Before and After Coupons

I feel like I do pretty well finding good deals and using coupons, especially since I've only been doing it since June. However, it's easy to look at the final amount spent and think "I could've done better" or "others' do a lot better." But instead of thinking that, I need to focus on the progress I've already made with our budget. To help with my thinking, I've taken before and after pictures. Below is $18 worth of groceries...the first would be without coupons and the 2nd is with coupons and great deals. It amazes me to know that 8 months ago, I would've ended up with just the 1st picture.

There should actually be a third 7 Up in this picture, but I accidentally missed it when I gathered the groceries.

Earning Interest on Gift Cards

Are you buying a lot of gift cards or expect to receive quite a few for Christmas? Then make those gift cards work for you!

I got married 7 months ago and received an overwhelming amount of gift cards. I did some research and found Leverage Card. It's a FREE service. You enter the card and pin number of the gift cards and the site will keep track of the balances while providing 1% interest. At least that's how it works in theory...it's a beta version so some of the kinks are still being worked out. The amount listed for each gift card does not normally change when you make purchases, so the site is not an easy tool that keeps track of the balances. Also, while hundreds of stores are listed, not all of them are set up to tell you the initial balance.

BUT ON TO THE GOOD PART: The 1% interest, calculated every night. You're not going to get rich with this, but it does add up little by little. In 7 months, I have a little over $5 interest. The interest can be used toward other gift cards and shipping costs on physical cards, since you can buy cards directly through the site. There are a couple of rules: You must be an active member to acquire interest, meaning you have logged into your account within the last 30 days. Also, you can not earn interest on cards with retailers that are not set up for online balance checking (Walmart does not give interest).

There are other aspects of Leverage Card that I have not actually used yet, such as the ability to swap cards with other members and keeping track of loyalty reward programs.

I paid less than $4 for The Dark Knight - Batman 2

Shopping online is similar to shopping in a regular store -- you still look for a sale or good price and match it with a coupon, rebate, and any other money saving option.

So here's what I did...

In last year's Entertainment Book, there was a code for an instant $5 Barnes and Noble gift card when you sign up with MyPoints. MyPoints gives you points for clicking links in emails they send and for shopping online. You can also receive points for signing up for certain newsletters or filling out occasional surveys. Cash in the points for gift cards to a large variety of stores and restaurants. Just from emails and a couple of surveys, I quickly had enough points for a $10 Barnes & Noble card instead of the initial $5.

3 weeks ago, I signed up for Ebates, which gives a percentage of cash back for items purchased online. They mail you a check every 3 months if your credit is over $5. If it's under, the amount will roll over to the next 3 month period. Ebates also offers a $5 sign-up bonus. I had not bought anything within those first 3 weeks, so Ebates sent an email that they would up the sign-up bonus to $10 if I purchased something within the next 2 weeks. That meant time for a little Christmas shopping! Barnes and Noble usually offers 4% cash back on purchases, but they have doubled to 8% for the holidays.

I searched RetailMeNot for a coupon code for Barnes and Noble. Ebates has coupon codes, but not one that I wanted to use for this purchase. At RetailMeNot, I found a code for 15% off an item.

So -- I went through the Ebates site to get to Barnes and Noble, placed the DVD in my shopping cart, and put in the 15% coupon code and the $10 gift card. Grand total off of my credit card was $15.22. AND, next time Ebates sends checks, I'll be receiving a check for $11.66 (the $10 sign-up bonus and 8% cash back)

(FYI: Barnes and Noble also offers free shipping for orders that are $25 or more AFTER coupon codes.)

Free Music

Amazon has over 600 songs that are free to download!