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- Ditch The Water Bottle
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- Take It From Someone Who Knows - Don’t Do The Following
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- Local Artists Weigh-In On Saving Greenbacks
- Trying To Cut Down On Daily Trips To The Grocery Store
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Ben and Jerry’s annual free scoop day is nearing.
On April 29th from noon - 8 p.m. get your choice of a free scoop of their delectable ice cream.
Check for a location near you.
Go to www.restaurant.com and enter your zip code to see what discount gift certificates are available in your area.
Most restaurants offer $10 certificates for $3, $25 certificates for $10, and so on.
Be sure to read the fine print, though. Most do not include alcohol, and some are valid only for lunch.
Corrie Benfield
Here are a few sites that could save you some money:
Paperbackswap.com lets members trade paperback and hardcover books for the cost of postage.
Then there are SwapaCD.com and SwapaDVD.com.
If you haven’t joined Freecycle.org, do it. You never know what you’ll find for free on there.
And, of course, there’s Craigslist.org, which lists more free firewood, children’s clothing and old TVs than a person could ever dream of.
Corrie Benfield
1/ Use 2 coupons to buy ‘BOGO” items. (Buy One Get One free) The stores will take both, as you are really buying two items.
2/ Every month, on the first Sunday of the month, go to Walgreens. Near the front door, check the rack for the “Receipt Savers Catalog.”
Near the middle of the small booklet, there is a list of things you can get free after rebate. Buy the items and send in the form. Now, to make this deal better, instead of getting a rebate check in the mail, check the box that says “Gift card”. Walgreens will add 10 % to the rebate in the form of a gift card. For future purchases, use the gift card and make sure you write down its number on the Receipt Savers form. This way, you use NO cash of your own to buy stuff you need. To make this deal even better, use coupons for the rebate items. I do this all the time and get PAID to shop at Walgreens.
3/ Every month at CVS, there are similar deals, but they are not as good. You earn “Extra Bucks” by showing your CVS card. These print at the register and are good for your next purchase. You must use them before they expire. Again, you can use Extra Bucks and coupons to make the deals better.
4/ Never buy a large soda when you eat inside a fast food restaurant. You can refill your small cup and drink to your heart’s content, at a lower price.
5/ Go to www.startsampling.com and sign up for an account. Every now and then, they have free samples that will be sent to your home.
6/ With the economy so sour, you can negotiate for almost everything: TV’s, Electronics, etc.
7/ Publix will take anybody’s coupons. I take Winn-Dixie coupons to Publix and they accept them. Also, watch your mail for Publix $5 off coupons. They come about once every other month.
8/ Get VOIP for long distance calling. (Vonage, Broadvoice, Voicewing) You must have a high-speed internet connection. To make this a better deal, sign up for a year in advance with Vonage and save 20%. My long distance costs are $25 a month including all taxes and fees.
9/ Don’t carry a balance on your credit card and never PAY to carry a credit card.To make this a better deal, charge all your gasoline purchases on the Discover Gas Card. They credit you 5 % on the first $100 each month. There are many cards that give you miles or cash.
10/ Never pay full price for clothes. They always go on sale. Just wait until the stuff you want is marked down. Why pay more?
11/ Always check for “coupon codes” before checking out on-line. There are many sites...like www.couponmountain.com.
Peter Bernard/News Channel 8
At the upcoming Home and Patio show Febreeze is going to be giving away lots and lots of scented oil warmers as part of the Febreze 30-day Freshness Challenge.
If you’re going to the show anyway, make sure to stop by their booth.
http://jambajuice.com/ is launching a new breakfast line on Tuesday April 8th. To celebrate, they are offering free breakfast until 10 a.m. Most locations open at 6 or 7 a.m.
Among the offerings are granola and yogurt parfaits and breakfast breads and juices. All good stuff.
I have cut back on fresh produce. It is just too pricey. Strawberries are a good buy for my family right now. Especially since the ‘less-than-perfect” ones can be frozen and added to smoothies.
