$224 worth of Old Navy Gift Cards for $161.60

Lately I usually buy most of my gift cards through Plastic Jungle or Cardpool where you can purchase gift cards at a discount (all gift cards are guarranteed).  I usually got through topcashback.com  and earn and extra 2.5%-4% on my purchase just because I got through their site.  (Cashback sites are a great way to earn extra money on online orders.)

For example a few months ago I bought some JC Penney gift cards for 30% off the retail price.  My husband just bought some things on sale in the store and he got an AWESOME deal.  I also bought a few things on sale online and used the gift card-- during this online sale I went through a cashback site to save even more.  :)

Well, Old Navy cards are hard to get on these sites because of their popularity so when I saw the recent Coinstar deal to get a $10 extra when you exchange money for a $40 gift card I went for it.  (You exchange coins for gift cards--some machine allow you to do bills, too.) I ended up buying $160 dollars worth of Old Navy cards and got $40 worth of free gift cards.  There is $200 worth of gift cards for $160 but WAIT . . . . I happened to see that when you buy gift cards at Old Navy this week you get 10-15% off.  (10%--everyone, 15%--Old Navy Credit Card holders) 

So I went to Old Navy and bought $224 worth of gift cards with my $200 coinstar gift cards (they are paper receipts and I would prefer real gift cards anyway).  I ended up having to pay $1.60 in addition to my coinstar gift cards.  Now I just need to wait for sales and coupons and I will get another AWESOME DEAL!!!

Here are a few other cashback sites I use:

mrrebates.com

ebates.com

bigcrumbs.com

The 12 Days Left Teaching Gift

Today while I was driving I started singing "The 12 Days of Christmas" and an idea popped in my head.  A fun gift basket for my kids' teachers called "The 12 Days Left of Teaching".  I thought of items I already had in my couponing stockpile and went to work putting it together.  First I made a card with all the 12 Days (using my items--you could change it up with what you have)--here my 12 days:

12 Eraser Pencils

11 Headache Tablets

10 Thank You Notes

9 Candy Canes

8 Packets of Coffee

7 Pieces of Chocolate

6 Sticks of Gum

5 Doodle Pads

4 Candles of Joy

3 Santa Tizers

2 Calorie Mints

1 Target Gift Card

 

I put each item in a celaphone bag, tied with some red and white baker's twine. Then I put a tag on each item. My tags said the following:

12 Eraser Pencils
For the students to correct their mistakes due to holiday gaze.

11 Headache Tablets
To help you get rid of those headaches due to the students ready for vacation.

10 Thank You Notes
So you can write notes for all the “lovely” holiday mugs you receive.

9 Candy Canes
Just because it s the holidays.

8 Packets of Coffee
To help you stay awake during the last few days of school.

7 Pieces of Chocolate
You always need chocolate.

6 Sticks of Gum
For your chewing pleasure.

5 Doodle Pads
To help you keep track of all the last minute things you need to do.

4 Candles of Joy
To help you relax and enjoy your day.

3 Santa Tizers
To fight off all those germs and stay well during the holidays.

2 Calorie Mints
To help you always have fresh breath and be prepared for the mistletoe.

1 Target Gift Card
So you can go and buy a little something for yourself.

 

Here is gift basket once I finished.

 

 

Tomorrow my kids will take the baskets to their teachers even though I am one day late.  I hope they enjoy their goodies.

 



Walmart Paid Me to Shop!

Well, today I read about the new Walmart coupon policy--here are just a few highlights:

 

• Coupons may exceed the price of the item. Change may be GIVEN or applied toward the cost of the basket purchase.
   
• “Catalinas” that are printed at our competitors’ registers, have “Manufacturer Coupon” with specific requirements printed on them, a valid remit address for the manufacturer, valid expiration date, and a scannable bar code.

 This is major, especially since Walmart has not been coupon friendly in the past.  Well, I couldn't wait to go to test it out.  I finally got at 8 pm and I ended up making a big line at my register.  None of the managers had heard about the change but I had the coupon policy in hand.  After reading and shaking their heads they gave me $15.23.  (I will go shopping anytime at Walmart if I make money!)

 

 

 

Items bought:

• 2 strawberries
• 1 pineapple
• Bunch of bananas (4)
• Bunch of tomatoes (3)
• 2 Tropicana OJ
• 1 Gallon of Milk
• 1 Tide stain release
• 14 Gain fabric softener sheets (40 ct)
• 8 Purex Complete 3 in 1 (2 ct)
• 2 John Frieda hair spray (travel size)

Coupons Used:

• 14 $3 off Gain fabric softener (2/13 RP)
• 8 $3 off Purex Complete (2/20 RP)
• 1 $1 off 2 Tropicana  (1/2 RP or 3/6 RP)
• 2 $1.50 off John Frienda (printable)
• 1 $1 off Tide (mailer--had a $3 one but pulled out wrong one)

CASH BACK: $15.23

No rebate, no store rewards--just cold hard cash in my hand!!

 

 

Olay!!!

