Rainy Day Blog

It's been quite rainy here lately and by the looks of this weather map, we're not out of the woods yet:

I did get a little wet when I went out coupon hunting this morning, and I blame the weather for why I could only find a few extra inserts this week - apparently people don't go to Starbucks to read the Sunday paper when it's pouring outside!

Other than that, this was a pretty good week, and I did some nice rolling at Walgreens:

Transaction 1:

(8) Jiffy Peanut Butter on sale 2/$4 = $16 (+get $10 RR)
Used:

• (4) $0.75/2 coupons = $3 off total

OOP = $13

and received $10 RR for buying 8 Jiffy's

Transaction 2:

(1) 10 pack of #2 Pencils = 19 cents

(1) Gum Toothbrush = $3.49 (+3.50 RR)

(1) Walgreen's Children's Activity Book = 99 cents

(1) Vitamin Shampoo = $3.99 (+4 RR)

(4) Crest Expressions Toothpaste 4/$10 = $10 (+$5 RR)

Tax = 1.03

Used:

• (4) $0.75/1 coupons = $3 off total
• $10 RR from Transaction 1

OOP = 6.69

and received a total of $12.50 RR

Transaction 3 (a repeat of transaction 1 plus some fillers)

(8) Jiffy Peanut Butter on sale 2/$4 = $16 (+get $10 RR)
(4) 10 pack of #2 Pencils 19 cents each = $0.76

Used:

• (4) $0.75/2 coupons = $3 off total
• $12.50 RR

OOP = $1.30

and received $10 RR (again!) for buying 8 Jiffy's

Walgreen's Total OOP for the week = $20.99

Plus, we have a $10 RR to use this week!

The only other shopping I did this week was a very small trip to Copps:

(1) bunch of bananas $0.49/lb = 1.24

(2) Quaker Quick Oats on sale $1.28 ea = 2.56

OOP = $3.80

Total OOP for the Week = 24.79

(plus we have 1 remaining $10 RR)

We were hoping to stay more under budget, like $20 instead of $25, because we know we need to stock up on some kitchen basics, but it didn't happen this week. Last week, we did stay under $20, so that extra $5 savings will be used this coming week to give us a $30 budget. Mrs. Deals is already working on some deals to see just how far she can make that go... until then, stay dry! :)

- Mister Deals

Money Making Travel Tips

I've been really neglecting this blog lately - and this week I have been out of town on business, so I once again thought I would not get around to posting about the great deals I have picked up lately. However, I discovered something on this trip that really surprised me and I just had to share it.

You can literally make money on business trips... without lying or cheating on your expense report!

1. Earn $5 per day by making your own bed. Starwood hotels (like Westin, Sheraton, W, Four Points, etc) have a program called "You Tidy - We Treat." They way it works is that if you decline housekeeping service for the day (by hanging their special tag on your door the night before), they give you a $5 coupon good towards any of the hotel's dining services. You can do it for each day, except the day you check out, so I managed to rack up $15 in savings this week, which I used to buy my breakfast yesterday.

Of course, a free or nearly-free meal is great, but what's even better is that because I am on a business trip, my employer will reimburse the cost of my meals. So, I will actually get paid back the $15. It's like getting a mail in rebate for an item that was free w/ coupon :)

I'm afraid that some could argue that it is a moral dilemma: if the meal is $20, and I have $15 in coupons, and put only the remaining $5 charge on my credit card, what should I ask my company to pay back? $20 or $5? For me it's easy, and I offer this as a counter example: If I were to pay for my meal with say $15 in cash and $5 credit, I would certainly expect the company to pay me back for the whole $20. What if I had a gift card for $15, and used that? I still consider that to be my money, and if my employer is going to pay me back for the total cost of the meal, then my method of payment is irrelevant.

Not to mention, I had to make my own bed everyday! So I really feel I earned the $15 ;)


2. Vendor Giveaways. If you are going to a trade show or a conference, you know that vendors will be giving away swag: pens, candy, stress relief balls, hats, etc. And all this stuff is great, but I can tell you that my favorite vendor at this conference was the one who was giving out $10 Starbucks Gift Cards! Of course it was limited to 1 per person, and the catch was that you were supposed to watch a demo of their product, but when I stopped by, their booth was so swamped they just handed me the gift card. Needless to say, I will be keeping my eye on this vendor at future shows. And hopefully more vendors will wake up to the fact that I have already enough pens and key-chain-flashlights :)


Well, that's all for right now, I certainly plan to share some more travel tips in the future, but it is Sunday morning, so right now I have some coupon collecting to do! I'm excited to see what coupons Charlotte, NC has to offer today.

- Mister Deals

Sunday Morning - Stock up on Coupons!

I have a new Sunday Morning routine: Coupon Hunting

I started off the day at Metcalf's Sentry Foods - a grocery store that will give you a free Sunday paper when you spend $5 or more. I needed a gallon of milk, so after that I just had to find another item for about $2. I now had my first paper, which meant my first 3 coupon inserts for this week: Red Plum, Smart Source, and Proctor & Gamble.

Next, I stopped at as many coffee shops and diners I could find.


You can't be shy - several times I interrupted people who were reading their newspapers to politely ask if they were planning to keep the coupon inserts. For the most part, the people I ran into were happy to hand over all of the ads, which they viewed as "junk." If only they knew ;) But, 2 guys did surprise me. They were sitting on the curb outside of a Perkins, and each had a Sunday Paper. I asked them if they were "Coupon Clippers," and they both answered that indeed it was the only reason they bought the paper!

In total, I managed to find:
8 P&G
7 SmartSource
4 RedPlum

Now, it's time to plan some deals!