How to Get Free Stuff & Some Great Deals

Okay, so a few of you asked how to get the free stuff. This is basically how it works by store. As to time, I would say it takes me at least 2-3 hours a week between clipping and filing coupons, planning purchases, and the actual shopping. Some of this stuff can be done by multi-tasking, like clipping coupons when you’re watching TV, but there is definitely time involved. Also, you need to get the paper – sometimes getting the neighborhood paper is cheaper , but just make sure it gets all the coupon inserts (Smart Source, Red Plum, & once a month P&G ). You will also need to get organized – I’ll post a pic of my coupon book at the end here.

If you decide to do it, it is great getting lots of free stuff, but you do have to discipline yourself as to how much time you will put into it, as you could get deals almost indefinitely. Last disclaimer is that some of the girls on these sites I will reference do things that I wouldn’t do and in my opinion abuse the couponing policies or try to scam stores (ex: copying and printing coupons sent to others and using them yourself, using more than one coupon when it states one per customer or getting more than one deal card at stores like CVS). I’m sure none of you would try to do this, but I figure if you’re going to put your eternal salvation on the line for some free stuff, you might be on the wrong track.

Here are the benefits:
- Save 90% or more on your toiletries and cleaning supplies. You will never have to purchase toothpaste or makeup or deodorant or shampoo again.
- Save about 50% on your grocery budget. If you still purchase fresh stuff, it’s hard to save much more than 60% total, because you can almost never get that stuff completely free. But paying half it still much better than full price.

Here are the basic ways to get stuff free:
1. Use the store special programs that usually advertise free stuff anyway, especially at CVS and Walgreens. Using a coupon on these items, you can actually make “money” some of the time.
2. Use a buy one get one free coupon on a buy one get one free sale. The store pays for one item, the manufacturer pays for the other. Most stores allow this.
3. Use a high value coupon on a sale item. Example: Toilet paper is on sale for 0.99 a pack. You use a .50/off coupon and the store doubles it. Your TP is free.

Store to Store
This is the way the stores work. Most of the obvious free stuff comes from the drug stores. Careful examining of grocery ads can get you great deals.

1. CVS: Roll your extra bucks (“extra credit bucks” or ECB for short) to get free stuff every week. You will have to put out $10-20 dollars to get started, but from there will rarely have to pay more than tax. For instance, they have deodorant on sale for 4.99, and will give you back $4 “extra credit bucks (ECB)” at the end of your purchase. You use a $1 dollar off coupon for the deodorant, and so it is free. These links explain it further:
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/03/cvs-101.html OR
http://forums.families.com/cvs-101-everything-from-eb-to-clearance-to-overage,t33611

A good site that matches up deals for you is www.iheartcvs.com. Again, practice honestly when referencing these sites. You can also match most deals up just by looking at the weekly ad (they also have a monthly ECB booklet).

2. Walgreens: Walgreens is a little more complicated, but uses these three things to help you save money.
Register Rewards (RR) - Like ECB, but with restrictions. Register Rewards print out of a little machine next to the receipt printer after your purchase. You can get them on certain promotional items. For instance, this week they had Reach toothbrushes 2/$5, and then $5 RR if you buy 2. So the 2 toothbrushes are free, and if you use $1 off coupons off each one, you can actually make $2 on the transaction. As to RR limitations, you can’t use your RR to purchase the same items over again, and you can’t have more coupons and RR combined than number of items you are purchasing. Also, ECB expire in one month and most RR expire in two weeks (though the Reach ones don’t expire until Dec. – odd.)
Easy Saver Coupons – Each month Walgreens puts out an Easy Saver Booklet, divided in half. The first half is coupons, the second half is rebates. These coupons can usually be stacked with manufacturer coupons for even greater savings. The booklet is at the front of the store next to the ad.
Easy Saver Rebates – This is where you make the most money at Walgreens. The second half of the booklet is where they list all the rebates. These can be mailed in, but the most efficient way to do this is online. You simply register on the Walgreens web site, and after you purchase a rebate item, you check what you bought off of a list, and enter the receipt number. They will give you back what you paid plus 10% if you choose to put in on a Walgreens gift card. The first time you do this, they will mail the gift card to you. After that, you can have the money loaded on your card each month. By doing this, you just spend your rebate money from the previous month each month, along with rolling RR, to get your free stuff. You don’t even have to pay tax out of pocket.

For deal matching at Walgreens, try www.iheartwags.com.

