Coupon 101: BJ's Coupons

I have heard people who swear by BJ's prices, that they are getting a better deal. I have always been skeptical so I really only used my membership for gas, random items here and there, or if I was having a get together and needed a lot of food. I was recently looking over my new coupon book that came in and thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if I could use these high value coupons to buy items at retail stores that were smaller quantities and less in price?"

So I started calling around to the stores near me and I asked if they would accept BJ's coupons? The answer I got was, as long as they carry the item listed it should be no problem. I called around just in my city I found that Walmart and Price Chopper took the BJ's coupons. If you have different stores in your area give them a call and see if they will accept them. 

SO! I started looking through my coupons to find ones that said something along the lines of "$3.00 off any Arm &  Hammer Liquid Detergent." Where it does not specify a certain size that the bottle would have to be I will be able to use it on a smaller bottle but pay nothing or close to nothing for it. 

I usually buy a big ol' bucket of Arm & Hammer powder detergent at BJ's. I use a BJ's coupon for $4.00 off and always get it for $15. The bucket says it will do 220 loads. There is a coupon out right now in the BJ's Journal that says, "$3.00 off any Arm &  Hammer Liquid Detergent." You can buy a small bottle at Walmart that does 32 loads for $3.97, with my coupon that is $0.97!! So I did some math and figured out that if I bought 7 of these bottles at $0.97 ea I would get 224 loads for $6.79! That is a savings of $8.21!! 

After I figured this out I got rather excited and started really pawing through my coupons to see what else I could get for free. I ended up going last night and here is what I got:

I gave the Cetaphil to a friend.

Softsoap Hand Soap:       $1.47
Cetaphil Bar of Soap:       $3.47
Oral-B Toothbrush:          $1.50

All Detergent (32 loads):  $4.97
Total:                               $11.41

Q for Hand soap:           -$1.50
Q for Cetaphil:               -$3.50
Q for toothbrush:           -$2.00
Q for detergent:             -$4.00
_____________________________
Total After Q (coupons):   $0.44 (w/tax)!!!!!

If you are looking for extra coupons there are a couple of different way to get them; Go to BJ's and ask for extras. I think they only hand out one at a time but if you are able to make a couple of trips you could get multiple books. Ask your friends and family if they would not be using certain coupons and start swapping. You can buy the books on Ebay, I have read in a lot of different forums that people feel they are getting a better deal by buying them online rather than paying for the membership. The membership is $50 a year so if you just got it for the coupons it would be $4.16 per book and you have the perks of being able to go in the store and get more books instead of buying more. Also you can use the membership to buy gas or other items in the store.

I am so excited to keep seeing what good deals I can get!! Let me know what deals you score!

Happy Couponing! : )

Shopping at Toy R Us

Toys R Us is offering 2 specials for holiday shopping, 1) Buy $75 in-store and get a $10 gift card or 2) Spend $100 online, *on participating items*, and get 20% off plus free shipping!
A great way to work this deal: Look up the toys you would be buying online and see which ones qualify for the 20% off online and mark them down, I usually add them to my cart so they are there when I get back. Now go to the store and buy any other items that do not qualify for the online discount, spend $75 get $10. Remember Toys R Us is price matching when you shop in the store, click here for details, so make sure to compare other stores prices before you go. Go home and order the items you left in your cart, get 20% off plus use your gift card to get another $10 off.

WAIT IT GETS BETTER!! Pair it up with Ebates and get 1% CB (Cash back), The other day it was up to 8% CB so watch it because it could change from day to day. So here is a quick break down of how this could go and how much money your could save:

Shop in Store:                           $75.00
Shop Online:                             $100.00
Total:                                        $175.00

20% off online:                         -$20.00
Gift Card:                                 -$10.00
1% CB on online total ($70):    -$.70

Total for $175 worth of items:   $144.30 (Savings of $30.70)


Another couple of ways to save is to use your Toys R Us card, or open one if you feel comfortable with doing so. You will earn 10% CB  on all your purchases, details here. They are also offering free pick up in store, when available, on your online purchases. So you can buy online through Ebates to get CB and then pick up in the store and not pay for shipping, details here. Last but not least, they are offering free layaway if you want the option of paying for it over time, details here.

Let me know of any good deals you get!!

Happy Couponing! : )

DEAL! 60 FREE Prints from York

I got this tip from a blog that I follow How To Shop For Free. Right now you can get 60 Photo Prints for FREE! from York. Get some photos printed and use them around your home or for Christmas presents! 

Click Here and use COUPON CODE: 60PRINTS to get your free prints! Shipping is not included, $3.74. Thanks again to How To Shop For Free for this find!

Let me know if you cashed in on the deal and how you plan on using it! Happy Couponing! : )

DEAL! 24 Pc. Makeup Brush Set

Here is a deal from Living Social. It is a 24 Piece Makeup Brush Set with a carrying case $29.00 Value is $175.00! If you pair it up with Ebates you get $0.58 back!

