Flashbacks

This will definitely be a random musing post....

Its been more than 2 years since I was a reporter, being paid to find the news and hopefully scoop others. Some days I did, some days I didn't. I loved my job, all aspects of it, and this was just one of the many ways I would fill my days.

Writing this blog in many ways is similar, especially since I have found other similar blogs. I readily acknowledge I get some tips from them. I have and will post links giving them credit. So its understandable that today, when I saw another blog that I had forwarded my scoop to (in hopes they would give me credit like I have done with them) tell the news on Facebook and not give me credit, that I would be a little bit mad. Ok, a lot mad. Luckily for you, I made this discovery about 6 hours ago, so the anger has subsided and I don't have the energy to vent as I would have this afternoon if I were not running after an 18 month old.

Something else, that is of a more pertinent nature for you, the reader, is this. As I have said before, I am not here to be paid by others to direct you to certain websites. If Amazon wants to give me money, great, but if their deals are in the terlit, I am going to say so. I stumbled across a blog today that was pushing amazon, and then at the bottom she had a disclaimer. Kudos for having the disclaimer in the first place, but since when is saving money and encouraging others to do so, incompatible with being honest?

Thats my two cents. Hope you had success on Cyber Monday, I didn't buy a thing. And thanks to everyone who has joined the FB group. I appreciate your reading and sharing the news about money saving ideas.

Cyber Monday

In a little more than 3 hours the computer "savings" are likely to appear. I know I am already signed up on Facebook for at least one savings event come midnight, and I am sure many other sites and stores will start offering great "deals" just for you as you sit at desk at work, possibly trying to stay awake after a hellish drive home from where-ever you were for Turkey.

Be careful though, make sure you are really getting a sale, or else your "savings" are not real. Like everything else, you have to know what you are looking for and read the fine print.

I was reading a blog yesterday where a buyer wondered why a particular site seemed to be changing the List Price, making it higher, so it appeared to be offering greater savings when the "NEW" price was introduced. I have often wondered this myself but could never prove it -- unless I knew what I was looking for and specifically how much it cost.

For example, if tomorrow I see a 5 Q Kitchen Aid Mixer in Red for $100, I will buy in a heartbeat. I know this particular item is at least $250, and usually closer to $350. I will own this one day, but that day is not likely tomorrow or anytime soon...unless it goes on crazy sale. Now, if I see Madden NFL 10 as $39.99 and its advertised as a sale, close to half off...check out first. Regular price for this game on PS2 is $39.99, so if you are buying for a PS2, no savings. But if it actually for a PS3 or Xbox, there could be some serious saving!

Happy shopping and savings!

Restaurant savings

Last night I saw a deal from Restaurant.com that gives me a $25 gift certificate and I wound up paying $2 for it. I'll admit right away I am skeptical. BUT...several of my friends from all across the country have said they had positive experiences, so I am trusting them.

First the deal. If you go to Restaurant.com and enter the passcode SAVE when you check out, you save 80%!

The fine print is important, a bunch of places have restrictions on when you can use or how much you need to purchase for credit to count. One friend said he knew his card wasn't good for when he was coming in, so he called ahead and spoke to manager. Said he wouldn't come with his group of 8 UNLESS they honored card. In this economy it was a no brainer for manager and his card was accepted.

I'll let you know how our deal plays out when we use it (it was for Ted's Montana Grill, one of my hubby's favorites).

Safe travels to all those on the road today.

Free photocards from Vista Prints

Go to Vistaprint.com Look to tab on left under holiday & family, and click Free items. Then follow to free photocards. You design it the same way you do at other sites. You get 10 free, and then after that they charge you. If you get the 10 free you still pay shipping, which varies depending on how soon you want them.

UPDATE>>> From reader JCM: Check out this blog which is offering readers a great deal from SeeHere (Fuji Film site) on photocards. Not free anymore, but 50 is better than 10 and the shipping is not that bad.

Free 11 oz photo coffee mug from Snapfish

Buy one get one free. Offer expires Dec. 4, 2009
Enter code DEC3 at checkout to get rebate.