3. Target: Target is much more hit and miss, so I only end up there a couple of times a month. What you’re looking for in their ads is when they give $5 back gift cards on items. For instance, cereal may be 4/$11, but you get $5 back. So then it is 4/$6, and if you use coupons on each box, you can get it down to 4/$4, and a dollar a box isn’t bad for cereal. Given the right deal and coupons, I’ve gotten stuff free this way too. The key is to save those gift cards and “roll” them for the next deal (though if you’re already going to spend money at Target, you might as well use them).

4. Grocery Stores: I’m going to clump all of these together, because these are usually regional. Basically, all you can do is carefully examine the ads, match up your coupons with the best deals, and stockpile. For this reason, I get three sets of coupons each week (by subscribing to our local paper, this doubles my coupons – they drop an insert in Sat. & deliver the big Sunday paper too – at half the cost). So when salad dressing is really cheap, I can get three instead of one. I buy a lot of meat at the cheapest price (under $2/lb. for lean ground beef and fresh boneless skinless chicken breast) and freeze it, etc. The idea is to buy what you need at the price you deem reasonable. When you are forced to convenience buy, you are forced to pay higher prices.

Check to see if any of the stores in your area double coupons. I know that Hen House and Dillons do. This really adds up and often leads to the free items more easily. Never buy anything just because you have a coupon though, unless you really need it, because if it’s not on sale, you might end up paying more than at Walmart. Oh yes, how do you know you’re getting a good deal? If you can beat the Walmart & Sam’s Club’s prices, then you are. When I started out, I made a short list of items I buy a lot, and calculated their price per item (cost per diaper, roll of TP, oz. of Tide, etc.) and that is what I try to beat.

So, hopefully that wasn’t too confusing. Feel free to post any questions. Once you start doing it, it makes a lot more sense and requires much less thought. If you like getting good deals, it can also be great fun! Last thing, here is my coupon book:
(This is not a great pic - it is from the early days - and makes it look a little messy - but it gives you the basic idea. This is a zippered 3-ring binder.)
The first section deals with stores (I store ECB, RR, and gift cards by store, with a spot on top for the weekly lists). These are 4x6 photo pages I got at Office Depot. The sections after that are color-coded by area (toiletries, other non-foods, fresh, boxed/canned, etc.) and use baseball-card pages.

If you don’t have a lot of time, I have heard of some people who don’t clip and file, they just save them by date and match them up with posted deals online. This said, there are countless blogs and sites dedicated to this purpose. Here are a few:

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/
http://www.slickdeals.net/
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

Well, good luck saving some cash. This is a great way to build a storage, especially for those who thought maybe they didn’t have the $ right now. Just find what works for you based on your time and desire. Let me know of any great deals that come your way!

Pennsylvania Visit, Fantasy Football

Sorry for the lag in posting, but here's what we've been up to. Last week, we visited Chris's family in Lewisburg, PA. Cami had many firsts, including:


- her first plane ride: a perfect darling on the trip there, a little challenging on the return flight.
- her first trip to the hunting lodge: while she didnt' shoot any clay birds, Daddy had a pretty good go of it and Cami got to wear her camo shirt, so Mommy was happy.
- her first tailgate: always a winner when food is involved, followed by...
- her first Penn State football game: a solid victory, they were playing "Sweet Caroline" by the middle of the second quarter. Cami spent most of the game strapped to the front of Chris, who had a huge X of sweat on his back from the baby bjourn (a great visual, I know).
- her first long-term interaction with a dog: Sadie, Chris's parents year-old puppy, loved Cami. Cami had mixed feelings on the subject, but did pretty well.

Here are some visuals from the trip:

We had a great time & genuinely, Cami was a really good baby. Shelly & Warren (Nanee & Pop-pop) fed us well, as always, and were excellent hosts (as was Chris's brother Brian, who picked us up from the airport in Baltimore - Lewisburg is at least 2 1/2 hours from any major airport, so this is a big deal :)). So vacation with a baby is a little more complicated than flying solo was, but I think we will adjust to that over time. Now it is back to the old grind, and as Chris is outside mowing our extremely overgrown lawn, Cami is taking a very overdue nap.

While I know Chris will go into greater detail about this at another time, I have to mention we have a family fantaty football league. And a certain someone's team is 2-0...

