free, free, free suckers.

i am sitting here in the 12*F weather, sunny, while the sun melts the 12" of snow,
eating my free bagel and drinking my free latte.
how do i always get these good deals you ask?
well, i will tell you.
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it's like you are always on a hunt, or playing some game.
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Today my freebies are from Einstein Bagels & McDonalds.
In the tuesday ads we get in the mail, usually for grocery stores,
we got a page from Einsteins that was every Monday you get free coffee (until March 21st)
and every Friday a free bagel (until today).
So i used those like gold... the guy that works there even knows my name.
Once we only had one coupon, but he gave us 2 free coffees, probably b/c i'm so hot...right?
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the McD's coupon was good for 4 free fancy coffees, and it's a punch card.
Cameron got 2 of them (total of 8 free coffees peeps) b/c he had to wait for about 20 minutes to get an order of food for my work people one day.
-------he didn't complain at all, they just gave it to him-------
but i have a feeling the more you ask for the more you'll get, my friend Julie has that down pat!
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which brings me to how i save $100's of dollars each month on our grocery bill....
again, when i find such a good deal, i almost feel like i am stealing, BUT I'M NOT!!!!
http://www.thegrocerygame.com/
It's this lady that uses the sales at the stores in conjunction with coupons from the sunday paper to get you the best CHEAPEST deal possible.
It costs $5/month, but for us, it's totally worth it, and it saves me time.
I do know people that have done the grocery game, quit, and still do the process, but it takes them longer. It's up to you.
So how it works, is this: You have black, blue, and green deals...

black: if you are out, buy it b/c it's on sale, but not super cheap
blue: super super cheap, stock up on these items now!
green: free

things i have gotten for free: dog treats, protein bars, deodorant, gum, pasta, frozen veggies....
things i have gotten so cheap it's unbelievable and i felt like i was stealing: deodorant, steak, lunch meat, bread, milk, eggs, cookies, garlic bread, cheese, pilbury rolls, bacon, etc...

You have to be disciplined... you have to go to the store sunday, monday, or tuesday (before 1200 tuesday, b/c they change the sales in the store then).
I usually go Sunday after church or monday morning.
A lot of times they have Sunday ONLY deals at King Soopers.

That brings up another issue, you have to pick the grocery store(s) you usally go to...
walmart and target aren't on there...in my area they have: albertsons, king soopers, and safeway. you can pick all the stores in your area, but it's and addl $5/store.
there is a one month trial for $1 and you can pick all the stores, all for $1 total. which i did.
then ended up just sticking with one store, b/c it was too much hassel.
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also i picked the store i go to b/c they have double soupons up to $1 ALL THE TIME.

Another way to save money is to bring your own re-usable bags, they give me $0.05-0.10 per bag each time i go... saving up to $1 at times... that's huge.

Anyway, we spend $240/month for groceries
and I know a couple with a kid that spends $200/month
and we make (obviously) good stuff!!!
I think making a lot more stuff homemade saves A TON of money too.
like bread... i can make a loaf for like $1, which may be close to yucky walmarts prices, but i know what I've put in it.
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if you have a deep freezer, you can obviously get more bang for your buck.
we dont have one, but i have seen some on craigslist for $50 and under... at times free!
a good investment i think, especially if you are going to breastfeed and pump and save when you have kids.
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so there are my 2 cents (200 cents really) on being thrifty.
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oh oh oh actually.... more...
we got one of those "entertainment books" from walgreens, and it has coupons for eating out....
well our budget is $15/week to eat out, but there are coupons that are buy one entree get one free, and we have used so many of those coupons, plus a lot of our friends got books, so we can go try new places all the time with them, with our coupons.
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another thing to do is: dollar movie theaters (ours has $0.50 movies on tuesday)
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happy hours: This place called Lime (mexican) has $1 Taco tuesday... so cheap, i can be full on 2 tacos, cameron on 3-4... then you could make a night of it and go to the movie, all for under $10!!!! (and still get popcorn:)).
----some happy hours don't even have to include drinks... the food part of them is sometimes worth it on it's own!!!!
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i am always purusing websites and signing up for email lists, b/c places will totally send you coupons.
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not that i advocate credit cards by any means, but cameron had to get a whole bunch of new clothes before this school year started in sept.... so we went to gap (he likes them, and they fit)...anyways, it was some deal like if you sign up for the credit card, you get 20% your whole purchase... well i was just going to cancel it after that, but i kept getting all these amazing deals... (and when you have a crazy husband like me, you will have to buy jeans/shorts/khakis ALL THE TIME).
i get $20 gift cards in the mail (i think i have gotten 2-3 since sept)
i get 30% off 3-4 times per year (a couple weeks ago, we had to order cameron some pants and shirts, but waited until we got the 30% off, and we saved so much it was like getting 2 pants for free)
so i kept the card, just for the deals.
(plus gap is slave free)
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oh oh oh and a couple days ago i got a giftcard in the mail, so i went to try those dresses on at old navy they have been advertising for $15... anywho, i went to the baby section to check on stuff for all my friends babies...
they had all this super cute brand new stuff for spring for $5... (normally up to $20...)
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so i got a dress... and when i did, they gave me a $5 off coupon... it was valid starting thursday, but the baby $5 sale went until thursday. so thursday i went back in AND GOT A FREE BABY OUTFIT. suckers.....
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sometimes it's just crazy.
and i feel so good when i get such good deals.
my friend julie and i always call each other to tell each other the percentage of money we saved... my best was 67% off my total bill at the grocery store :)
seriously.
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good luck and may the force be with you.
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comment if you have have q's, comments... and i will answer them.