Free photobook from Shutterfly

Offer good thru Sunday. Spend $50 on pix, photocards or whatever, and get a free photobook. We made our son a photobook from them a few months ago so he would know his family, especially those he doesn't see all the time, and were very impressed with Shutterfly's quality.

Just enter PASSALONG a checkout to get rebate.

Toys R Us Saturday 11/28

According to the ad in my email, these are all in-store sales. Click here for printable coupon.

- Buy one, get one 50% off lego sets
- $50 gift card when you buy any Band Hero Super Bundle or or Wii DJ Hero Bundle
- 20% off all guitars
- FREE Toy Story Backpack, CARS Backpack or Bakugan “Become a Master Brawler” DVD with ANY purchase of $25 or more

Washington Post sales alerts

Click here for a bunch of updates and coupons!

More $5 magazine deals

Sitting here stuffed from a wonderful dinner at my brother's.

Amazon is having a crazy sale on magazines from now through Dec. 1, 2009. These magazines are $5/year:

Real Simple
Sports Illustrated Kids
People -- Style Watch
Popular Science
Travel + Leisure
Food & Wine
House Beautiful
Southern Living

Click here for all the details.

Wednesday night deals

It's Wednesday night. The cranberry sauce for tomorrow night is chilling in the fridge (my husband thinks it hilarious that I make sauce when you can buy out of a can), and the new dessert I found in a cookbook courtesy of my SIL is in the oven.

Here are some deals for you…

NY&Co (they were Lerner when I was growing up) has everything online 50% off from now until Sunday. This is the same sale they will have in their stores on Friday.


Great deals on restaurant gift cards here! Rules and restrictions apply, and if you have used this, would love your thoughts. Having said that, definitely worth a try. Click here.
Use the coupon code THANKS and couponcabin.com says it gets you 70% off.

Red Envelope is one of my favorite online stores. I can always find things there I like, but sometimes the prices are a bit much. They are having a huge sale between now and Sunday on a slew of items. I can say from experience the quality is top notch. The best deal I found was this ornament that’s half price, or if you get engraved it’s essentially full price with free engraving.


Lands End is doing a sale a day between now and St. Nick’s Day (Dec 6). Today’s deal is 40% off no iron men and women’s shirts. More info here.


Sears is also doing a deal a day. Today, ending at midnight, they have $50 off a Kenmore Bobbin Drop-in Sewing machine. Regularly $250. Click here. Also, if you sign up to receive their emails, they will send you $10 toward instore/online purchases.

Pottery Barn is doing free shipping and monogramming through Monday.

On Thursday I will likely have computer on and if I see any great deals will be sure to post here. I admit though, since this is a blog about my own personal finance, I think its unlikely I am going to do much shopping in the next few days. We will have a budget, yet to be determined, and will need to make sure we stick to it. Of all the deals I have found, I think the one I mentioned yesterday about LL Bean was the best.

Finally, a note from one of our readers, my old roommate JPF. Her take on a local trip to Old Navy. Definitely worth checking out!

I wanted to let you know that the Old Navy by us (in Annapolis) is having a half off their clearance price sale (I was there on Sunday - not sure how long it will be going on for). I was able to pick up t-shirts for (7 yo son) for next spring for $1.99 a piece. I got (2 yo daughter) a red velvet jumper for this Christmas for $3.49. Such good bargains! I even got her a little black velvet purse to use for $3.49 - she loves it! It was mostly summer stuff on clearance, but our store had a lot in both the kids and adult sections as well.

Tonight's list of deals and bargains...

This is my 100th post...thanks as always for reading!

More deals. Like yesterday, all over the place….

Overstock has Wii for $199.99, click here. They offer free shipping on your first order.


QVC has a deal on sunglasses that are also a video recorder. An odd gift for sure, but hey someone’s gotta buy it. Regularly $192, tonight its $72. Click here.


