Stocking Stuffers on a Budget

Here are some possible stocking stuffer deals that I see this week:



Bath and Body Works are always fun stocking stuffers. Even my little girls love the little travel size items and right now there is a new FREE Signature Collection Travel Size item coupon, priced $5 or less with purchase, and your purchase can be ANYTHING. I know the little nail file kits used to be under $2 but you could also just purchase two travel size items and get one for free!

Planning on do extra shopping at Bath and Body works? You can also use this coupon for a Free full sized item with purchase of $10 or more.

Vista print has 12 fun free offers going on right now. You can purchase all 12 if you want and just pay shipping. I am still working on my order but it looks like if you combine the offers into one order it makes shipping reasonable. Go here to see what they are offering. I'm not sure if these will ship in time for Christmas but its worth a try : )

This Saturday (12/19) Old Navy is having a sale on their super cozy socks (that's what I call them, not their official name) They are only $1 a pair!!! (limit 5) Great cheap stocking stuffer. Afraid they will run out before you get there? If you buy them ahead of time you can just take your receipt in on Saturday and they will price adjust them to $1 for you. (old navy policy you have 14 days from the date of purchase, if a product goes on sale to price adjust down to the new sale price. The sale is day specific you must price adjust the day of the sale.)

There is also a 30% off any single item coupon valid through 12/19 that you can use as well here

Walgreens has been having some great stocking stuffer sales. This week I see a couple items that I know I would enjoy in my stocking:

• Blistex Lip Care is $1. Pair that with either $.25/1 any Blistex Lip Care in the SS 11/15 or if these varieties are included $.55/1 Blistex Lip Massage, Deep Renewal, or Silk and Shine in the SS 11/15 making the final price be either $.75 or $.45

• Mars candy bars are on sale for $.39 each with in-add store coupon. Pair this with the Buy 1 Get 1 free coupon from the RP 11/15 and get two candy bars for only $.29! (.39 is a good price too and who doesn't like a little treat in their stocking?!)
• Progresso Soup: My mom always put soup in our stockings when I was a kid. If you have this tradition too and are short on soup progresso soup is on sale for $.99 and when paired with $1.10/3 printable coupons in group A and B they are only $.62 a piece.

Do You Have A BYU fan at your house? If yes than here's a great FREE Chirstmas present!!!

If you have a BYU fan at your house (or know one) you might enjoy this deal I saw that Jennifer over at TheBudgetter posted a few days ago. Through December 5'th you can get a free BYU bennie and free shipping with any on-line purchase. The Sale/Promotion area has some super cute totes for $1.99-$2.99!

Make sure you add both the bennie and free shipping promotion code to your cart.

These are my girls favorites. (My youngest is obsessed with Giraffes and her favorite color is green. Can you say PERFECT Christmas present or what!)

Presents on a Budget: Photocards

Pictures or cards are a simple present that show love and thought. There are several sites out there with great promotions. Three have recently caught my eye:

1) 100 Free Prints from FujiFilm for new members. You just have to pay shipping for your prints.

2) Freebies-4-Mom has an awesome code that is valid until 11/30 for 50 free photo cards. You just pay $3.19 for shipping

3) 75% Off Vista Prints Holiday Photo Cards valid through 11/30

Presents on a Budget

One thing that was very frustrating to me during my first couple years of marriage was not having enough money to buy presents for people (and not having money period!). My husband and I were both finishing up our degrees and while we were blessed with jobs money was still almost non-existent. Now school is behind us and money is not as tight as it was then but it can still be overwhelming when so many people I know and care about are getting married, having babies, birthdays, holidays etc. I love being able to give and truly believe that with a little creativity, thought and shopping ahead you can give AWESOME presents on a very small budget. I have already done a few post on "presents on a budget" but with the holidays here I'd like to throw in a couple more ideas.

Today's budget friendly present idea is a new take on the gift basket. Here's what I mean:

This is actually a present I put together for one of my sister-in-laws. Her and her husband just purchased their first home. So exciting for them! I am also slightly embarrassed to add that when they got married in February we forgot to give them a present so we are using this "gift basket" as a home warming/wedding present. I bought the laundry basket for $2.50 at Wal-Mart and then filled it with household supplies that we all use regularly that I have bought using grocery smarts and smart shopping. All together I think including the basket this gift cost under $15 and if bought at normal retail price would come in at over $50! Can't tell what's inside here's a list:

• Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner
• Tide Liquid Laundry Detergent
• Glade Lasting Impressions Air Freshener
• Electrasol Dishwashing Tabs
• Bath and Body Works Hand Soap
• Liquid Dishwashing soap
• Oust Air and Surface Sanitizer
• Glade Air Freshener Spray
• Mr. Clean Multi-Purpose Cleaner
• Playtex Gloves (Disposable and Permanent)
• Kleenex 110 ct. Box

I will do a few more posts over the next week on more budget friendly presents so come back for more : )

Smith's Mega Savings Event

I spent $87.50 and saved $155.59!

It makes me laugh, but I was kind of freaking out when I went to check out because my cart was overflowing and I was afraid that my bill would be too high even though I had already done all my math. It wasn't and once again my cashier was amazed at what I was able to do and asked for my card. I had so much stuff that split my display pictures up and added a few tips and pointer underneath each:

MY REGULAR GROCERIES

Tip: Kellogg's Apple Jacks w/ Fiber are part of the Mega Event. My smith's had $1/1 "blinkie" coupons (the ones that you can pull out of the little machines on the isles) making those big boxes of Apple Jacks only $.99!

