Contest Wins 2010

One of my hobbies is entering contests. I have very little time to do this so only enter the contests that you can only enter once and only the ones that I truly would like the prize or would have the ability to accept the prize to give to someone I love. This way I figure that I have just as good as odds as the next guy and by avoiding unlimited contests entry and USA based contests the pool for little fish contesters like me becomes much easier to win. This is a hobby that pays:

Ten years ago when I was a travel agent I won a trip for two to Hong Kong including airfare, hotels, tours and breakfasts. I took my mother and we had a wonderful time (before I met my hubby).

This spring I went through a bout of contest entering with no results....then July the winnings started to come in:

$25 Superstore Joe Fresh Gift Card
Free product coupon from Catelli
Windowsill Herb garden

and - drum roll please:

Grand prize in a liquor contest - $4000 worth of gift cards to the Brick furniture store!

Well, three weeks ago the $4000 in gift cards arrived and we went shopping, $2600 spent so far. The rest will be spent in the next six months on a new set of coffee tables for my main floor and accessories yet to be found. I need a little more time to shop. Can you believe that after a lifetime of scrimping, saving and bargain hunting I had a hard time spending the winnings?

-Sofa and love seat

-2 lamps

-TV Stand (We had the TV - was housewarming gift to ourselves 2 years ago)

-two end tables

Our 18 year old basement furniture has left the building - by way of Kijiji and $300 in our pockets.

Recommended contesting sites in order of preference
#1 Favorite - Contest Girl - if you become a member you can record which contests you entered
Smartcanucks.ca - Contest section (also great for coupons, deals and freebies)
Redflagdeals.ca - Forums contest section (no you don't have to belong to look)
Contest Canada
Canadian Free Stuff

So, if you like to enter contests keep trying. Eventually something will pay off. This is one hobby that has paid off in $4046 worth of prizes this year.

Lowering Fixed Costs - Success!

This blog is not about stealing ketchup, making paper out of lint to save money, or dumpster diving. We are just the every day family trying to live the best life possible, while not breaking the bank in the process.

I am a master and pinching the pennies, saving on groceries, clothes, furnishings. Hubby's talents lie in getting great deals on buying used - cars, boats, furniture, real estate. He enjoys negotiating and has his (proudly so) Ukrainian heritage to back him up. No wonder he is in sales. If you know any one who is Ukrainian family life is hard in Eastern Europe so when they get to Canada they know how to stretch a dollar, and they raise their children the same. I am of Scottish roots myself, so needless to say, we are pretty much on the same page when it comes to money.

Sometimes the easiest way to save money is not to pinch the pennies but to lower fixed costs. Any bill that you (according to your own judgement beliefs) consider you cannot live without. I personally could live without cable - but not without internet. Hubby can not live without cable, therefore in our household both are considered fixed costs.

Ever thought about making a phone call to see if you can lower the costs on the exact same services you receive today?

Credit Card Interest

Transportation Costs - car payment (if you have one), gas, maintenance, parking, bus pass

Cable

Internet

Telephone and cellphone

Electricity

Mortgage/rent

Sometimes there is wiggle room to negotiate. Today Hubby was extremely successful at lowering our cable, Internet and telephone bill. The cheapest of the cheap would say why do you need cable at all? We have decided in our house it is still a requirement so if we are going to have it we need to make sure we get the service at the best possible rates.

Hubby made a phone call to Shaw, our cable, telephone and Internet provider. One mention of checking out the competition - Telus - specialty television package and our cable bill dropped from:

$142 per month to $96 per month

No, we didn't drop anything - we actually got some freebies thrown in too:

-HD PVR Box no charge for 12 months (will take me four to figure out how to use it)

-free long distance Shaw to Shaw calling within Canada (I just called my mother to switch her telephone to Shaw to bundle up and then we get free long distance)

-upgrade to extreme high speed Internet (I thought we were pretty fast already)

So, in one five minute phone call Hubby saved $552 Annually!

I think we are going to start doing this every four months. Companies seem to be constantly coming up with new promotions so if you don't ask you can't get.

So, make a list and start making calls today to lower your fixed costs.....I bet within 1/2 an hour you will save at least $50.

What I Gave Away On Freecycle

For two years I have been a member of my local Freecycle(type in your town or nearby city to join your local chapter) - but not actually participated until this weekend! The local Edmonton and area chapter is called Earthcycle .

