Economic Endeavors

*I have a CVS money-making deal posted already for the week of April 27 here!

Not a great picture, but I did pretty good this week. I got 4 of the big packs of water (96 bottles!), but only put one of them up on the counter for the picture. I got all of this on two cards, two transactions each. I posted the scenarios in my blog here.
The only hitches to my deals were that the M&Ms weren't B1G1, no big deal, both packs earned $3 ECBs each, so it only put me $.30 over plan. Also, I couldn't find the 18oz Spa Radiance ANYWHERE (I looked at 3 different stores) but I substituted another Alavert (I had extra printed coupons in my planner) and the deal still worked out to be a money maker.

*To see the deals others made this week, hop on over to Crystal's blog for Super Savings Saturday!
*Want to see more CVS savings? Visit the Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars!

**EDIT**
Some people have expressed concerns about whether or not it is ethically okay to print and use this coupon. CVS has replied to an inquiry about this, and has stated that it is acceptable to print and use this coupon. You can read the reply in my post here. :) **

For those of you who, like me, have little girls who LOVE High School Musical 1 & 2, here are 2 links to printable sheet music for the songs from both movies.

Between 8:00 AM ET on April 24, 2008 and 11:59 PM ET on May 3, 2008, find the hidden image in the new KFC commercial and get a $1 KFC Gift check (first 1,000 submissions each day).

The hidden image is a $1 bill.

Click here to go to the KFC website to register.

*Rules: Up to 1,000 $1 KFC gift checks will be given each day (offer ends May 3, 2008). In the event that more than 1,000 people enter the correct message each day, the first 1,000 to enter correctly each day will receive a $1 KFC gift check. Limit one $1 KFC gift check per e-mail address/household, regardless of number of correct advertisement differences submitted. Must be at least 18 years old and a legal resident of the 50 United States or District of Columbia to participate.

Carvel is introducing their new Arctic Blenders and Blended Coffees by offering one free 8oz cup of either on Thursday, May 1st, between 4pm-6pm!
These look really yummy on their website, so I'm really looking forward to my free cup!

Before you go out to dinner or lunch next time, go online to Restaurant.com first. Enter your zip code and choose your restaurant from the ones listed. You can then purchase a gift certificate for that restaurant at incredibly cheap prices- $25 gift certificates for $10, and $10 gift certificates for $3! After you pay for the gift certificates, you can then print them out and take them to the restaurant with you!

*Right now, you can get gift certificates for 70% off their already rock-bottom prices with the code GOURMET. That makes a $25 gift certificate $3, and a $10 gift certificate is only $.90!

Thanks to iMommies for the info on this great freebie!

From iMommies:

Entertainment Weekly is giving away free passes to advance screenings of the newest The Chronicles of Narnia movie: Prince Caspian. Passes are awarded on a first come-first serve basis to residents of 10 major US cities.

Click HERE to request tickets for a location near you.

I don't usually post grocery deals unless they're what I would consider a really good deal (in my opinion, worth making a trip out just for that particular deal or deals). Although I am an avid CVSer and stockpile a good amount of health and beauty stuff that I get for free there, I live in a pretty small home, and I have limited cabinet space in my kitchen and even less space in the rest of the house for stockpiling groceries, so I currently don't do the Grocery Game or anything like that. I do, however, watch the sales papers and sites like slickdeals,net and other personal finance blogs, and try to take advantage when excellent deals come up for items I need in our home.

This week, I am making special trips to Meijer and Kroger for a few great deals on things we need at home.

Meijer:

Meijer is having their 10 items for $10, get the 11th free sale again on certain items

• * Betty Crocker Fruit Shapes
  * Chey Boyardee Pasta w/ Meat
  * Gatorade (all varieties)
  * Old Orchard or Dole Frozen Juice
  * Ragu Pasta Sauce (excludes organic)
  * Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Noodles or Pasta
  * Betty Crocker Cake Mix
  * Little Debbie Sweet Cakes
  * Meijer Sour Cream
  * Meijer Marinade Sauce
  * Kellogg's Good to Go Cereal
  * Banquet Brown N' Serve Breakfast Links
  * Combos
  * Michelina's Entrees
  * Hamburger/Chicken/Tuna Helpers or Betty Crocker Potatoes, Specialty Potatoes or Mashed Potatoes (not Potato Buds)
  * Totino's Party Pizza or Pizza Rolls
  * Meijer Clear Forks, Spoons or Combo Pack Cutlery
  * Pedigree Choice Cuts Canned Dog Food
  * Meijer Ibuprofen

So here's what I'm buying at Meijer:
buy 4 Chicken Helpers and 2 Tuna Helpers
-$1 ($.50/2 coupon from 3/9 SS, doubled)
-$2 (2 $.50/2 printables, doubled)
buy 2 Betty Crocker Potatoes
-$1.60 (2 $.40/1 coupons, doubled- I printed these out online a month or so ago, they aren't available to print anymore)
buy 2 Little Debbie Snack Cakes
-$1 (2 $.25/1 printables, doubled)
buy 1 Betty Crocker Cake mix (and frosting, not on special)
-$1 ($.55 wyb Cake mix and frosting printable, doubled)
-$1 (11th item discount)

total for 11 items: $3.40.
------------------

Kroger:

• Weight Watchers Smart Ones are $10 for 5, and you save an instant $3 on 5 at checkout. There's a $1/5 printable, making them $6/5. I hit the back button a couple of times and was able to print 2 coupons, so I plan to pick up 10 of these for $12. That'll be lunches for me for 2 weeks!
• $4.99 Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kit, there's a $4/1 printable (I was able to print it twice), $.99 each after coupon.
• $5.99 Lysol Neutra Air Freshmatic Starter Kit, there was a $5/1 coupon in the 3/30 SS, I have 3 of these coupons! $.99 each after coupons.
  

