you in the future. (IE - make up a fake phone number and send them your junk email address.)

Have a great day!

~K

(Ps - Advocare is biased in Dallas! Yay for hometown love!)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

HOT Bath and Body Works Professional Skin Care Deal

Wow, could that title have been any longer?

While flippin' through the latest issue of Marie Claire (of which I have a free subscription; those who are skeptical of those "free magazine" offers should really reconsider) I found an ad and coupon for $10 off ANY Patricia Wexler Dermatology Purchase at *Bath and Body Works. (*in-store only.)

I don't know who Dr. Wexler is, but I've take up skin care as a new years resolution after seeing A's mom post-chemical peel. So if Wexlers "stuff" is cheap enough I'll try her fancy skin creams with no problem.

Here is the link to her page-of-products over at Bath and Body Works.com; The best part? There are 9 items that come out to $10 OR UNDER after the coupon, 4 of which come out to under $6!!!

Again, the coupon cannot be used online, and was found in the Feb issue of Marie Claire - but I'm sure will appear in other glossies shortly.

Oh, wait. There is still more. In case you don't want to buy a mag to save some cash, you can **text the word "Marie" to LUVBBW (588229) to get the offer sent to your mobile phone.

Offer valid now through feb. 28th.

Happy Shopping!

~K

Important! If you decide to go the text coupon route, make sure not to delete the text; there should be a way on older, non-smart phones where you can go in and "lock" or "save" the message in your inbox permanently until you're ready to delete it. Since the cashiers don't need a tangible card or print-out to scan in order for you to save, you can literally use this offer OVER AND OVER again until it expires at the end of Feb, so if you find a product that you like you should have no problem being able to stock up on the cheap.

((**standard text message fees occur; check your current plan people. At AT&T a single text for those without plans is $.20 cents, whereas the cheapest plan is $5 a month and gets you 200 texts. If you still don't have text messaging - ahem, MOM - I HIGHLY recommend it as you will start to see more and more companies going in this tech-savvy savings direction.))

Monday, January 11, 2010

ORANGE JUICE and FRUIT ALERT

(Because I like to write (type?) and am long winded, here is a favor to keep you from having to read the full version of this post, in a one-sentence summary: Buy a few extra weeks worth of your favorite "fruity things" now and freeze them as to not have to pay more for them later.)

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So by now we've all heard about the nationwide cold front that is producing terrible growing conditions and devastating crops in Florida and other normally sunny and semi-warm places.

Ok, yes, we've all heard about it; other than the fact that we can tell it's cold(er) outside, the media has done more than enough to let every single person and animal-left-at-home-with-the-tv-on-in-the-background-as-comfort-noise know that it is cold and that these are some freaky weather conditions. (I rearranged my morning schedule on Thursday specifically to watch a segment on Good Morning America - the "investigation" on just how "dirty" new clothes are - and the damn Dallas ABC affiliate decided to continue coverage of the non-event, which was literally them bouncing "life coverage" cams from the 9 ((seriously bundled up)) reporters who were all standing at different intersections in random locations of the metroplex, just because it was misting and 17 degrees outside. Yes, that is unusually cold for Dallas. But they could have just scrolled the school closings at the bottom of the GMA broadcast and given the blue-faced reporters some Starbucks and a chance to sit in the warm van.) ... Anyway.

You're probably thinking "Why are you blogging about this?"

(Good Question!) Because, said cold front is going to mean increased prices in everything that we eat - from the obvious (like orange juice and "real" fruit and veggies) to things that are processed & easy (frozen dinners, jarred baby food, canned veggies) and most of that stuff that is not good for us but that we still love to eat (toaster pastries, high-fructose corn syrup "fruit" wraps and gummies).

I'm not trying to cause a fear and pandemonium like one would see if a hurricane were coming and the stores were completely sold out of everything, but I do think that its smart to plan a little bit ahead.

While there is a certain amount of wiggle-profit-room built into prices, AND the fact that companies and retails haven't fully returned prices to what they were in 2006 before gas pushed $4 a gallon and prices for EVERYTHING had skyrocketed, you can bet that you are going to pay a least a little more for fruit and veggie included items in the next couple of months.

I don't know how much, and I don't know for how long. But I guarantee you that we will see some sort of price increase.

I know that this is why we use coupons and come together as a community - to spend as little out of pocket and to get the best deals - but now just might be the best time to buy an extra paper (the Sunday coupon-filled one) or just buy coupons of the items you need/will stock up on online.

