Economic Endeavors

Here's what I see for the week of 8/3:


Money Maker!

Toothpaste:
$2.99 Colgate MaxFresh Burst/ Total Advanced (earns $2 ECBs, limit 2)
-$1.50/1 Colgate Total printable
Profit of $0.49 after coupon and ECBs!


Free!

Gift:
There's a section of this week's ad that says:
"Check your receipt for a free gift coupon when you use your ExtraCard card during your first visit in August."

Energy Drink:
$4.99 Extreme Energy (earns $4.99 ECBs, limit 1)
Free after ECBs!

Toothbrush:
$2.49 Oral-B Advantage toothbrush (earns $1.50 ECBs-I think the limit is 3 on this, but it could be 5... the ad scan I found online was a little blurry, so it was hard to read)
-$1/1 Oral-B Pulsar, CrossAction, or Advantage (from upcoming 8/3 P&G)
Free after coupon and ECBs!

Deodorant:
Sure deodorant is $2.79 and B1G1
Buy 2 and use B1G1 coupon (from 6/29 SS)
Free after coupon (if your store allows a B1G1 coupon with a B1G1 sale)

Powerade:
5/$5 Powerade
-$1/1 Powerade (from 7/13 SS)
Free after coupons!

Shampoo:
Pert Plus is $3.69 and B1G1
-$4 (2) $2/1 any Pert Plus (from 6/29 SS)
Free after coupons!

Make-up:
Revlon make-up is B1G1 free
Buy 2 products priced under $4
Use 2 $2/1 coupons (from 7/20 SS)
Get both products free after coupons!


Nearly Free!

Body Wash:
$1.99 Suave Body Wash
Buy 2 for $3.98 and use B1G1 Suave Body Wash coupon (from 6/22 RP) and $1/2 Suave products (from 7/13 RP)
Final cost: $0.99 for both after coupons!


Other Deals:

Buy $15 worth of Clean and Clear products, get $5 ECBs.

______________________________

Here's what I see for the week of 8/10:

Money Maker!

Foot Powder:
$7.59 x2 Lamisil AF Defense Powder ($15.18, earns $10 ECBs, limit 1)
-$8 (2) $4/1 Lamisil AF (from 7/20 SS)
$2.82 Profit after coupons and ECBs!

Allergy Medication:
$5.99 Alavert (earns $3 ECBs, limit 1)
-$4 Alavert printable
$1 Profit after coupon and ECBs!


Free!

Skin care:
$5 ECBs when you buy Skin Effects skin care (limit 1)
Buy face wash at $6.99, use $2 coupon from Beauty Book
Free after coupon and ECBs!


Nearly free!

Candy:
Buy $10 of listed candy, get $5 ECBs! (limit 5)
Includes (among others):

$2 M&Ms dark chocolate bags
$2 M&Ms dark chocolate bags
$3 Dove Chocolate bags
$3 Dove Chocolate bags

$10 before coupons

-$.75 M&Ms dark chocolate
-$.75 M&Ms dark chocolate
-$1.50 Dove
-$1.50 Dove (exp 8/17, not sure which week I clipped this from)

$5.50 after coupons, earns $5 ECBs!

Lip Color:
Cover Girl lip color is B1G1 free
Buy 2 Lipslicks at $3.99 each
Use (2) $1/1 CG product (from upcoming 8/3 P&G)
$1 each after sale and coupons!


Other Deals:

