Tomorrow is the day of free!

I've got tomorrow and Friday off and I am celebrating with a day of free!

I have emailed Dream Dinners to see about redeeming the coupon in the Entertainment book for a free family meal. I am hoping to redeeming it tomorrow or Friday.

I have a coupon for a free lotion from Crabtree and Evelyn (UTC), and a free week sample of Mineral makeup from Sephora.

I just received another $8.00 GC from TGiFridays, so I may stop by for a quick bite- on them of course!

I have 4 coupons for a free slice of pie at Coco's too, I might pick one or 2 up for dessert-Yum!

And I've recently traded some coupons for free merchandise for other free coupons, so I'll be "shopping" at Albertsons.

I hope to have photos- and a report all about Dream Dinners.  I am excited and I hope it turns out well.  I think it might be a fun thing for a Girls night out!

Update- The couponing book

IT LIVES!!

I'm really kicking ass on it, getting tons written, editing previously written sections.

Please let me know what YOU want to learn about!

Some of the topics covered include:

What is a coupon?

The basics of couponing- a primer

Couponing Myths

Where to find coupons?

Types of Coupons

Using Coupons to your advantage

Coupon Policies

E- Coupons

Shopping with your Smart Phone

Coupon Previews

Match ups

Match up Examples

Stacking Coupons

Low cost wholesome food source

How to store coupons

What to do with unwanted coupons

And that is just a start!

Free lettuce cups at PF Chang's

With the purchase of any entree and this coupon:

https://www.pfchangs.com/briny/BrinyGolf2010.aspx

I received an email about this, since I am a member of the warrior club.  I love PF Chang's, but we don't go too often.  I guess we're going as soon as the All You Grocery Challenge is over!

It might be quiet here..

For the next week or so... I've been inspired again, so I am wroking on my couponing/frugal living book.

I promise- I will not tell you to steal ketchup packets from McDo's and squeeze them into the big bottle to save money.

Does anyone use the couponizer?

I've been eyeing them.. Does anyone have one?  Like'em, hate 'em?

Perks and card rewards explained

From Airline miles on a credit card, to grocery store and Drugs stores, this article explains how all types of reward cards work!

A really great website...

For Target deals- Totallytarget.com.

They have scenarios, links, photos, info about unadvertised sales.

I know a lot of your are loyal Target shoppers- this should be a great new bookmark-able site for you.  I am really looking forward to any Febreze or Finish scenarios coming up.

The $2.50 off Finish Coupons are a yearly Godsend.  We still have 3 boxes left from last year, but if it's free, I will def. buy more!

For those of you who have a good deal on Febreze items that qualify for the rebate, please share!  I have coupons from a great Houseparty yesterday, and I'll share!

I hope everyone had a great, frugal weekend.  The months' end is Wednesday- don't forget to clean out your coupon wallets.  Remember, I am still collecting expireds to mail overseas!

Week 1: almost complete

Tomorrow marks the end of week 1 of the All you grocery challenge.

Our OOP (That's Out of Pocket) cost for Week 1:

99 Cents Only on 6/24/10 $17.65 (I bought 2 dozen eggs, 3 bunches of Asparagus, Whole Wheat Tortillas, 2 bags of salad, 2 packages of chopped onion, hazelnut Coffee creamer, 2 boxes of fiber 1 bars, bottle of vitamin water, and a large ham steak)

Pat & Oscar's on 6/26/10 (lunch with friends) our portion of the bill came to $17.95

Total: $35.60

We ate at home every night except Friday, when we went to a friends house for dinner (taco night).  I brought 3 bags of salad to contribute to the potluck.

We brought our lunches from home, except for the few days when he had business lunches (He was at a seminar one day and had lunch with a mentor another- so no OOP for us), and we had a vendor bring my office snackies, which I made into my lunch on Friday (a wholewheat bagel and fruit- NOM!), and Thursday, the Chik-fil-a near my office opened and I had a coupon for a free chicken sandwich- so my lunch was free! WOO HOO!

Breakfast each day was pretty much the same each day for us: iced coffee or vitamin water, a piece of fruit, and a protein bar.

Our kitchen is still well stocked.  Tomorrow for breakfast we are going to have:

Egg whites scrambled with carmelized onions, ham steak, Greek Yogurt with fruit, OJ and coffee.

Right now, I'm making FiberOne Blueberry Muffin mix with banana instead of applesauce (I do the low fat variant).  I am making it it into bread instead, I think it turns out better.

A really great articel about where to find coupons..