A friend from high school has started her own business. She does accessories for girls. Check out her store, and her latest offer. It’s easier to direct you to the specific sale, than explain it all. Be sure to check out her main site for other info. It is here

Victoria’s Secret is offering 20% off any single item. It expires on Wednesday, so act fast.


Shutterfly has some good deals going now. The one that caught my eye gives you a free calendar with the purchase of $50 (enter the promocode PASSALONG at check out.) www.shutterfly.com

Today (Tues) Toys R Us had a $25 off coupon for an iPod. Tomorrow (Wed.) its 33% off already reduced Nerf products. To get that coupon or to see what others they have this week, click here


LLBean is offering a $10 gift card for orders greater than $25. That sounds like they are basically paying you to shop!

Safe travels to all those on the road this week!

Price war between Wal-Mart and Amazon

Have seen anecdotal evidence of this this week as I compared prices online. I need to be better about looking at Wal-Mart's website. We don't have one here (I know shocker) so I never think to look at them.

An interesting article about their battles is here

Today holiday spending tips

The show had some good ideas from viewers this morning. The areas I completely agree with:
1) Set a budget, say $250 (random number, make sure it suits your family needs)
2) With the budget above, outline. Meaning, delegate $40 for mom, $40 for Dad, $25 for brother, $30 for best friend, etc. Now take this outline with you shopping. If you find a sweater that you love for mom that costs $45, than someone on the list has to lose $5 from their allotment. The show went so far as to say bring this money in cash with you and actually take the money from dad's envelope and put into Mom's before buying.

There were a few areas I disagreed with, but its too late now in the year to debate them or use them, so look for those in January.

Click here to watch the video, its about 5 minutes.

$25 off iPod Nano at TRU

This is only good on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Click here for coupon.

Thanksgiving week deals -- #1

Everything from soup to nuts! This is to get you started. I am posting tonight, Monday, because it seems there are so many out there and a fair amount expire earlier in the week.

Full disclaimer here, it’s the reporter in me. I found a lot of these deals by searching other blogs. I give you the link to those blogs embedded here with the specific deal. Some of the deals I found myself.

Come back for more deals later this week!

$3 off Tums: you might need this after Thursday!

BeCentsable Thanksgiving Tips & Coupons: Huge list of food items including – ham, turkey and desserts

Dicks Sporting Goods has either free shipping on orders more than $49 (which should not be too hard) or 15% off your entire order

Old Navy, Gap, etc have the same free shipping on orders more than $49, but they also have 15% off entire order (note this one expires on Tuesday).

Another good site that has a slew of coupons for department stores is MomsView.com. Check out their listing here.

Ultimate coupons also has a ton by store. This one is for Kohls, free shipping on orders more than $50

This site, which also has a FB page that I became a fan of, has a slew of circulars posted for their sales coming this week, including Wal-Mart, JC Penny and countless others.

Amazon apparently likes to sell magazines cheap. Last week it was Cooking Light for $5/year. This week its ESPN for $5. Having had both, its no contest which one is better…but maybe that’s because I am like to cook. Besides ESPN though, they have a bunch of other magazine offers this week.

Toys R Us and Babies R Us are having diaper and wipes deals. Not sure about the diapers (I guess that’s why I am loyal to a fault to Diapers.com) but, the wipes deal sounds great. More info here.

Outback Steakhouse will give you $20 in gift cards when you purchase $100.

JCrew is offering free shipping on all orders, it does not appear to have a limit, but also doesn’t have an expiration date either.

Another good site for coupons, or so it appears is bestonlinecoupons.com I have attached the link for their Target coupons here, but they also list a ton of other stores.

Yankee Candle: But 2 get 2 free

Gap: 20% off your entire purchase

CouponCabin.com has some great deals, either by department store online printable coupons and many many more!

Shopathome.com has a list of stores that will give you cash back (not sure how that works) on Black Friday shopping, as well as some plans and ideas for Cyber Monday deals.

Finally it appears Amazon is having what it is calling lightening sales. Good prices on a variety of items for a limited amount of time. In the next hour or so they will have diamond stud earrings for $40. I doubt they are Tiffany quality, but it’s a deal none the less. (*Note, the list price is $69.99, my guess is they won’t have the link say $39.99 until they are ready).

