Month One Savings

I can't believe how great my total is for the month! Just to clarify, these savings are just from coupons and free product received in the mail.

Wal Mart - $34.07

CVS - $90.61

Walgreens - $10.13

HEB - $6.94

Kroger - $38.84

Online/Other - $41.04 (This was using a 20% off diaper code on top of the 30% subscribe and save. Also included savings from Toys R Us by using rewards money earned from Christmas shopping.)

FREE Book Value - $51.97

FREE Product Value - $0

TOTAL: $273.33
Online Survey Earnings: $120.10
(Only includes account amounts earned in cash, point accounts not included until they are cashed out. Added Baby Center panel and made $3 on one survey!)

Weekend Coupon Preview

The link for this weekend's coupon preview is HERE. I am personally getting 4 papers since there will be 4 inserts!

How to Have a Full Pantry For Less

Honey, what’s for dinner tonight? Let’s look in the pantry and see. It’s so easy to make mealtime easy when you have plenty of items on hand. But what if you can’t afford to fill your pantry? Wisely using your coupons can help you!

Some people think that “building a stockpile” means that you’ll have to add on a room or take over the kids’ closets to store everything. That’s just not being smart about what you have and what you need.

My pantry isn’t like some of the “extreme couponers” you hear about who have 200 boxes of pasta, 100 jars of sauce and thousands of rolls of toilet paper. I limit myself to 10 of any one item. Mainly because I don’t have the space, but really, why have something if you aren’t going to actually use or eat it?

Something I’ve learned is that sales happen on a cycle, as do coupon inserts. You will get your Proctor and Gamble coupons once a month and generally on the week they come out, CVS and Walgreens will run specials on their items.

I haven’t written down anywhere what the cycle is, but it’s looking to be fairly regular that once a coupon in my binder expires, no more than two weeks later the same coupon is released.

Anyway, the point of learning the sale cycle is to learn when to stock up when a particular item goes on sale. When my preferred pasta is on sale and I have coupons, I stock up with enough just to get me to the next sale.

This is an inexpensive way to have a full pantry with enough items to make any meal. This is not just for food, but household items as well. My preferred laundry detergent goes on Buy One, Get One Free about every 6 weeks. I only need two bottles to get me that far. And I have plenty of space for two bottles.

This time of year is best for stocking up on healthier items since everyone seems to want to lose weight for the New Year. Companies are aware of that and you’ll get great coupons to correspond to the healthier things you want to eat. With the Super Bowl coming up, watch for chip, dip and entertaining items to go on sale and have coupons released. This is when I stock up on paper items!

The strange thing I’ve learned is that store brands are not always the best deal. Granted, sometimes they truly are, but sometimes a coupon will make a national brand cost less than the store brand. It pays to pay attention and not assume that something is the best deal.

Before this column ends, I want to local food pantries. If all of us who are using coupons to build our stockpiles would band together, there wouldn’t be a shortage. I take a lot of personal care items and feminine items to the health center at our local university for students as well. 

Let’s keep the shelves full.

Survey Account Clarification

I've had a few emails asking about my survey account total on the right side. I got on today and checked all my accounts and here are my honest-to-goodness totals:

Opinion Outpost - $19.90

Mindfield - $3.00

Reward Port - $19.25

Mommy Talk - $1.45 (for now, have a list of surveys to work on...)

Synovate - $5 check just came (have enough to cash out for $10 in account)

PineCone - $6 (have two checks on the way for $3 each, will add them in when in hand)

American Consumer Opinion - $15

MyPoints - cashed out for $25 iTunes card, have 7094 pts saved up

SwagBucks - haven't cashed out this year, have 1694 pts (started year at 152!)

I also have accounts with MySurvey and Ipsos in which points are building up. I only count actual cash in the total on the page. When I cash out point accounts and have the money (or gift card) in hand, I'll add those in the total.

Oh! I have received $20 this year from Hasbro Communispace....

So there ya go. That's how I've been making money this year with surveys. I think only the Reward Port account had money in it at the beginning of the year.

CSN Stores have what you need for spring! (CLOSED)

While we're enjoying what is typically our three weeks of winter here in Texas, my mind is thinking ahead to SPRING!! This is my absolute favorite time of the year. This year we intend to spend a lot of the season outdoors in our new yard. I intend to plant (and hopefully harvest) several types of fruits and veggies.

If you're like me and are ready for Spring, you need to check out CSN Stores. They have everything you need for your yard, including outdoor playsets, patio furniture, garden planters, outdoor decor, and outdoor games. Oh, and there's so much more!

To celebrate Spring, CSN is giving one of my readers a $35 gift code to be used on their site.


GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

Entry Methods:

All entries MUST have your email in them. Entries without an email will not be picked as winners. You will receive the gift code through email.

First, and mandatory, entry: Tell me what you look forward most to about Spring. (1 Entry)


Other entries (leave a separate comment for each), please notice that some entries have changed:
1 entry - "Like" CSN on Facebook (great place to learn about specials!)
1 entry - Follow CSN on Twitter
1 entry - Become a public follower of my blog. The link is on the right hand side of the page. If you're already a follower, leave a comment letting me know.
5 entries - Blog about this giveaway, with a link back to the giveaway (leave a link in your comment so I can verify)
1 entry - Subscribe to my blog by email (link is just under the followers) or let me know if you already subscribe.
1 entry - Become a Facebook fan of Faithful Finances or let me know if you're already a fan.
2 entries - Place my button on your site (You must leave a link so I can verify) 
3 entries - Follow me on Twitter (be sure to leave your name, I will check)

Giveaway Rules: Please be sure you read these before 

you start posting comments. 

