Money Saving Mondays: Saving Money when shopping at Amazon!

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money!

Today let’s discuss ways to save money when shopping at Amazon!

Okay, I love shopping at Amazon! I admit that I am a sucker for free shipping when you spend $25, so the goal is getting what you want without spending a fortune! Just remember that the item must be marked eligible for Free Super Saver Shipping to qualify for the free shipping offer! Sometimes a “great deal” may fall through with the added shipping costs!

My favorite way to save money at Amazon is to add all your favorite items to your shopping cart then mark to save them for later (you have to be logged in to do this)! Amazon will update you on what prices have gone up or down since the last time you accessed your shopping cart! This is a great way to save money on items that you don’t need right away or items you are thinking about for Birthdays or Christmast gifts!

When shopping for books, group books under $10 in groups of 4, and you will get the lowest cost one free! The best option is to find four like-priced books and purchase as one transaction and then repeat if you are buying multiple sets of 4. For example, if you spend $8.99 per book for four books, you will only be spending $26.97 (instead of $35.99) and you’ll get free shipping! For more information on the 4-for-3 Books offer! This is the best way to purchase children’s books since many fall under the $10 price and Amazon typically discounts the books 10-25% off cover price too! If you’re shopping for books over $25, then they are typically discounted 34%!

You can also group books with the Home & Garden 4-for-3offer! Likely you will do better off if you find four home and garden items since they range in price from $0.75 to $4, 475, although most items are under $500. Of course, if your home and garden items are in the $10 price range than adding books would make sense!

Don’t forget to check out the Amazon Outletfor great savings everyday!

You can also save money shopping on Amazon by checking out my weekly savings on Amazon posts! I try to update the best sales of the week by Sunday night so you don’t have to do all the searching! As a reminder, the prices are current when each post goes up and Amazon’s prices fluctuate based on the interest in a product or products!

Don’t forget that there are always great MP3 Deals, including free downloads and it seems that the songs change on almost a daily basis!

If you have additional ideas for saving money while shopping at Amazon, please leave me a comment!

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Money Saving Mondays: Saving Money While Shopping Online!

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money!

Today let’s discuss ways to save money when shopping online!

Sign up for e-mail newsletters! If you have a few favorite places you like to shop, make sure to sign up for their e-mail newsletters. Almost every online store has an electronic newsletter and sometimes you will receive a sign-up bonus just for registering your e-mail address. Sign-up bonuses range from free shipping to money or percentages off your purchase!

Check for online coupon codes! Once you find that perfect item, but before you checkout, make sure you do a quick search for online coupon codes. I use sites like RetailMeNot, CouponCabin, CouponMountain, and if I don’t have much luck then I do a google search for the store name and the words coupon code or promo code (dependent on what the site requests during checkout).

There are also sites that sell items at a discount over retail, but be wary of the “original price” or MSRP. I am sure we have seen items at Amazon.com that are marked 90% off, but we know that the original price can’t be true! I like to “window shop” at Overstock.com, SmartBargains.com, and if I need something specific in higher-end clothing, I check out BlueFly.

Peruse other’s great deals (time permitting), be sure to check out FatWallet! If you sign up with FatWallet you can even earn cash back on all those great deals!

When all else fails, shop through a click-through site that gives a percentage of your purchase back to you in college savings (Upromise) or rewards for travel (i.e., AAdvantage Shopping).

If you have additional ideas for saving money while shopping online, please leave me a comment!

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Money Saving Mondays: Inexpensive Summer Fun!

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money!

Today let’s discuss inexpensive ways to enjoy summer with your family and friends!



• Library hop! Most have programs during the summer and there is probably more than one in your community or local area. If you have young children, many also have a toddler time!

• Have "camp" at home. Spend a week going to different parks or trying new outdoor activities. Plan it out so it seems like an adventure. If you have a tent and sleeping bags, set them up in the living room, or if it’s not too hot, the backyard! You’ll be surprised how excited your kids will be to have a living room campout!

