Free Mocha Monday at McDonalds and more!

Don't forget that it's free Mocha Monday!

Stop by any McDonald's location today (Monday, August 3, 2009) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m at participating locations to get a free Iced Mocha or Hot Mocha. More details here.

I recommend calling your store ahead of time to verify that they are participating in this deal.

Some printable coupons....

$1/3 Del Monte Fruit or SuperFruit cups
$1/2 SunChips
$2/2 bags of Eight O'Clock Coffee -- If you buy this coffee often, you'll want to sign up for their rewards program here. (I'll be doing this one!)

Walgreen's deals for this week (8/2-8/8)

Thanks to Mercedes at Common Sense w/Money for these deals....check them out!

Back to School Deals
9 Cents Deal
Penway two pocket folders, after in ad coupon

19 Cents Deals
White Poster board 22×28
10 pack Penway yellow pencils
50 sheet corner office legal pad
Spalsh mini highlighter

29 Cents Deals
100 pack paper clips
6 pack Paper-Mate Highlighters
2 pack pink eraser or 15 pencil cap
12 inch rulers

99 Cents Deals
Pilot Easy Touch Pens
Binder or Book cover
3 subject notebook

Weekly Deals
Jell-o Gelatin 2/$1 after in ad coupon
Use $1/2 coupon from 7/26 RP insert
FREE after coupons

Expo Dry Erasers $1.99
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Pay $0.99 per pack

Register Rewards Deals (RR is where you get money back after the transaction to use on a future transaction)
Vitamin Shampoo or Conditioner 13oz $3.99, Earn a $3.99 RR back when you buy one
FREE after register rewards

Gum Toothbrush $3.49, Earn a $3.49 RR back when you buy one
Use $1/1 coupon from 6/21 inserts
FREE plus $1 in overage after register reward

Frizz-Ease Hair Serum 1.69oz $7.99
Earn a $5RR back when you buy one
Pay $2.99 each after RR

Kelloggs Cereals 2/$5,
Earn a $2 RR when you buy twoUse $1/2 coupon from 8/2 inserts or $1.50/2 Mini Wheats printable coupon on Redplum.com
Pay as low as $1.50 for two after coupon and register reward

Monthly Register Rewards
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara: Get a coupon for a FREE Mascara on next purchase

Woo woo!

Possible Walgreens Starbucks deal

I read on another blog that you may be able to get Starbucks Frappuccino bottles for .25 through August 1. Use the coupon link listed below, and combine that coupon with the in-ad coupon this week, which has these bottles at $1.25. Usually you can print these twice per computer, but I'm not promising anything:)

http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qg4sbpf81917084&bt=vi&sssdmh=dm24.163058&o=58125&c=FR&p=4q8WveEy

more printable coupons

Here are some coupon links I've seen on different websites recently.....

Smart Balance products:
http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=E3ZRDETDN4L3O

Pop Tarts:
http://www.poptarts.com/moms/#/section/coupon

French's products (mustard, etc):
http://www.frenchs.com/promotions/
$.50 Fried Onions
$.50 Cattleman's BBQ Sauce
$.50 Worcestershire Sauce
$.50 Frank's Hot Sauce
$.50 Frank's Original Buffalo Wings Sauce
$.50 French's Mustard

$1 off 1 All detergent (at Target these are sometimes in the trial size area for around $1, making them almost free!):
http://www.all-laundry.com/#/get-coupons/

Honey Bunches of Oats Pecan:
http://www.postcereals.com/honeybunchesofoats/ (go to bottom right for coupon link)


FREE Dunkin' Donuts sample:
https://dunkinathome.safeprocessing.com/(S(tgxkdr550swyijzggqgvm455))/Offers/DunkinAtHome/131/Offer.aspx

Like I always say....hopefully these work for you!

Possibly more freebies and coupons!

Try this link...it links to the Home Made Simple site, which is the one with the booklet with free Cascade Rinse Agent. You might be able to obtain another booklet!

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/100900/quickQuestion.iphtml?item=100900&source=FEBSO

and this one....

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/100900/quickQuestion.iphtml?item=100900&source=MRCLEAN


Here's a deal at Walgreens: http://www.walgreens.com/dmi/instorespecials/default.html?ec=hn1028sr_getcoupon (once again, hopefully it works!) This should get you 15% off, but look at the coupon to learn any restrictions, i.e. use it only at the photo and cosmetics counter. You can always check out all of your items at these counters, in case you didn't know. This coupon is good for Friday, July 31 only!

Happy saving!

Some freebies in the mail!

Here are some links for some freebies to get in the mail. Sure, they aren't huge, but they are FREE! And, who doesn't like a little gift in the mail now and then (that isn't a bill)?

Viva Paper Towels: http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid73974.aspx

Nivea Touch of Sparkle Bodywash: http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid73752.aspx

Fiber One Cereal (with some coupons): http://www.fiberone.com/

Enjoy! (hopefully the links work:)

Right at Home free booklet

Click on the link below and you can sign up for a free booklet from Right at Home. I've received this booklet MANY times and it has always had a coupon for a free bottle of Cascade rinse agent for the dishwasher, as well as many other coupons. Worth a few minutes of typing!

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/100603/captureAddress.iphtml?item=100603&pk_guid=68.101.54.84.77641246671757725&source=mrclean

Hopefully it works for you!

Kraft and Nabisco savings

Last night's grocery trip yielded an even better savings, thanks to a bazillion coupons I acquired online, thanks to Kraft and Nabisco!

Total before savings: $60.28
Total after savings: $24.99! (Includes store price cuts and coupons)
That's almost a 60% savings!