Well, this week I went to Target so I could make some money.  Here is what I did:

Olay Facial Wash $3.50 (Buy 2 and get a $5 gift card)
Olay Age Defying Cleanser $4.45 (Buy 2 and get a $5 gift card)

This is what I bought:
12 Olay Facial Washes -- $42.50
2 Olay Age Defying Cleanser -- $8.90
$51.40

Coupons Used (these both expired 10/31 but new P&G insert might have more):
12 $1 off Olay product
2 $1.50 off Olay product
$15 coupons

Total spent -- $36.50 and received $35 Gift Cards so reality only spent $1.40

Now I will submit the Olay $20 off $50 rebate and end up making $18.60 and I have lots of Olay products to donate to a women's shelter.

Post-its, Printers and More

This last week has been crazy with the school supplies. My daughter’s teacher needed some Mr. Scent Markers so I figured out a way to get them free and get lots of post-its. Rite Aid I just made money. In addition, I got a great mobile printer that unexpectedly made money on. (I used office depot coupons at Staples along with Avery Label coupons.) Here is what I did:

Rite Aid (3 transactions)
33 Post-it Notes (various sizes and colors)
Coupons : $65.00
Total : $32.12
Earned: $30 UP Money
Earned: $20 Back to School Rebate
After Rebates: $17.98 MONEY MAKER!!

I forgot about a few Rite Aid coupons so I could have made $10 more dollars!

Staples (3 transactions)
4 Hammerill Paper
3 Expo Writing Tablet
79 Avery Label Pads (various sizes and colors)
2 Mr. Sketch Markers
3 Pilot Frixon Pens (3 ct)
1 Kids’ Scissors (2 ct)
2 Avery Return Labels-Clear
2 Scotch Tape Rolls

Paid: $30.61 (using Staples rewards that earned from ink cartridges)
Earned: $28.46 in Staples & Frixon Pen Rebates
After Rebates: $2.15

So after Staples and Rite Aid $15.83 Money Maker!!!

PRINTER at STAPLES

My husband and I wanted to get a specific mobile printer that Staples did not have in the store so we asked the manager if we could buy it at staples.com, return it to the store and rebuy it. We wanted to do a printer exchange--he said that would be fine. So here is what happened.

Printer online cost:
$203.41
-143.03 Staples Rewards from turning in ink cartridges
-$61.37 Credit Card

Returned it and they credited everything to our Credit Card:
Credit Card: $203.41

Rebought at store:
$59.12 (Used our credit on card from staples rewards)
TOTALLY SURPRISED BY PRICE!!

$50 Rebate from HP for trade-in--HP will mail it to us.

(We bought a used printer on craigslist for $10 but it had 3 ink cartridges so only paid $1 with rewards from ink.)

BOTTOM LINE--Total $9.12 with Staples Rewards.
Also, the transaction converted $133.91 Staples Rewards to Credit Card credit (this was a bonus that we weren't trying to do)

Kellogg's---WOW

Well, over the past 2 days I have done 4 transactions at Harris Teeter. Here is what I got:

17 boxes of Poptarts
10 boxes of Nutrigrain Bars
13 boxes of Cereal
2 packages of Salmon Filets (for dinner)
2 jars of Peter Pan Peanut butter
1 Box of Chocolate Covered Donuts (for me just because :)


COST:
$134.87 (total before coupons)
$4.33 (after coupons and $44 Register Rewards I earned at Walgreens)

EARNED:
$40 (every 10 items received $10)
3 movie tickets (from Poptarts)
3 DVDs (from Movie Lovers Rewards on Cereal--some boxes had doubles)

This was a great deal--only thing is we don't eat lots of poptarts or sugary cereal (I bought mostly mini wheats). I guess we will have lots of poptarts for the future or some friend will enjoy them.

Also, both packages of Salmon were orginially $10 each but on sale for $3 for quick sale--I found 2 wine tags that were $1 off fish so I knew that would be dinner. Got to go and fix that fish!

Happy couponing!

5 Packs of Diapers for $4.59 or 91¢ each

This is a deal for Huggies but if you use another brand you can still get a good deal. Search for coupons on the computer or use some that you already have.

First print out your $3 Huggies coupons at these two links:

Bricks coupon
Coupons.com

For each link you can print two coupons per computer (just hit back about 3 times once the first one has printed)—try to get five coupons for the best bargain—ask friends to print if you don’t have multiple computers.

Here is how you do it and the cost if you have 5 coupons (even if you don’t—it is a really good deal.)

There are also some huggies coupons in the Smart Source coupon section in 3/21/10 N&O.
You can mail your coupons before or after you order. Include your order confirmation email printout or your Name, Email Address and Mailing Address—what you sign up at diapers.com with. For more info please look at coupon policy

Mail to:

Diapers.com
P.O. Box 1564
Montclair, NJ 07042

They will send you an email as soon as the coupons are in your account.

How to Order:
1. First make a new account for Ebates You will receive $5 for signing up and 1% cashback.
2. Find Diapers.com in the list of stores, click on it.
3. Order (5) packs of Huggies jumbo pack diapers $9.99 ea
4. Your coupons will come off if you sent them in first. (You get free shipping on orders over $49.)
5. Get $10 off using code ACDU3783 (only good for new users).

Total Paid: $24.95

Now to get the rest back!
1. Submit for a $14.97 rebate for new users only.
2. Get your $5 Ebates bonus and 1% cashback in your Ebates account!

Total After all rebates and coupons: $4.59 or 91¢ ea if you use 5 $3 coupons!!
(If you aren’t new to Ebates you’ll still get them all for $1.91 each!)