I couldn't have said it better myself. So, I won't I'll leave it to Dealicious Mom!

probably the awesomest freebie in a while..

http://bit.ly/9JsBCa

Show your love of Digiornio Pizza and they'll mail you a coupon for a free pizza.  Requires a Facebook account and a facebook picture.  Those who don't have either/or can print a $1.00 off Q.

Freebie Friday

I've been posting Freebies all week via my Twitter feed. (check us out on Twitter: cacoupondiva).

Random Act of Kindness- Coupon envies!

To celebrate some really great deals as of late, I am going to mail 2 RAOK envelopes full of coupons.  To enter leave a comment.  On Monday I pick two names. Each envelope will have at least 50 Q's!

A review of Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Daily Sunblock

A review of Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Daily Sunblock

by Abby H. near San Diego, CA on June 20, 2010

Week 2

I've been religiously applying the Neutrogena UltraSheer� Liquid Daily Sunblock daily, as part of my morning skin care routine to my face, neck, chest, hands and arms.

I gotta say- WOW! I went to the zoo with the family and even in the heat, it didn't falter. I was protected from sunburn. We did a lot of walking, and I was pretty sweaty towards the end of the day- what a work out!

Today was The Taste of Adams Ave. in Normal Heights. I was outside, walking for 3 hours, and thanks to the Neutrogena UltraSheer� Liquid Daily Sunblock, I am once again, sunburn free!

I have super thin, fair skin, so I never leave the house without Sunblock. Finding a product that doesn't leave my sticky, oily, or red from having the rub on something really thick is great. I am really looking forward to sharing this product with my friends and family.

Would you like to review UltraSheer®, too? Then go to http://www.giantwavepool.com/ultrasheer!

Or get $2 off your UltraSheer® purchase at http://www.neutrogena.com/suncoupon.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free for review purposes from Tidal Labs. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."



Vons paid me .19 to shop!

WOO HOO!!

This week at Vons Yoplait Fiber One Yogurt is 2/$4.00 at Vons.  I had loaded some coupons from Cellfire, coupons,com and shortcuts.com, and I had a .50 off Q from an insert a month or so ago (I think).  I only expected 2 of the E-coupons to come off plus the .50 q doubled to $1.00.  I expected $1.00 money maker.  Here is what really happened:

Yoplait fiber yogu $2.00

Mfr. eCoupon 1.00-

Mfr. eCoupon 1.00-

Mfr. eCoupon 1.00-

Mfr. eCoupon 1.00-

Scanned Coupon .50-

Double Coupon .50-

So, I got 4 E Coupons for $1.00 each off (1 of which I didn't know I had), plus another dollar.  I knew there was going to be overage, so I picked up 4 candy bars (.99 each, b2g2 free) and a potato (My original purpose for the trip).

and, I got .19 back!

[caption id="attachment_502" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Proof of my awesomeness!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_503" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="I saved 102%- HOLAY CRAP!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_504" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Free food! Hooray!!"][/caption]

So, I celebrated the free-ness by eating half of the Butterfinger bar on the way home, and cackling like a witch!!

Day 1 of the All You Grocery Challenge!

Day One- WOO HOO!!

Here are pics of our Cupboard Stockpile, Fridge and freezer:

[caption id="attachment_496" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Our Cupboard/Stockpile"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_497" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Freezer is packed!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_498" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Noms- The Fridge is fulla Salad (and cheese!)"][/caption]

Breakfast was egg whites cooked with onions and bacon, topped with shredded cheese and salsa.  We also had Greek yogurt with sliced strawberries.  I made a French Press full of coffee (double strength), then mixed it with ice and Sugar Free Hazelnut Coffeemate for Hazelnut iced lattes. YUM!

Lunch was leftovers from the fridge for him, and I had a Digorno frozen pizza for one.

Dinner is going to be:

Iced Blueberry Green tea, bbq pulled beef roast, baked potato, green salad, corn on the cobbettes, and dessert is:

Frozen mangoes, frozen strawberries blended with milk and coconut sorbet and frozen in a 8x8 cake pan.

Everything came from our cupboard, except the potato, which I had to go buy.  But, that Vons trip is for the next blog entry...

Are you a twitter follower?

You should be!

We post on Twitter daily and re-tweet great freebies and coupons that our friends find!

We just posted the Friday Freebies over on Twitter.  What are you waiting for?

And... As a reminder, we are holding a contest right now for our Twitter followers.  Check out the deets, and get with it- tell your friends! When we hit 200 followers, someone is winning a gift card to Wags.  If we don't hit 200 followers by 6/25/10, we'll keep the contest going until we do hit 200! Remember , 200 followers by 6/25/10= someone winning a $20 Wags Gift card, otherwise, it will be a $10.00 gift card- PLUS- an envie full of match up coupons for the next  week.