$2.99 CVS Tampons Multi Pack, 72-80ct

Buy $25 worth of baby products listed in ad, get $5 ECBs
Includes:
2/$5 Huggies or Playskool wipes
- $1 Huggies (from 6/22 SS)
- $1 Playskool printable
$8.99 Huggies Jumbo pack diapers or Pull-Ups (excludes overnights)
-$1 Huggies diapers (from 6/22 SS and 7/20 SS)
-$2 Pull-Ups (from 7/20 SS)
$2.99 Johnsons buddies, powder, lotion, oil, wash, shampoo, balm, bedtime washcloths, or Desitin
-$2/$2 Desitin or Johnsons baby printable
-$2/$2 Johnsons Buddies printable
-$1 Johnsons Baby Oil printable
-$1 Johnson's Head to toe Baby Wash printable
-$1 Johnsons shampoo printable
-$1 Johnson's Buddies printable
$7.99 Playskool baby toys
2/$3 CVS Cotton Swabs
-$2 off CVS skin care coupon from Beauty Book
$9.99 Umbrella stroller
$23.99 Enfamil can formula
$7.99 So'Dorable baby boots or clogs
25% off Playskool feeding accessories
$14.99 Tinsley Blake Diaper Bag
$7.99 Fleece Baby Blanket or Johnson's First Tough Gift Set

The I did 3 transactions.

My husbands (I had $14 towards my baby deal already):

1 box wipes
1 gallon milk

$5.xx before coupons

-$2 CVS brand skin care coupon

Paid $3 in ECBs, and tax oop, got back $5 ECBs.
_________________

On my card, I did the same transaction twice:

$6 CVS brand diapers
$2 CVS wipes
$2 CVS wipes
$4.99 Loreal Vive (on sale B1G1)
$4.99 Loreal Vive

$14.99 before coupons

-$5/$15 (expired)
-$2/$10 CVS brand coupon
-$2 CVS brand skin care coupon
-$4.99 Loreal Vive B1G1 coupon

$1 plus tax after coupons, earnes $5 ECBs.

This week I got a total of 9 boxes of wipes and 3 packages of diapers, and 16 bottles of Vive shampoo and conditioner. I have already given away 10 bottles of the Vive to family members. I don't have a lot of room for stockpiling, and it's such a blessing to be able to provide for my loved ones!

I wanted to post about this yesterday, but the day was hectic and I didn't find time.

I found out about this deal at Money Saving Mom (thanks Crystal!) and it turns out it's an even better deal than I originally thought by reading Crystal's post.

When you use the code BR41925 at Borders.com, it takes $5 off of the price of EACH regularly priced book in your cart. If you choose to have the items shipped to your local store for you to pick up, then there is no charge for shipping.

I loaded my cart with 20 childrens books that were priced under $5, and it took the price of all of them off, making my total $0. I couldn't complete my checkout with my total at $0, so I added one more book that was priced at $6.95. It took $5 off off of that book as well, making my total $1.95 for 21 books. With a total above $1 (I tried with a total of $0.99 and it did not work), I was able to complete my order and got a confirmation email.

The site seems to be a bit bogged down (no doubt because there are so many people there shppping for this deal), so if you get an error message (or two or three), just hit the back button and try again. It worked yesterday for me and my sister, and this morning for my mom, so it will work for you if you give it some time. :)

More free gifts for my girls for Christmas. I love this kind of shopping!

Right now, Amazon is offering a $10 credit when you sign up for a free 1 month trial of Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime offers you free 2-day shipping (on items ordered directly from Amazon - things that are normally eligible for free shipping with a $25 purchase). This offer is valid through July 28, 2008 for new Amazon Prime members.

Here's what I did to get my free item:

:: Went to Amazon and made sure I was signed out of my regular Amazon account.
:: Clicked this link and signed up for a new account (with a different mailing address) with Amazon Prime (I had to enter a Credit Card number - I used a low-limit card that is currently maxed out, and it still accepted it even though there is no available balance currently).
:: Then, I searched Amazon for an item that was less than $10 that I could use for one of my daughters for Christmas. I found a V. Smile cartridge for my 2 year old, Zoe's, V. Smile Baby game. (Make sure you're ordering an item from Amazon - stuff that normally is eligible for free shipping off $25 or more- to get free 2 day shipping.)
:: I went to "Check Out" and clicked 2 day shipping (free with Amazon Prime)
:: On the credit card page, I did not enter a credit card number for my order. Instead, down where you enter a promo or coupon code, there is a box to use your $10 discount. It was already checked, so I clicked "Continue".
:: Once I got confirmation that my order was complete, I went to "My Account" at the top right of the page.
:: I scrolled down to "Subscriptions Management" and clicked on "Manage Your Amazon Prime Membership"
:: There was a button with "Turn off Auto Update", and I clicked that.
:: I got this confirmation message, confirming that my membership would not be renewed after the trial: "Your trial membership will not upgrade to a full membership automatically on August 22, 2008" and the button was changed to "Upgrade Automatically".

