Rain Check puh leese

The majority of the time I am shopping, the sale item I want is on the shelf or another store has it so its a rarity that I request a rain check.  When an item is sold out at the store, you can oftentimes request a rain check which is a slip that promises you the sale price when it is restocked.  I have never redeemed the few rain checks that I have requested, except for today.

Last month, Target had Oral-B replacement heads on sale for $3.00.  That is a phenomenal deal since the store sells it regularly for $31.29.  Yes, you read that correct.  That's an enormous price difference.  The deal was too good to be true so it was sold out everywhere.  I gave up and requested a rain check.  

They finally restocked the shelves this week so I used my rain check to cash in on my deal.  It was such a cinch.  Purchase the item, show them your rain check receipt, instant savings!

I had a rain check for 5 3-packs.  Instead of spending $169.36 (cost with tax), I only paid $15.43.  I ended up paying only $2.75 for each pack since I have a Target Visa card.  This is a perfect example of how a rain check can save you a whole lotta money.

Now you must be thinking the replacement heads price is insane.  I generally do not buy them at Target, but rather at Costco since they are about $36.99 for a 7 pack.  Generally twice a year, they'll also have a $7 coupon bringing it down to $29.99.  Each toothbrush head comes out to about $4.28 which is a lot cheaper than Target's price of $10.43, but it certainly doesn't top my rain check price of only 92 cents each.  Crazy huh?  Let's just say I'll be smiling every time I brush my teeth now :)

Nintendo 3ds XL for $140 or less!

I was pretty disappointed with all the black friday deals this year.  I always go shopping on black friday, but this year the experience was completely different.  It turned out to be so chaotic and getting to the point of violent that we left the store before the sale even began and I vowed never to do another black friday again.  Its not worth it.

What I found interesting was that everything sold in the store was also sold online at black friday prices so I have done the majority of my shopping online this year.  Sales this year seem to be better days leading up to Christmas.  Here's my newest find.  Best Buy is selling the 3DS XL for $159.99 which is the lowest price I've seen this winter, but I can beat that.  I printed out the bestbuy.com page and brought it into Target to price match.  I didn't have to bring the ad, I could just show them on my phone, but it was easier to have a printout in hand to show them what I was talking about.

I had no issues price matching yesterday.  What makes this deal sweeter is that Target is giving a $20 gift card with every 3DS XL purchase!  I used my Target Visa to get another 5% off and I had their pharmacy rewards card so that added another 5% off.  To top that if I may, I had a Target coupon for $8 off an $80 purchase!  That brought my total to $136.39 with the free $20 gift card, bringing the final amount to only $116.39!  That's a savings of $90 once tax is added into the mix!  Even without the 5% + 5% off + coupon, its still the best deal around at $139.99.  I don't know how long the deal lasts, but I'd get it now if it is on your Christmas list.

Tips on Filling Your Gas Tank

I was standing in the breakroom at work waiting to nuke my puff pastries I brought (the ones I made here) which is something I never do because I don't eat breakfast, but as I was waiting, I noticed someone had posted tips on filling your gas tank.  I learned so much from reading the article that I decided to post it because one of the things my blog is definitely about is how to save money, and here is just another way to do it.

• Only buy or fill up your car in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold.  All service stations have their storage tanks buried below the ground.  The colder the ground, the more dense the gasoline.  When it gets warmer, gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening, your gallon is not exactly a gallon.  In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products play an important role.  A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for business, but the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

• When you're filling up, do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode.  If you look, you will see that the trigger has three stages: low, middle, and high.  You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping.  All hoses at the pump have a vapor return.  If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank become vapor.  Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.
• One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas is HALF FULL.  The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space.  Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine.  Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof.  This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.  
• If there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tank when you stop to buy gas, do NOT fill up.  Most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

I thought these tips were really great and although, I can't say that I will always be able to fill up at half tank, I know I can stick to filling up in the morning and definitely at low mode if it is going to make my gas go further. 

Washer and Dryer Pedestal

My washer and dryer pedestal is in place!   I have no regrets building my pedestal.  When we decided to replace our set, I knew I didn't want to buy the matching pedestals that came with it because I had heard from several people that it was too small to even put laundry detergent in.  Since our space is small, I needed to maximize it and building my own would allow me to place laundry baskets underneath for added storage.  It didn't hurt that it also saved me $420 as well since the store bought pedestals were $250 a piece and the total price I paid was roughly $80 for the wood.