Here is a really - no, what I think to be THE BEST - article about freezing ANYTHING food related. (We actually used this article in my "Food Safety and Standards" class that is apart of my Hospitality Management degree. I have yet to use it in my professional life but MAN has it come in handy for my home life.) http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/how-to-freeze-anything (If anything, think of the article like you just saved a grand and earned 3 free credit hours.)

So go forth and buy an extra orange juice (or 3) now and save the difference later - just be sure to open it and drink/pour out/use a good 2-4 ounces before freezing and completely thaw (in either the refrigerator or under warm water) before using.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

FREE Kashi at Target

Want to score a free box of Kashi at Target? Read on -

Kashi Go Lean Crunch is on sale (again) this week for $2.75 a box. We all know about the $.75 off printable Target coupon via their coupon page, which makes it $2 a box (which is still AWESOME) but if you go into the store and start really looking at the boxes of KGLC, like, dig to the back of the shelf as apposed to the ones smiling at you from the aisle, some of the boxes have a green peelie booklet attached to them that says something like "Eat Healthy; $4 off Kashi" and has the Target logo in the bottom right corner.

(If you can find one, the inside looks like the blue and green things in the picture below.)



The peelie is actually two coupons - the blue one is for $1 off ANY Kashi item; and the green one is for $3 off ANY two Kashi items - both of which are Manufacture and can be stacked with the current Target coupon.

You can buy the one full size box of cereal with the blue $1/1 mrf + $.75 Target coupon and get $1.75 off, which means you'll only pay $1 for the box of Kashi - which is pretty sweet.

OR you can use the green $3 coupon, stack it with the $.75 Target coupon (so you now have $3.75), get the $2.75 box of Kashi and a $1 cereal cup (on the same aisle, with all the single sized cups of cereal; you should have two choices - Kashi Go Lean Crunch or Kashi Healthy Heart) for $3.75.

If your store is out of single size cereal cups, look in the "protein bar/weight loss/dietary aid" aisle near the pharmacy - there should be a basket of individually wrapped "Kashi Go Lean Crunch" protein bars priced around $1.09 - $1.40. (Each store may vary.) Pair the full box of cereal with a $1.09 - $1.40 bar and you'll only pay $.09 - $.40 for both!

BUT, that's not all!

SOME Boxes of Kashi's granola bars have the same green peelie attached to them. I'm unsure of the price but they are usually around $2.75 - $3.25 for a 6 count box; they may be on sale since regular Kashi is BUT there is also a "$.50 off one 6-count-box" Target coupon on the target coupon page as well.

So, do the same thing! Find a box with the peelie - lets say it is $3.25 - you have $3.50 in coupons, buy a $1 cup or bar and you'll pay somewhere between $.75 and $1.15 for a box of granola bars and a cup of cereal!

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!! That blue $1 peelie that is good for ANY Kashi product that is left - is also good for ANY Kashi item - so there is ANOTHER free cup of cereal for you, or another $.09 - $.40 protein bar for you!

Important - There are NO size restrictions listed on either peelie coupon AND both A and myself have already done this and it works perfectly - no beeping!

Can't find a peelie in store? Look online - the picture in this post was actually copied from Ebay - and I hear that there are all sorts of other "coupon buying places" out there on the intertubes. (Which means that those people are stealing peelies. So maybe don't buy from them because doing so only shows them that there is a market for stealing peelies ... I don't know, it's very early.) The coupons don't expire until sometime in March so if you do go this route and you miss this promo I know for a FACT that there will be another good sale on this stuff between now and then.

I hope a lot of you are able to cash in on this and start the new year off right!

~K

(Also, I said "Kashi" 16 times in this post. Have a great Sunday!)

