It's Tax Time!

It's that time of year!!

Pull out your shoe boxes of receipts, organize your E-2's, 1099's and other misc. tax paperwork.

[caption id="attachment_1566" align="aligncenter" width="387" caption="Try to be a little more organized than this!"][/caption]

Tax forms are available at the IRS website. If doing your taxes by yourself seems daunting, there are online services, such as the IRS' Free File (if your adjusted gross income- AGI is under $57,000).

If you use a tax preparation service, select one that has certified tax preparers and be aware of tax refund anticipation loans. They can have large penalties and interest.  Read all of the paperwork and fine print thoroughly.

Once you have your refund (if you are entitled to one), use it responsibly!

We're breaking our refund into several chunks:

• Savings- We'll be putting a chunk (about half) into savings.


• Car Payment- We'll be making an extra car payment or two.


• Fun Stuff- We'll have a date night, and get our Matterhorn Poster framed (It's huge and needs a custom frame), and maybe spoil the little man!

• Beef up our stockpile.  Our stockpile is looking a bit weak.  I'd love to spend $100 and get our stockpile back up to par.  Canned goods, dried beans, frozen veggies and meat.

What will you being doing with your refund?

Birthday freebie roundup!

My birthday is in a few weeks, and I'm on the prowl for Birthday freebies!  I get the usuals each year, a free dinner at Black Angus, free goodies at Sephora, free swag at Aveda, and $3.00 ECB at CVS!!

If you haven't signed up for birthday swag, here a few links with great lists:

The Frugal Girls

Hey It's Free!

Wisebread

 

Go forth and sign up for birthday goodies!!!

Get paid for your opinion: Focus groups!

There are lots of online survey companies, but their payouts can be small and take a lot of time to accrue the amount of points needed to cash out.

In most large cities, there are research companies that run focus groups weekly.

How to find them?  Google "Your city name focus group".

In San Diego there are the following research companies:

• Taylor Research


• Luth Research 


• Flagship Research

 

Another way is to look on Craigslist.  Go to Jobs and in the search field type "Focus Group".  Some smaller companies may post ads for focus groups.  Recently I participated in a mock jury style focus group and was paid $90 for 5 hours of work.  Yesterday I participated in a focus group relating to housewares and received $40 for just an hour! I found both on Craigslist.

 

Right now on Craigslist there are a couple great opportunities in the San Diego area.

 

 

 

 

Save money when cleaning

Ugh.  Cleaning house.  We hate to do it, but you gotta!

There are so many cleaners, cleansers, scrubs, sprays and products that promise a clean, sparkly house.

Here are a few products that you probably already have in your house that will work better than all those magic bubbles and genies!

• White vinegar! It's a great window cleaner and de-greaser.


• Newspapers.  Wonder what to do with all of those Sunday papers? I use mine to wash windows.  I pour the white vinegar into an empty spray bottle and spray it on to the window and wipe them clean with pieces of newspaper.  Lint free, streak free clean every time!  I also put a few sections in my trash can before I pop the liner in.  In case of a rip in the trash bag, the newspaper soaks it up.


• Baking Soda. mix with a little water and use as a scrub for sinks, toilets, vanities, counter tops.  I sprinkle it into the toilet and scrub with my brush!  You can also mix baking soda with a few drops of lavender essential oil, sprinkle it onto your carpet, wait 20 minutes and vacuum it up.  It freshens your carpet.


• Lemons.  Have a stinky kitchen drain?chop up a lemon (with peel still attached) and drop them down the drain.  Turn on the cold water and the garbage disposal and grind those babies up! Pretty much any citrus fruit works well.  Just use what you have on hand.

What do you use to keep you home clean and sparkly?

Deals from around Da 'Net!

Usually the beginning of the year is flush with fat deals, freebies, great drugstore deals, etc. but I am not finding that to be the case this year.  Maybe I've grown picky in my old age?

Here are some deals and freebies that are pretty cool.

• Jan 12-14 Starbucks locations will be sampling three of their roasts.  Learn more here.


• Eversave (A Daily Deal Site) is offering $3.00 off to current members and new members get $2.00 off when you sign up!  Current members use the code CHEERS at checkout.  New members, the credit will automatically be applied at checkout.


• KFC has an offer for football fans- Check out this link and learn how you can score some free wings!


• If your baby is a wiggle butt like mine is, this next deal is great.  Upload a video of your wiggle butt here and Huggies will send you a free package of Huggies slip-ons.


• If you are or know a college student, head over to Neebo's Facebook page and enter to win free Textbook rentals.


• Bigelow Tea is giving away samples on their Facebook Page!