Here's my how-to.  I took the plans from here and modified it to my space.  The maximum height my pedestal could be would be 17 inches due to a pre-existing cabinet above the dryer.  Therefore, I had to somehow figure out a way to shorten it, without shortening the opening since the typical laundry basket is 10.5 inches, I wanted an 11 inch clearance.  The only way to shorten the overall height was to use 2x3s instead of 2x4s which the plan uses.

There are two floors to the pedestal.  Since the bottom floor would really have no weight to bare other than laundry baskets, I used 2x3's and placed it on its side (the 2inch side). 

 

The dimensions of the floors were 57x35.  In hind sight, I would have made the width shorter had I known the dryer vent was at the exact location of one of my pedestal legs.  That's something to think about. The location of the dryer vent may force you to build it less wide, or drill out a space/hole to allow it to connect.

For the top layer, I also used 2x3s, but I placed them vertically (on the 3 inch side) for more support.  This gave the over all height to be 16.25 inches, giving me a 3/4 inch clearance under the cabinet.

 

Most of the plans I found online used MDF.  Water and MDF don't mx well and since I have had enough experience with water spraying everywhere in my laundry room, I decided I would use ply wood instead.  That also allowed me to stain it to match my cabinets in the room.  I used 1/2 inch thick of plywood for both layers.

Now for the legs.  Everyone online as able to find 4x4s in the store, but of course, untreated 4x4 is no where to be found where I live.  Therefore, I nailed two pieces of 2x4s together to make my legs.  Since I had a lot of the same cuts to make, I clamped a piece of wood at the end of the saw and just budded all my pieces to it.  This allowed every cut to be exactly the same and what was even better, cutting all the legs were fast.

I glued and nailed the boards together.  One thing I hate about 2x4s are the curved edges.  When I nailed them together, there was a groove in between that I didn't care for.  I wanted it to look like one piece and it didn't so I used a planer to shave off that curve so that it would look seamless.

 Whatever gaps remained, I used a stainable wood filler.  You can also make your own.  It is basically just glue and sawdust.  I sanded all the pieces down and then added trim around all the exposed edges.  

I didn't like the unfinished edge of the plywood so I decided to cover it up.  I think adding trim around the edges of the plywood makes a HUGE difference. 

A coat of stain and then two coats of polyethylene, with sanding in between finished the look.

After reading a lot of horror stories, I thought installation would be tough.  With a little preparation, it wasn't so bad.

 I really do love the look of it, even more than the store bought one.

I contemplated painting the pedestal, but I am glad I stuck with staining it because we have a locker-style built-in cabinet on the other side of the laundry room that is stained as well.

What's left to do?  I need to build a shelf or roll out for this space.

I have this plastic thing right now, but it looks a little out of place so I hope to build a pull out or shelving unit to match the rest of the room.

Oh, and here's my tip for buying a washer and dryer.  I was against buying a new set because there really wasn't anything wrong with our old set.  Since it was a top loader and I am rather short, I would have to use a step stool to get the clothes out of the washer, but I got used to it.  My hubby didn't like that so I researched for a new washer and dryer.  Once I found "the" one, I waited..and waited until the sale.  I found an incredible price online to which I brought to the store for a price match.  They price matched and took an additional 10% off that price.  To top that off, I bought them on appliance tax-free weekend.  Did you know that even existed?  I didn't.  Apparently, the government has one weekend a year where energy-efficient appliances are tax-free.

So what did I end up paying?  My washer and dryer retailed for $1399 each.  Crazy huh?  It had high reviews (that's probably why it was oober expensive).  I found a store selling it for $940.  I priced matched it at my local store and got an additional 10% off.  That brought the price down to only $846 each.  If I bought it on any other weekend for the regular price, it would have cost $3028.84.  I saved a whopping $1336.84.  Because of that savings, I was willing to splurge on a new set.  I was also able to sell my old one for $300.  Therefore, I was only out of pocket for $1392 for both the washer and dryer.  That's like buying the washer and getting the dryer for free or getting over 50% off which is definitely better than any black Friday deal I have seen.  I love my new set, and for the price, I have no regrets.

Refinancing for Free

Here's my house. When we purchased our home, our interest rates were pretty high so when the economy went south a couple of years ago, we refinanced and cut our interest rates as well as our mortgage length significantly.