One other note - I have become a couponing maniac! I never knew how much free stuff you can get if you will take the time to do it (and I mean time - clipping, planning, shopping...). Still, I was pretty proud of my Friday trip, which brought in this haul - $120 worth - 100% free!

Baseball, Cucumbers, Pioneers, and The Dark Knight

Big week this week, and fortunately lots of pictures. Starting at the beginning Carrie and I went to the Royals game on Monday and had some great seats. My company rented the Dugout suit and it felt like we we right on the field. Sadly, that was the nice the Royals were blown out 19-4. Still, I we had a great time. Now the pictures. view from the suit.
another suite view
File this one under ," I never win anything so when I win something no matter how small I make a big deal of it." The Royals had folks throw out T-shirts and I caught the one that was thrown into our dugout. I like to think it was because I completely charmed the girl throwing out T-shirts, Carrie thinks otherwise and since she isn't writing this post her viewpoint will remain silent.

On to the next subject and that's Cucumbers. I was out picking them from our garden the other day and I had noticed that one cucumber had escaped my usual harvest for several weeks, and got just huge.

Yup, that's 12 inches of home-grown cucumber.
And there goes 12 inches of home-grown cucumber.
Those were the three cucumbers I harvested that day and how large they are in relation to Cami...who wasn't really certain what Daddy was trying to do.

No general Cuteness. We celebrated Pioneer Day with the family this week by eating hot soup and walking in the blazing heat. What better way to commemorate those who suffered so much for the gospel to go out and voluntarily suffer a little ourselves. Seriously, we did have a good time and some good pictures.

This has nothing to do with Pioneer day, but Cami has started playing with her Doll House and it's really cute.
Cami's first taste of Watermelon...she's a big fan.
Cami with cousins Ethan, Madison,Spencer, and Peyton. This is about 1/3 of the actual Cousin photo but it's the only one on our camera so here it is. We have tons more pictures from Pioneer Day because Cami was in a particularly good mood. I'm sure those will be posted as soon as we get them off the other camera.

So that about wraps up the week, but before I wrap this up I want to say a few words about, "The Dark Knight". I have some minor spoilers in here, very minor, so if you want to go in with a fresh take don't read further. I went on Friday and It's now Saturday and I'm not sure what to think. In a sense I loved it, it was a perfect action movie, the pace was quick and it moved rapidly from one awesome scene to the next. It had me sucked in from the first minute.

If I have a problem it's that the acting was almost too good. The Joker is perfect, everything you've read is true and more. The only question I have is is the Joker a character worthy of a perfect depiction? Comic book villains are one thing, but I believe that this Joker was actually a twisted mass murderer with no personal motivations other than fulfilling his own twisted sense of fun through murder and general chaos. It bordered on disturbing, so I am left conflicted as I am in awe of how "real" they made this otherwise cliche villain but horrified that someone could even think of an individual so twisted.

What really surprised me about the movie was how much I liked Harvey Dent, and how much his fall to become Two-Face was disheartening. I thought his performance was on par with the Joker's. Couple that with Christian Bale turning in the same sort of performance as in the first move and this movie was really well acted, but almost too well acted because of the subject matter. Even though this is a movie about a comic book the subject is fighting crime in a city riddled with corruption, and how that fight can escalate to incredible levels that it only reaches in comic books.

This is not one for the kiddos, but it's not a bad movie. Just go expecting an action/suspense/horror movie because this movie contains elements of all three. If you're not in the mood to watch all three than go see something else, If you're looking for a traditional Superhero movie go see Iron Man. But if you are in the mood for a triple threat movie that is as well done as it gets, even if you are not into Superhero movies than this is the one to see.

Family update

We have been a little short on Cami pictures that don't involve swimming. Here is a small sampling of what we've taken lately following by a breif family update. Cami has been growing so fast, we figured driving was the next logcal step.
Cami and Mommy, awww.
Cami with her friend Tommy. Sleepy babies.

During one of her many attempted jail breaks.
Daddy does try to feed me sometimes.
go ahead, hide behind the flower. I see the mess you made.

Fourth of July, sometimes you realize that either Mom or Dad is taking all the pictures and you need a decent family photo.

Cami loves her freedom.