• For those of you who do recyclebank, head over and redeem 75 points for a $2 off Kashi coupon. Take it over to Target where selected varieties of Kashi cereal are only $2.76/box! After coupon, it's only .76/box! If you use your Target red card, save an additional 5%!!

And since I've been remiss in posting this:

A new month means new printable and electronic coupons!

Check out the following sites:

Coupons.com (printable and e-coupons), Redplum (printable), Savingstar (e-coupons) Shortcuts.com (printable an e-coupons), Smartsource (printable), Cellfire (e-coupons), All You (printable) and Catalina’s Coupon Network (printable).

Go get your savings on!

Freebies and Facebook!

There are some great freebies that we've posted on Twitter.

Over on Facebook, we posting lots of great stuff each day. Including some awesome stuff coming up around the community.

1/14/12- Ikea is having a Bring your Own Friends  sale.  Free breakfast, giveaways, free massages.  RSVP here!!

Until 2/28/12 or until supplies are exhausted, at select WestField Shoppingtowns in San Diego county, you can take $200 in receipts to the concierge desk and receive a Seaworld Annual Pass. Thanks to San Diego Bargain Mama!

The newest San Diego Area Fresh and Easy opens on 1/18/12.  You know I'll be there with bells on!!

Hope everyone is having a great January! We'll be doing lots of posts and fun stuff in the coming weeks.

 

San Diego area peeps- I have availabilities for coupon classes!! Email me at cacoupondiva@gmail.com for details. Hostesses are eligible for pretty awesome perks

Facebook Giveaway!!

We're hosting a SWEEEEET giveaway on our Facebook Page for all of our fans!

To enter, you must visit our Facebook Page and leave a comment on the giveaway post about how you plan to save money this year. Coupons, rebates, budgeting, Not eating out as much, something else? A winner will be chosen on 1/6/12 (that's Friday!) evening.

 

[caption id="attachment_1551" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Giveaway Goodies!"][/caption]

This lot of goodies has a value of over $50!Burt's Bees moisturizer, Origins Cleanser, Watkins Moisturizer, L'Occitaine hand creme, Seattle's Best Coffee, Body Shop Body Cream and Bath Pouf, and a handful of samples.  I'll also include a potluck of 25 coupons.

 

Please don't leave comments on this post, only comments on the Facebook post will be counted as an entry.

 

Thanks to all of our readers!!

How to Budget: An example Budget

I've been working on this post for I swear, a week.  We've just been so busy with holiday stuff, and I'm working on de-cluttering 100 items in 2012. More on that later!

Here's the quick and dirty on budgeting, courtesy of our buddies at About.com. Too lazy to read that?  I hear ya. Here is the super easy way to budget.

1. Figure out how much money you bring home after taxes and other deductions (I.E. IRA, insurance, other investment deductions). Basically, your take home pay.  Don't forget to include any other sources of income, such as alimony or child support.

2.  Make a list of all of your bills.  For larger costs or bills that are infrequent (quarterly insurance payments, or annual property tax bills) save a little each month, so when the expense comes, you'll have money set aside.   You can put the money in your savings account, or some banks allow you to earmark funds in accounts.

3.  Our example below is based on a couple working each working full time jobs, bringing home $65,000 gross.  After taxes, IRA contributions, and health insurance deductions, their net is $49,774.00.  The line items marked with * are costs that do not occur each month, but are saved for each month. Items marked with # are variable, but it's an average of the cost of the last 12 months.

Expense                             Monthly Amount/allotment                        Annual Amount

Rent                                       1175                                                                                       14100
Insurance(Car & Renters)  191                                                                                          2292 
AT&T (phone & Net)#       200                                                                                         2400
Car Payment                        339                                                                                         4068
Gas & Electric#                     45                                                                                            540
Life Insurance*                     85                                                                                          1020
Water#                                   50                                                                                            600
Christmas Money                50                                                                                            600 (This used to be called an Xmas Club)
Groceries#                           100                                                                                         1200
Savings                                 250                                                                                        3000
Eating Out#                          75                                                                                           900
Spending Money               200                                                                                        2400 (That's $100 per person per month)
Clothes*                                30                                                                                          900
Baby#                                 100                                                                                         1200
Car Mtx*                              30                                                                                          900
HBA*                                     20                                                                                          240
Gas#                                    300                                                                                       3600
Disability Ins.*                  200                                                                                       2400

Total for the year                                                                                                            41,040

 

So that leaves us with leftover money, of course.  Leftover money just hangs out in the checking account, and each month, we try to sneak a little more into our savings or money market account or buy a savings bond for our son or niece.

