It’s finally here! Coupons.com is offering printing from your Smartphones! It’s easy!
You can print directly from your Android and iOS devices to a WiFi connected printer. Coupons.com will automatically detect a user on their mobile device and guide you through printing. Users will be texted an authentication code before they can print and must be connected to a wireless network with an AirPrint or Wireless enabled printer. Click here to get started!
Recently, our bed frame broke. Our bed is nine years old, and our bed frame was the cheap-y one that came free when we bought our mattress and box springs. I shouldn’t really be surprised that it broke, but it did and it was no longer comfortable to sleep in our bed. It’s sagged in the middle because the part of the bed frame that broke was the center slat that provided the support for the mid section of the mattress.
I began my search online for a new bed frame. I checked all of the usual suspects: JCPenney, Sears, as well as trusty old Craigslist. All I wanted was a sturdy metal bed frame. No headboard, no foot board, just a bed frame.
Finally I found one that fit the bill. It was this one here from Sears. It was sturdy, as it had extra supports in the middle (which is very important when you have a small child likes to bounce on the bed like we do), and it fit my budget. So I set upon trying to get it for cheaply is possible.
First, I checked to see if there’s any place I could get a free Sears gift card with points from various rewards programs I use. I checked my Mypoints account, and I checked my SwagBucks account, and finally I checked my RecycleBank account. Turns out I had enough RecycleBank points to get a $10 gift card from Sears. I cashed out my points and a few days later I have received via email a $10 gift card from Sears.
Second, I logged onto my Shop Your Way Rewards Account (through Sears.com). If you haven’t signed up for Sears Shop Your Way Rewards, it’s easy! You can do it at any Sears, Sears Outlet, or Kmart location. It’s like any other store club card. Scan your key fob or enter your phone number when you check out and earn points. Points can be redeemed for cash off purchases. Also- Shop Your Way Rewards members get access to great coupons, and sometimes even surprise points (Frequently they send out $5 in points- just for being a member!). I had a $10 off of $50 or more purchase good for anything in the home department, which happens to include bed frames.
Third, I logged on to all of my survey websites: PaidViewPoint, and PineCone Research to see if I had points I could cash out for a PayPal payment. It turns out I had over $25 that I could cash out at PaidViewPoint. I requested a PayPal pay out and within six hours I had $27 and change in my PayPal account. I also discovered that I had enough points to cash out for a $15 payment via PayPal through PineCone Research. I requested that as well. I had $42 and change to use!
Fourth (And Finally), I also logged on to Top Cashback as well to see if I can earn any cash back for this shopping trip. Turns out I was going to earn a cool 3% cashback on my purchase.
So here’s how I got it for free:
Bed Frame $54.98 + $3.60 Tax
-$10/$50 Coupon
-$10 Sears Gift Card
-$38.58 from Paypal. (Money was earned doing surveys online as I outlined above. It took me less than two hours combined to do all of the surveys and earn this money. This time with spread over about a months time.)
Plus I qualified for free shipping because the original price was over $49.99
The best part is, I earned 3% of my post coupon amount ($38.58) because I shopped through Top Cashback. That’s more free money to use in the future! So I got paid .30 to buy something we really needed!
Freshly made bed (and laundry- It is Monday, after all!)
The bed frame was delivered on Friday and I just set it up this morning. And we did give it a good test bounce after the bed with put back together. It’s very sturdy I’m proud to announce.
The point of this post isn’t to show off, “Look what I can do isn’t this cool?!?”, but it’s meant to inspire you and show you that you can-do these things as well. You can get stuff for free. And not just little samples of this and that, but you can actually get things that you need for your home for free.
Taking surveys does take time however with PaidViewPoint, and PineCone Research. The surveys that you will do you’ve been pre-selected for, and take less than 10 minutes each. So you’re not wasting time doing surveys you don’t end up qualifying for and the payout for both of those companies is so low you’ll be able to reach a payout in less than a month even if you only do a few surveys for them each week.
So there it is. That’s how we got a brand-new bed delivered to our house for free. No smoke, no mirrors, no hocus-pocus, or anything shifty or questionable. Just a brand-new bed frame delivered free.
I’d love to hear about the kinds of things that you have gotten for free or really cheap using the profits from surveys or even secret shopping. So leave me a comment and let me know what kind of awesome things you’ve gotten for free!
ME: “Henry, what do you want to be for Halloween?”
HENRY: “A Pirate Penguin!”
ME: 0_0
Henry: “You know, Mommy a Penguin that’s a pirate! Like Pingu! NUG NUG!!”
FIN
Yeah, so I set out to create a Pirate Penguin Costume. First I was going to make a penguin costume from scratch, but after pricing out fabric and questioning whether or not I’d be sane at the end of the process, I bought this penguin hoodie and a pair of black pants. He will wear both of these items again and again until they no longer fit, whereas, he’d probably only wear the costume I had originally designed and sketched just once.
Modeling the jacket Miami Vice Style
Next came the question of the pirate part. I scoured thrift stores for two months looking for the PERFECT coat to pirate-ize. Luckily for me (and Henry), I found this amazing dark teal velvet ladies jacket at AmVets for only $4.95. It’s a size 6 Petite, which is perfect. In it’s original life, it had a short Mandarin collar and single breast front with 5 large buttons.
To fully embrace the pirate-ness of this jacket, we first had to take it in so it fit. We lopped off 4 inches of sleeve length from each arm, and then put a dart in the back.
Working with velvet and satin lining isn’t easy, but I used these awesome Wonder Clips and the fabric stayed in place without a problem. These clips are perfect for taking in or up garments. They have built in seam allowance marking, and they can clamp together large or bulky fabrics (and in my case, slippery ones too).