• Host a film festival. Invite the neighbors over for a Disney movie viewing marathon. Get movie snacks and make popcorn.

• Throw a splash day party! Inflate the pools, throw out a slip and slide, and get out the sprinkler. Don’t forget to have frozen treats on hand too!

• Read your local town paper, or the papers of close by towns to see if they will host any parades, festivals or concerts at their parks or any other venue. Depending on how tech-savvy your community is, search the internet for upcoming activities too!

If you have additional ideas for saving money on summer fun, please leave me a comment!

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Money Saving Mondays: Saving money on meals and using those leftovers!

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money!

Today let’s discuss how to save money by planning your meals and using those leftovers!

Plan your meals around your grocery store’s flyer. Instead of just planning your meals based on a cookbook or whatever you can dream up, plan all your meals around what’s on sale in your grocery store’s flyer. Look at the biggest sales, then plan meals based on those ingredients and what you have on hand, and you’ll find yourself with a much smaller food bill than you’re used to. Our only exception to this rule is to allow our 2 year old to pick a meal out of a picture cookbook each week. This gets him involved in menu planning, and we decided it was worth the extra cost.

Make a double/triple/quadruple batch of a casserole. Casseroles are nice, easy dishes to prepare, but on busy nights, it’s often still easier to just order some take-out or eat out or just throw a prepackaged meal in the oven. Instead, the next time you make a casserole, make multiple batches of it and put the others in the freezer. Then, the next time you need a quick meal for the family, grab one of those batches and just heat it up. Even better, doing this allows you to buy the ingredients in bulk, making each casserole cheaper than it would be ordinarily - and far cheaper than eating out.

Don’t fear leftovers - instead, make them new. Many people dread eating leftovers – they just don’t like them. However, there’s nothing cheaper than eating leftovers and with a few great techniques for making leftovers tasty, you can often end up with something surprising and quite delicious on the other end. My favorite technique for leftovers? Using the leftovers as a basis for an all-new dish. Visit Janelle’s blog - Not Just Leftovers - Brand New Meals for great ways to turn last nights leftovers into brand new meals!

Brown bag your lunch. Instead of going out to eat at work, take your own lunch. Lots of people think that this means “nasty lunch,” but it doesn’t. With some thoughtful preparation and just a few minutes of time, you can create something quite enjoyable for your brown bag lunch - and save a fistful of cash each day, too. And if you don’t have enough leftovers to feed the family, then pack them up for lunch the next day! Sure they might not taste as great reheated, but they are likely much better for you than the fast food restaurant down the street.

If you have additional ideas for saving money on meals or using leftovers, please leave me a comment!

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Money Saving Mondays: Celebrating the 4th of July on the Cheap!

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money!

Today let’s discuss how to celebrate the 4th of July on the cheap while still having fun and making memories!

Don’t go overboard when it comes to serving your family and friends! The 4th is all about hot dogs, brats, or burgers, so there is no need to spend lots of money on fancy food! Fire up the BBQ and grill outside. You can always serve simple sides like chips and potato salad (both of which are normally on sale the week before the 4th).

Decorate with dollar bin finds! You don’t need to spend a lot to have a patriotic party! The dollar bins at Target are filled with decorations from cool flip flops to flag banners. If you don’t have a Target, check the dollar store, and if it comes down to only having a Wal-mart or grocery store, most Chinet and Solo dispoable wares are in red and blue at all times!

Make an art project out of your decorations! To celebrate the 4th, turn it into a crafty activity for your kids! You can print free coloring sheets online (an example here), or even just take plain paper, cut out stars in red, white and blue construction paper, and get out the glue, glitter, and colors!

Find a free event locally! Most cities and towns throw some type of 4th of July bash or fireworks show. Plan your BBQ for the afternoon, and spend the evening under the stars with your family and friends taking in the fireworks! Don’t forget the bug spray! If you live near a Bass Pro Shops, visit the store to make a birdhouse this weekend (go here for more info, and I will have a reminder post later this week)!