There you have it! A free item, a free month of Amazon Prime (I plan to get started on my Christmas shopping at the beginning of next month, so the free month of free 2-day shipping will be great!) and easy, one-click cancellation of the auto-renew.
DON'T forget to cancel, though! Amazon Prime charges you $79 at the end of your first month if you don't cancel!

It has been a while since I posted an update on all of the many ways that I am earning money online. Blogging has been a huge blessing to me, because it allows me to write (which I love in itself), and I get to write about two of my favorite hobbies- saving money and couponing!

But in addition to those things, blogging also holds one more huge benefit: it allows me to earn money - without investing much time, effort, or additional resources.

There are various ways that I am earning money regularly through my blog. Some are just trickles of money here and there, and others are much more lucrative. A few are listed under the "Deals" tab at the top of my blog, but here is a compiled list of all of the ways that I am currently getting paid!

• Cash Crate - this site allows you to complete surveys and complete offers (a lot of them are free trials) to earn money. A huge bonus to this site is that if you refer people, you make 20% of their earnings. So even if you don't do anything on the site at all, you can still get a check every month in the mail for the offers and surveys your referrals complete.
  
• ProjectPayday - This site is actually a tutorial site to learning to earn money by "freebie trading" on forums that are set up for people to trade with each other. I used to make a lot of money through freebie trading. It really is fast and easy, and you can make $100 in a couple of days if you spend a couple of hours on the forums. I got away from it when I started blogging, because I only have a small amount of time to spend online each day because I don't want my children to become computer orphans, so I choose to spend that time blogging. But I still get paid quite regularly by Project Payday, because for each person who goes to the site through my referral link and gives their email address to access the free tutorial on freebie training, I get $2. This is one of those "small trickle" payouts, but it's usually $25 every couple of weeks, so definitely worth mentioning.
• Kontera: This site is one of my bigger paying sites. If you'll notice some of the words in my post text are pink and underlined twice, those are ad links, and I get paid per click, but also by the number of visits I get to my blog. The higher your blog traffic, the more you'll earn. If you are interested in signing up for Kontera on your blog, please consider emailing me first for an invitation, because I get paid a referral fee when you sign up. Email me your email address and I'll send an invitation to you right away!
• Google AdSense: This is another higher paying avenue. There are many different forms of advertising that you can incorporate into your site, and this one pays per click as well as by the number of visits to your blog.
  
• Logical Media: This site offers advertising that you can place on your blog for outside companies, products, or free offers, and you get paid when one of your readers clicks on a link and signs up for the offer. They also have an affilliate program that pays you 5% of money earned by your referrals!
• MySavings: This site is pretty much like Logical Media above, and pays you when your readers click on an offer and sign up.
• PayPerPost: This site offers different topics, products, or services that you can choose to blog about. The payment amount is listed with the opportunity, so you know right away what that post will earn you once it's approved. You can also earn money for people who sign up through your referral link.
• Coupons.com: This is the coupon bar widget you see on my sidebar. Whenever someone prints a coupon from my widget, I earn money!
• Amazon Associates: This site allows you to build a widget to put on your site that hosts products that you choose that are for sale on Amazon. When someone links to a product through your blog and purchases it, you earn a commission!
• RevolutionMoneyExchange: Believe it or not, I'm still earning referral fees for referring people to Revolution Money Exchange. They pay $10 per referral. And if you haven't yet signed up for this great site, please email me so that I can send you a referral email. This site is like paypal, it allows you to send and receive money over the internet. Unlike Paypal, however, it is always free to do so. It was started by the same people who started AOL, and I have had nothing but great experiences with it so far. I have made at least 10 transactions, and all were fast and simple!
  

*Making money easily, quickly, and with little time and effort involved so that I can still spend my time on what's really important - my husband and 3 daughters - definitely works for me!