A sample of what I bought:
4 bottles of BBQ sauce (normal price: .99, on sale for .89, used 4 $1.00 coupons)=free
2 boxes of Ritz (normal price: $3.49, on sale for $2.50, used 2 $1.00 coupons)=$1.50/box
2 boxes of Triscuits (normal price: $3.29, on sale for $2.00, used 2 $1.00 coupons)=$1/box
1 box of Wheat Thins (normal price: $3.29, on sale for $2.00, used 2 $1.00 coupons)=$1/box

and many more items, including lots of Jello and pudding, bacon, hotdogs (.50 a pack!), shredded cheese, eggs (.49/dozen!)blah blah blah! I could post more, but it's all downstairs.....

In all, I had $16.00 worth of coupons to add to the markdowns from the store. I can't say that the checker was necessarily thrilled with all of the coupons, but I am a legit couponer, so oh well!

Where to get them: http://www.coupons.com/ as well as http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/Pages/home.aspx (click on coupons at the top), http://www.smartsource.com/

You should be able to print a couple coupons per site, but I make no promises!
Fareway has great deals this week on Kraft and Nabisco products, so take advantage of these great deals, if you have the storage space!

Happy savings!

Reusable cloth grocery bags

Want to free up some clutter in your closet, drawer, or whereever you keep those annoying plastic bags you get from the store? Do away with them as much as possible by investing in (or making your own) reusable grocery bags.

A few little diddies from the U.S. EPA:

Less than 1% of plastic bags are recycled. It costs more to recycle a plastic bag than it does to make one.

Plastic bags make up approx. 10% of debris washed up on U.S. coastlines.

If we use a cloth bag, we can save 6 bags a week, That's 24 bags a month, That's 288 bags a year, That's 22,176 bags in an average life time, If just 1 out of 5 people in our country did this we would save 1,330,560,000,000 bags over our life time.

You can usually fit more into a reusable bag than a plastic one. And, they are a bit more stylish:)

Fewer plastic bags (that usually aren't recycled anyway) means less waste in your garbage can, which means you could perhaps lessen the amount of garbage you put out for removal. We recently dropped down to the smallest garbage container our community offers....at a savings of $8 a month, which is $96 a year! (Sure, it wasn't just the plastic bags, but a heck of a lot of recycling too. We live in a rather recycle friendly community)

And....look how happy Gavin is that we are producing less garbage:)

The inaugural post

Hi! Welcome to Money Saving with Amy, my attempt to pass along little money saving tips that I have used or come across one way or another.

Some of my tips include homemade items. Others are ideas for maximizing the dollars you spend at retailers. Yet others may be just little helpful hints around the house. Whatever form it may take, it's goal is the same...to save a few bucks here and there!

So, to kick this off, I'll start with something that many people have asked for...the recipe I use for homemade laundry detergent. There are many of these recipes on the web, this is just the one that I like to use.

LAUNDRY DETERGENT
Traditional, store-bought laundry detergent can run anywhere from $3-$10+ a bottle, a bottle that lasts 25-30 loads or so. Yes, you can buy some that is even cheaper, but the recipe I use still costs less. There is a bit of "start-up cost", but you will recoup that after one or two batches.

INGREDIENTS TO GATHER:
1. Fels Naptha bar soap: I have found this soap at HyVee at around .99 a bar, but have heard that you can sometimes find it at hardware stores as well. (Why a hardware store? I have no clue) You can also purchase it online at amazon.com, but you might look at your local store first, as it'll be cheaper than paying for shipping, etc. Anyhoo, if you choose not use Fels Naptha, you can use other bar soaps, such as Ivory.

2. Washing Soda: Read carefully....washing soda, NOT baking soda. The stuff I use is made by Arm and Hammer.

3. 20 Mule Team Borax: I find this a funny name, as I haven't seen any other sort of Borax (18 Mule, 19 Mule team, etc.) I guess one needs 20 mules to be effective ;-)

(All of the above items can be found in the laundry aisle)

You'll also need:
4. Water: Available at your local faucet.
5. A big container with a cover (at least 2 gallons or so)


HOW TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha, grated (important to grate...melts much faster than just chunks of soap)
3/4 cup Washing soda
3/4 cup Borax
3 pints hot water to start

--Mix grated Fels Naptha soap in saucepan with 3 pints hot water and heat until soap is dissolved.
--Stir in washing soda and Borax. Stir until dissolved and thickened a bit. Remove from heat.
--Add 1 quart hot water to your big container. Add soap mixture and mix well. Fill the rest of the container with additional hot water and mix well. Set this mixture aside for a day or so, mixing now and then. (Best to cover) If it becomes too thick, you may like to add additional hot water. It will gel a bit and will have a (pardon the term) "snotty" consistency. This is normal and it will smooth as it ages. Mix well before each use. Use 1/4-1/2 cup per load. It should last for quite a few loads of laundry.

Helpful hint! You may like to put some of this mixture into an old laundry detergent bottle, then you can just shake and use. It will also take less space in your laundry area.

Cost: I figured that each batch of this probably costs around a dollar or so to make. This may differ depending upon the cost of ingredients in your area.

Front loader people: I get asked if this works for front loaders. Answer? I don't know how it will work in your machine. Front load washer manufacturers recommend the use of the high efficiency detergent because it contains less sudsing ingredients, which usually leave a film and gunk in the washer. You will see that this doesn't suds too much. Regardless, please use at your discretion.


So, there you have it...homemade laundry detergent for a fraction of the cost!

Join me again as I pass along other tidbits of savings!