If you have additional ideas for saving money this 4th of July, please leave me a comment!

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Money Saving Mondays - Is it really worth clipping coupons?

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money!

Today’s question? Is it really worth clipping coupons?

One of the most recommended ways for consumers to save money is to clip coupons – coupons for groceries, restaurants, electronics, craft supplies and almost anything else that comes with a coupon (and if you haven’t noticed there are more and more coupons all the time). Typically, consumers often pose the valid question; is coupon clipping worth my time? After all doesn’t time equal money?

Okay so when is it just not worth the effort you put forward?

Don’t use coupons for stuff you don’t want or need – Coupons are used to market products, don’t forget that when you are deciding if you need something or not! If you buy something your family does not need or regularly use just because you have a coupon – then you're throwing away your money. It is money lost if you aren’t really going to use something anyway! Now granted, if you are getting something for free or nearly free to donate to others that need it more than you, then it is probably worthwhile!

Don’t drive across town just because you have a coupon – If you have to fight traffic and drive 45 minutes to the only store in your town where you can redeem your coupon, than it better be for a really big ticket item and the coupon better save you a significant amount of money. Otherwise the cost of gas and travel time will likely be more than the amount you're saving with your coupon.

What are some tips for getting the high-dollar coupons?

Go digital when it comes to couponing - See my earlier post on e-coupons here Then just file away your sunday paper coupon inserts by date so that you can find something easily if you find a great deal (see my earlier post on paper coupons here)!

Become a loyalty member – If you use one company's services on a regular basis, see if they offer a membership for loyal patrons. Many companies have this type of service, and will continually send you some very nice coupons or give you an annual discount. For example, we have bugs, lots of them, especially ants, that tend to like our house when Spring rolls around every year. We pay a monthly fee to a pest control company that does quarterly treatments and on-call treatments anytime the little things show up. Sure it costs a little more than buying the spray bottle at Lowe’s or Home Depot, but they also stand behind the end result and show up just in time to rid the house of ants that show up the morning of your son's 1st birthday party!

Search manufacturer websites or sign up for their mailing lists – If there is a big ticket item you're in the market for or a brand you buy on a regular basis – take a few minutes to search the company website. Manufacturer coupons offer some of the largest discounts of all coupons. If you have a baby or young children, be sure to check out the diaper and formula manufacturer’s sites and sign up for their mailing lists!

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Money Saving Mondays! Saving money when throwing a kid's party!

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money! How do you save money when throwing a kids party?

Birthday parties can have huge price tags, and they come annually. No, you don't have to order catering, have a limo, or hire a clown to give your child a special and memorable birthday party. Here are my top tips on fun and frugal children's birthday parties:

1) Keep the guest count low- Be selective about how many people will be attending, as many places charge by guest. This also cuts down on clean-up and stress.

2) Location, location, location- A lot of venues that host children's parties are very pricey, for the small amount of time you get to stay there. Avoid these places and keep fast-food playgrounds, public parks, and your own home in mind. The only disadvantage is cleaning up.

3) Keep the time in mind- By hosting the party in between mealtimes, you will not be obligated to feed the crowd. Go frugal with just the cake, and some punch or soda. If you prefer to throw a party during mealtime, lunch will save you money over dinner!

4) Buy simple party supplies- The colored supplies are generally cheaper than ones with designs and licensed characters. Sites like Oriental Trading Company carry supplies at cheap prices and you can normally find money off coupons to save even more! Same goes for stores like Party City. Right now you can sign up online for money saving coupons! Always price shop...sometimes the dollar store is actually more expensive than places like Party City! And don't forget that Target and Wal-mart carry paper and plastic plates - you might just have to lean to a blue or red-themed party! You could also buy a few themed-supplies and supplement with solid colors!

5) Don't blow it away on party favors- The dollar store has plenty of cheap toys and candy that will fill up the loot bags on a dime. You could also use a pinata or have carnival like games, and have children fill up their own party bags. Besides, most favors get thrown away shortly after the party, so don't spend your budget here!