I like these clips much better than my usual sewing pins- The bottom of the clip is flat, so I don’t worry about the bottom of the fabric scrunching up, and I didn’t stab my self while sewing (something that occurs every time I sew a garment that is pinned together and I’ve been sewing for 20 years)! After we had taken in the back and the sleeves it was time to crank up the pirate-ness of this jacket.
We spray painted rayon lace with antique gold spray paint. We pinned the lace pieces to foam core board, sprayed the lace, and once it was dry sewed it on the cuffs. For the lace on the front, we applied it using fusible web. We did this instead of sewing it down because the jacket has pockets in the front that could not be accessed if the trim was sewn on.
I hot glued acrylic gems over top of the existing buttons. And there you have it- A Pirate coat, fit for a penguin!
NUG NUG! (Pirate hat not shown in photo)
We used additional accessories that we had laying around the house: Pirate Hat, sash belt, velvet pouch, and no pirate kit is complete without a telescoping spyglass (it was a birthday gift).
There you go! A complete costume for less than $40.00
Hoodie: $16.24
Pants: $6.00
Coat: $4.95
All of the additional supplies (lace, spray paint, acrylic jewels, sewing notions) we already had on-hand.
I’d love to hear about and see your DIY Halloween creations! Leave me a comment (and a photo)!
I received the Wonder Clips free to facilitate a review. All Opinions are my own. I received no finanacial compensation to review them.
October marks the return of an IHOP® favorite that makes everyone smile, but now with
even more fun: Scary Face Pancakes are back! Bring the kids to create their own legend—scary or silly—with strawberries, whipped topping, Mini Oreo® cookies and candy corn.
And your kids can enjoy a FREE Scary Face Pancake at your local IHOP on 10/30/15! All kids 12 & under get a Scary Face Pancake between 7am and 10pm Friday, October 30th at participating locations. One per child. Dine in only.
I’ll be taking Lil’ Man and we’ll be meeting friends for a fun, frugal breakfast!
I was scanning through all of the new printable coupons released over the past week or so, and I found a bunch of great new vegetarian meat alternative coupons!
Everyone knows about the usual places to look for coupons, but have you heard about Brand Clubs? Some brands, like General Mills, Betty Crocker, and SC Johnson have e-clubs you can join. Each month or so, they’ll email you tips, trick, and recipes (usually), and also links to high value printable coupons you won’t find anywhere else online.
Betty Crocker’sE-Club. Get exclusive coupons (up to $250 per year in savings), access to free samples (quantities limited – one per member), our hottest recipes, and more!
Sign up for instant access to receive hot savings alerts for all of the latest General Mills coupons and deals as well as our BEST recipe ideas & ingredients, how to videos and new recipes right out of the oven and into your inbox!
I love printable coupons for several reasons, one of which is that printables tend to be more specialized. Those of us with diets a little different than mainstream don’t get left out.
Hopster is the latest in printable coupons, but it’s a little different, and dare I say, better than the usual suspects!
The coupons that Hopster offers can be “boosted”. Share the coupon on Facebook, Like the company, or take a brief survey. So the coupon that starts off saving you $1.00 can end up saving you more than double that amount. It’s like double coupons at ANY store!
One thing that I really like about Hopster is that they have a lot of natural food and medicine coupons. Great for us organic food freaks!
This offer has been extended until September 17th!
In need of a late summer treat? Treat yourself to a free 8×8 hard photo cover photo book with promo code FREETREAT at checkout from your friends at Shutterfly! Show off all of those great summer memories or get a head start on Holiday shopping- Photobooks make GREAT gifts!
If you are new to shutterfly, you’ll also score 50 free 4×6 prints! No Coupon Code needed!
Boring Fine Print: Offer expires September 17, 2015 (11:59 P.M. PT). Offer is good for one free 20-standard finish page 8×8 hard photo cover photo book through shutterfly.com, our mobile-friendly site, the Shutterfly Photo Story app for iPad or iPhone app (some book restrictions apply via the iPhone app). Offer cannot be redeemed more than once per account and/or billing address. Taxes, shipping, and handling will apply. Customer may add options to their 8×8 book (additional pages, StorytellingTM styles and elements, photo book accessories, other cover types, etc.) at additional cost. Alternatively, customer may apply the current price of a 20-standard finish page 8×8 hard photo cover photo book (after taking into account any current discounts on shutterfly.com) toward the purchase of a larger photo book. Not valid on 5×7, 7×9, or 8×8 soft cover photo books, TripPix, prepaid plans, other products, prior purchases and purchases made on the Shutterfly apps. Cannot be redeemed for cash or combined with other offers or credits. Not valid for resale.
I love that Ralphs has their Free Friday Download each week where you can score something free each week. This week, there are THREE freebies!
If you are new to Free Friday Downloads from Ralph’s, here is more info about how it works:
WHAT IS FREE FRIDAY DOWNLOAD? An exclusive benefit to having an account online at ralphs.com is FREE products (yes, we said FREE!). When you download the free product coupon, it will be loaded directly to your Shopper’s Card and applied at checkout in-store.
DOWNLOAD the digital coupon for the free product (make sure to download between 12:01 am and 11:59pm PT). View the coupon under ‘My Coupons’ in your account online or in the mobile app.
You have two weeks to redeem this coupon in store! Pick up the product at your local Ralphs store and digital coupon will automatically apply at checkout.
It’s finally here! Coupons.com is offering printing from your Smartphones! It’s easy!
Hewes Family Fun 