Changes to Vons Coupon Policy eff. 6/7/10

I meant to post about this last week, but I got waylaid.  I was shopping at the Vons closest to my office last week and a snotty cashier told me I "better use up all my Internet coupons for free stuff because Vons isn't going to take them!" Lo and behold, they did change their coupon policy.

Safeway Brand stores (Vons, Safeway, Domincs, Tom Thumbs) have updated their coupon policies.  Here are the high (and low lights) from the Vons Policy:

Manufacturer and Store Coupons:

8. Safeway will accept valid manufacturer coupons that display another retailer’s logo or name.

9. Safeway will accept valid Catalina manufacturer coupons that are issued to a customer by another retailer.

Internet Printed Coupons:

20. We will not accept “free product” internet printed manufacturer coupons. (I checked with my local store that is coupon friendly- this includes BOGO type coupons)

According to Rules 8 & 9, this means that Catalinas that are Wags Register Rewards are allowed, per Grogereva2 at HotCouponworld (link to the post).  HOORAY!!

The spoils of shopping!

CVS trip 6/13/10

Armed with the newest circular, a fistful of coupons, ECB’s and the knowledge that a $ off $20 would print when I would scan my CVS card at the store, I headed out!

Palmolive .84  -75 IP Q

John Friedman Shampoo & Conditioner 2/$10.00 -3.00 Insert Q (2)  $3.00 ECB earned

Colgate Pro Clinical $3.99 -$1.00 Insert Q $2.00 ECB earned

Schick Hydro 5 Razor $8.97 -$5.00 Insert Q $4.00 ECB earned

Covergirl Wetstick mint $4.99 -$2.00 BzzAgent Q $3.00 ECB earned

2 Colgate Wisp $2.59 BOGO -.50 Q (2, 1 IP Q, 1 All You)

2 Purex 3 in 1 $7.99 BOGO -$1.00 (2 IP Q)

Lady Speed Stick .84 -.50 IP Q

-$4 off $20 Q

-$12.00 in ECB (All were going to expire this week)

Total OOP $8.34

Earned $12.00 in ECB- These will be very useful during the All you Grocery Challenge!

Total saved $53.13!

Frugal shopping!

I was in the market for a new bathing suit.  I'm going to Vegas next month and we're going to be spending at the pool and my current suit, well.. I bought it at Wal*mart for $6.00 on clearance.  It is purely for lap swimming at the gym.  It's not pretty.

Before we went to the movies last night, we stopped by Target.   I wanted a tankini, but the average price for the two pieces was going to be in the $45 range, which was too rich for my blood. I have been looking online as well and the average price is $65. OY.

Today I hit The Everything $5.99 outlet in Chula Vista.  They had bathing suit separates for $3.99/each.  I got three tankini's plus an extra bottom, and a tank top to wear to the gym, all for $32.18. Woo Hoo! The prices there range from $1.00-$9.99.  They sell all kinds of clothes (mens, women and kids) and accessories.

The tankinis were brand names I recognized too- they are Exhilaration and Merona- Both Target Brands! They Fit great- I can't wait for Vegas!

I love places like Everything $5.99.  Ross, Marshalls, Tuesday Morning, TJ Maxx, and Steinmart.  They are perfect for frugal shoppers.

All You Grocery Challenge starts Next Sunday 6/20/10!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Are you ready?  I am.  I think!  I've been beefing up my stockpile for the past month or so, and I've been scouting out sale fliers ahead of time to plot out the best deals during the challenge.

We are starting with a full cupboard, unlike last year :(, and I've got a pretty full freezer too!

I also have $20 in ECB that expire throughout the Challenge that I'll be using, probably to buy milk and maybe eggs. I have menus planned out for the first two weeks as well.  These are the kind of things we'll be eating:

Dinners:

Roasted Veggie and Cheese Enchiladas, Vegetarian refried beans, Salad

Ratatouille, salad, gluten free bread

Roast Beef, herbed carrots, salad

King Ranch Chicken, Vegetarian refried beans, Salad

Stir Fry (probably with Chicken)

Teriyaki Chicken with veggies and quinoa

Lentil Soup and Quesadillas

Taco Salad

BBQ pork chops, salad, corn on the cob

Gluten Free pasta with home made Marinara, salad

Fire Roasted Veggie Pizza

Burger salad (it's a big green salad topped with a hamburger patty)

Steaks, baked sweet potatoes, salad, steamed veggies

Lunches:

Enchiladas

Salads with  tuna or salmon

Soup

Leftovers

All of our lunches have the "main dish", plus hummus (or tazaiki) and veggies, a piece of fruit and a Kashi bar or a fiber 1 bar. We usually drink water with our lunches.