6) Saving money on the cake- Bake it at home or it from a discount store like Sam's club or Costco. You could also make, making the cake, the main party activity. Bake up lots of cupcakes from cake mix and have lots of decorations available. Each kid can make their own cupcakes to help celebrate the birthday child! You could always send additional cupcakes home with each child as a party favor too!

7) Minimize decorations- Children don't mind, or pay attention to any extravagant decorations. There is nothing wrong with keeping it simple. A few streamers should be fine and you can find balloons at many dollar stores. You can also make your own decorations using your computer’s word processing program, clip art, and a little creativity paired with a color printer!

8) Frugal & Fun party activities- Keep 'em busy and entertained, no limo service or pony rides needed (unless you already own the pony)!
* Arts and crafts time (make sure its age appropriate)
* Head outside for a game of soccer or football or throw the party at the park and rent a pavilion near the playground! At home, request all the kids bring their bathing suits and set up some sprinklers!
* If you have friends that are willing to help out, then you can set up game stations with small prizes like candy or stickers! Some easy and cheap games: Bean bag toss, pin the tail on the donkey, meteor hunt (aluminum balls filled with candy scattered throughout the yard or house), and there are many more just use your creativity or search the web!

9) What’s your favorite way to save money when throwing a kid’s party?

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Money Saving Mondays! Saving Money When Dining Out!

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money! How do you save money when dining out?

In order to teach our kids proper etiquette when dining at restaurants when we are on travel, etc., we typically eat out once every other week to once a week. Granted, we pick louder restaurants, but the fact is, if you don’t take them out while you are at home then they won’t be well prepared when you are on travel! This adds up quickly though, regardless of where you choose to eat, so I have thrown together some ideas for how to save money when dining out! Please let me know your ideas too – we could all save a few extra cents or dollars here and there!

1) When eating out, just order water to drink! It may not be as desirable as soda, tea, or alcoholic beverage, but it’s free (you can have the soda, tea, or alcoholic beverage when you get home for less than half the cost)! Hate the taste of water, or your kids are complaining? Take along those single serve flavoring packets, like Crystal Lite or Koolaid. You might look a little funny adding to the water, but remember, most restaurants lemonade is the “Lite” version, and I prefer sugar to strange sweeteners for my little guys!

2) Sign up for all the birthday clubs, for a great list, visit STL Mommy! She is great about keeping the list updated! Granted, you will get way too many coupons the week of your birthday to enjoy all those free meals, but many also send you some type of money saving coupon when you sign up! There are also many that have a separate kid’s club, so sign up for both!

3) Go out to eat for lunch or breakfast-At most places the same size entree is cheaper during lunch! A growing number of dining places even have lunch specials that save you money in an attempt to attract more lunch-time diners. Even all-you-can-eat restaurants have lower fixed prices before 4:00 P.M., sometimes even half the price! An added bonus is you'll be beating the dinner crowd and rush hour.

4) Make the appetizer the entree- With super sized portions becoming the norm, an appetizer will easily get you full for less than the price of an entree. Excellent for sampling everything on the menu if you order a variety sampler.

5) Voice your Opinion-At many chain restaurants, the back of the receipt has a 1-800 number or website where they want customers to detail their dining experience. In exchange for your time you usually receive some offer or rebate good toward your next purchase.

6) Skip dessert-Plain and simple... its overpriced. If you really need your sweet fix, pick up a tub of ice cream at the grocery store (enough to feed the entire family dessert) for the same price as one dessert at the restaurant. If you love dessert, then opt for an appetizer and dessert instead of an entree!

7) Think ethnic!-Many locally owned Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Middle-Eastern and Asian have delicious authentic dishes that hit the spot for a fraction of the price you'd find a similar entree at a chain restaurant.

8) Eat on "Kids Eat Free" night-The general rule is one free kids meal (Sometimes two) per adult entree purchase.Use My Kids Eat Free to find places in your area that offer this special on different days of the week. Most "Kids Eat Free" nights fall on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, so you will be eating out when there is less of a crowd!