Coming attraction

Barring the unforeseen, Tuesday will mark the first annual Blue Patched Couch Mega Coupon and Sales extravaganza...likely to be posted Tuesday night.

I have been saving specials and coupons and sales tips and will post just in time for the best holiday of the year AND the best shopping day of the year.

In the meantime, be sure to send me any tips you find. I will include.

Ties v. Velcro

I know velcro is easier for parents. Much easier. But is it really $7 easier? I decided no.

My son needed new shoes. He is growing like a weed and will no doubt be too big for these new shoes in two months tops. So I was resigned to get him Transformers Velcro shoes at Target for $16.99. But then I saw regular white tie tennis shoes for $9.99. To me this is a no brainer.

While boys are not as bad as girls for demanding brand names, they are still somewhat materially conscious. I will have the rest of his life to fight over Transformers v boring white. All his other shoes are tie, they are hand me downs, so for me the tie was no big deal.

I think if the shoes were $2 or maybe $3 more I may have considered it. But $7 more for pair of shoes that will be obsolete before winter is over. That is just not worth it to me.

$194 a year

That's the amount that I am now saving because of my 15 minute phone call to the good people at Comcast. This is a follow up from my Facebook posting earlier in the day.

We have a DVR. They gave us a 'deal' on it earlier this year and it expired today. I called to find out what they could do for us. I said we would either cancel the DVR outright (which I would do) or worse for them, jump to DirectTV or Satelite (which I likely wouldn't do, but they don't know that).

The woman was very nice. She asked about my Thanksgiving plans. I asked about hers. She is on the panhandle of Florida. I am 3 miles south of the Pentagon. It was a nice talk.

She then told me she found me a "new" promotion. A free DVR for a year! She asked if I was interested. I asked what the catch was. She said nothing. Sign me up!!

My monthly bill just went from 100.19 to 83.17! When you factor that in monthly, that's big savings. That will go a long way toward my never ending student loan payment or our condo fees. This was by far the best news I heard all day.

Watch the register

I love Target, but sometimes it seems their scanners are wrong. Today it paid off to be observant.

Target cereal bars were on substitute special for $1.75 because whatever was supposed to be on sale was not available. We are running out of cereal bars, and this is a fair price. Its about what I pay at TJs and Harris Teeter.

I remembered the price reduction and when the salesclerk rang up, it came up as the regular price of $2.19. I told her immediately it was a sale and gave her the price. She just overrode the price and gave me the reduced rate.

So, you are thinking...wow Mary, you saved a whopping 44 cents. Big deal. You are right, its not a big deal in today's universe, but in the grand scheme of things, these 44 cents add up. The point being, watch when your salesclerk rings up items and don't be afraid to speak up. It can save you money!

Just remember to always be polite and don't take the malfunction out on the clerk.

Coming later this week: suggest sites from a reader in Georgia and another in PA.

Keep the change...

Stealing a line from a bank that has a program touting its "savings" plans, I thought I would recall what happened yesterday when we went thru the Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru.

Warning: this story is not the slightest bit exciting or sexy, but it is an example of how I save.

I got a small coffee and donut for me, and for my son, I got what has to be one of his very favorite foods in the whole world: Cinn-Raisin bagel. The bill was $3.48. I handed the lady $4.

When she handed me my change, the quarters fell to the ground. There was really no debate. I opened the door, got out on the ground and picked up my 50 cents, plus the misc change from other drivers who had done the same thing. When I got back in the car I had more than $1 in change!

This money went into a small compartment in the car. That's where I keep my change. So that whenever the mood strikes me for coffee or for a milkshake for my son, I never worry about not having money. This "change" bin is always full. I put all the leftover change from various purchases, of whatever I find at the bottom of my purse, in there.

A closing note: things have been pretty hectic around here lately, and I haven't been able to write as much as I want. Hoping that they are calming down now and I can do more of my daily posts. Thanks for reading.

Cooking and cleaning....

