Tag Archives: Brain Bits

Free money

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Gotcha!  Going through today’s mail and saw a coupon for a free box of HerbaShine, the newest haircolor from Garnier (with bamboo extract – ooh la la).  This was the Wags September promotion where combining coupons, library card discounts and a catalina reduced Garnier to about $1.25/package.  Actually less, when you include the ones I got freebies on …..

Today’s topic is on living well for free (or almost).  Do you bother with rebates?  Too much for too little?  Figure you’ll forget about it, you won’t get your rebate, it’s a scam, really…. believe me, I’ve heard all these excuses and variations thereof.  All bull, really.  Within one week I’ve gotten two $20 Olay checks and two free HerbaShine coupons; I’m waiting for 3  $3.49 Wags checks for Planters nuts and 5 $6.99 checks for the Renpure shampoo/conditioner “try me free” offer.  I think I have one more Olay check and HerbaShine still coming (I’d have to check)…

While I’m not claiming this is a livable income, over the course of a year the amounts can be significant, both in cash and product.  Don’t toss out free money! psst….send it to me…

Borden cheese pdf coupon

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Saw this earlier on MUM (who got it from SD – boy we are an incestuous group!), that there is a $1/1 Borden pdf coupon you can gather here as a “friend of Elsie.”  Nice thing is that 1) you can store it without printing, if no deals ever come up and 2) it’s good until 2/28/2011, so much better chance of a deal!

The Tightwad Gazette

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Way back in the dark ages (1990’s), there was a woman who published a series of newsletters, which then were compiled into a total of three volumes called The Tightwad Gazette I, II, and III.  Eventually the three were combined into one large volume.  I picked these up for retail! at the old Kroch’s & Brentano’s bookstores (remember them?  I used to spend much of my paycheck there).

I took one off the shelf last night because I needed to make some yogurt (no freebies lately) and that got me wondering what had become of the author, Amy Dacyczyn.  Here’s an interview clip I found on Savvy Housekeeping.  Enjoy.  I absolutely luv that house!  If you happen to come across this book at a garage sale or can get it from your library, do so.  This is, quite honestly, a book to purchase and keep as a reference guide.  If you do want to purchase through Amazon, the complete compilation is pretty cheap (considering it was published 15 years ago!).

Save a little, spend a lot

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Tonight’s lecture is on the folly of chasing deals.  I am holding Meijer rain checks for 24 Smart Balance milks at $1.99/each; I currently have six coupons.  My question is:  Do I drive to Bolingbrook and see if they’re in stock and if so, do they even have 6?  Let’s assume (not a good idea with Meijer) that the milk is in stock and I can get all six using my $2 coupons – so free milk!  But is it?  Toll charges are $1 and the trip will require a minimum of one hour driving and shopping.  Now I can drive a mile to Jewel, where the SB milk is $2.49 and pay (gasp!) .49 for each of the six milks and be back home in a matter of minutes, or save the $3 and hit Meijer… guess what I did (hint:  got more stamps).

You may counter that there are other deals to be had this week at Meijer, but frankly, free pet treats doesn’t justify the trip.  Maybe next week…

Free Tide Stain Release Spray

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Just read on Meijer Madness that starting today at noon (ET), Tide will be giving away free Stain Release spray to the first 5,000 who register on their Facebook page and “like” them.  I suppose we’ve all done “stuff” for  people and products we like less…just sayin‘

Holiday Giveaway #2 THE WINNER Update

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Melissa contacted me with the news that her house has been hit hard by the flu – for the past month (people throwing up is not something you want to prolong, people).  Since it doesn’t seem to be going away, she’s afraid to come out to receive the prize and wants to allow another person to win.  Thanks for your consideration, Melissa…

The new winner is……BETH!!!!!  (please don’t forget to slip the PITA a gratuity)

I have not yet received a response from Melissa;  I’ve extended the deadline to tomorrow at 5 pm; after that I’ll be selecting a new winner.

And we have a winner!!  Melissa (who longs to be not pregnant) was selected using our highly scientific method of having the PITA pick a name.  I defy anyone to do a better job.   In the unlikely event that Melissa doesn’t contact me by Sunday morning, I’ll have the PITA choose again.   I like these giveaways, so now I’m working on another…

Putting this out early enough for Christmas, too late for Chanukah, too bad… I have a complete, new desktop aquarium to give out.  It’s an Aqueon Mini Bow 1 Aquarium and comes with these items:

Mini Bow Quiet Flow Filter and Cartridge
7 Watt Incandescent Bulb
Aquarium Set-up and Care Guide
Water Conditioner
Premium Fish Food

I think I have more “stuff” to add to this package, but not sure what.  Set sells for about $50 (including shipping) on eBay; not sure of “retail” price.  Just comment on this post and you might win!  Giveaway period ends on Friday at 5 pm, when the PITA will draw a winner.  Note:  You must be able to meet with me to accept this, as the shipping costs would be pretty high.  unless you are crazy enough to pay your own shipping….

