Old Ink Cartridges Turned Cheap Toilet Paper

A little while ago I found out about Office Depot's ink cartridge recycling rewards program & give it a shot.  Basically, for every ink cartridge you recycle per quarter Office Depot will rebate you with $2 of store credit.  There is a little bit of fine print:  you have to spend the equal amount that you will get back in rewards during that quarter, & they won't credit you unless you recycle at least $10 worth (5 cartridges) per quarter.  

I recycled 6 cartridges for a credit of $12, but I had to spend at least $12 in order to get the rebate.  Make sense?  I decided to spend  $14.99 on 24 rolls of Office Depot's 100% recycled toilet paper.  

At the end of the quarter I got my $12 rebate and went back and bought another pack for $14.99.  Grand total I spent  $17.98 OOP or $0.37/roll.  Most recycled TP goes for around $0.70/roll, so this is a really good deal.  Previously I have used my swagbucks to purchase some recycled TP, & we still have some, but this will help my swagbucks go towards cheaper items & it should help our grocery budget as well.  Plus, I'm getting paid to recycle!

Whether you use/want the rewards, if you have old ink cartridges lying around, please look into recycling programs.  It's a great way to help the environment & potentially help your pocketbook as well. 

Let's Go To The Mall (with Robin Sparkles!)

I'm not much of a mall person.  In general, nothing gets me crankier quicker than to go shopping for "pleasure."  However, today we needed to get our oil changed & tires rotated, so to the mall we went & I was on a mission to get some freebies!

Free Victoria's Secret Undies (2 from previous trips) & a NARS sample

Our first stop was to JC Penney's Sephora to get a FREE Nars eyeshadowy something or other.  I'd post a link, but the sales associates were a little hesitant to give me the sample because they weren't sure they could give them to customers who had simply googled the coupon online or if it was exclusively for JC Penney cardholders.  Despite being made to feel like I was a thief, they gave me the sample anyway, which will make a lovely stocking stuffer for one of my sisters.

Then on to Victoria's Secret where I redeemed a coupon for a free pair of undies. I belong to the online club Pink Nation & about once a year I request a catalogue & as a result I get bi-monthly coupons for FREE undies.  I haven't had to purchase undies in years & am ever so thankful to Victoria's Secret for the freebies.

Lastly we got take out at our local burrito place using a groupon type coupon from the local paper.  We got $15 worth of food for $5 & I brought our own take out containers to cut down the waste.  It was cheap & delicious.   

All & all it was a great day of shopping & our car is now ready for our next roadtrip.  Not a bad way to waste time while getting an oil change. 

Cheapskate Grocery Shopping

I'm not a fabulous couponer.  I don't have a price book & in general I'm relatively sure I'm not the most frugal shopper around.  I do 90% of my grocery shopping once a month at Aldi.  I've found the more I go to stores, the more I spend, so I try to do one major haul at the beginning of the month & then only get necessities (milk & produce) as the month progresses.  I shop at Aldi because they seem to always have the best bottom line prices, & they have an amazing money back guarantee, so if something spoils or the like, I just take my item back & get a replacement & my money back.  If you haven't tried them you'll save a ton, I promise.

Because I find Aldi so cheap, I use their prices as my bottom price, so if I can get something with coupons cheaper than what I'd pay at Aldi, I buy it.   I really find our local chain of grocery stores infuriating (in lack of options, price, & coupon acceptance) but they do double coupons.  Today I decided to experiment & see what I could get at said obnoxiously infuriating local store..

I bought $30 worth of groceries for....$9.95.  Here's how I did it:

• Sweet Potato Fries $2.98--Free after Ore-Ida facebook coupon (no longer avaliable)

• Brownies (Yum!) $2.22--Minus $0.50 coupon doubled--Final Price $1.22-->Oh the hubs is happy!  :)

• Provolone $2.99--Minus $1 newspaper coupon--Final Price $1.99 -->Not a fabulous deal on cheese, but I needed it

• Sunchips  $3.79--Free after Frito Lay facebook coupon (no longer available)-->I'm WAYYYYY too cheap to buy these, so this coupon is aMAYzing!

• 2 Boxes of Mini Wheats 2 @ $3.28--Minus BOGO Free coupon & 2 $1.00 coupons from Vocalpoint making these only $0.64 a box. -->This is a huge deal because we've just run out of my free Kashi, so I'm glad to have another deal. Plus, they currently have a promotion for you can try the cereal for free after rebate, so I think I'm going to get another box.

• Coffee Creamer $4.70 for 2--Minus 2 Vocalpoint $0.55 coupons doubled--Final Price $1.25 each  --> I don't think this is a great deal, so I'll find out more tomorrow when I finish shopping.  The store would only take 2 coupons for the same item per each transaction, so I'm going to have to finish shopping at Wal-Mart tomorrow.  Grrr...