But for things that don’t have to be bought fresh, I am investigating which is cheaper. This website makes a case for frozen foods.
Here’s another excellent resource which backs up the “frozen is better” claim. And a page called ”How To Eat Cheap At Home.”
In an effort to cut back my budget, I’ve started working at my yoga studio in a swap for classes.
It’s not glamorous, but there’s still something satisfyingly Zenlike about meticulously sweeping the studio floor and getting lost in methodically folding towels.
For every hour or so I help, the folks at Yogani put a class in my account. If you ask, most yoga studios offer some sort of exchange of free classes for elbow grease.
Internet coupons can be a great way to save money. Just sign up for the stores you use often, and they’ll email you specials. Here’s one example:
CVS Coupon: $3 off $10 (good until March 31, 2008)
Need some paint to spruce up your living room? WD-40 to keep that hinge from squeaking? Windex? Tile grout? Pool cleaner? Other random chemicals? The Swap Shop
at Pinellas County’s Household Electronics & Chemical Collection Center could save you a lot of money.
The shop offers usable household chemicals such as paint, cleaners and automotive fluids free to the public. And you don’t have to be a Pinellas County resident.
The shop gets the products from residents who have dropped them off for recycling.
The last time I went, there were a lot of options for white and off-white paint, along with a few random colors. Plus there was quite a variety of cleaners.
Corrie Benfield
Love your book club, but hate buying a title you may end up hating? Me too. That’s why I always check the local library for the monthly book club selection before shelling out full price. It doesn’t always work, but it has saved me five or six times in the last few years. And a few of those books were ones I didn’t want to add to my collection. My only cost: time.
Another tip: my book club mates tend to slect titles that aren’t on the current best sellers list. It allows us to look on half.com or amazon for used books that cost a lot less than new. We may not be talking about Oprah’s latest and greatest author, but the discussions are no less lively or stimulating.
If someone offered you $1,769.85 to quit smoking, would you take it? I know it’s a weird amount, but that’s how much money I have saved since I quit smoking on Dec. 3, 2006. If you’re thinking about quitting or have quit recently and want to add up your savings, check out quitmeter.com.
Here’s a look at mine:
I’ve been a nonsmoker for 65 weeks, 4 days, 17 hours, 35 minutes and 36 seconds. In that time, I have not smoked 9,194 cigarettes, thus saving $1,769.85. Woohoo! That’s a lot of shoes.
Corrie Benfield
Doctors usually have some samples of the medicines they prescribe to you.
Ask for a few free samples that medical representatives give them.
Even if you get a few days worth, that is a few dollars saved.
As the cost of attending sports events continues to climb, the Rays are providing an interesting alternative.
All you need are a bunch of friends - and a big appetite.
The Rays are offering tickets at a group rate of $35 per person for select home games, for groups of 20 or more. It includes all-you-can-eat hot dogs, Italian sausage, popcorn, peanuts, nachos and soft drinks, and a seat on the first-base side of the Press Level in sections 214 through 224.
The section can accommodate up to 700 guests, so chances are good that your gathering will have little trouble finding some seats together.
And if you car-pool, parking is free for four or more in a car.
If rounding up a bunch of friends isn’t your thing, the Rays have several promotional dates this season. Some of the more intriguing giveaways: A Rays tambourine, trucker hat, Raymond cheersticks, and inflatable Raymond. Or, some kid-friendly items (Rays backpack, kids’ sunglasses, and baseball glove).
And who can turn down a Rays disco wig on 70’s night?
By Keith Morelli of The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - You shouldn’t relax unless you’re keeping the pressure up, at least when it comes to your tires.
“I check them once every three or four weeks,” said Ibrahim Benjamin, just after he finished pumping up his left rear tire at a South Tampa Hess station this week. “There’s so much on the roads these days, you never know what you are going to pick up.”
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