The premise of this organization is that everything given and received is free. Your first post must be an offer to give away. Every message posted is moderated to ensure it meets their requirements. Please read the guidelines for posting as they are very specific as to what you need in your title and how to communicate.

This BBQ & tank was first posted four weeks ago and frankly, I was a bit discouraged. Only one response and they did not give me their telephone number and their email was down! If at first you don't succeed try again.

I was hoping to keep this item out of our landfill and hubby was putting the pressure to get it out of our garage so I tried again. This time success.

Suggestions:

When posting the item be specific about condition - if dirty or any part is not working tell people. On this particular bbq it needed a clean, automatic ignition was not working but bbq lighter works just fine and left wing was missing as was long ago removed to fit on a small balcony. This was a 10 year old BBQ and 3 year old propane tank. This unit had been used up until June when hubby got a new one for Fathers day. All of those details were included in the original post.

I had two interested parties who responded as requested with telephone numbers for ease of contact. The first one picked it up as promised. Everything went smoothly! I will definitely do it again. We passed on a usable item, kept it out of the landfill and saved the costs for disposal.

I always find it interesting to browse what people are looking for and what they are giving away. Here are some recent postings:

Offer:

Couch and matching striped chair - needs a clean

White guest book usable for party or wedding

Beet Greens

Crab apples, we have the ladder, you bring the bucket

Box of books

Working smoke detector

3 step staircase

Baby bottle warmer

6 ft landscape ties

Lovable 2 yr old female cat, not fixed (***all pet posts are carefully moderated)

Wanted:

Indoor tv antenna

Large pieces of Styrofoam for Halloween props

Gently used trumpet for child to use in school

Elmo VHS or DVD for grandchildren

Wedding planner book

Dog Training Collar or invisible fence

Dollhouse

Rocks to create outdoor rock garden

Old console stereo

Chest Freezer

So try to reuse, wear out and if you must replace an item when it still has some life either sell it through garage sale or Kijiji or give it away on Freecycle or your local charitable Thrift store. There is always someone out there that wants what you no longer have a use for.

This Weeks Bargains, Freebies and Happy Birthday to Me

Just sharing a few bargains picked up this week.


The September long weekend I have a family wedding to attend and nothing to wear. 10 minutes on my lunchbreak at Good will and the results: Cute summer dress $7.99. I brought it home, washed in gentle cycle in the washing machine and hung to dry - no drycleaning involved. I have the perfect sandals and accessories to go with it already so now I am good to go.




Sobeys Western Canada had a sale on my favorite laundry detergent - Sunlight green clean - smells great(Lavender) and easy on the environment. Regular price $7.99 per bottle - 32 loads - on sale $4.99. I generally stack coupons at London Drugs to get them for $.99-$3 but those coupons seem to be running out so I decided to use all of my $2 off coupons for a year supply (2 already in cupboard) - 6 bottles - $12 in coupon savings. Sobeys had a side promotion where you buy 2 get 150 so Sobeys points. I also picked up 486 points (700 points = $5 free product).





So time for some cheap chick math


6 x $2.99 + tax $1.80 (only GST in Alberta - charged to precoupon price) - $3.47 Sobeys pts savings = $16.27 for 6 bottles or = $2.72 per bottle after tax.

***cheap chick insight - I would never pay $7.99 for this product - no product is worth that high price. Where there is a will there is a way!

A freebie came in the mail this week

- as ordered with my free amazon.ca gift cards last week from Swagbucks (see post) one of my books came in - The Cheapskate Next Door. Just had a chance to read one chapter last night, very interesting. I like real stories about what real people do to save money - not just tips. I can't wait to get some time this weekend to read more.

Finally, my favorite find of the week - a Happy Birthday to me present - yes, I turned 41 this week. I used some of the $100 from my Mother in law's gift (yes, I have a nice Mother in law) for:



Kenneth Cole black leather hobo designer purse


Purchased at the Bay in clearance


Regular Price $205 reduced to $122.99 and rang through the till at $72.56 including GST! I found the same bag on the Kenneth Cole Website for $179 USD - I got a great deal!
