Would you refinance your home for a lower interest rate if there were no hidden fees or costs? I received a letter in the mail last month from our mortgage lender indicating they were doing such a thing to keep us from refinancing with another lender. They would reduce our interest rate by 1% and for no other reason other than because I was a good customer who always paid on time. I am always skeptical of getting something for nothing (unless I have a coupon for it). What does the bank get for reducing our mortgage interest rate I asked. Their answer was to keep us as a customer so although I had already refinanced a few years ago, they were convincing me to refinance again.

Does it sound too good to be true? It is and it isn't. In a way the bank still makes money. For example, if you have 10 years on your mortgage currently, after the refinance of a 15 year loan, you will have an additional 5 years of payments which is 5 years of interest the bank makes on you that it normally wouldn't. Although, your interest rate is lowered, the bank gets it for longer, and therefore, makes more money off of you UNLESS, you pay off your loan early which is exactly what I plan on doing.

Have I lost you yet? Basically, its a great deal to refinance if you pay off your mortgage in the same amount of time you would originally. It's worth it since it doesn't cost you a dime upfront. You just have to remember to make extra payments so that in the end, you do save money. With mortgage rates as low as 3.2% (well, that is what is was last week for a 15 year fixed loan), it might be worth it to call up the bank and find out if they are willing to refinance you home for free in order to keep you as a customer if you haven't already received an offer like this. We'll be saving $700 a month with this offer so it is definitely worth it.

Extra 60% off Off Fifth

There are really great deals out there lately so I've done a lot of shopping for my kiddos. Children's Place seems to be getting rid of all their summer apparel at rock bottom prices. Cargo shorts are a mere $4.99. Bring in a fall savings pass to get an extra 15% off and top that off with your members discount to maximize the sale. That gives you over 75% off.

For me I decided to check out the Off Saks 60% off sale. I found a fabulous little black dress for 90% off!!! My $228 dress was only $22.80! I was also able to walk away with a $75 tie for only $10! You can't beat that, now can you?

Dollar Blinds

I can't resist clearance stickers. I saw these shades at Lowe's the other day.

I've been meaning to replace our window coverings in our garage. Since, it is the garage, I really don't want to spend an arm and a leg. Looking at the price, it's not that great of a deal, right?

That's not the price though. Look at my receipt.

For my three shades, I paid only $3.00! That's $1 a shade!!! The best part is that they'll cut the shades to fit my window for me. Now, that is a bargain that is too good to resist!

Museums On Us Program

Sorry for my lack of entries lately. I've been in a creative funk. I have the ideas, but I've been lacking the motivation. Working part time has definitely spoiled me with extra time with my kiddos and I've been taking full advantage of that.

If you are a Bank of America customer, you can get free admission to participating museums on the first full weekend of every month. You just have to present your Bank of America debit or credit card and admission is FREE.

Click here to find a museum near you. I will definitely be taking advantage of this. That's just another excuse for me to spend time with my kiddos.

Double check your receipts

I always print out my receipt at the gas station. I guess I believe that I am less likely to get scammed if I have proof of what I should have been charged. This morning, checking my receipt paid off.

After pumping gas this morning, I checked my receipt and noticed that it charged me an extra 30 cents for every gallon. I looked on the pump and noticed it wasn't a printing error, but an actual transaction error. So what did I do at 4:30 in the morning? I marched right into the the gas station and demanded the price difference. I ended up saving $6. I know, it's only $6, but if you knew me, I probably would have done it for 60 cents because I don't believe in wasting a penny.

My double checking doesn't stop at the gas station. I never walk out of any store without rechecking the receipt. On average, I am overcharged on at least one item at Wally Mart EVERY time. They probably stopped their policy of giving you the item for free or $3 cash back if they price you wrong because of customers like me. Not only should you check for prices, you need to check your coupon scans as well. I am finding that cashiers are entering in the wrong amount by accident. Last week, instead of getting a $5.00 discount, the cashier entered only a 50 cent coupon discount. Also, if you bring in your own bags at Target, be sure they give you credit for that (some cashiers are unaware of this discount). In this economy, every penny counts!