• V8 $2.29--Minus $0.50 newspaper coupon doubled--Final Price $1.29 which is cheaper than Aldi tomato juice & I'd rather have veg juice for my chili anyway.

• Pasta $1.19-- Minus $0.40 newspaper coupon doubled--Final Price $0.39

• Jello Temptations $2.50-- Free after coupon from Kraft First Taste

Not too shabby, but I'm really hoping to finish using all of my coupons tomorrow to get more great deals for the month.   Stay tuned...

*For those of you interested in free samples & high value coupons sign up for Vocalpoint.  It takes a little while to start receiving samples, but once you do they are always accompanied with amazing coupons so you can get really great deals. 

**Also, if you want to try new products & get coupons for FREE food sign up for Kraft First Taste.  Kraft will send you a coupon for you to try their new product & then let them know what you think about it.  I tend to get a coupon once a month & occasionally it's for things I wouldn't buy, but it's a nice treat & it can definitely help my budget.  In the past two months I've gotten coupons for a free package of cheese & free lunch meat for JC.  And you know FREE is my favorite word!!

UPS Mail Time!

Yesterday I wrote about my beloved USPS mail time & all the glories that come in the post.  Today, my other absolute favorite type of mail came...UPS!  Our much beloved UPS truck pulled up this afternoon bearing more treasures--FREE purchases from Amazon that I got with my swagbucks!  Joy!  Bliss!  Excitement!!

That picture you see above is 48 pouches of applesauce & 2 Munchkin straw cups.   The pouches of applesauce were $33 (or $28 with subscribe & save) & the cups were $7 and I paid....drumroll....NOTHING!  This is why I LOVE swagbucks!  I used to use my swagbucks to purchase more frivolous things,  but lately I've begun purchasing more practical things like toilet paper & baby wipes, & it has become a serious aid to our budget. 

If you don't know what swagbucks is, it is a search engine that rewards you with swagbucks periodically when you use their search engine.  Earn enough Swagbucks and you can purchase things in the Swagstore.  Things like Amazon.com gift cards or Starbucks gift cards.  You can also earn more swagbucks by watching swagbucks tv, taking daily polls, and completing special offers.  Currently you can receive 30 swagbucks just for signing up, so if you're interested head here.

After doing swagbucks for a while, and working at it a bit (watching special offer videos, taking the daily polls, etc) I average, at the very least, $25 worth of Amazon gift cards a month.  That certainly adds up quickly!  Additionally, if you are a mother, father, or anyone who would be purchasing things for little ones, sign up for Amazon Mom to get free prime shipping for up to a year.  That makes your swagbucks purchases go even further. 

Oh how I look forward to the mail, especially when I can anticipate freebies!  :)

Swagbucks, Swagbucks, How I Love You...

Look what was sitting on my porch for me today when I got home:  720 baby wipes & 48 rolls of toilet paper.  That's $60 worth of products that I purchased for...drum roll...$1.62 after Swagbucks Amazon gift cards.

**I should digress here a moment and explain that Swagbucks is a search engine, except when you search with them, you occasionally earn Swagbucks.  Earn enough Swagbucks and you can purchase things in the Swagstore.  Things like Amazon.com gift cards or Starbucks gift cards.  It truly does not take much time to start earning things in the Swagstore, and it can be a HUGE money saver!  Currently you can receive 30 swagbucks just for signing up, so if you're interested head here. 

Anyway, back to my purchases...

Even though we use cloth wipes, we still use baby wipes for a number two and travel, so I'm ALWAYS on the look out for a good deal.  These baby wipes were the same deal that I previously stated here, but on this purchase I was actually able to "clip" a $0.50 manufacturer coupon to bring the total down to $1.01.  I have a feeling that Amazon is having a SERIOUS run on these because they seem to be out of stock often, so be sure to wait to purchase when they are sold by Amazon so you can get free shipping & the low price.

I should also mention here that if you haven't joined Amazon Mom (You don't have to specifically be a mom, just a parent) you can get 30% off on select diapers & wipes as well as Amazon Prime shipping...yeah free shipping.

For the toilet paper, that was a whole adventure of its own.

Because we were running low on TP I wanted to use my Swagbucks to buy some.  While I wanted to get a great deal, I was also interested in buying a product made from recycled post consumer content.  As Colin Bevin, The No Impact Man, states, "We need trees to clean our air, not to wipe my butt."  haha.

I have previously used Marcal TP, liked it, and thought that it counted as "green" TP.  Apparently not.  Apparently there is a whole movement of Colin Bevin types on the internet who are obsessed with making sure virgin forest is not chopped down for TP and bringing to light "poser" green TP companies...Marcal being one of those such companies.  After A LOT of research, I found this paper product guide put together by Green Peace.  It's good and definitely worth checking out if you use paper products (facial tissue, tp, paper napkins, & paper towels) in your home. 

