BeccaGirl's Money

So the freebie reversal thing was weird, lol. I lost a few bucks on Cash Duck and close to a hundred on RHC. But just a few days ago, I got all the money put back into my RHC account. Deal Barbie and Pocket Cash GPT didn't do any reversals, so I lucked out there. But I don't think I did more than a couple of offers in the whole month of January. I still managed to cash out with a couple hundred bucks (collectively from all the sites) in referral earnings, so not bad at all. Now I just need to get my own site running... bleh.

I'll have to update my tutorial now that those surveys are being pulled off from the sites. Still I don't think this is the end of GPT sites. Something similar happened last summer with Tickle surveys... so I'm sure this is just a bump in the road and everyone will recoup.

Speaking of freebies, ya'll have heard me talk about a Hot Coupon World. Well did I mention that there's lots of freebie links there? I signed up for a bunch yesterday - everything from free razors, stickers, lotion, drinks, coupons... you name it, they've got it. Check it out here and let me know what you think!

Labels: coupons, freebies, gpt sites

Posted by Becca at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments

I've talked a little about couponing before on this blog, but I think most people don't really understand the extent of my coupon obsession. ;) The thing is that couponing can really s-t-r-e-t-c-h your money further than you ever imagined. It is completely normal for me to go to the store and get $80 worth of groceries for $0 to $10. Really!

People shy away from couponing because they think it involves too much and they figure they can get a better deal by buying in bulk (Costco) or buying generic. *gag*

To those people I say - why buy generic when I can get the name-brand product for FREE or cheaper? And why waste an entire morning (not to mention $100 or more) at Costco when I could just run in and out of my local grocery store?

I have only been couponing for a few months, but already I have a pretty decent stockpile of products. Some examples of deals:

Over 50 boxes of cereal - all either FREE or less than $1/box

Over 60 Jello pudding cups - FREE

60 snack size bags of Snyder's Pretzels - .09/each

10 boxes of taco shells - .29/each

12 packages of Oscar Meier hot dogs - .50/each

20 Delimex To Go taquitos - .25/each

9 8-pks of Bounty paper towels - .50/roll

22 4-pks of Cottonelle toilet paper - FREE

15 cubs of Puffs tissues - FREE + $5 for every 5

10 boxes of energy efficient light bulbs - FREE + $2 each box

10 bags of shredded cheese - .50/bag

and the list goes on and on....

So if I told you that you would never have to pay full price for things like toothpaste, toilet paper, shampoo, deodorant, baby wipes, toothbrushes, make-up, etc... would you be the least bit intrigued?

Well, good!

And how would you feel if I told you that it is super-easy to start couponing?

Really!

Here's Tip #1: Buy the Sunday paper.

Yup... your local Sunday paper is where you'll find the bulk of the coupons you'll need. Now you're probably asking yourself, "Do I really want to shell out $1.50 for a dumb newspaper just to get a couple coupons?"

Well if you're smart, the answer will be YES!

And here's why - In last week's paper (1/7) I received 5 fat inserts chock full of coupons. Some of the best ones were

• Coupon for FREE box of Electrasol (up to $4.29)

• Coupon for FREE pouch of Purina Naturals Cat Food (up to $1.89)

• Coupon for FREE bottle of Special K Protein Water (up to $1.29)

• Coupon for $30 off Ultra Touch Glucose monitors (on sale for $30 at Rite-Aid - so FREE after coupon)

• Coupon for $2.50 off Playtex Sport tampons (on sale for $2.99 at Safeway - so .49 cents after coupon)
  

• Coupon for $2 off Reach Toothbrush (which is on sale at Walgreen's this week for $2 - so after coupon it's FREE)

• Coupon for $1 off Gum Toothbrush (on sale at Albertson's for $1 - so FREE after coupon)
  

• Coupon for .75 off Aquafresh Toothpaste (which is on sale at Fred Meyer's for .99 this week - so .24 cents after coupon)

So just with those few coupons I get over $40 worth of stuff! And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Remember, I said there were FIVE inserts. The coupons were SO GOOD that I ended up buying 12 copies of the paper! That's 12 free boxes of dishwasher detergent, 24 free toothbrushes, 12 free pouches of cat food, 12 tubes of toothpaste @ .24/each, etc. -- all for $1.50 a paper.

Now, not every week is as good of a coupon week as last week, but there are always deals to be had. So getting into the habit of buying the Sunday paper is KEY!

If I've piqued your interest and you're ready to learn more about couponing, then consider checking out Hot Coupon World. This is a forum all about couponing with the coolest people and some HOT deals.

Either way, keep watching this blog because I'll continue to post current weekly deals and couponing tips so that you can see more of what I'm talking about.

Labels: coupons, deals

Posted by Becca at 9:27 PM | Permalink | Comments

You don't have to tell me, I already know. ;) I started this blog with the intention of updating it on a regular basis, I really did. And then life took over and this blog got put on the back burner. Which sucks, because I really like this blog and want to be able to place a lot of good information here that will help people save and make money.

So I'm going to try.... lol.

But here's an update of what I've been doing so far:

1) My student loan is now rehabilitated.

I got a letter from the Dept. of Education earlier this month telling me that my student loan had been successfully rehabilitated and was now out of collections status. Woo-hoo! Of course, I'm still paying this ($85/month) but now I'll be paying them directly and it will look better on my credit report, plus I think this means I'm eligible for financial aid again, if I should decide to go back to school. :)

2) I reached the $1000 mark on Cash Duck!



Not too bad, huh? ;) I am now at the point where I'm earning a good chunk from referrals alone. But I also do my own offers... and a few surveys when I can. It really is easy money and I wish more people would get that. I recently lost a few days work after the Thanksgiving holiday. Well, because of that they wouldn't pay me for the holiday because I didn't bring in a doctor's note. I also didn't get paid for the days I was sick because I was out of sick leave. So I lost a whole week's pay!

Normally, this would've been a big deal, but because I keep my earnings from GPT sites in a separate account, I was able to transfer money to my bank account to cover my normal expenses and it didn't affect me at all.

3) I became a coupon freak.

It all started because I was reading a lot of personal finance blogs and I would read about how much they saved using coupons. So I signed up with The Grocery Game. Once a week I would receive a list that showed a stores weekly sales (and unadvertised sales) and the coupons that matched up with it. I started buying 3 or 4 copies of the Sunday paper (for the coupons) and buying a few from coupon clipping services to build my coupon stash.

Somehow through all of that, I stumbled across a site that I've come to love - Hot Coupon World. Here people talk about their favorite stores and all the sales going on and the best part is that it's 100% free. I joined in late October and just this week I was made the "mod" of the Winco forum (a grocery store in the NW). So now I use HCW almost exclusively.

I have stockpiles of stuff that I use on a regular basis - everything from food (crackers, pudding, juice, spaghetti sauce, cake mix, cereal, etc) to health/beauty aids (make-up, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, kleenex, etc.) -- even things like dishwashing soap - I bought 10 boxes yesterday for .60/each + tax. That stuff normally goes for $3-$4!

My subscription to The Grocery Game is up in January and I don't think I'll be renewing. But I will say that it's a great place to start, since they lay everything out for you. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to spot deals on your own.

If this sounds like something you may be interested in, watch this blog for an upcoming post about getting started in couponing. :D And if you want to sign up with either of these sites - use the links on the right-hand side of this blog. :)

So there you have it - a snapshot of what I've been up to these last couple of months. I have big plans for the new year. But I'll save that for next time. ;)

Labels: coupons, debt, gpt sites

Posted by Becca at 3:27 PM | Permalink | Comments