Monday, December 14, 2009

A Perfect Storm Target Match-Up Post! (ie - get a super fun game on the cheap side)

(I'm sorry about all of the ' action going on in this post, something is up with blogger and it simply will not let me space this post the way I really want to.)
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I've said it before but I'm saying it again -I'm all about games. Right now at Target you can get The Game of Things, plus a card deck game, (a $32 value!) for only $9.99! (Or $9.94 after the bag credit. :p)
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The Game of Things is similar to most group games - you can make it serious, funny, naughty, opposite, whatever! The rules are sorta simple - pretty much everyone writes a response to the topic card and whoever is not matched to their response at the end of a round by the other players wins! (Actual rules can be found here, but I will dumb them down at the bottom of this post.)
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Right now Toys R Us has "The Game of Things" on sale in their weekly ad (page 11A, top left corner) for $14.99. (Normally $27!)
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AND go HERE for a $5 off coupon - making it $9.99 (Saving you, like, $17!) There is a 2 print-per-computer limit, so if you haven't used this one yet, you should be able to print it twice.
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Now, you can pick this up at TRU when you're there this week getting all the child-centric board games that count towards the Hasbro/Toys R Us rebate,
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OR,
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you can take the Toys R Us ad (actual print ad, not Internet print out, unless your store is lax on that rule) to Target to price match the game (also normally around $27) and get a free hasbro card game as well. (page 16 of this week's Target ad talks about the promo; The Game of Things isn't listed or shown on the ad but is a game by Hasbro and has a promo sticker/tag by its normal shelf price tag in-store. If you still aren't sure about this, go to a scanner or ask an employee to scan it for you - the promo should come up on their screen.)
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You may be squeamish about "doing this deal" at Target, because the new coupon and price-matching policies exclude other stores "buy-one-get-X" promotions AND they also exclude you from price matching and then using a Target coupon on said item being price matched. Plus its a bit involved and there are a lot of you out there who have been very turned off by Target lately.
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However, the buy-game-get-card freebie is Targets own promotion, so you will be able to price match, get the free card game AND use the manufacturer coupon to get everything for $9.99!
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Here's where it gets complicated - normal cashiers don't have the power to price match at their individual registers, so you can check out "up front" or just go straight to Customer Service, since you'll have to stop there anyway.
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AND ideally the way that Target wants its "guests" to perform price adjusting when using a coupon is to use said coupon at time of purchase at the front registers and then get reimbursed later, as to keep the wait time down for the rest of us in line at Customer Service, but they'll still take a coupon at CS. However, I see this as bringing in more people than necessary to error the transaction, so you need to decide if you want to make one long purchase at the registers and then get reimbursed at Customer Service (for convenience and sake of time), OR if you want to make this purchase first at customer service and then continue with your other shopping and do two transactions at Target, that is assuming that you are there to purchase more in the first place.
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If I were you (which I was, 'cause I already did this and it totally worked) I'd do the transaction first at CS and then continue shopping and purchase everything else separately, which looks like this: find the game (it's in a wooden box and can be found in the "party" or "adult" section of the game isle), pick out which free card game you'd like (you get to choose between scrabble slam, monopoly deal and something that is like pictureika; they should all be well marked that they are the free-game-with-purchase) and then go to Customer Service. Wait your turn (obvs.) and then let the service person know that you are going to price match the big item. They will scan the Game of Things, do some fancy button pushin' to adjust the price and then scan the card game, which will automatically show up as free. (They might go in a different order with the card game scanning and price adjustment, but that part should not matter.) Your total should say $14.99 (plus whatever your sales tax is; so in the D/FW area it'd be $16.23) - then when you go to pay hand over your coupon for $5 off. They'll scan it and then you're down to $9.99! ($10.84 D/FW - because the tax is adjusted to what you pay after the coupon) Done!
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I didn't ring this up at a normal register, because I thought the whole thing would give all parties involved - the cashier, the CS person and myself - a headache, but here is what it should look like if you choose to go this way. When you buy both games and use the coupon, the receipt will print out as all are apart of the special promotion - so there will be all of these fancy price numbers everywhere inside a separate box that is marked like so:
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-------Special Promotion -------
##### '''''''''GameofThings '''''$27.00 (or whatever price in which your target has the game listed)
##### '''''''''MFR Coupon '''''''''$5.00-
'''''''''''''''''''Refund Value ''' $23.12 (or some other number) T
###### '''''''Card Game ''''''''''''$5.24
'''''''''''''''''''Refund Value ''''$3.88 T
'''''''''''''''''''--------------
''''''''''''''''Package Subtotal $32.24
'''''''''''''''''''''Card Game Free $5.24-
'''''''''============
