School Supplies, Mad Rush, and Saving Money

Every year I tell myself that I won't wait until the last minute to buy school supplies and that I won't torture myself by dealing with the mass crowds in the school supply section. Every year, however, I am fighting my way thru the aisles wishing I had not waited till the last minute only to get home and be totally stressed out. This year WILL be different. For one thing, last years teachers were nice enough to send home the unused supplies for that year so my list already had a few items checked off. Then last week I was at Target and bought my composition notebooks for .25 each. It wasn't a sale price but it's the lowest price I've seen, so if you need some too, head over there. This week, Walgreens has pocket folders and spiral notebooks on sale so I will be crossing those off my list. I'm still waiting on a good price for glue sticks, tissues, colored pencils, and markers and then my list is complete.


*Went to Walgreens and bought a pack of G2 pens that are priced at 2.19. These are pretty nice gel pens in blue, black, or red. Anyway, I used a printable coupon for 1.00 off and a walgreens coupon from the July book for 1.00 off which left me with .80 overage. I also picked up 4 spiral notebooks at .29 each so paid total of .24 for the pens and notebooks! I've never done the overage deals I see but it went thru just like I've read on blogs. So when I came home I totaled what I've spent so far on supplies and it's a whopping 2.00 for both boys so far and I"m just about done. Besides backpack and lunchbox I'm estimating I'm gonna only spend about 10.00 this year for both boys! That is the best I've ever done!

My Points, Printable Coupons, and Earning FREE Rewards

The new coupons for the month are out for July at Coupons.com and some good ones I see are:

.55 off one Chex Mix
.55 off one Original Cheerios
1.00 off one Trop50 OJ
.55 off fiber one Pastries
.75 off 2 Yoplait Trix or Go-Gurt
.75 off Kix
.50 off one Chex mix treats or Golden Grahams Treats
.75 off two Betty Crocker Supreme


These deals get even sweeter if you sign up for Mypoints here. You can earn 10 points for each coupon you print and redeem and a bonus 25 points for redeeming 10 coupons. That's 125 points just for using coupons. You can read more about the program here. I am currently saving for a free target gift card! It takes a while to earn points if you are not shopping online or signing up for offers. I am currently earning points only thru reading emails so it's slow but they are adding up and if I can earn a 10.00 Starbucks card for FREE and a few clicks I'm game!

Asthma, Kids, and Medical Bills: How to Save Money

This year we have met with a lot of unexpected medical costs associated with both my boys being diagnosed this year with asthma. It all began in October, 2009 when my youngest developed bacterial pneumonia and got very ill very fast. It was a scary ordeal that sent us from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist. My older son struggled with bronchitis, and allergies that resulted in numerous doctor visits and asthma medicaitons, and antibiotics. Between the doctor visits and prescriptions for both boys and even some hospital visits, the totals quickly skyrocketed! It did not take long before finding ways to save money on prescriptions was a necessity.

Most of the asthma controller medications have online coupons you can print. Advair right now has a printable coupon for 10.00 off and as long as you print a new coupon each month it is valid. The coupon will expire 15 days after you print it so be sure to not print it until you are ready to use it. This coupon can be found here.

Another medication that we use each month is singular. There is a great 20.00 coupon available at the singular website here. While this is a high dollar coupon amount, it is only valid for one use, unfortunately.

Finally, Nasonex, is a third monthly controller medication my children are both using. There is a 15.00 coupon available at their website here and as far as I know you can use it each month for the duration of the program.

While these coupons have helped me save money on my copays each month, totals were still adding up between both boys. Rite Aid currently has a program where you can transfer prescriptions and receive a 25.00 rite aid gift card. I thought this was great until I read the bottom of my harris teeter receipt. Harris Teeter pharmacy is offering a promotion thru the end of August where if you transfer or fill a new prescription there, they will credit your VIC card with 20.00 worth of groceries! The wonderful pharmacist there issues you a punch card and you can participate in this program for 5 prescriptions or refills! That's 100.00 worth of groceries for FREE!!!!!

So far the month of July has been great savings for us! Using coupons for prescriptions, I have saved 100.00 off copays that I normally pay and I have received 100.00 in FREE groceries!

I am really happy with Harris Teeter pharmacy too. There is one pharmacist there so she already knows me and she is so nice and helpful. I like to have all my prescriptions at one pharmacy so I will not be transferring again. I had previously used Walgreens and while they pharmacy techs are nice, I've had mistakes made and there are rarely any money saving opportunities.

Pay Per Post

Another new endeavor on a small way to make money online. Pay per Post is a website that pays you a small amount for each blog you post. I have read about many bloggers that use this site and while alone it doesn't pay out too much, combined with other survey sites, pay per click sites, shopping sites, etc the pay outs can begin to add up. Will the time devoted to such sites be worth the payouts? Stay tuned as I test them out and let you know. Thanks for reading!

The contrived tree rends a healthy workload

Making Money Online Part One

Since the time I have started this blog I have consistently read other money saving blogs. Bargain Brianna and Money Saving Mom are two of my favorites but I recently came across Money Saving Mommy as well. I primarily followed these blogs for the latest grocery deals and printable coupons but from time to time I would glance at posts about "swagbucks" or "mypoints." There were always awesome stories about all the various gift cards that were earned but I figured it was a scam and didn't ever bother trying- until a few days ago that is. I signed up for mypoints, swagbucks, inbox dollars, and you data and have already earned a few dollars in my paypall account, cash totals that I'm almost able to cash out, and points that will eventually be redeemable for free gift cards. Pretty easy to do but you must devote some time each day to do it. I have read where different bloggers earn about 200 per month with various sites like these combined. Since I'm just starting I don't think I'll make that much but I'm going to stick with it and see what happens. Here are some links to check them out. I have to say, swagbucks and you data are the easiest and most fun.

Hurry! Free Vitamin Water for first 100,000 people

The first 100,000 people to fill out form here will receive a coupon in the mail for free bottle of vitamin water!

Thanks, Money Saving Mom

Free Nabisco Cookies Each Month

How does free cookies each month sound? Just become a fan of Nabisco cookies on facebook and receive a coupon each month for free cookies. (Must buy milk and another pack of cookies). I already buy the milk so I will use this coupon only if I can snag a good deal on the other pack of cookies you must purchase.

Click here to become a Nabisco Cookie Fan on facebook!