The reality of it is this is the first designer purse I have ever purchased. Usually the no name models are good enough for me - maximum $30. Often I am able to find nice smaller purses at Goodwill but have had no luck finding larger ones in good condition that don't look like diaper bags. The major dilemma has been that when you use coupons you need a purse big enough to carry the Dollorama coupon organizer that is taken everywhere to never miss a coupon bargain . This is kind of hard on purses and they get more than normal wear and tear. My mission was to find a nice larger leather size purse that would hopefully last longer than the six months my recent ones have. I was hoping to invest more money for a longer term investment. I think I was pretty successful - got some style too!

Cool and Sustainable Product of the Day

I was browsing my brand new Ikea catalogue and came across something very special.
Everyone at some point or other has owned something made by Ikea.
They offer affordable and forward thinking design solutions.

This time they have a real winner on their hands.

The $19.99 CAD Sunnan Solar Cell Powered Lamp

Why do I like it so much?

• Affordable sustainability
• No electrical connections required, if fully charged gives 3 hours of fully powered light
• Uses LED lights that last 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs
• The product includes 3 rechargeable AA 1.2V batteries which are recharged by the solar panels
• Comes in blue, green, yellow, orange and red for those who care about design
• Would work very well for non-electrified buildings, cabins, or those just trying to cut back on their electricity bill and carbon footprint

And the best part? Kudos to Ikea:

For every SUNNAN sold at Ikea Worldwide they donate one unit to UNICEF and SAVE THE CHILDREN to help kids in developing countries living in homes with no electricity do their homework after sundown.

****no, this was not a paid product referral - I just like it!

Link of the Day - Awesome yard sale find

How to turn a $5 yard sale find into $6000

Todays Link of the Day

Five Ways to Reduce Your Debt Now

Almost everyone has some kind of debt. Are you feeling like you are handing over your paychecks to service this debt? Your first step is to figure out how much you really owe. This may take a couple of months depending on how organized your finances are. Record each debt and interest rate attached. Start attacking debt with your highest interest rate debt coming first.

1. Contact your lenders to see if there is a way to negotiate your interest rate. Often credit card companies you owe are the likeliest candidates. Sometimes they say no, sometimes they say yes. You can't know unless you ask.

2. Hold a garage sale, sell items on Kijiji or Ebay. Put 100% of the proceeds against your highest interest rate debt.

3. Consider consolidation of debts with a bank at a lower overall interest rate. This only works if you refuse to get into further debt after consolidation and faithfully pay the bill. Unfortunately many who do this rack their credit cards up again and then have a consolidation loan debt plus credit card bills.

4. Take a temporary part-time second job. This could involve working a special event, shovelling sidewalks, mowing lawns, babysitting. Don't put this extra money into your regular budget but apply directly to your debt.

5. Start a cash only life. If you don't have the cash you don't buy. Methods include envelopes, cash jars etc. Make sure if anything is left in the jars at the end of the month you apply directly to your debt. Not only will you not contribute any further debt to your budget but you will learn to live within your means. This does not mean closing credit accounts as you will always need access to credit at some point in life. It just means learning to use credit as only a tool, not a way of life.

3 Free Books - Thanks Swagbucks!

So I was up early this Sunday morning and decided it was time to use some of my amazon.ca gift certificates. Where did I get these? From Swagbucks.com. I have been using this site as my primary search engine for the past year. Frankly, I really don't search that much or would have a lot more.

What I like about Swagbucks.com

They pay you in swagbucks to use their search engine. You are not required to download their search bar to do this. I simply to go Swagbucks.com, sign in and away I go. You can download their search bar if you wish, but I hate doing that as have had bad luck with these type of downloads (would not recommend the airmiles.ca toolbar search engine). It usually takes 2-5 searches for you to win some swagbucks.

You can also vote in their daily poll to get 1 swagbuck per day.

If you wish to participate in their special offers you can to earn more (I tend to look at their no obligation offers. As most are aimed at U.S. users I just skip over those. No need to sign up...after 4-5 you will receive some swagbucks just for looking).

If you sign up for twitter or read their daily blog there are extra hints to earn extra swagbuck codes.

You can also refer others to Swagbucks.com and earn that way (yes, if you click and sign up under me this is a referral).