'''''''''''''''''''Package Total $27.00 (or again, whatever price yours is going for.)
'''''All Items Must Be returned For Full Refund
----------------------------------
'''''''''''''''''''Subtotal ''''''''''''''''$22.00 (unless you bought more stuff)
'''''%Tax on $22 '''''''''''''''''''$ tax amount
''''''''''''''''''''''''''Total ''''''''''''''''$ whatever total is
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THEN you'll go up to CS and price adjust the NORMAL PRICE, the one that is on the same line as the sku number and the game title (the one that I've highlighted in lime green for you). They should in NO WAY tell you any of the following:
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~ You can't do that. (Yes, I can because it's your matching policy, a current ad, your promotion, and a manufacture coupon.)
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~ The Price Adjustment is only on the $22 or only on the $23.24 so you'll be getting $7.01 or $8.25 back. (No, the $22 is the price after the Manufactures coupon, and the $*23 is the *stores promo price. Stand up for yourself on this one - point to the "MFR Coupon" words on your receipt and then point to your copies of the *New and Improved* Target Coupon and Price Matching Policies. The 5th Question states that MFR Coupons will be used AFTER the price adjustment, so then point to the original price.)
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~ You can't get the free card game. (Again, YES I can because the store promotion is valid on games over $10, of which this game still is after the price adjustment.)
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~ I don't get what is going on. (Speak more slowly. Tell the person that you would like to buy these two items but one needs to be price adjusted, but don't mention the coupon. Show them the ad and it's valid dates, then let the employee do their thing. Once it's time to pay, then pull out the coupon.)
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~ I can't price match the package total. (That's fine, employee, because you're not matching the package total, you are matching the original sales price, which is also currently the same as the package total.)
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The prices in *light blue on the fake receipt indicate what you would receive if you tried to return either game without the other. This is Targets part in trying to prevent anyone from "pulling a fast one" by buying both, keeping one, and getting the full price of the other back, or keeping one for free in the end.
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I hope that this hasn't left you completely lost. Getting a great deal sometimes doesn't seem worth it if you have to go through so much trouble. (Which I assure you this post just makes it all seem like a bigger hassle than it really is.) The Game of Things really is a blast to play with friends but because you run out of the included paper fairly fast (it comes with 500 answer slips - if you have 10 people play 2 complete games that's 10 slips per round, 10 rounds per game, times 2 games = 200 slips, or 100 if you go front and back) I personally would NEVER pay full price for it ever; why should you shell out $27 and then need to supply your own paper after 2 - 5 parties? But if I can get it for $10 AND get something else for free out of it then I guarantee you that everyone at that party will have heard about my great score by the end of the night.
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~K
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*And don't forget that there is also a $5 off coupon for Connect 4X4 on the same coupon site, which is also part of the free card game promotion.
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As promised, "The Game of Things" Rules, as read by K:
1) First select a Reader (who can also act as the score keeper) for that round and then everyone gets a piece of included paper.
2)The Reader selects a topic card and reads it aloud - so it could be "Things you shouldn't do while skiing" or "Things you can always count on".
3) Everyone (including the reader) then thinks of and writes down their answer and gives said response to the reader, who then reads them all aloud.
4) Player A will now have the chance to guess who said what - however, you cannot guess the reader (and in turn the reader of the round cannot guess either, because s/he can see every ones handwriting). So if person A guesses person C said response 1 and is correct, then person C is now out and person A gets to guess until s/he fails to correctly identify another response, at which time the next remaining player has a chance to identify the remaining responses.
5) The end of the round features two players guessing who-wrote-what determined over three response slips, because one slip is the readers, thus making it an intentional throw-someone-off answer. Once the round is over, tally up all the points given, then select another player to be the reader/score keeper. A new round can start once everyone has fresh slip of paper and a new topic card has been drawn.
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Scoring: You get 1 (one) point for every correct person/response connection YOU make; 6 (six) points are awarded to the person who wins the round; The winner of the round is the person still standing, aside from the reader of course. Then you start another round until everyone has had a chance to be the reader; then winner of the game is the person with the most overall points.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Wow, shameless self promotion time!

It is my birthday, and I plan on celebrating by getting a lot of free stuff, doing some Christmas shopping and then hanging out with my friends. Woohoo!

I've been working on a birthday freebie list for a few weeks now, and while I'm sad that I didn't get every single offer that I've seen posted on various blogs, I did get quite a few so I'm not complaining. (That much. Come on, Starbucks. I've been a registered card holder for forever. Where the hell is my free drink mailer/coupon?)

http://startoutsaving.blogspot.com/2009/11/ks-birthday-comes-again.html

Anyway, I hope you have a good day and I'll be sure to post soon!

~K