Cooking Light is one of my favorite (if not my very favorite) magazines. My MIL 'Marie' gives it to me every year and it's the best gift because it gets used often, is very much appreciated and never ever goes out of style.

So when I saw on one of the blogs I follow (they are on the right side of the homepage of this blog) that Cooking Light was now $5 for a FULL YEAR I had to repost and find out more. Sure enough, Amazon is running the deal. Click the above link for more details.

I can honestly say that even if I didn't get this as a gift, it would remain, no matter what our financial straights the one magazine we kept. I get so many ideas from it, and just love sitting on the couch and sifting through the recipes. And they are timeless. My husband knows not to dare pitch the 2000 issue with post-it notes plastered on the inside from my days at 1616.

Happy Eating!!!

As for cleaning, my anger at Shoppers has subsided. One silver lining is the fact they double-bag all their plastic bags. This came in handy this week since bag our son's diapers in them before placing in trash can.

In addition to double bagging we put left over dryer sheets in the trash can too, so the smell is completely eliminated. Even if you don't have diaper issues, the left over dryer sheets would also work well in a linen closet and in clothes drawers.

Reader reports...

First up, from my college friend JL.

This AP story contains a lot of useful advice! I always follow a list and also write down on a piece of paper what coupons I have so I don't waste time flipping through flimpsy pieces of paper in the meal aisle wondering if I have to buy 2 or 3 Hamburger Helpers to get the 75 cents off.

Second, reader MTS (we went to hs together, she'll always be MT, just like I am likely always to be MS) sent this comment in:

I used coupons at the grocery store for the
first time in my life. I went on shopathome.com printed the coupons and
saved $14. Not bad for the first time, but I want to be one of those crazy
people that can get $150 in groceries for $50 or less!

I had never heard of shopathome.com before her email. But I checked it out, and not bad! Our printer is not hooked up so I didn't get the chance to use the coupons before I went out last night. I think someone at Shoppers had gone there though since I saw (and used, thanks anonymous donor) a printed coupon in the stock aisle.

I look forward to using that site, so thanks MTS!!!

Still stewing

A day later I am still really miffed about paying $3 more for a TGIF meal on Shoppers than I would have at Harris Teeter. The big BIG lesson learned: before shopping with coupons, especially coupons for fun items that I normally wouldnt buy (and a nearly $9 TGIF meal that will barely feed my husband certainly qualifies), check the circulars. Had I spent less than 5 minutes I would have seen that HT had it on sale...ugh!

Also, more on my dislike for Shoppers, their selzer is not as good as HT or Giant.

The bright spot of the day was our dinner. The recipe is courtesy of my friend Cathy. I will have to check if I have blogged this before, but to feed both of us a full and very filling meal cost about $9! That's $4.50 per person. What was this meal???

Crock pot pulled pork!!!

Ingredients:
Pork shoulder/butt (on sale a few weeks back, I paid $6.32)
Hamburger buns (we have so many from our hamburger nights, but they are about $1 pack at Target I think)
Bottle of BBQ (your choice, we used Trader Joe's)
Bottle of beer (bought last night, 6 pack was $5.99, so bottle was less $1)

I am sitting here stuffed. I didn't even eat dessert, something I never pass up!!!
Crock pots really are the greatest invention ever!

Triple coupons -- they paid off

A friend recommended Shoppers Food Warehouse, and since they along with Harris Teeter were having a triple-coupon special this week, I decided to give it a try. I went there first. I had gone to Shoppers in the past when we lived elsewhere but was never all that impressed.

I am sorry to report that my impressions from four years ago remained the same.

The prices were not THAT much cheaper, and infact they were were more expensive in some regards (milk for $3.69!) Campbells Chix noodle was more expensive ($1) than HT (.89), and butter was too (Shoppers $2.59, HT $2.49). They had some good promotions, such as Campbells Gravy 2/$1 (vs. HT $1.59/bogo), and Rice-a-roni for $1 always, but nothing in the store that will get me to come back without the triple coupons and even with them if another store has the same deal.