9) Instead of ordering two kids meals (if you have two kids) order an adult entree and split it between the kids, you can always ask for another plate! If you make this the norm, the kids won’t expect any different. If you know the restaurant had outrageous portions, then you could likely order two adult entrees and split them as a family.

10) ??How do you save when dining out?? Please leave me a comment and let me know!

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Money Saving Mondays! Finding coupons in paper coupon inserts

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money! How do you find a coupon in all those inserts?

If you keep your coupons filed by date, like I do, sometimes you know you saw a coupon for a particular item but you just can’t remember where it was or what week it came in the paper, but you don’t want to spend the time looking through all those inserts. Also, most bloggers post coupons with the date and the insert with coupons needed to make items free or nearly free!

Thanks to many user-contributed coupons/dates, you can search sites like A Full Cup or Hot Coupon World! These sites also typically denote when coupons are expiring. You can also find previews to future week’s ads for stores like CVS and Walgreens.

Know of other great sites? Please let me know, I am always trying to keep up with sites like these!

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Money Saving Mondays - Babysitting!

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money! This week, it all about how to save money when it comes to babysitting!

We all crave grown-up time, but with two young kids it can definitely be hard to come by (even with family in the area)! I thought I would put together a few ideas we had on ways to save costs on babysitters! Obviously, this gets easier as your kids get older (and as your friends get older – we were the first to have kids, so no swaps yet)!

Here are a few tips on ways to save costs on babysitters.
• The easiest way to save money on a date-night is to plan a date once the kids go to bed! You can always have a living room picnic in front of the TV while watching a great movie! The kids are sleeping, but if they really need you, you’re just down the hall!

• If you have friends with kids around the same age, swap kids with a friend. Make an arrangement to have one night a month for you to go out and your friend keeps your kids and one night a month you take your friends kids.

• There are a lot of classes at local community centers, churches, and even gyms that provide free or inexpensive childcare! Many also provide “Night Out” opportunities. Maybe, I’m too protective, but I am waiting until my kids get a little older to leave them with strangers for the evening (soon, I will let go a little bit, promise)!

• Look into a "mommies helper"! Mommies helpers are typically younger or inexperienced sitters who watch the kids while you are there so they cost less. These are perfect for single parents or just plain busy parents because it gives you an opportunity to get things done without entertaining your kids at the same time!(think power tools)

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Money Saving Mondays! Printable coupons – an easy way to stretch your dollar a little further!

Continuing series of Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money! This is the second in a series of many money saving tips - printable coupons!

Coupons are a guaranteed way to make your dollar stretch a little further, assuming you use coupons on items you were planning to buy anyways or the coupon makes the item free! Unless you have money to spare each month, those nearly free items should be passed on unless you save those nearly free items up to donate to charity. Printable coupon sites make it easier to find coupons that match what is already on your shopping list. Just remember that you can use your Internet back button to print up to two coupons per computer. It is illegal to copy coupons that you print and stores lose money when you use fraudulent coupons so don’t do it! If you have multiple computers, feel free to print the limit of coupons on each computer! The high dollar coupons and B1G1 coupons go fast, so if you head over to any of these sites and see a great coupon, print it while you can – coupons are limited to the total number of prints!

Here are some of my favorite printable coupon sites (you’ll recognize that many match the names of the paper inserts you receive on Sundays and you don’t need to register to print the coupons here!):

SmartSource- just printable coupons, nothing fancy, but it gives you a quick look at available coupons.

RedPlum – also, if you look around the site you will find discount codes for your favorite shopping sites, entertainment, dining out, and good articles about saving money on just about everything! You can also look up weekly ads for your local grocery stores if you don’t get a paper, or it gets recycled before the ad expires!

Coupons.com – just printable coupons. You check the boxes on each page of coupons, then hit the print clipped – it just doesn’t get any easier. If you want two copies of a coupon, wait until they are finished printing, go back to view coupons, and click on over to the higher numbered pages, you should find the ones you just printed there!