Advice: Price for me is the bottom line. Heinz Ketchup is part of the mega event but when I got to the store I realised that the same size Kroger brand was on sale too for less than the Heniz and so I scratched the Heniz off my list and got the Kroger brand.

HOLIDAY SHOPPING

Family Tradition: A family tradition I started during the holidays is to give a box of hot chocolate to our friends and neighbors. The Swiss Miss chocolate is part of the mega event and is only $.50! I use to end up buying the boxes for $1 and its not the Swiss brand its a generic brand.

Holiday Baking: I was excited to see the carnation milk in the mega event. Its a perfect stock up opportunity for holiday baking and good food storage. The bark chocolate is a new favorite that is on sale at Smith's. Colette over at Shop Smart In Vegas posted some fun Halloween ideas that my kids and preschoolers have loved. She also in her post left a fun link to another blog with more chocolate ideas.

PRESENTS

Presents on a Budget: While I was at Smith's they announced an hour long 75% off sale on a pile of books at the back of the store. I think books are a great present for any occasion (baby shower, birthday, Christmas etc.) so I went and looked at the pile and found a few that I liked. The most I paid for one of the books was $1.50 and the rest were $.50 or $.75. (I think my library fines for over due books is more than that and I never have to return these! : P )

Christmas and Birthday Presents on a Budget

The best way to save money on anything is by looking ahead knowing your future needs and watching for sales. This goes for food, cleaning products, electronics, presents etc. Birthday and Christmas presents can cost a lot and take a large chunk out of our pockets but it doesn't have to if you use the principle of shopping ahead using sales to meet your future needs. I like to watch for sales after holidays particularly Easter. I like buying Easter baskets when they go on sale for 75-95% off. I pull the baskets apart and when birthday's come around we go shopping on my gift shelf. Also what I just recently discovered is July is Target's toy clearance month! Tons of toys are on sale and clearance stickers are everywhere. As the month goes by the clearance prices get better and better. My husband and I went by Target on Saturday and picked up several presents that will be perfect for our girls this Christmas. We bought everything for at least 50% off its original price. Happy Christmas Shopping in July!

Baby Presents on a Budget Part II

I am always looking for great deals to help boost my baby presents pile. I found two great stores this week to help me with this, CVS and K-Mart. I paid $19.94 out of pocket for all of the items pictured. Here's how:

CVS
CVS is running a promotion this week that if you buy $25 of participating baby products you recieve $10 ECB's (Extra Care Bucks, its just like a voucher you would get from Albertson's) at checkout. I bought all of the bath products and wipes using this promotion. I got $1/1 coupons for all of the bath products here and here (just so you know the Johnson's head to toe foaming baby wash is NOT part of the sale but all the other 1 item coupons are!)
I bought 7 $3 bath products and 2 $2 CVS wipes to total exactly $25. This is how the pricing ended for my purchase:
$25 baby products -$7 manufactor coupons -$10 ECB
= $8 for all 9 products or $.89 an item!!
Tip: there are several other baby items in this promotion such as diapers/pull ups and wipes that can be paired with coupons here in group A coupons or pull up coupons from the SS 1/11, 2/22, or 3/22. If you still have any of the printable Huggies coupons that are still valid from last month they will work too. Go here to see CVS add online or check your Sunday paper for your add.

K-Mart
K-mart is having a great clearance sale on all of their winter baby clothes. All the clearance racks are marked $1.99 and as you can see from my picture a lot of the items are nice jamies and two piece sets. Even if the sticker says more on it the clothes will ring up for $1.99. These clothes at normal price rang from $9.99-$12.99
My break down:
6 items @ $1.99 = $11.94!

$8 (CVS) + $11.94 (K-mart)= $19.94 (pre-tax) for 15 items!

These deals are good for the rest of the week so don't miss out!

Baby Presents on a Budget

Do you know anyone having a baby? How about several people having a baby?? Its an exciting time to be expecting a new little one and when its our friends or family we all want to wish them well. However doesn't it sometimes seem like EVERYONE around you is pregnant (maybe for some of you, yourself included)? How can you then "shower" your loved ones without breaking your budget? Easy, plan ahead and shop smart.

I currently have a VERY long list of friends who are expecting in the next 6 months that I know I want to be able to give a gift to so I made a personal goal to be able to put together a nice gift for each of them for only $5 a person. Sound crazy? Well the gift pictured above is one I am taking to San Diego this weekend to give to one of our close family friends who just had their first little one this past week. This gift if bought at normal retail value would come in somewhere between $40-$50. Shopping Smart I was able to put this together for only $5! (nice huh?)

Here's how:
Pink Dress: $1 (Wal-Mart clearance sale last summer)
Shirt and Sweater Set: $1 (Wal-Mart clearance sale last summer)
Johnson & Johnson Night time baby wash: $1 (Albertson J & J promo 1 week ago)
Wipes: $1 (Walgreens sale two weeks ago)
Diapers: $1 (Walgreens sale two weeks ago)
Air Freshener for all those stinky diapers : ) : Free! (CVS sale one month ago)
Gift Bag: Free! (recycled from one of my baby showers years ago)
Total: $5

Wouldn't you enjoy getting a gift like this and not be offended if you found out that your friend only spent $5? What do you think? Leave me a comment I'd love to know.