2012 in review

2012 really flew by, as evidenced by my lack of posts.  I still hope to come back to this blog from time to time to post savings and deals as I have time.  My lack of posting didn't mean that I wasn't carrying through with the frugal and saving lifestyle, though!


Do you have a goal to save money in 2013? Here are some examples of what we've done in our household: 

Total amount of coupons used: $2,062.41.  Most of our coupons came from the Sunday paper insert.  If you want to use internet coupons, check out this post HERE to find out where you can find coupons online.

 

Using a Perkstreet debit card got us 1% cash back on our purchases, totaling $250 in cash gift cards. We love our Perkstreet card.  It's linked with our home checking account and very simple to transfer the money online.  They have awesome customer service, and they are recommended by one of our favorite individuals: Mr. Dave Ramsey.  Find out more HERE.

 

Using the swagbucks rewards site earned us $60 in Amazon gift cards.  Even if you just download the toolbar and use it for your searches on the internet, you will find this site will get you some extra money.  Many of our printable coupons come from this site as you receive 10 swagbucks for each coupon you print and use.  450 swagbucks earns you a $5 Amazon gift card, so it's kind of like getting another 10 cents per coupon used.  You can find out more about swagbucks through my post HERE.  

 

I'm not sure how much we saved in rebates this year, I do know that we had some. A useful site for finding rebates on products can be found HERE.  Just be sure to save those cash register receipts and UPC numbers!  Saving big purchases for the Menards 11% cash back events is always a big help.  

 

Using the Mypoints rewards site earned us $35 in Amazon and Walgreens gift cards.  I've found that the easiest way to get points on this site is to sign up for the daily emails.  You can set up a separate email account and have your emails sent there so they don't clog up your inbox.  For each email you open and click the link on, you usually will get 5 points.  There is never any purchase required, and I usually click out of the screen while it is still loading and receive the points.  They will also send you survey opportunities.  These don't take very long, and you will get 10 points if you don't qualify and between 50 and up to 200 points if you do qualify.  There are also coupons available on mypoints.  You will earn 10 points for every coupon that you redeem.  You also receive a 25 point bonus if you redeem 10 or more coupons in one month.

 

Shopping online through Ebates earned us $13.31 cash, and through Mr. Rebates earned us $66.18 cash.  These are the sites that we have started using whenever we want to do any online shopping.  Not only will they give you any online coupon codes available for that store, they also give you a cashback bonus.  You can't use both of these at the same time, so I choose whichever one will give us more cash back.  Signing up through the links provided here will get you a $5 cashback bonus for each one.  To earn money through these sites, search for the store you want to shop at, click on the store through Ebates or Mr.rebates, and the site will tell you how much you will earn (up to 25% cash back at some stores).  Your money is issued right into your paypal account or you can choose to have them send you a check.  Ebates pays every 3 months, and you can request money from Mr. Rebates once you have earned $10 cash back.  

 

If you've ever purchased a Disney Movie, you will find that there is a rewards code inside the movie package.  These rewards can also get you gift cards.  Go HERE to find out more.  We received $20 in Starbucks gift cards from our Disney movie points this last year.

 

My Coke Rewards gives great items for their rewards.  We don't drink a lot of coke, but we do have family members that do and I've also hit the recycling containers at work for the coke product caps (yes, I will admit to dumpster diving, in a sense).  This last year we were able to get a $25 Best Buy gift card, $50 Bass Pro Shop card, 4 free 12 packs of Coke, 2 free boxes of Ritz Crackers, and 2 years in subscriptions to All You Magazine (great coupons in this magazine).  Go HERE if you want to find out more about My Coke Rewards.

 

That's over $2500 just for shopping smart for one year! And the beauty of this is, anyone can do this!  If you ever need some advice on any of these things, just let me know, I'm happy to share my knowledge and tips. 

 

Here's to saving more money in 2013!