Five Frugal Things Week of October 22

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Loopgan

Double Checking Savings

We decided we could save if we did some of the home improvements ourselves. Normally before a trip to Harbor Freight, I would dig through my coupons to see what matched what we were buying. SO found an app recently that lets you scan the barcode of your items and tells you if there are any coupons on them and gives you a digital one for the cashier to scan. There ended up being discounts on everything we planned on buying and were able to get one of them as a free item.

Mystery Discounts

I had a light course load this week so I was able to schedule some mystery shops. On Tuesday I took my car for an oil change. They had a great lobby with coffee and I was able to bring home a couple clementines for SO who was home sick. Mystery shopping has made all my oil changes in the last few years free and this one actually paid me twenty bucks. I declined the car wash they offered because I had a shop the next day that paid me to do it.

On Wednesday I continued a route of merchandising shops that would add over a hundred dollars to my savings. The car wash was right across the street. While I was in the tunnel, I did a quick lookup on Field Agent and found out there was a pizza store next door that would pay me to order two pizzas. This, along with some greenery I had leftover, lasted us until the weekend.

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On Friday, I had a shop for a local movie theater. It covered the movie, plus a pint of beer and a slice of pizza (you can never have enough pizza). Field Agent had a bar audit available, so I grabbed it and swung by a British Pub I enjoy. They have a loyalty program that uses a digital punch card. On your fifth visit you get a discount, so whenever that type of beer audit comes up, I head over to the pub. The audit paid for a drink and got me one punch closer to a discount I can use later.

Delicious Deals

We haven’t set up the kitchen at the new place yet, so I kept an eye on food deals. I grabbed a free drink I earned at my favorite coffee shop on the way down to the house for the weekend. I also swung by McDonald’s. There, I used their mobile app to get a $1 McDouble and redeemed a free medium fry I won in their Trick. Treat. Win! promotion. Our city’s Restaurant Week was still going so we checked out a new place for dinner Sunday. I had a delicious (and large!) salad and filling mac and cheese. It was nice to see the restaurant did not cut down portion sizes for the promotion.

Small Wins

One of the perks of now owning a house is that we can get a grill. I was thrilled when I received an email from Sierra Nevada Brewing telling me a one a set of BBQ tools. We’re big craft beer fans, so we’ll totally be cracking a cold one in celebration on a first grilling session. This week I also won a bottle of Gatorade in the Subway Golden Token instant win game. I’m sure I could use the relief working on house projects. You can still enter once daily until November 18th for your chance to win NBA, NHL, and Daytona 500 trips, as well as Subway gift cards and merch. Use code Goldentoken2018 for a free entry.

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Cashback Adds Up!

I head back to Walmart to pick up some more money maker Glade candles from Swagbucks (still available until November 5th and mine already has been approved!) and free Forto coffee shots from Ibotta. We also went back to our Sunday pub. With all the Ibotta bonuses, I made three dollars going to the bar, even after tip! There is also a bonus out right now if you purchase through their mobile shopping and get a $2 bonus. I purchased green tea I had an Amazon deal for 50 cents and got back two cents plus the bonus!

How about you? What frugal things were you able to do this week?

Five Frugal Things Week of October 15

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Loopgan

This post may contain affiliate links. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own.

Pack Ahead

We went on a trip to visit family. SO was hungry on the trip back. Luckily, I knew I wouldn’t want to pay for airport food, so I packed some fruit, nuts, and a protein bar to tide us over until we landed.

Eating Out

Between traveling and visiting our new place, I didn’t have a chance to food prep this week. Tuesday I grabbed a mystery shop so we can enjoy takeout in the park before singing the closing paperwork on the house. We did work on the house Sunday and we were going to go out to eat when I realized Restaurant Week just started. It cost us $18 each for a delicious meal. We shared some calamari and bananas foster. I was full off my tuna sandwich, while SO had shrimp and grits. For dinner, I found another mystery shop for us to share some Chinese food.

Don’t Forget the Drinks!