 

Money from rebates, Endorse.com, click to pay sites, and gift cards earned through mypoints are not included in the budget.  They are just great perks.

 

 

I went Shopping: Drugstores

I don't really play the drugstore game, however, I read over on HotCouponWorld that the CVS machines were printing out the ECB's from beauty club purchases (you accrue cash back based on your purchases and once a quarter the little machine spits out ECB's!).  I didn't think I had purchased anything at CVS, but what the heck... Free money!

 

Turns out, I received an ECB for $1.00!  Not too bad, especially since I don't really frequent CVS.  I used my $1.00 ECB and 2 .25 off Dawn coupons to buy two bottles of Dawn.  It is on sale this week for .88/bottle.  After ECB and coupons, my OOP was $.32!  I came home and filled up the large bottle on the sink board, and stashed the extra bottle away.  Since all small bottles of Dawn are on sale, the Olay Hand Renewal is also on sale for .88/bottle.  Match that up with the .50 off coupon from yesterday's P&G insert and you are paying only .38/bottle!  I think i may go back today and pick a couple up!

 

Next I headed across the street to Rite Aid.  I received a coupon for a free box of John Freida hair color, redeemable only at Rite Aid.  Thankfully, they had a large selection, which included my color! OOP: $0!

 

Not a bad shopping trip!

Earn Coupons and Gift cards with Recyclebank

Helping the earth by recycling, reducing and reusing is great, but wouldn't it be better if you got something for your efforts?

Well, ladies and gents, let me introduce you to Recyclebank.

Recyclebank has games and quizzes that you can take to earn points. Other point earning activities include pledging to be greener, entering codes from Kashi cereal boxes, registering your Nook with their site, and learning about various green initiatives.

You can redeem points for high value coupons (many you can print at home), or save up those points and turn them in for gift cards or deep discounts at green retailers.

I especially love the $2.00 off an Kashi products!  At Target, that makes a box of Kashi cereal only .99!



Check out Recyclebank!  It's fun, easy, and you can earn coupons like whoah!  I've been a member since 2009 and I earn 1 $2.00 off Kashi Coupon PER MONTH, just by playing games and entering codes from my Kashi boxes.

 

 

 

 

 

*This Post may contain affiliate links. Check out our Affiliate Disclosure here.

More goals for 2012..

I've been working on my list of goals for 2012, especially in relation to this blog, my money saving/couponing lifestyle, and how it fits into our family life.

Major Goals

• Finish my book! (I've been working on it for over 2 years, I just need to finish it. Really.


• Stay within Budget (I'll be doing a new post on budgeting next)


• Save 10% of our income!


• Work on saving for Mr. CouponDiva's new(ish) car.


• Go back to college!


• Read 1-2 more books/month.

Family/Household  Goals

• Recommit to menu planning and eating at home 6 days/week.


• Get us back on the Zone or Mediterranean style Diet.


• Get Mr. Small Man out and playing with other kiddos at least once per week.


• Take Mr. Small Man to the park/playground at least once per week (it's good exercise for me too!)


• Have Date night with Mr. Caoupondiva once a week (even if it's just a movie and snacks after Mr. Small Man goes to bed).


• Take stock of HBA and cleaning supplies and re-stock items as needed.  After 2 years of buying no HBA, our stockpile has dwindled.


• Schedule house cleaning/laundry and stick to the schedule.  I'm going to check out FlyLady.com, I've heard great things!


• Participate in more coupon swaps and clip-ins to obtain more coupons.

Blog/Business Goals

• Buy Domain.


• Monetize blog to defray cost of domain and pay for more giveaways. ( I promise- the site won't be over-run with ads or spam posts!)


• Commit to writing at least 7 posts per week.


• Tweet more often (I'm bad about it right now).


• Teach 1-2 free coupon classes/week.

What goals do you have 2012?  Post at least one of your goals for 2012 and I'll send you a potluck of 25 coupons!

 

Coupons and great deals!

Here are some random, great deals, and freebies!

 

Like Coke Zero on Facebook and Print at .99 off any Coke Zero Product.  It is a Bricks Coupons, so you should be able to print two.

Use this Eco Tools coupon at Target and get a mesh bath poufy for .04!

SavingStar has new E-coupons! And remember that you can stack a paper coupon with a SavingStar coupon.  SavingStar coupons do not come off your total in store, the amount of the coupon is added to your SavingStar account, and once the account reaches $5.00 you can chose a gift card or a paypal payment!

• Agro Corn Starch's website has printable coupons that you can stack with the SavingStar E-Coupon!