Giveaway open to residents of the US and Canada only. Winner will be chosen, with the True Random Number Generator (Random.org), Friday, February 4 at 10 PM CST. Winner will be notified via email and will have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. The code will be emailed to the winner directly from CSN. All entries MUST have your email in them. To keep Spam Bots from snagging you, put your address like this: name(at)server(dot)com

I have received no compensation for this giveaway. Prize is awarded as a $35 credit code to CSNStores.com and will be emailed to the winner from them. Winner is responsible for ordering the prize. Winner may choose to use credit code toward any item on the site. Winner will be responsible for any charges over $35.

CVS Trippin'

I made a trip into CVS today for paper goods. I neglected to take a photo before everything was put away. Here's how the trip looked:

Duracell 20 ct AA, OS $9.99
Charmin 24 ct, OS $9.99
Bounty Basic 12 pk, OS $9.99
Schick Hydro3 Razor, $8.79

Coupons Used:
FREE Schick Hydro3 (received in mail from CVS)
$0.25 off Charmin
$0.25 off Bounty
$1.00 off Duracell

Extra Bucks Used:
$16.50

Total Spent: $12.96

Total Saved: $34.59

Received $10 Extra Bucks

I gave in!

Faithful Finances is now on Twitter:

@FaithfulFinance

I'd appreciate the follows. I'll figure it out soon! (Can't believe I left the "s" off the end of the name...)

CVS Trip

I didn't notice this deal last weekend when I went to CVS. Thanks to Jaycie at Coupon Geek, I was able to re-stock our Listerine (we were down to half of a bottle...) with this trip:

4 1 Ltr Listerine (Reg. $7.29) OS $5 each

Coupons Used:
$5/3 Listerine/Reach
$1 off Listerine
$10 EB from last week

Total Paid: $4.00
Total Saved: $25.16
Received: $10 Extra Bucks

And now we're good for at least 6 months!

Book Review: Voices of the Faithful

Voices of the Faithful: Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians Serving Around the World
Beth Moore, International Mission Board
Thomas Nelson, 2010
English, 480 pgs.


Description:

A 366-day devotional with inspiring stories from the front lines of faith.
"A willingness to go is all they have in common," says Beth Moore, speaking of her friends on the front lines who are spreading the gospel around the world and with whom she collaborated to create this book. This brilliant, 366-day devotional features incredible stories of God's faithfulness in the face of uncertainty and danger, written by hundreds of missionaries worldwide.
With a foreword by International Mission Board president Jerry Rankin and an introduction by Beth, this volume also includes advice on how to hear God's voice, pray for missionaries, and understand the church's and individual's role in missions.

Review:
The coolest thing about this devotional book is that each month is themed on a different aspect of God. For example, January is God's Character; June is Persecution and December is Christmas Around the World. The reason I like this is because some devotional books feel like they skip around and are hit-and-miss on topics. I love that this one devotes more than three or four pages to a topic.

Even the introduction, by Beth Moore, is impressive and really makes you think about missions. She also wrote an intro into each month. The devotions themselves are written by those who are out doing the work of God. It's interesting to see what they write and to try to read it in the context of what they deal with on a daily basis.

I think this would be a good gift for a missions teacher, a student studying to be a missionary or even a church mission leader.

I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review from Book Sneeze.

Sunday Coupon Preview

Your preview of this Sunday's coupons is HERE!



Since I'm currently rebuilding my stock of coupons, this will be another multiple paper weekend for me!

2011 Changes

Well, it's another year and I still feel new to the coupon and savings game. I'm starting a tracker on the right hand side of the blog to add up my savings throughout this year. I'll use retail value on free books and will include savings (if possible) from sale prices on items.

I totaled up everything from product tests and book reviews and giveaway wins from 2010 and it was almost $3000! Enough that my tax guy suggested I keep a count just in case it looks like income! I also had an abundant Christmas, mostly bought through gift cards and cash earned online!

I promise that this year I will do more to show you how I'm saving and to pass along the deals as I find them. I promise this year to help you have the success I had this past year.

SO, from our family to yours: Happy New Year and Happy Saving!

CVS Trippin'

I've decided to start back on the CVS/Wags bandwagon and here's what I did today:

CVS
Bought: 
3 Special K Cereals (On Sale 3/$10)
Angel Soft Tissue (OS $9.99)
2 Excedrin Migraine ($5.29)
2 Excedrin Extra Strength ($5.29)

Coupons Used:
2 FREE Excedrin Migraine
2 FREE Excedrin Extra Strength
$0.50 off Angel Soft
$1/2 Special K
BOGO Special K

Total Spent: $15.67
Total Saved: $30.86
EB Received: $16.50 as well as $3 off Children's Advil coupon and $5 off Sleep Aid coupons

I didn't have Extra Bucks to use, but I sure do now...

Sunday Coupon Preview

Here is the list of the 4 inserts we can expect tomorrow! I've already told the hubs it's at least a 4 paper day!