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There’s a local pub that does half off your tab late Wednesday and Sunday nights. We could use a drink after the long weekend, so we head on in and used our Ibotta rebates. SO and I both have accounts, so they made all our drinks come to $1 plus tips.

Made Money Buying Candles

I head down to Walmart to pick up the moneymaker candle deal. The deal reset so I will do it again this week. While I was there, I also picked up some free Forto coffee shots via Ibotta.

Glad candles

Drove to the Airport

Normally when we are both flying, we take an Uber to the airport. We always assumed it would cost us more to park at the airport. After doing some research, we found out that it was cheaper to park in an off-site lot and take the courtesy bus to the terminal. The lot we use has a corporate discount SO just needs to show his badge for and a loyalty program that gives us extra coupons and earns points toward free stays.

What frugal things were you able to do this week?

Moneymaker Glade Candle Deal – Ends Nov 5th!

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Loopgan

There’s a great Glade candle moneymaker deal at Walmart until November 5th!

Glad candles

Swagbucks is offering 1,250 SB back when you purchase 3 Glade® Limited Edition Fall and/or Holiday scented products at Walmart. Swagbucks are redeemable for many gift cards, including Amazon and Paypal, for $1 per 100 points. These candles are only $2.98 each, so even with tax, these come out to a moneymaker. Plus, Checkout51 is offering $1 cash back each! Not a member of either? Earn a bonus $8 for redeeming these offers!

How to get the deal:

Purchase any 3 Glade® Limited Edition Fall and/or Holiday candles at Walmart for a total of $8.94 plus tax. 20181017_164335

Log in or sign up for Swagbucks and head to the Glade in-store offer. Receipts must be uploaded by 11:30 pm Pacific Time on October 19, 2018. New Swagbucks users receive a $3 bonus! You will receive $12.50 worth of SB back, already making this a moneymaker!

Log in or sign up for Checkout51 and claim the Glade rebate for $3 cash back. New Checkout51 users also receive a $5 bonus!

Screenshot_20181018-160504_Checkout 51

All together that is a $6.56 Money Maker (before tax) $14.56 Money Maker for new members!

Five Frugal Things Week of October 1st

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Loopgan

This post may contain affiliate links. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own.

Contests and Banking

I like to enter contests for fun. While I don’t enter as much as I use to, I still fit some entries every day waiting in line or watching TV. This week I won a trip for two to the Sundance Film Festival! I had to get the affidavit and publicity release notarized within a few days. Luckily, my bank notarizes member’s documents for free. I was able to get an appointment by the deadline and my guest was able to scan in all the documents for free at work.

welcome to utah poster under blue daytime sky

Photo by Joshua T on Pexels.com

Stocking Up Sale

Whenever I stop by the grocery store, I check the clearance meat section. There was a bunch of pork and beef already on sale and clearanced out 50% off. Turns out I clipped a personalized deal on the pork earlier in the week and forgot about it so only paid 98 cents a pound. It took a while but I vacuum sealed them when I got home and stacked them in the deep freeze. I only cook red meat during the weekends so even though this stock up cost me about $80, it should last me a few months. When it comes time to cook them, I toss them in a sous vide cooker for several hours so even the cheapest cuts come out delicious!

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Focus Group Fun

I participated in a focus group through User Research International on my day off. It only took two hours and I made $100. It was actually pretty fun and the interviewers said the feedback I gave was very useful. It put me in the same town as my favorite brewery so I enjoyed a new beer before finishing off errands.

Delaying Big Purchases

I held off ordering a textbook until after the first day of class. Found out I could get the online access code for $20 cheaper if I bought it straight from the manufacturer instead of the campus bookstore. Don’t get me wrong, it was still more than I would have liked to pay for a book I don’t get access to after the course but I still rather save on it.

Cashback on DIY

SO needed a zipper repaired on his favorite pair of jeans. He found a set of replacements on eBay so I reminded him to go through Ibotta to make sure he got cashback. Turned out that he had a bonus for $6 back after redeeming one mobile shopping offer.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com