Breakfast

Breakfasts on the weekdays usually consists of oatmeal, or greek yogurt and fruit, or a piece of fruit with nut butter.

On weekends, we tend to have scrambled egg white with bacon and veggies mixed in, served with bagel thins or Orowheat Sandwich Thins. And fruit salad- It's a family favorite.

This is how we usually eat. The challenge is going to be eating all of what we have in the cupboard and fridge, without running to the store when we get the urge for something that we don't have. We both work long hours, and our jobs are both stressful, so there is always the cop out to pick up dinner on the way home.

I hope that by planning out the meals and having most of the prep work done (I try to chop all the veggies when I come home from the store), and using the crock pot when we can for meals like the pot roast and the BBQ pork chops, it will cut down on the "drive thru" nights.

I pack our lunch either the night before when I am making dinner, or first thing in the morning.  It takes only a few minutes and it is saving us hundreds of dollars.

We'll also be using up our gift cards and free food coupons for restaurants as we are able to during the challenge.  We have about $100 in gift cards and coupons for various establishments all over town.

And don't think that during this challenge we won't have people over. We will probably have dinner guests 4-5 times during the challenge, I have made sure that in our budgeting to allow for extra portions for guests (and leftover s for lunches the next day).

I can't wait to start!

It's Freebie Friday

Bringing you the best freebies from around the web!

All- Oxi-Active Laundry Detergent (Walmart)

Cottonelle Toilet Paper (Walmart)

Nivea Happy Sensation Lotion (Walmart)

Pantene (Walmart)

Emergen-C

EOS Shaving Cream

Pristine Skin Care

Enjoy all the freebies!!

Women's Day Magazine is looking for a Blogger!

Not just any blogger, but a lady blogger who is, "willing to write about her journey to becoming financially stable again."

Ideally, they are looking for a lady between the ages of 35-60, however, I say if you don't meet the age range you should apply anyway!

Check it out!

Follow us a twitter for a chance to win a Wags Gift card!

My darling Frugalistas!

Who doesn't love free stuff?

... NO ONE!

That's what I thought!

I'm giving away a $10 Walgreens gift card!

Follow us on Twitter @cacoupondiva, and then leave a comment here that you are a follower with your twitter user ID and I will enter you to win a $10 Walgreens gift card, and I'll even send coupons to match the next weeks sales.  Not only will you be getting $10 free, but, you'll be stretching that money further.

Sign up starting today until June 25th.  I'll pick the winner the morning of the 26th. If I get 200 followers by the 25th, I'll double the gift card amount to $20!

Bonus entry- You can win a bonus entry by posting this on your blog or Facebook (just make sure to post a comment with the link below!).

2nd Bonus entry: Tweet the Following: Enter to win a Walgreens Giftcard.  Follow @cacoupondiva #cacd.  Then post a comment here with a link. You can do the 2nd bonus entry once per day.

Good Luck!

Upromise- Save for College!

Upromise is a program that you can sign up for to save for college, just by making everyday purchases, and your friends and family can help you save for college with their purchases too!

How it works: Sign up for a Upromise account, designate the beneficiary of the funds (who you are saving for- don't worry, you can change it at any time!).  When you are going to do online shopping, stop by upromise.com first and see if the online site you are shopping at is a participating vendor with upromise. There are tons of sites that participate, so you will usually find something! You can also download the Turbosaver, which is a toolbar type and it highlights participating vendors in both google and yahoo searches!

You can also register for the Restaurants Rewards and earn up to 8% of your bill amount in Upromise savings, just pay with the registered credit or debit card.  There are over 8,000 dining establishments to choose from!

Register your grocery store and drug store rewards cards, there are e-coupons available to load to your cards. When you buy the products, the value of the coupon is deposited into your Upromise account!  You can use these offers with the coupons that are available at cellfire, shortcuts.com, and coupons.com, as well as other printed coupons!

To ramp up the savings-Upromise offers a Credit card:
The Upromise World MasterCard® credit card with Gas & Grocery Rewards.

10% extra college savings on thousands of participating grocery and drugstore items
2% extra college savings on eligible gasoline purchases at Exxon and Mobil locations
1% college savings on every purchase
and right now they are offering a  $25 college savings for using your card within 90 days of opening your account!

If this sounds like something that would appeal to you, check out Upromise and invite your friends and family to help you save for college (for you or your child(ren). Upromise members with linked family and friends have over 3x more savings than members without. Remember, when they earn, you earn!

The winner...

of the Coupon Wallet contest is Amy, aka lunette008, on twitter.  Enjoy your new coupon wallet and all those great coupons Amy!

Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Sunblock- Printable coupon too!

I'm trying Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Sunblock for Tidal Labs. It arrived while we were away over the weekend, but coming home to a mailbox full of goodies was great!

I'm pretty picky when it comes to sunblock, because my skin is so fair, and because of my background as an esthetician. I need something that provides broad spectrum coverage (that's protection from UVA and UVB rays. For those who don't know- The UVA rays Age your skin, and the UVB rays Burn your skin), and is water proof.

Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Sunblock provides broad spectrum coverage. Yesterday morning after washing my face, I shook the bottle, and applied the Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Sunblock to my face, neck, ears, and chest.

It has a great light, floral scent and a great light, almost watery texture. The light texture, however, does not deter from the effectiveness. I was very active all day, and not once did the Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Sunblock run in my eyes, sting or falter.

And the best part was with the SPF 70, I felt comfortable outside in full sun when I forgot my hat in the car!

Neutrogena has a coupon on their website, so everyone can try Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Sunblock. Check out http://www.neutrogena.com/suncoupon for a $2.00 off printable coupon.

Today, I applied the Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Sunblock again, this time I made sure to include the tops of my hands. Recently, my hands have been getting red and rough each day after the daily commute. My hands look great.

It's light enough to wear under makeup- Check out this pic. I have on a full face of makeup over my Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Sunblock. It leaves your skin so matte that makeup application is a cinch! No greasy, sticky skin for me!

I can't wait to keep using Neutrogena UltraSheer® Liquid Sunblock- We're going to the zoo next weekend, maybe I'll be able to leave my huge, ugly sun hat at home!

Would you like to review UltraSheer®, too? Then go to http://www.giantwavepool.com/ultrasheer!

Or get $2 off your UltraSheer® purchase at http://www.neutrogena.com/suncoupon.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free for review purposes from Tidal Labs. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

2 free $10 credits at Med Co. Health store online!

I've seen this several places online, so I'm not sure who to thank!

Visit Medco Health store online, sign up for an account and start shopping. Save $10 by entering code MHS10.

Then- Come back to the website and do more shopping, there is a second $10 off code: TENOFF.

Shipping is a standard $0.99 per order.

These are good off any purchase- it can be less than $10.00, however, you will have to pay .99 shipping for each order.  I ordered some Burt's bees lips balms, and some cotton rounds to remove my makeup.  I got $20.00 in merchandise for $1.98!  Now that's Savings!!

You might want to hurry- I don't know how long this is going to last!

Do you have what it takes??

It's that time again- The All You Grocery Challenge!!

Do you have what it takes to feed your family for only $25/ per per week?  DH and I are in, and I'd love to have some of my readers take this journey with me!  To prepare, I will be stockpiling canned and frozen foods- in fact, I've already started!

Check out the blog for the Challenge throughout the contest and see what the other contestants are doing- share ideas and tips!

I'm picking a winner tomorrow!

It's not too late- enter to win a coupon wallet jam packed with coupons!!

Check out all the details and enter here!

E-Coupon re-stock!

It's the first of the month- that means the coupons at:

Cellfire.com

Coupons.com

Shortcuts.com

have all re-set themselves! Go and re-load your cards, and because the coupons have re-set, you can now print more too!

My latest Bzzagent Campaign- got2b smooth operator!

Most of you know from reading my blog there are a few things that I love: HBA is one of them (my cat Duncan and free stuff are two of the others!).  So when I was offered the got2b smooth operator BzzCampaign, I couldn't wait!

I, sadly, suffer from fly away hair, and after using got2b smooth operator. I was indeed a smooth operator!

It was recently reformulated with an indulgent cashmere infusion, and protects against heat damage from our favorite heat styling tools and contains a UV protectant.  I just pumped a little into my palm and distributed it evenly through towel-dried hair, then blow dried and styled as usual.  My hair was sexah and smooth. Sadly my camera batteries were dead this morning, so I couldn't snap any pics.

It's great for all hair types, and have an heavenly scent!  Just for my readers I am offering 3 $2.50 off one (smooth operator smoothing lustre lotion OR one (1) smoothing hairspray.

To enter, please leave a comment.  You can earn an extra entry by following this blog on Twitter.  Please leave a comment that you are a Twitter follower, as well as your Twitter user ID.  You can earn a third entry by tweeting a link to this post.  Please use the hashtag #cacoupondivaCG.

I will announce the three winners on Friday June 18th.

I am a member of Bzzagent, a great WOM (word of mouth) website that helps spread the word on tons of great products.  I received these products for free. I recommend that you check Bzzagent out!

I'll also include some other great coupons too for an awesome potluck!