• Check your recent inserts for Playtex tampon, Campbell Soup, Wacky Mac, and Pull Ups Coupons to pair with the E-Coupons available on SavingStar!

In not such happy news, Sears/KMart announced they are closing 100-120 stores.  Here is a list of the stores they will for sure be closing....

Free Sample of Meow Mix!! (Courtesy of Wal-Mart!)

If you have a Revolution Money Exchange Account, FYI, it's been purchased by American Express, and it now called Serve. Log on to your account (or sign up if you don't have one!) and earn $10.00.  To earn an additional $10.00, play this game. They will send you an ATM/Am Ex Credit card and you can use the card to spend t he funds.

I went shopping: Fresh and Easy!

WOO HOO!  Hubs received a $25.00 Fresh and Easy gift card in his office gift exchange, so today the Small Man and I went over to our local F&E and checked out the markdown section.

I printed a $6 off $30 coupon before we left home.

Before gift cards and coupons, the total was: $32.19

-$6.00 coupon

-$25.00 Gift Card

OOP was $1.19, which I had in my coin purse!

 

9 lunches for Hubs, two packages of veggie side dishes (one for tonight and one for tomorrow), focaccio (bread) for tonight's dinner, and soup (which I had half of for lunch today!).

 

And, because I am a Fresh & Easy Friends card holder, I earn points for every purchase!

 

If you have a Fresh & Easy near you, check it out- it's a great little market!!

We survived!

Wow!  Little Man had a great first X-mas, and Mr. Coupondiva and I did too.

Yesterday we braved the mall and picked up a few more sweater vests at JCP for Mr. Coupondiva.  They were 70% off!  There were a lot of great sales, but there were TONS of people at the mall.

I hope all of you who did day after Christmas shopping had a great time, and got tons of bargains!

2012 Goals: Making Money!

This is just the first post in a series of posts about my goals for 2012.

Today's Post: My money making goals for 2012.  Since I am a stay at home mama, my income can be limited. My plan is to take advantage of as many affiliate/pay per click/deal sites and programs as I can to earn extra income, either with cash or gift cards. Since I don't play the drugstore game, I am not planning on (or counting on) any Register Rewards or Extra Care Bucks in 2012.  Occasionally I will shop at drugstores, but not often enough to count on those rewards as income.

This includes:

Endorse (We've earned over $200 since October 2011!!)  I love Endorse because I can use coupons, store cards and gift cards and still earn money.

Mypoints- Click on links in emails, take surveys, and earn points when you do online shopping. Redeem points for gift cards!

SBKC- send in your junk mail and earn points which can be redeemed for Gift Cards

Pampers Gifts to Grow (We earn points when we buy diapers and wipes! And there are always free points available online)

Global Opinion Panels (take surveys and do product studies for points, redeem points for $$ or Gift cards!)

PineCone Research- Take surveys and do product surveys.  Get paid $3.00 per survey!

 

Also, I plan on doing TONS of rebates!  My fav spot on the web for finding tons of rebates is Coupons, Deals, and More!

 

In addition, we take all of Little Man's outgrown clothes and some of the equipment he has outgrown to the baby resale shop and trade them in for clothes in the next size up and new equipment or toys.That means no OOP for us!

 

How do you plan to earn extra cash in 2012?

 

 

 

I'm still here!

Sorry, we've been super busy with holiday plans, shopping, and general Festivities.

Here are some super rad things that have going on:

I just received a check in the mail from Endorse for $35 and some change! And I just POP'd two moreenvelopes into the mail yesterday!  All this holiday shopping is really paying off!

If you haven't "liked" us on Facebook, what are you waiting for?  I post great freebies and deals DAILY. Once we get to 50 followers on Facebook, there will be a MASSIVE giveaway!

East Acres is a new daily deal site for floral arrangements and decor.  Sign up, receive a free 410.00 credit.  Click PROMO on the bar across the top, select the set of peacock feathers and check out.  Choose "free credits" as the method of payment and It's FREEEEE!!!

Vons and Albertson's stores are popping out Catalinas for $3.00 or $4.00 WYB 12+ jars of Gerber baby foods!

MyPoints is rocking this time of year!  In the past 3 months, I've earned 3 $10.00 gift cards, just by clicking links in emails and taking 2-3 brief (10 minutes or less) surveys each day!

Over at Drugstore Divas, they are doing Redbox: 12 Days of Deals!- Check it out!

 

 

I went shopping: Causal Male XL

Mr. Coupondiva is on the Causal Male XL mailing list. They send coupons about once per quarter, and last week we got a $20/$20+ coupon.  I was super excited!  I scoured the clearance section for about 20 minutes until I came upon two great dress shirts.