I don't have much time to do all above, generally I just vote in the poll and use it as a search engine. You can save up your swagbucks and then shop in the swagstore to order different goodies. I have ordered one book but with the rest have just ordered Amazon.ca gift certificates. After ordering usually at the end of the month they post the amazon.ca gift code in your Swagbucks account. You take this code to amazon.ca, create an account if you don't already have one and deposit it into your gift cards where it sits until you are ready to use it.

There is no spam! The only emails I receive are confirmation of orders and very rarely an email to indicate an upcoming promotion - on average less than 1 every 2 months of those. This is a well used and trusted site by many.

What I don't like about Swagbucks.com

Primarily aimed at users in the USA therefore the gift cards available are 90% USA only. You can order Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and Starbucks. They do have warnings before you order so it is pretty clear. You are able to order merchandise, expect it to take a while as it is all shipped from the USA.

Most of their no obligation offers and surveys are USA based therefore do not apply to Canadians.

What I ordered: (remember - 100% free including shipping with my gift certificates)

The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less by Jeff Yeager - used paperback $13.89 CAD including shipping

The Cheapskate Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means by Jeff Yeager - used paperback $11.30 CAD including shipping

Winds of Change by Martha Grimes (have to have a late summer read from one of my favorite authors - Richard Jury mystery series) - used paperback $6.90 CAD including shipping

Overall I like the program. And hey, you are getting something for nothing - what is wrong with that?

Buy a piece of paradise for $1000 per acre

Have you ever thought about moving to a tropical country?

It is a dream of mine...maybe later in life. For now I tend to browse blogs posted on Expat Blog for daily life updates in paradise.

Some of my favorite hot spot blogs are:
Coffee, calculations and Colombia which is the diary of a Minnesota teacher with a two year teaching contract in Colombia
My Utila Life which is the musings of a developer living on the island of Utila which is a Bay Island in Honduras. I visited another Bay Island two years ago and that is my destination of choice. This blog is has beautiful photos and video of beaches, sunsets and underwater life

Today I stumbled across Taco Girl, life in Belize. Who knew in Belize the first language is English? There is a post on there about a lady who transplanted her life to Belize and opened up Rainforest Realty.

What did I find?

25 tropical Belize acres for $25,000 USD! $1000 per acre? I wonder how much it costs to build a small cabin there....just dreaming.

Now that is what I call living rich on the cheap!

Monthly Coupon Tally - July $avings $102.59

At the end of each month on this blog I will tally up my coupons and grocery expenses.

July $102.59 saved in coupons, $389.52 spent out of pocket on groceries after coupons.

In 2009, my first year of coupon use I saved $1,612.83. The tally could have been much higher but I refuse to buy things I don't need and try not to stockpile more than a 6 month supply of any one item.

My goal in 2010 is $2000 - but at the end of July my tally stands at $1009.81.
At this rate it seems unlikely I will hit my goal. Several factors stand in my way:
I currently have a 1 year supply of cereal - much higher than I normally stockpile. I hit upon a specific coupon that was printed on a cereal box that had a coupon for another free box of cereal. How did I stockpile so many? Buy 1, go home, cut off side, go back to store and repeat. Thank goodness my family likes Cornpops and Fruitloops. Last month I managed to get 22 cans of free tomatoes due to having $1 off coupon and the cans of tomatoes being exactly the same price. In December I got 17 free cans of mushroom soup the same way. In the last two weeks I have made two separate donations to the food bank and still have plenty left in the cupboards.

In addition to clipping coupons on occasion I enter contests. I won a free product coupon for Catelli pasta this month and got the family size box of spaghetti so am set for a little while on pasta.

So, you see I need very little other than meat, veggies, fruit and milk right now.

Before I started couponing on average I spent $1000-1200 per month in groceries counting cleaning supplies and toiletries. We are a family of six who at that time had four kids living with us every other weekend and the rest of the time just my husband and myself. Seems a bit ridiculous doesn't it? We spoiled ourselves as enjoyed cooking and did not eat out a lot.

After discovering coupons I halved the grocery limit down to an average of $600 out of pocket per month. We eat exactly the same way enjoying skinless boneless chicken breasts, shrimp and steak. I just shop differently.

This month was even lower as kids were at camp and I was trying to eat out some of what is left in my freezer.

So, even if I don't hit the magic number of $2000 this year in coupon savings I am still laughing all the way to the bank!