Remember with Living Social after you buy it get 3 friends to buy it from your link and you will get it for free!!

Click Here to get this deal!

Leave a comment with any questions. Happy couponing! : )

DEAL! Kids Superhero Cape

Here is a great deal from Living Social; $15 for $30 to spend at Powercapes.com. Pair it with Ebates and get $0.30 CB. You can create a custom cape just for your child! I actually bought one of these vouchers and created a cape for my daughter for Christmas. I already received it and I think it is absolutely adorable!

Something about LivingSocial I think you should know, you can get your voucher for free! After you purchase your voucher get 3 other people to buy the same one through your referral link and you will get yours for free!

Right now Powercapes.com is having a sale on their custom capes for $24.95. If you buy just the custom cape and use your voucher it will cover the shipping costs! It's a win win!

Click here to go to this deal!

Leave a comment with any questions. Happy couponing! : ) 

Ebates.com, Cash back for shopping!

Ebates.com pays you cash back every time you shop online as well as provide you with coupons and deals online.

How Does it Work for the Stores:

My understanding is that Ebates.com partners up with business and they agree to give you a certain % cash back. What does the business get in return? Well, if you are looking to buy a product and it is sold at 10 different online stores but 1 store offers cash back, you will most likely buy it from them. The businesses get more traffic, and you are more likely to shop them again. Free advertising, take advantage!

How Does it Work for You:

Go to the website, I have the link all over my page but here it is again, Ebates.com, sign up for a free account, pick a gift card you would like to receive, and you're done! Well, you are just beginning.

Go to the top right search box and start typing in some of your favorite retail stores to see how much cash back they offer. A lot of times I will look at a list of all the stores and order them by cash back % to see what stores offer the highest % cash back. Most of the time I find new stores that offer a lot more cash back. I spend some time checking them out, and there are a lot of neat stores that I may have never known about.

Once you click on a store it will show you a page that says “creating a tracking ticket” and then you will land on the homepage of whatever site you wanted. That's it, just start browsing the site like you normally would, do your check out, and Ebates will do the rest. Most of the time I see the money go into my Ebates account that day or the next. It depends on the store and how fast they process the orders.

Getting Your Check:

They send out checks quarterly, only if your account balance is higher than $5. According to the sites FAQ the $5 cannot include any refer-a-friend bonus. My first check was for $5.20, I earned $5.00 on a refer-a-friend bonus and $.20 from buying diapers. So I am not sure if it was just because it was my first check and they were being nice, or if it doesn't matter.

Ebates will send you the gift card that you picked when you signed up after you have made your first $25 purchase. I did notice that it took a while to get my gift card, so be patient. A good idea for your free gift card, is to use it as a present for someone!

Refer-A-Friend:

Through Ebates you can refer a friend. If a friend of yours clicks on your referral link, signs up, and makes a purchase of $25.00 or more you get a cash bonus. The bonus depends on how many people you refer, the more you refer the more money you earn per referral. They also run specials for a limited time. When I first signed up they had a special that if you referred (something like) 50 people you would get an iPad. Currently they are running a special where you will earn $25.00 for the first friend you refer now through 12/31/12.

Ebates Tool Bar:

Initially I paid no attention to the Ebates tool bar for your browser. I hate having tool bars, it makes the browser look cluttered and it bothers me. However, I started reading about it and decided to give it a try and I love it! It makes getting cash back a lot easier.

When I first signed up for Ebates I found that I would forget about going through Ebates before making a purchase. With the tool bar anytime you are on a site that offers cash back it will tell you. Sometimes it activates the cash back automatically other times it will make you go through the site to create the tracking ticket. Another neat feature it has is when you are doing a search for something it will show a little Ebates logo next to a store link that offers cash back.

My Favorite Stores:

I start my Christmas shopping early and try to shop year round, this year I am shopping with Ebates. You can make Ebates work in a couple of different ways. I have heard a lot of people say that they don't like the idea of shopping online because they have to pay shipping. (1) Most of the time sites will offer a special on shipping and/or during the holidays a lot of sites will offer free shipping all together. So keep an eye out for that. (2) Another way to get around the shipping is to find stores that offer “Site to store” or “Free store pick-up”.

So far I have earned $16.83. That amount of money (plus whatever more I earn) will knock down my Christmas bill, even if just by $16.83, that is $16.83 that you didn't have before. Also a nice perk, the next check will be coming right before or after Christmas so that will be a nice bonus!

• Groupon.com- 3% CB (Cash back), most goods they sell offer free shipping!
• Livingsocial.com- 2% CB
• Buy.com- 6% CB, Very much like a Walmart or Amazon but offers more CB
  Walmart.com- 1% CB, Offer pick up in store.
• Toys R' Us/ Babies R' Us- 1% CB, Also offer pick up in the store
• Snapfish.com- 20% CB
• Target- 2% CB
• JCPenny- 8% CB

I hope that you find as much happiness with Ebates as I have!

Leave a comment with any questions. Happy couponing! : )