Birthday Freebies

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One of the many mailing lists to which I belong is Deal Seeking Mom.  Most of the time I just breeze through ’cause I’ve already gotten the stuff listed, but today there was a link to AuntieAnne’s Very Important Pretzel-lover club.  You enter name, birthday and email and they send an email for a free pretzel of your choice on your birthday.   Register your friends and family using your email and notices will only go to you.  Click here to register.  PS.  I did the picture large ’cause it looked so yummy!

JCPenny kids camcorder – update

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This product is no longer available online.  Michelle says she went to the Yorktown store this evening (12/1) and saw it priced at $39.99 – they wouldn’t reduce the price to $9.99.  Hey, Michelle, want to buy a camcorder for 20 bucks?

Saw on MUM that a reader commented about this great deal on a digital camcorder for kids for $9.99.  Could not read any current reviews on it (detailed reviews were from 2007), only a couple of stars (which is bullshit, because what someone else perceives as a problem – my 5-year-old destroyed it in a couple of hours – may not have any relevance to me at all).

but i digress… The camera was not available online, but showed it was available at all the local stores, so DH, PITA and I popped over to Yorktown to check them out (well, DH stayed in the car:  hurry up, OK, I don’t want to wait here all night and don’t start talking to people!)ahem, again i digress… We couldn’t see the camera in the store, so asked at customer service (even showed them the camera on the front page of their web site).  They checked in the back and found they had all been put out on display.  And there they were for $39.99!  ON SALE!  DOWN FROM $69.99!  long story short, they gave me two for $9.99 each.  Took them home, put in the AAA batteries and DH took a few shots (it’s both a still and camcorder) to check it out.  He’s a professional photographer, so his opinions are more valid (read “pickier”) than a lay person’s.

My opinion?  Honestly, it’s pretty cute.  DH says the picture quality would be very good outdoors – with indoor lighting the colors were slightly “green” but not that bad.  It uses an SD card, so depending on how large a capacity card you put in is how long you can record.  This is a picture I took with my iPhone of a screen shot.I’m glad I got the two, ’cause I have an out-of-state 6 year old niece who’s gonna be real surprised!

Today’s frolics

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Sorry I’ve been out of touch.  Earlier today I stopped at CVS to use up an expiring ecb.  Ended up with the stuff in the picture for $7.  I use the shampoos for liquid soap, so the cheaper the better (hey, you can’t convince me that there’s a difference between SoftSoap and cheap shampoo!).  and the candy bars?  well, let’s just say I had a coupon and leave it at that…

Then I ran into Wags to get that $3/15 RR that’s been printing out for everyone.  Pick out the cheapest items you can find (scented votive candles for 6/$1), ring each one separately and you get an RR for each.  Picked out 3, went to the register and said “Ring them up separately.”  He reached under the counter and handed me three of the RRs which had been discarded!  Sweet!  I still took the candles though in one transaction (no RR), just cause they smelt so purty.

The cool rubber boots I got at Sears a couple of weeks ago turned out to be too large for the intended recipient, so trundled off to Oak Brook to exchange them, stopping at Wags along the way to check for….well, you know what (and the answer is nada, nothing, zip, zero, zilch).

Tomorrow is hit all the Wags in an easterly direction Day.  Wish me luck.

If I have time, I’ll drop by Target for some free (slight MM) Ponds towelettes and Vaseline lotion.  You combine the Target coupon (from their site) with the $1.50 coupon for Vaseline lotion from 11/14 R (Unilever insert) and get a $5 gift card.  Make sure you grab the bonus lotion (31.8 oz).  The Ponds towelettes is the bonus 40 ct size using the Target coupon (from their site) and here and here.  I read this yesterday on Totally Target and give her much thanks for same (also credit in the coupons).

Obviously I haven’t had time to work the above deal, but there’s no reason why it won’t work.  Don’t look for it in the ad; it’s an unadvertised gift card.

Been out most of the afternoon/evening at a strategic planning meeting for the next three years for a consolidated school district for special needs kids.  Very long, very interesting, very nice food.  what more can i say?