If you shop at SuperTarget for groceries, you may want to check out their webpage to print grocery coupons. You can stack a Target coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon for additional savings! The link for grocery coupons is at the bottom of the page to the left of center (the link seems to change, so I didn’t want to try to link directly to the grocery webpage).

Some people like CoolSavings.com, but I tend to avoid that site. I hate all the pop-ups and things you have to click through to actually get what you want. It’s a waste of time to me, and I can usually find the coupons elsewhere. I’ve also decided that it is such a waste of time, that the 50 cents I would be saving just isn’t worth the hassle!

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Money Saving Mondays! e-Coupons - my lazy way to save money!

I thought I would start a series called Money Saving Mondays! I love to save money, post deals, and just in general make my dollar stretch a little further so keep up with me on Mondays for some easy ways to save money! This is the first in a series of many money saving tips - e-Coupons!

For me, coupons have become a shopping staple, but I have to admit that all that clipping and sorting can be a pain sometimes. Lately, I haven't even been keeping them sorted by week (I will have to change that, I think I just got overwhelmed and needed to take a break) (if you'll remember, I actually threw all my coupons away just a few weeks back). That’s why I’ve decided to dedicate this post to a few trusty (and free!) paperless coupon sources.

The process is simple: sign up online, load their coupons on your store’s shopping card, and they’ll automatically deduct when you scan your card at the checkout. The best part is that you can stack these coupons with paper coupons, so you can often get items for really cheap or even free! Most of these services are available at only select merchants, but they seem to keep adding more! If you read my previous blog ($20 Challenge for Charity), you've probably seen this post before but I wanted to revisit it because all of these sites keep adding more coupons each month and I've added a few more tidbits of information!


UPromise.com: Earn some extra money for college or pay off qualified student expenses with UPromise.com. The program has TONS of partners, including restaurants, grocery stores, drugstores, and online retailers. For a more detailed look at how this program works, click here!. Although the savings aren't immediate with UPromise.com, these e-coupons can be used with other e-coupons and paper coupons. Plus once you register your credit card too, you can save money for college at lots of places you might shop!


P&G e-Saver: Anyone who buys the Sunday paper for the coupons should be familiar with the monthly P&G Saver coupons for personal care and health products and a few food items. Did you know they also have the paperless version, P&G e-Saver? The paperless coupons are currently only available at Kroger stores, but anyone can sign up to receive e-newsletters featuring additional coupons and sample offers! All the sample and coupon offers are on the same page, so it makes it very easy to navigate! Like others, you can use the e-coupons along with the paper coupons from the Sunday insert!

Shortcuts: Shortcuts is easy to use, and they offer coupons for a variety of brand name items. You can save up to 50 coupons at a time on your grocery card, create a grocery list, and receive e-mail notifications based on how much you saved during a shopping trip or new coupons that are available. Right now, Shortcuts is only available at about a dozen or so partner stores, but they are always accepting requests for more stores. If you store isn't included, you should ask! Plus, shortcuts will send you reminders when your coupons are expiring or when they add new coupons!


Cellfire: With Cellfire, you have the option of loading coupons onto a store card or downloading them to your cell phone. In addition to grocery coupons, you can also get discounts for restaurants, movie rentals, and more! Sign up and enter your zip code to check out your local deals. One plus - no spam on your cell phone (at least I haven't gotten any in the three plus months I've been using cellfire). Previously, Cellfire only had e-coupons in my area for Kroger, but recently has added Randalls and Tom Thumb. In addition, you can have cellfire send your cellphone coupon codes that can be used at retailers such as Best Buy and Payless Shoes!

If anyone knows of any other good e-coupon sources, just let me know and I’ll feature them in a future post! Plus I would love to check them out! This is truly the easy way to save money, and since the savings are automatic at checkout, you don't have to worry about forgetting to hand over your coupons! Have questions about e-coupons? Leave me a comment, I will try my best to answer them!

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