50% Outerwear at Old Navy

I'm excited that winter is near. It's almost time to put on those winter coats. Old Navy is thanking their customers for reaching the one million mark on their facebook page with a 50% coupon for a single outerwear purchase. For online purchases, use code OUTER50. For in store coupon, print this. This offer is valid only until October 28th.

I definitely do not need another trench, but am loving this one.


For a pop of color, I find this one to be adorable. Happy Shopping!

Great Diaper Deals from Amazon

My littlest one is still in diapers. I am so hoping that it won't be for long, but until then I just discovered this great diaper deal from Amazon. Here is what to do to optimize your savings.

Head over to amazon.com and join the amazon moms club (basically its a club for anyone that takes care of a little ones, i.e. moms, dads, babysitters). By doing this, you will save an additional 15% on Subscribe and Save for a total of a 30% discount.

Then go shopping for your brand of diapers. You need to purchase your diapers from amazon.com and not a third party seller in order to get the extra 30% discount. I chose Huggies Snug and Dry since that is what we use which so happens to be 30% off right now ($41.69 marked down to only 30.21)

Choose the “Subscribe and Save” option on the top right hand side of the page – by doing this, you will save an additional 30% off your diaper order and receive FREE shipping! This drops the price to around $21. You can cancel at any time after your item has been shipped.

PLUS, if you have the November 2010 issue of Parenting magazine, you will find a pullout of an Amazon coupon code discount for 20% off a diaper purchase at amazon valid until 12/31/10! You can combine this coupon with the 30% subscribe and save discount. I didn't know my free subscription to Parenting magazine would come in so handy. You can sign up for a free 6 month subscription to Parents magazine here. I hear they have the same amazon coupons.

So my total purchase price for the box of diapers that retails for over $40 is only $15.11. That's over half off! Apparently, this deal has been happening for a while now. Looking at my account, diapers for the following month will be around $21 which is still nearly half off. I wish I had known about this a long time ago.

Toys R Us Sale

Toys R Us is having a wonderful sale on Video Games and Accessories. Buy 2 and get 1 FREE on ALL Video Games, Video Game Accessory, Guides, and T-shirts. Use code 939831 and get an additional $10 off a $50 purchase. If you use different emails and can split your purchases, you can reuse the coupon code, saving you even more!

I have 4 boys that love video games so this is an awesome savings. They have been wanting additional wii controllers so they can all play at the same time so this is a great opportunity to get some Christmas gifts early at a discount.

I bought 3 wii controllers for the price of two, the additional $20 coupon code ended up saving me a whopping $90! I'll probably sell one of the controllers since we don't need it and will end up saving even more. The greatest thing about this is that selling my used items on craigslist paid for all for this. Total price out of pocket for this purchase is $0! Can't beat that can you?

Craigslist

I am no stranger to selling or buying things off of ebay or craigslist. For the past two years, my goal has been to not spend a penny for Christmas gifts. What I mean by that is, I will only spend what I make from selling things that we no longer want. It's worked out really great the past couple of years.

I would go searching the house for unwanted or un-played with items and post them on craigslist. Since, I tend to buy bargained items anyways, I generally make the same amount as what I paid. Usually, if I paid retail, it's an item the kids really wanted and those items we usually keep.

You never know what people are going to buy. My husband was just going to throw away his Law Books, but I decided to post them anyway. Fortunately, for us, they sold!

When selling any item on craigslist, make sure you spend the extra time cleaning and making it look as new as possible. People are more likely to offer less for an item that is dirty or run down. If it is clean and polished, you can ask more for it.

Just because it's craigslist doesn't mean that you can't sell new items as well. I bought this handbag at such a great price, I couldn't bear to return it so I sold it on craigslist and got a hefty profit which enabled me to buy the purse that I really wanted at the price I wanted.

It's worked out so far from the items that we sell, we make enough to buy new gifts. Three months until Christmas and our Christmas savings fund from Craigslist is nearly there. Maybe we'll have enough this year for some birthday money as well. What's even better is the space that we have gained by purging the things we no longer need and making a little extra along the way. Things that we don't sell (like clothing and shoes), we'll donate.

Since every post is better with a picture. Here's a pic of the boys (A. wasn't born yet).

Probably the only Asian Santa you will ever see. "Hey, Santa, you look awfully familiar."

50% off Einstein Bagel Bucket!

Print this coupon to receive 50% off a Bagel Bucket at Einstein Bros. Valid this weekend only.