Whew. That makes me feel better. Most of the time I feel pretty bad about filling our blog with line upon line of text when we have perfectly good Cami pictures to post which of infinately more interesting. Anyway, Here's the quick hit update on what the Diggins Family is upto

What We're doing: Clipping Coupons and Square Dancing

Carrie has been learning how to clip coupons like a champ! I've kind of gotten into it myself, there are all kinds of blogs and Web Sites on how to do crazy things like feed your family of four for under $1000 for the year. I love the concept, although I'm pretty sure that that family of four LOVES Raman noodles. Still I'm pretty impressed with the deals so far, $3.25 for a case of paper at Office Depot ( a whole 10 ream case) and then $30 coupons redeemed at our last Target trip. It's not bad for starters and most importantly it's been kind of fun to try and see where you can find savings.Square Dancing was a brief moment at our ward Pioneer Day party where we were able to have someone watch Cami for a few minutes while we enjoyed some good country fun! Not much to report on here except it's nice to have a moment to dance with my wife uninterrupted, even if the dancing is mildly ridiculous.

What we're reading: Various

I finished The Foundation this week and started in on Foundation and Empire by Isacc Asimov. Halfway through the book it is not quite as clever as the first book. The Foundation series deals with events over a long period of time so it comes off as more of a collection of short stories around a theme than a series of novels. The first book had some really clever twists that I never saw coming but the second book hasn't matched the first , even though I am enjoying it. Concurrently I am also reading "The Ten Day MBA" by Steven Silbiger. It's a nice overview of the sorts of things they teach you in buisiness school, the kind of book where you have to check how many pages are left in the chapter while you are reading it and reminding yourself that ,"I really want to read this book". It's more of an exercise in self improvement than a pleasure read. It is a ton of information to digest but I am getting some good things out of it like thinking more critically about my business, realizing that I don't want an MBA, and probably never again trying to read an glorified text book for fun. For all of that I am grateful. This week Carrie started a book called "The purrfect murder." a book about a cat that solves crime. Carrie only picked this up because the books by the mystery auther she wanted were out and I handed this to her as a quick ssubstitute. It soon both dawned on us that this is the kind of book crazy people read just before the cops bust in and arrest them for keeping 100 cats in there 600 square foot apartment. Needless to say she put it down about 25 pages in and went on to more worthwhile purrrrsuits ( get it...crazy book about cats, purrrsuits...I am so awesome).

What we're watching: Picture This! the made for TV Movie on ABC Family starring Ashley Tisdale of High School Musical fame. I think I just lost most of you after that sentence. Every couple has some querkie things that they do and we watch bad made for TV movies, primary the ones that involve high school related plots. It must stem from our mutual love for Saved By The Bell, but needless to say we were expecting a bad movie and were not disappointed. I weep for today's youth. A mostly good bunch of kids that has to endure this type of crap from the media telling them that this is what they should act like. Here's the plot summary, every bad high school related movie you've ever watched on this one centers around camera phones. It's like some producer at ABC family came up with the bright idea that if they actually wrote the plot around enough LG phones then the company would pick up the tab for the movie and they wouldn't even have to pay the Tisdale girl the insane money she's asking for. As an informertial the movie worked ( I actually liked the phones) but as a movie please do not approach unless you are out to make your kids noticably dumber or you share that same complusion we have to watch bad High School movies.

Stuff Chris Likes....

Right now Carrie is taking a nap and I am watching the baby in our computer room thinking," gosh I haven't blogged in a while." Since It's critical that Cami stay in this room and away from our poor recovering Peaches* I figure I'll let everyone know a few things that I've really been liking lately.

*Important Side note - Peaches was hit by a car this week. For those of you who are not familiar with our cat Peaches his life has been all sorts of complicated over the past year. After the move and the birth of Cami, Peaches has been living in our garage as an outdoor-only cat with access to the garage via a little kitty door. He has adapted well for the most part, he's become friendly with the neighbors and only sits outside our door and meows for attention on occasion. Regardless, this Wednesday we came back from Dinner at Carrie's folks to our neighbors letting us know Peaches was hit by a car. Carrie found him in some bushes fairly bloody and dragging his left leg behind him. So I collect Peaches, put him in his kitty carrier, and drive him to the emergency pet clinic thinking he's about to be put down. Well, a couple of hours go by and apparently Peaches has no broken bones or vi sable organ damage, so we decide to leave him overnight as see where he's at in the morning. Long story short - three days with the vet and he's really bruised up and limping but has no broken bones or damage that won't heal on it's own. So Peaches is back inside and looking better everyday, just as long as we keep a certain very mobile very curious 8 month old as a safe distance. Anyway...slightly sad story with a little bit better ending, not the best way to start a post about things I like...oh well.