• $6 for 4 (but only when you buy 4) of the following: General Mills Cereals, Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, Nature Valley Granola Bars (NOTE: The ad says 1 per transaction - so do multiples if necessary).
• I'm buying:
  
  • two General Mills Strawberry Chex 13.5oz - 14.25oz cereal
    
  -$.75 Shortcut instant coupon
  -$1.50 (2 $.75 printables)
  • buy 2 Trix 10.7 oz
  -$1 ($1 off 2 General Mills Cereals in the 3/16, 4/6, AND 4/13 SS)
  
  • $2.75 for all 4!
  
  

One more month to get free money!
Are you tired of me talking about Revolution Money Exchange yet? Well, this will probably be my last time, but I wanted to let those of you know who haven't yet signed up for a free account...
They were offering $25 free for signing up for a free account, and the offer was supposed to end on April 15. I just found out that it has been extended until May 15, so if you haven't yet signed up, you still can earn $25 for doing so! And I get $10 for referring you. WooHoo! Who doesn't love free money?

Revolution Money Exchange is a great company, started by Steve Case, the founder and CEO of AOL, to compete with Paypal. Like Paypal, you can use the site to send and receive money online, but unlike Paypal, it is ALWAYS free to do so.
You don't have to add your bank account to get your $25 sign up money, you can choose to have it sent as a paper check through the mail. I received my check in the mail just yesterday for signing up my husband and I, $25 each plus $10 for referring him, my check was $60!

I can't urge you enough, GO, GO, GO! and earn yourself some free money, and me a little bit, too! :)

Free money Works for Me!

*For more great tips to make life a bit easier, go to Shannon's blog for WFMW!

Thanks to Crystal for the info on this great freebie!


From MoneySavingMom:

Judging by the number of people who emailed me about this already, I'm guessing
this will be a very hot freebie. So go get your free Pentel Arts Oil Pastel Set
while you can! Click here and use promo code SA2008.

Thanks to Carrie at MoneySavingMethods for the info on this great freebie! I plan on making two of these, one for my mom and one for my husband's mom for Mother's Day!

From moneysavingmethods:

If you read my original
post on digital scrapbooking, you know I just love it! And, one of my
friends, Jenn, had recently told me about a company called Picaboo,
where the pages are pre-done for you and you can drag your pictures in. And,
what she really liked, is that there were ALOT of different themes, pages, etc
to pick from, unlike some companies.Anyway, I had yet to try Picaboo
out, until now! I am going to be working on my book this week, hopefully. Why?
Because they are giving a free book away to new users.The book is a 20 page
photo book worth $9.99. And, I figured this is a great way for me to see if I
will like their product before I spend money on a large album...plus...it is
FREE! And, a GREAT idea for Mother's Day for one of the Grandma's or for Ryan
for Father's Day.So, if you are interested, too, click here to go to Picaboo
and register. Here are the details from their website, so you will know exactly
which book you need to order.
Get a free 20-page Medium book
The price of a 20-page Medium Softcover Classic Die Cut photo book will be deducted from your order total ($9.99 value)
If your book contains more than 20 pages, you will be charged for the extra pages
This coupon excludes taxes and shipping fees
Only Medium Softcover and Medium Hardcover Classic Die Cut photo books are
eligible for this offer
Coupon expires on December 31, 2008
Applies to US and Canadian residents only
Cannot be used with any other coupon
This coupon can be used by first-time customers only
We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions of this offer without notice
Just so you know, my shipping came to $7.99 ( still a good deal, since most photo albums cost that alone or more ).
Finally, the coupon code is 1PFMDB-WE.
You will need to enter that at checkout. Since I haven't completed my book and gone
thru the whole process yet, just make sure you see the $9.99 come off before you
do your final order process and have it charge you. If not, call Picaboo!

*I have my scenarios for next week's CVS deals posted! To see what I'll be buying, click here.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Not too exciting this week. I did this deal twice on each of our two cards, with the exception of the AirWick, because I only had one coupon from last week's paper to make the deal worthwhile.

Also, the M&Ms didn't print ECBs like I expected (that was reportedly a hidden deal, and it is now working because I bought 2 bags today).

I have no idea what I'm gonna do with the Benefiber, it's one of those things that we just don't use, and in trying to pass them along to my sister or inlaws, I found out that they don't use it either.
I guess I can give it a try, anyways. I suppose it wouldn't hurt me to be a bit more regular. lol

I have never put any diapers but Pampers on my 2 year old, but since these CVS diapers were free this week after coupons and ECBs, I got four packs of them. And I just ran out of Pampers and needed to buy more anyways, so I decided to give them a shot. I was not really happy with them, so I'm back to Pampers, but the crisis pregnancy center was happy to get the CVS brand diapers as a donation.


*To see the savings that other people cashed in on this week, go on over to Super Savings Saturday at MoneySavingMom.com!

--------------------------------------------------------------

** There's still time to earn a free $25, no strings attached, just for signing up for a free account at Revolution Money Exchange! Read my post about the company here, or click on the link below to sign up!