After all my research I settled on purchasing Green Forrest toilet paper.  It was ranked the absolute highest in post consumer content, 90%, is 100% recycled, and was ranked high for comfort on the hilarious website Poop Report.com.  BUT, the best part was it was BY FAR the cheapest recycled TP on Amazon.  Here's the breakdown:

I bought a pack of 4-12 roll packs for $30.13.  (Yesterday they raised the price to $37.56.  Crazy right?)  After signing up for subscribe & save, which gives you an additional 15% discount, and can be canceled at any time, my total came down to $25.16.  I then used my $25 worth of Swagbucks Amazon gift cards and wound up paying $0.16 for 48 rolls of toilet paper! 

I now think we have enough baby wipes to last through all of our potential children, and enough toilet paper to last a year, and all for under $4!   Very exciting to a frugal freak like me!  :)

Have a wonderful weekend!




P.S.  I JUST discovered that Swagbucks has a coupon printing feature (it looks to be the same coupons as coupons.com).  If you print your coupons HERE and redeemed them at your grocery store you will receive 10 Swagbucks for EACH redeemed coupon.  Pretty awesome for those of you who clip a lot of coupons.  Yet another way to make your money go further! 

Recyclebank Coupons

If you haven't heard of Recyclebank before, it is a website devoted to rewarding you for recycling.  While our area doesn't currently participate in Recyclebank, there are online codes floating around that make it possible to get points easily and they can be redeemed for some high value coupons.  The above picture is 11 boxes of Kashi cereal that I got for free after combining 11 Kashi Recyclebank coupons and a sale at Target.

All you have to do is sign up,  then go to the earn points tab at the top.  While there are many offers based on geographic location, everyone can earn 10 points by playing the "Presenting the reNEWabottle by Naked Juice" game, 50 points for watching the "Saw Us On TV" video, and 30 points for watching the "Miller Coors" video.  That's 90 points that are easily earned.  Those points can then be redeemed for high dollar coupons on green or organic products.  They also have many coupons right now for only 10 points, so that would make your 90 points go a long way. 

Even if you can't earn points for recycling, consider checking out the site for the green living tips too.  You can check out Recyclebank here. 

Rewarding Rewards Programs

Manufacturer rewards programs are amazing.  Over the past couple of years I have been using the to get things for free.  I've gotten many things including gift cards, magazine subscriptions, movie tickets, and toys, to name a few.  Some of these things have been for our family and some have been given as gifts, and all have been enjoyed.  Here are just a handful of manufacturer rewards programs I use.

 

Swagbucks: This is possibly the easiest and most rewarding of all rewards programs.  Swagbucks is a search engine that rewards you for searching through their search engine and downloading their toolbar.  When you search, you will occasionally receive Swagbucks as a reward for your search.  Those Swagbucks can then be used to purchase items at the Swagstore or cashed in for gift cards.  Swagbucks quickly accumulate and you can earn a $5 Amazon gift card for 450 swagbucks.   I signed up at the beginning of September and have already earned $15 worth of Amazon gift cards, all just for using their search engine and toolbar.  Very simple, and very easy.

Coke Rewards:  We don't tend to buy a lot of pop, but when we do, Coke is my brand of choice.  Inside each lid or 12/24 pack of pop there is a code that can be entered for points; however, you do not need to be a huge Coke drinker to get codes.  My family saves the codes for me, and I have gotten them while picking up litter on walks.  I have used these codes to purchase free magazine subscriptions and movie tickets.  Codes can be accumulated to get free Coke, car rental upgrades, Chilis gifts cards, etc.  One warning, your Coke rewards WILL expire if you don't add any new codes for a decent length of time (6 months or so) so if you don't drink a lot of Coke you can space out entering in your codes to help keep your account active. 

Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards:   I primarily use cloth diapers, but once we got married I started paying attention to the promotional codes posted on MSM and other places and started an account.  Not only are Huggies Rewards found in packages of diapers and wipes, but they also publish promotional codes.  That means, even if you don't purchase any Huggies products (i.e. you're a grandparent, aunt, in the stage of life where you have to go to baby showers) you can join Huggies Rewards and start accumulating points.  They offer diapers, toys, and music downloads as rewards.

Pampers Gifts to Grow:  This is Pampers Rewards program, and it is very similar to Huggies.  They too offer codes on their diapers and wipes, and they too often have promotional codes that will float around on frugal living websites.  They, however offer a MUCH larger selection than Huggies does.  While many of the rewards are babycentric, there are also rewards for photo books, photo development, and a spa basket.

*With both Pampers and Huggies rewards you do not need to have children to sign up!  You can use these rewards to get music and a spa basket.  Pamper yourself a little!

One final note, you can also donate you rewards at Huggies, Pampers, and Coke to charitable organizations and schools.

Whether you choose to donate your rewards, or use them as a fun supplement to your budget I highly recommend joining rewards programs.