1. Science Fiction - Yup that sound coming through your computer is the nerd alert. Don't be alarmed, it went off for me for a few days when I started this crazy science fiction habit but I've since learned to ignore it. Carrie and I have recently discovered the wonders of the public library and have had a blast taking Cami and getting new books. I started out by renting a Golf book, Tales from Q Schools, a fairly manly topic. But then my eyes caught a glimpse of Ender's Game and I realized I had not read that one and I had been meaning to. So I started reading that one and it began a chain reaction that is still going. In the last three weeks I've plowed through Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow ( Brad Fellows, If you're reading this I still have your book buddy! Give me a call.) ,Dune, A Brave New World, and I'm half way through The Foundation. This may not be many books for some, but for me this is practically a new record. Right now I'm just sucked into reading Science Fiction classics, I don't know how far this addiction will carry me, but I will let you know how it ends. (BTW here are 3 second opinions - Ender's Series - LOVED Them, will read sequels to both books, Dune - Amazing, stunned by the level of detail,will read sequel, A Brave New World - Horrible, I don't like any of the characters and WAY too preachy/pseudo-intellectual. The Foundation - So far so good.)

2. Cucumbers - Our Cucumber plant is the first in our garden to really start churning out the Veggies. Our Garden is doing about 100 times better then I thought it would. Still, after harvesting the first couple of cucumbers and eating them with some Ranch ( ohhhh yeeeaaaahh) It occurred to me that I don't regularly buy cucumbers and I might have too many for our purposes. That was until I found the best cucumber recipe ever. They call it Hungarian Cucumber Salad, but if I had to rename that sucker, and I will, I will call it Quick Pickles!

Here's what you do, take two medium cucumbers, skin them, and slice into rounds as thin as you can get them. Place rounds evenly over a plate, sprinkle with salt ( If you have to layer then sprinkle each layer with salt) Then take another plate and place it on top of your plate of cucumbers, put a 5 lb weight on top of the new plate. Set for 40 minutes ( This is to drain as much water as you can) Before removing the top plate drain the water. Then pat your cucumber slices dry with paper towels.

In the Meantime, prepare in a bowl 1/2 Cup water, 1/4 cup Vinegar (white), a pinch of sugar and a pinch or garlic powder. mix briefly. Put your dry cucumber slices in the vinegar mix quickly and refrigerate for 2 hours.

This is very simple but VERY tasty and takes our excess cucumbers and turns them into a nice snack that tastes like a light pickle. It's also a nice side dish for a BBQ or ward pot-luck if you have a ton of cucumber.

That's about all for now, I also really like the new American Gladiators, Our Ice Cream Gun, and Swimming but I will spare your the blog on those. I hope everyone is having a great summer. leave us a comment and let us know how you're doing. Take care!

More Swimming Pics

This week, Chris took a couple of days off and we went swimming at Grandpa & Grandma Rowe's house. Cami LOVED splashing around in the water & we thought it was very cute. She also like playing peek-a-boo with Dada as he went under the water and popped out. Here they are! In the second one, you can see her little teeth really well.

At the pool...

I realize we haven't posted in a while, but Cami is just having to much fun outside to upload her photos to the blog! She went to the pool for the first time about a week ago, and had a blast splashing the water. In the above photo, that is actually slobber on her suit, not water. She's cut her first two teeth already, and the safe bet is that there are more to come...
Cami loves to squeal like this! While it makes sitting though church challenging, it's pretty fun most of the time. She can also say da da, and make a myriad of babbling noises. Just yesterday she started making a clicking noise, which I thought was fun addition to her baby sound-book.
This is her crazy, spunky face. She sticks out her tongue and kind of crinkles her nose, and looks very intent. It is often accompanied by rapid moving up and down of the arms, legs, and often entire body.

These were taken at the John's apartment complex during a recent trip to Springfield, MO (they were excellent hosts :)). As I mentioned, Cami is having a blast outside, and she is also learning to destroy things inside! Since she began army crawling a few weeks ago, she pulls down our DVD's almost every day. We are starting to babyproof things, but still have a long way to go (feel free to leave any tips on this). It is really cute to see her scooting all around the house though, banging on the floors and moving rapidly towards desired objects (remote controls, pieces of paper, etc.) I also have zoo pics to post & pictures of our backyard garden, but we'll save that for later. I hope everyone is enjoying their summers!