Money Saving Challenge 1/10/10

Well it's football sunday at our house, watching the playoffs here. We're enjoying Red Baron pizza free from the freezer instead of ordering from Pizza Hut or some other pizza shop for $10+ dollars.

I signed up for Ace Rewards at Ace Hardware stores to get my rebate faster at Thanksgiving. Well I received a free $5 off any $5 puchase. We live in a snow state so we go through lots of windshield washer fluid in the winter. I decided to get a bottle or 2 for free. Well I got there and they had Mr. Clean 1 gallon windshield washer/de icer for $2.50(get $1.50 rebate, you can do this deal twice). I grabbed 2 gallons. Used $5 card, and only paid tax $0.31. I will get $3 check back for this purchase. So it was a great deal! I love free. If you use Ace Hardware I recommend this rewards program, it's free and easy to sign up for.

I needed a gift for my brother in law, he's very into making cocktails-I know someone else got him a martini maker-I got him a 501 cocktail recipe book and a nice bottle of vodka. I used coupons at Borders and asked if my book was clearanced like others around it. Turns out it was just wasn't marked I also used a 33% off coupon from Borders. Book originally $29.99, I paid $6.69. I bought a 1 L bottle of Skyy Vodka for $18.90. I got a $3 mail in rebate on a bottle tag. So total cost of gift=$25.59(or $22.59 if you take out the rebate).

I ventured to Bed Bath and Beyond-I have a free $25 gift card from a raffle at work. I got a new bathroom rug for DH in front of the sink-$9 on sale and used 20% off Q. I roamed the clearance for a while, I found a gingerbread house bake pan and decorating kit for $2.40 I bought this as a gift for a friend. Used giftcard-$0 out of pocket.

Someone gave me a $50 Macys giftcard for Christmas because I have been wanting a breadmaker and a few other kitchen items. I have been looking for a sale. I ended up buying online today an Oneida breadmaker. It was $90 marked down to $59 on sale, I paid the $10 difference from my fun money. I'd like to get away from buying bread at the store. Everyone I know says this one is very easy to use and I borrowed this model from a friend for a weekend and we loved it. :) Yummy bread is coming our way. Hopefully no more buying it at the store for $2 a loaf.

While I was at the store for the vodka, I grabbed 1 more snuggle dryer sheets 40ct, $1.99 at Giant Eagle. I had 1 $2 off any snuggle coupon left(expiring 1/10/10) so I got it for free! $0.01 profit.

I need to clip the coupons from this morning, and relish in the fact that I didn't buy any books at the bookstore. Books are my weakness, but I did play with the Sony ereader they had on display for a little while. I'm thinking about getting on for my bday in May from DH. I know there are 3 that just came out in the past year or so. I'm going to check those out too. I'll be going to Barnes and Noble to check out the Nook at some point, and I have a friend that just got the newest Kindle from Amazon(for Christmas). I will play with hers to see if I like it. With such a big purchase I don't want to regret it. I have officially ruled out Sony, I just don't like it. I'll be saving up my swagbucks amazon and barnes and noble gift cards and giving them to DH to help offset the gift I think. Then again I may decide I do not want one at all after checking out the other 2.