[caption id="attachment_1504" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="What a sweet OOP!"][/caption]

 

I ended up paying $1.35 OOP for two dress shirts that were originally $42.50 each!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1505" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="A great shirt at a great price!"][/caption]

 

They are George Foreman brand Oxford Cloth dress shirts. I purchased one in white and one in blue (which he wore the next day!)

I didn't save them for Christmas, I gave them to Mr. Coupondiva right away. He can always use more dress shirts, especially since he wears one every day to work.

 

The moral of this story is: If there are specialty shops that you shop at (big and tall, maternity, petite, plus size, kids clothes), sign up for their mailing list.  9 times out of 10, they'll send you high value coupons and offers.

Ralph's Private Selection Campaign (BzzAgent Review)

Recently I was selected to be a part of the Kroger's Private SelectionBzzAgent Campaign.  Around these parts, the Kroger brand store is Ralph's.

I was supplied with three product coupons: A Frozen Appetizer, A Frozen Pizza, and a Frozen Dessert (not Ice Cream)

The three product coupons arrived just in time for my husbands birthday party! I selected the Southwestern Style Chicken Trumpets, Margherita pizza and Cream Puffs.

Margherita Pizza

Southwestern Trumpets

Cream Puffs and Magic Shell!

• The Southwestern Style Chicken Trumpets didn't last 5 minutes.  The boys at the party scooped them up and dipped them in sour cream mixed with salsa. They were flaky and loaded with chicken, peppers and cheese!


• I added pepperonis to the top of the Margherita pizza (Boys love meat on their pizzas).  It was crispy, but the sliced little tomatoes made it a little soggy in the middle, but a few extra minutes in the oven and it was very crispy.  THe boys commented on the yummy balls of cheese on the pizza and how  it was a great appetizer!


• The Cream Puffs were so good we didn't get a chance to thaw them!  I dipped them in magic shell and it made them even more decadent!

Private Selection^® is made for the food enthusiast in us all, with its rich collection of artisan-inspired offerings and gourmet ingredients. Create your own masterpieces in the kitchen with Private Selection^® ingredients or choose from Private Selection^® appetizers, entrees and desserts to help you make each meal a delightful experience for both you and your guests. Either way you'll be bringing your best to the table.

Start with your passion for delicious meals, then let Private Selection^® help you deliver incredible results at your dinner table. There are fine chocolates, artisan meats and cheeses, gourmet pastas and sauces, and a wealth of prepared meals and side items — all carefully crafted so you can be the star in your kitchen. Is there really anything better?

• The entire Private Selection^® collection has been reimagined, with new ingredients and hundreds of new recipes


• Artisan-inspired products that have been carefully crafted with the finest attention to detail


• Exclusively available in the Kroger family of stores


• A complete range of food offerings, including Angus and deli meat, cheese, ice cream, breads, appetizers, desserts, spices, olive oil, chocolates, coffee, seafood, pasta and pasta sauce, cookies and frozen meals

I shared the $2.00 off Private Selection coupons with my party guests and told them all about Bzzagent! If you'd like to learn more about the great Word of Mouth advertising and social marketing company, check out their website!  To Learn about Private Selection, check here or your local Kroger Brand store.

Starbucks Coffee as low as $3.33/each with rebate and Gift Card at Target!

I've seen this deal all over the net and I am SUPER excited.

I opened the coffee canister this morning.. and OHS NOES I only have enough coffee for ONE MORE POT! Oh, the humanity!

 

Here is the scenario at Target:

Starbucks Coffee (10-12 oz) – $7.99/ea

• Get a $5 Target gift card when you buy 3 (remember you can't use this on the current purchase)


• Use $3/2 Starbucks Coffee, 11, 12 or 20 oz 12/04/2011 SS Insert (exp 01/14/2012) &


• Use $1/1 Starbucks Coffee, 11, 12, or 20 oz 12/04/2011 SS Insert (exp 01/14/2012)


• Then when you get home submit for a $5 Starbucks Gift Card Rebate here.  You can do it online and photograph the UPC's and receipt and save the .44 stamp.

Total:  3 for $3.33 each after gift card & rebate! Actual OOP will be $19.97 after coupons (plus tax if applicable for your area).

If you have a lot of shopping to do at Target, print off one of these coupons good for a $10 Target gift card when you spend $50+!

If you use Endorse.com, add Target to your list of Endorses, and submit your receipt to Endorse and earn 2% cashback!

 

 

And the winner is...

Rochelle is the winner of the Omaha Steaks Certificate!

 

It'll be emailed to you shortly!