Sense to Save

Walgreens deals this month

I haven’t been writing about drugstore deals as much lately. Sorry about that. I haven’t been going as often, these days.

Hey, Pittsburghers, if you have a coupon for Skippy peanut butter, take it to Kuhn’s. The coupon is worth .40 (but they double it at Kuhn’s) and peanut butter is on sale this week for $1. So, .20 peanut butter!

There’s some free-after-rebate deals at Walgreens this month. Limit 1 on all these:

• Garnier Fructis shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner, or masque (rebate up to $4.29; at my store it was $3.99). Use a $1 off coupon from recent inserts, and make money on the deal!
• Clear Care travel pack or convenience pack (contact lens stuff) up to $5.99
• Gillette Venus Embrace razor system $9.99. My store didn’t have it in stock, darn.
• 5-Hour Energy Drink 2 Pack $4.49
• Softsoap Spa Radiant Body Wash 18 oz. $4.49
• Mennen Speed Stick 24/7 $3.99. I had a buy one, get one free coupon (expires on Feb. 2) so I got 2 free deodorants.

I bought the shampoo, contact stuff, body wash, and two deodorants. Total before coupons (not including tax) $22.45. Had $4.99 in coupons, bringing it to $17.46. Add on a hefty $1.57 in tax, and I’m at $19.03. I paid for my purchase with a gift card, so no money out of pocket.

I’ll have Walgreens put my rebate money back on my gift card, earning me an extra 10 percent. The regular rebate would get me $18.46, and 10 percent of that is $1.85. Total, that’s $20.31that I’ll get back. Not too shabby!

I don’t plan to get anything else at Walgreens for February, so I’m going to send in my rebate form soon, so that I’ll get my money sooner.

So, those deals are the obvious ones–what are some other deals you’ve found?

Nighttime water rates

I don’t directly pay a water bill (it’s included with my rent) but I’m wondering: How many of you have different rates on your water bill throughout the day?

To put it another way, is it cheaper for you to use water at night than during the day? How much do you save?

In some regions of the country, you’ll find that if you run your dishwasher/shower/washing machine at night, you’ll get a better rate on your water bill. Others, it won’t have a financial impact.

Pay a water bill but don’t know if different hours are charged differently? Call your company, find out, and let us know!

Giveaway #3: A book on PaperBackSwap!

Welcome, Bloggy Giveaways contest hopefuls (and my lovely regular readers)!

If you couldn’t tell by my first and second giveaways this week, I love books! I’d like to give away at least one (hopefully more) free book via PaperBackSwap.com.

If you’ve never heard of them, bibliophiles, take note: You’re going to love that site.

PaperBackSwap, or PBS, is a way to get rid of books you no longer need or want, and get books you do want (so long as another member is willing to send it to you). The service is free—you just pay shipping to get rid of your unwanted books. That means, books you request cost you nothing!

When you sign up with PBS and list at least 10 books you’re willing to get rid of, they’ll credit your account with two credits. You can use those credits to “buy” any available book on the site. Audio books are also available.

Pretty neat, huh?

I’ve gotten rid of “worthless” college texts that I couldn’t resell to the bookstore. With those credits, I’ve gotten some classics that I’ve wanted to have for a long time. Hoorah!

So, someone got my not-so-worthless anymore book at no cost to them, I paid about $2 shipping–they got a book they wanted, and I got a credit that I could use to get any other book in the PBS system at no cost to me.

If you’d like to win a credit for a book on PaperBackSwap, here’s what you need to do:

• Go to Paperbackswap.com. If you don’t already have an account, won’t you use my referral link? That way, I can get more book credits (and can give away more credits!). If you already have an account, skip to the next step.

• Tell us what book you’d select if you won a free book credit. List it in the comments section below. Comments that just say "enter me, please" or something similar will be deleted. 
• Be sure there is a way I can get in touch with you if you win. Entering your e-mail address in that spot on the form is a good idea. I won’t share your e-mail address with others—I’ll just use it to notify you if you’ve won.
• U.S. addresses, only, please.
• If you’d like a double entry to this contest, write about it on your blog and link back to this specific post. The trackback “ping” will let me know you entered.
• All entries must be received by midnight Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008 (EST). I will randomly select a winner and post about it and notify you on Saturday afternoon.
• Head over to Bloggy Giveaways for hundreds of other giveaways going on this week! The carnival will go live at 9 a.m. EST.

Thank you for visiting my site! I hope you’ll come back. I’m a 22-year-old newlywed, and love to find new ways to save money. Living frugally is fun, isn’t it? That’s what my blog is all about—living the frugal lifestyle and loving it.

Here are links to a few posts to help you get to know what my blog is all about.

• Join in on my year-long challenge to improve our budgets by decreasing our spending and making those dollars go as far as they can go. This week’s Better Budget Challenge #4 is available here.
• Read about our plan to become homeowners (mortgage-free) by my 30^th birthday
• If Dave Ramsey was a housekeeper, here’s how I think he’d attack his chores: With gazelle-like intensity. Lol. 

Also, won’t you consider subscribing to my blog?