I'm a stay at home mom, so how did I earn a paycheck?

Some of you know that I am a stay at home mom to three children.  Truly stay at home, no extra income. 

 But last week, I earned a paycheck... not an employment check, but a SHOPPING CHECK... I've said it before and I'll tell you again in hopes that you can get paid for doing something that I know you are doing.

Insert Ebates.com  Ebates is a website that allows you to earn a percentage of your total shopping purchase when you shop online at stores that they participate with.  It is super easy and does not cost anything to use.  Since I've started using Ebates in 2010, I've earned $60.00.  Now I know that doesn't sound super impressive (I don't do a lot of online shopping) but $60.00 is a huge chunk of money.  Think of it as 1 single drop of Propane (that was a joke) or half of your cable bill.

Imagine if you will... Gemma needs t-ball pants.  I'm going to buy them from Wal-Mart.  I go to Ebates.com, type in Wal-Mart.  I see that they are offering 2% back right now on purchases.  Awesome.  I click on the link, they direct you to the Wal-mart website.  Shop and check out as you normally would with any promo codes, coupons, sales, etc.  In this instance, I would ship it to the store so that I could save on shipping.  

Please select Ship to Home or Store Pickup

Cart Items	Ship to Home or Store Pickup?	Price	Quantity	Total
Wilson Sporting Goods Youth Baseball Pull-Up Pants with Full Elastic Waistband Color: GREY Size: Small Save for later | Remove	Ship to Home Arrives 3/21–3/25 with Value Shipping Select faster shipping speeds during checkout See arrival date details Store Pickup — Free Ready for pickup starting 3/26 See store details - confirm location in checkout	$9.50	Update	$9.50

In this example, I pay $9.50 to Wal-Mart.  Pick up my pants for free.  Earn 2% back through Ebates.  ($.19)  So this isn't a big spender example, but just a quick easy example of something

The savings add up until it is payday.  They automatically mail you out a check.  You'll forget all about the check until it comes and then you'll be so super duper excited that you got paid to shop.

If you sign up under my link, they'll reward me handsomely and I'll love you forever.

Martins Freezer Deal

Click here for the online version.

Like the awesome freezer deals two weeks ago at Martins (remember the ice cream???)   Here is another really simple deal that anyone can do - NO COUPONS NEEDED!

Martins is running a promotion that if you purchase $25.00 worth of select frozen food items, you can get $15.00 off instantly.  How much easier can it get?


So, here is a deal that I've put together for one of my best friends:

Buy 13 Eggo Waffles at $2.00 each
Total: $26.00
Get $15.00 off instantly
Pay $11.00 for 13 boxes of Eggo's.

That is $.84 a box.  How cool is that?

EDIT: I need to go to the store to check, I didn't read close enough, it may just be Pancakes, French Toast and Mini Muffin Tops as listed in the ad.  I will check in the store and report back.  Reporting back: one of my coupon-er friends has confirmed that the waffles are not included, but still a banging sale with French Toast.

Now that is just one example, you can mix and match with all of the items and you can do the deal as many times as you'd like.  I would do them in separate transactions to minimize confusion.  And if you're really feeling a challenge, through in a few coupons to spice it up.

EDIT:  Also, if you are looking to create your own deal using coupons, there are printable coupons here for the following items:

• Farm Rich Appetizers
• New York Texas Toast
• Weight Watchers
• El Monterey 
• Bob Evans Breakfast Foods

Check out my friend Megan's trip, where she paid $6.xx for all of this:

A Challenging Goal and My Grocery Budget for February

During the month of February, I set myself a pretty challenging goal:

 ONLY SPEND $200.00 

ON GROCERIES, TOILETRIES, DIAPERS, WIPES, CLEANERS

 AND ANYTHING YOU THINK YOU WOULD BUY AT THE STORE.  

