A Penny Saved Is a Penny Earned

I believe that no matter how much or how little a man has, his wealth is a gift from God. As stewards of this gift, it is our duty to use our money wisely. I think that the Lord does want us to have some fun but he also wants us to be "smart" with our money...that means to live within (and even under) our means, to save and invest, to pay off managed debt in a timely manner, and to give to church and other charities.  As Jeff is in anesthesia school and I'm a stay-at-home Mom, there's no better time to learn to use our money even more wisely.  So, with the help of my friends and some AWESOME web-sites (www.southernsavers.com  and www.moneysavingmom.com), I have learned the art of couponing.  These women who run the sites are amazing. They are both Christian women with young families. One even saved enough through couponing to buy her families' first home in CASH!  Amazing!  I'm not as talented as that, but I thought I would share my last week or so of savings in an effort to encourage others to start saving and to show you how fun it is!  

Here's one week's worth of savings:

• + $15: I sold a baby chair via Craigs' List that Laura never liked.  It made room in my closest and made a new mommy-to-be very happy :)
• +FREE APPETIZER and cheap dinner: I used a $10 gift card that I earned from eating at Carrabbas on Mother's Day towards a To-Go order. Jeff and I split a meal and the total came to $4.80!  Then, the receipt printed out a survey which gave us a FREE appetizer on our next visit! So, we had a great "date night" at home for dirt cheap and got an appetizer valued at more than we payed for our meal!
• +$4 and 2 FREE Body Washes: CVS had Old Spice Body Wash on sale for $4 and was giving back $4 in CVS bucks for each purchase. I combined this offer with a buy one, get one coupon.  So, I paid $4 and received $8 in CVS bucks back. That means I got two soaps for free with $4 in overages!
• +$3 and + $8 and FREE Body Wash and FREE Razor: Walgreens had a deal where you spent $6 on Nivea body wash and you got $6 in  rewards bucks. I combined this with a $3 off coupon...so, I paid $3 and got back $6 in rewards...that means a FREE body wash and an extra $3!  Then, the razor was on sale for $8.  I combined this with a $4 off coupon. So, I paid $4 and immediately got $4 in rewards bucks. Then, I mailed in the receipt for a rebate deal that Schick is offering for a full $8 check! That means I got the razor for free PLUS an $8 check coming in the mail!
• +20 FREE photos: snapfish was offering a deal for one day only for FREE shipping. I opened up a new account which gave me 20 free prints. A great deal!
• + FREE Double Steakburger (valued at $3.53): Several months ago, I joined the steak-n-shake e-club. They send you coupons for a free double steakburger on your birthday and on your "special date" (anniversary, in my case)
• +2 FREE Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwiches: Every Monday night is Chick-fil-a church bulletin night at our local store. You bring in your church bulletins and get a FREE Sandwich with the purchase of a medium drink and medium fry! Yum!
• +$50 cash: I recently cleaned out my old room and found a metal coca cola sign that I had bought at Cracker Barrel for $24.99 (price tag was still on it!) when I was about 9 years old.  I found out that those signs were limited edition and had increased in value!  I doubled my investment and got $50 for it on Craigs' List! So cool!  
• 6 Professional 4x6 photos at "Picture People": coupons in the mail are a great thing!  Picture People prints their photos within the hour and there's no sitting fee!
• FREE Appetizer and FREE Dessert at Outback: Again, mail coupons are great. This one was for a free appetizer or dessert...but they were out of the Bushman schrums (no mushrooms), so the manager came to our table and offered it for free! So, we were able to use our coupon on the dessert. (Key Lime Pie is AWESOME, by the way!)
• FREE Children's Book at Library: Laura had to be read to for 20 days and she earned a FREE Book. Look for programs all around your town like this. I got a free book at Borders for a similar thing earlier this summer.
• + Large Sample of Shampoo and Conditioner: Sign up on-line for all sorts of free things. It's fun to get packages in the mail all the time :)
• + Super Fun Box of FREE stuff: I signed up for a program for children in FL and got a FREE recipe book, apron, cutting board, 2 ice cube trays, and a reusable shopping bag!
• + FREE Dunkin Donuts Drink: I signed up to be a member of the "Perks Club" and get coupons in the mail. It's perfect to give to my hubby :)
• + 2 FREE Shaving Creams: The Schick Hydro Shaving Gel was on sale at Publix for $2. The Publix Green Advantage Flyer had $1 off coupons. The newspaper also had a $1 off coupon. I combined 1 store and 1 manufacturer coupon for each product to get both for FREE!  It's super fancy shaving cream too! 
• FREE Blueberries at Publix: I got an e-coupon for $1.50 off blueberries and they're on sale for 2/$3...that makes them totally free!
• +1.50 at Target: Dove deodorant was on sale for $3.50 plus you got a free body mist with purchase. I had a $2 manufacturer and a $1 store coupon I used for the deoderant and I had another $2 manufacturer coupon for the free body mist. This gave me an overage of $1.50 which I was able to use on my neutrogena face wash (which I also had a coupon for!). I got everything for only $2.60!
•  1 blockbuster and 1 redbox FREE movie rental: FREE codes are offered on-line for a whole assortment of reasons.  My web-sites help me know when new codes are released from the company!
• 3 FREE Skinny Cow Ice Creams: It was on sale at CVS for $1 and I had 3 $1 off coupons!
• Lots of FREE Groceries at Publix: 2 free boxes of Cheerios (buy one get one), 1 free ragu sauce (buy one get one), free international delight creamer (coupon in mail), and free YoBaby Yogurt (earned points through a rewards program)

In total, that's about $197.33 in cash/products/rewards bucks that I've earned in just one week! 

Well, that's about all I can remember. I'm exhausted after writing all of that down!  I've learned lots from my experience thus far. I learned that nothing really is free...even the stuff above. It took lots of hours of reading on-line, clipping coupons, and driving from store to store when they were out of the desired product!  But, I also learned that saving money is lots of fun and I think that even if I won the lotto, I'll still have my coupons in hand when I walk into the store :)  I'd love to hear your comments on any great sales that you have gotten!  Good luck everyone on finding your own deals!

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