Bottom line at Shoppers, spent $63.93 for:
2 boxes of generic cereal (Oats&Almonds and Raisan Bran)
Generic cranberry sauce
3 boxes of ricearoni
2 boxes Hamburger Helper
Soft Scrub
2 patches of Ortega Taco Seasoning
3 bottles of generic seltzer
2 cartons of Progressive Chicken Broth
3 cans of Campbells Chix Noodle
4 cans of Campbells Gravy
1 jar of Paprika
1 package of Smithfield Bacon
1 package of Blueberry Waffles
2 packages of Totinos Frozen Pizza
1 package of TGIF Complete meals
1 package of Dole Frozen Fruits
1 package of Shredded Cheese
1 package of Unsalted Butter
1 package of generic Parmesan cheese
1 package of Nestle Choc Chip Cookie Dough
1 bottle of Suave

Total: $63.93
Total coupon savings: $18.65

According to the receipt I saved 23% of my bill with my coupons.

But, because I am rather certain they over charged me for one item (that if it was closer I would go back and complain) AND I paid full price for the TGIF meal when it was $3 off at HT, I do not feel like I saved that much. Ugh.

Then after coming home, having hubby unload car I went to HT.

Aside from the aforementioned TGIF meal savings (which I didn't buy since I already had used coupon), they had some good sales. They organize the coupon differently, so this is what I bought:

1 Reynolds Crock Pot Liner
1 can of Lysol Spray
1 package of Tostitos Lime Chips
1 jar of Franks Hot Sauce
1 box of Raisan Bran
1 bottle of V8 Fusion
1 box of HT cereal bars
1 box of Wolfgang Puck Stock
1 box of Wolfgang Puck Broth
1 bottle of Karo Syrup
1 6-pack of beer
1 gallon HT ice cream
1 carton of Welch's Grape Juice
1 roll of HT cinn breakfast rolls
1 package of Hormel Pepperoni

I spent a total of $34.05
I received $20.32 in coupon savings and an additional $8.93 in VIC promotions. So based on their prices and my coupons I saved nearly half the price of my bill...sweet.

I found that HT has better sales, as in the items are reduced by a greater amount when they are on sale. This is one reason I will remain loyal to HT.

Also, going over the list, you'll notice a lot of gravy and stock. My husband was confused and couldn't figure out why I got so much. The reason is because of the triple coupons and the sale price for these items because its the holidays they became super super cheap, especially the Wolfgang Puck which I would never otherwise buy. So now we are stocked up, no pun intended.

Triple coupons and more!!

Wow! Shoppers and Harris Teeter are doing Triple Coupons this week! And it appears Giant and Safeway are doing some pretty decent sales as well.

So, instead of going line by line am going to try to attach the respective fliers here.

These are likely to bring about serious savings....happy shopping! I plan on going out Monday and Tuesday nights! (yeah, I know the sad, exciting life of a suburban mom)

Shoppers (must enter zip code or pick store to see specifics)

Harris Teeter (only 20 coupons a day per household)

Safeway (made me enter a specific store, but you can change location. Highlight is coupon for free eggs!)

Giant (again had to enter a location, but you can change)

A carseat from Bridget for Bridget

I have been slammed of late, lots going on. I hope this dies down next week or so. We'll see.

Tonight's post is brief, but I am super excited. Last month I visited my old roommate in Connecticut and we lamented how great it would be for her to take the train to DC with her daughter (Bridget) and we could hang out down here like we did in Connecticut. But what about a carseat, she asked?

Ugh, hadn't thought that far ahead. She is pregnant and Amtrak is notorious about not being that helpful. I love Amtrak mind you, have taken it cross country and numerous other places...but customer service is sadly not their strong suit.

Then tonight, while procrastinating on a project, the top listing on Freecycle for my area was a 2008 car seat. Never been in an accident. I checked reviews, its safe. So we now have an extra car seat which is likely a good thing anyway, and hopefully that means Bridget can come visit next month and we can take her and my son to see the Christmas lights in DC.

Yippee!