$200.00 for a family of 5, two of which are in diapers and five of us that really like to eat.  You read that right.  Of course I used coupons and shopped the sales and became completely obsessed with reaching this goal.... Here are some pics of the grocery shopping trips - you know I like to take pics.

So, I'm sure you wanna know - Did I do it?  Well.... ALMOST.  I went over in a moment of weakness.  I put off getting somethings that I had to have in a timely manner and then I ended up picking up a few other things that I didn't really plan for and what do you know, I went over by $32.66.   BUT I SAVED OVER $800.00.  Here is the breakdown:

Date	Store	Original Price	Out of Pocket	$ Savings	% Savings
2/7/2014	ShopRite		$54.92	$68.40
2/7/2014	Weis		$5.58	$30.50	84
2/7/2014	Food Lion		$3.30	$1.87
2/8/2014	ShopRite		$10.32	$62.57
2/10/2014	CVS		2.48 GiftCard	$19.59	89
2/11/2014	Walgreens		3.88 GiftCard, .91	$7.18	60
2/11/2014	ACME	$1.79	$0.00	$1.00	100
2/11/2014	Walgreens		$2.00	$6.38	76
2/11/2014	ShopRite		$17.62	$80.14
2/11/2014	Martins		$2.00
2/12/2014	Rite Aid		13.77 GiftCard
2/14/2014	Food Lion		$4.62	$14.50
2/14/2014	Walgreens		$1.72	$13.88	91
2/15/2014	ShopRite		$17.75	$83.13
2/15/2014	Food Lion		$4.40	$16.38
2/15/2014	Martins		$2.50	$0.49
2/18/2014	Food Lion		$5.45	$13.00
2/19/2014	ShopRite		$18.29	$105.51
2/21/2014	Rite Aid		1.34 GiftCard
2/21/2014	CVS		.86 GiftCard 6.84	$19.60	74
2/21/2014	ShopRite		$10.13	$98.75
2/22/2014	ACME		$8.55	$12.90	60
2/22/2014	Martins		$32.49	$3.69
2/24/2014	Martins	$29.97	$10.92	$19.05
2/25/2014	ShopRite		$11.79	$71.16
2/25/2014	Walgreens		1.39 GiftCard
2/25/2014	Walgreens		$2.68	$9.89	75
2/26/2014	Rite Aid		5.30 GiftCard
2/27/2014	ShopRite		$3.45	$62.16
2/27/2014	Martins	$9.43	$2.18	$7.25
Date	Store	Original Price	OOP	Savings	% Savings
			$232.66	$828.97

What I've learned for March - 

• I need a slightly bigger budget.  After all, March has 31 days.  So I'm shooting for $250.00.
• I'm super thankful for ShopRite and there dollar doubles promotion.
• I go to the store a lot.  Thanks to my wonderful husband for working so hard so that I can do that.  
• Saving money is an awesome feeling.
• I think I like budgets.
• Cash is the way to go.  It is so easy to see what you have remaining when it is right in front of you. 
• I need to go buy some Diet Coke - I just drank the last one! 

There's still time for Ice Cream... Hurry

Martins is running the freezer deal through today.  Here is a deal for you:

Buy 8 Ice Creams at $2.50 each
Total - $20.00
Get $10.00 off instantly, no coupons, just use your bonus card.
Pay $10.00 for 8 Cartons of Ice Cream - only $1.25 each

Buy milk at Walgreens this week!

$2.79 a Gallon

If you need milk this week, AND YOU KNOW YOU DO, Walgreens is the place to buy it.  This week, through Saturday, you can get a gallon of Milk (any %) for only $2.79.  No coupons needed, but you will need your Walgreens Rewards Card (it's free if you don't have one).    Sorry for the sideways picture (anyone know how to rotate that?), but you get the idea.  Get one today and then get one on Saturday for next week.  Walgreens runs this sale at least once a month and it really is a great price.  Milk can be an expensive part of your grocery budget.

My little shopping trip to Walgreens.  Only $2.68 out of my pocket.
I did use coupons though.