Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

I get the Houston Chronicle paper every Sunday for $1.75. At around 7:30 a.m. I grab a bowl of cereal, peruse a few sections, and dig into the coupons. What incredible deals I find!

Around April of this year I found an introductory offer of $20 for 20 weeks of Sunday papers delivered to my doorstep. I jumped on it; not only was it more convenient, but it was $0.75 less. My introductory offer finished up, and to my delight, they offered me 52 weeks of the Sunday paper for $52! I took it, calculating that I will be saving $39 over the next year. Woohoo!

What is your frugal confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

I am a member of Cashbaq, a site that offers money back for making purchases at a ton of different sites. I only buy rock-bottom bargains online, and so the cash back is not much, but it is worth it to score great deals such as a free 2009 Entertainment book (after cash rebate), and a $3.21 turtleneck from Land’s End. I just received my second payout of $11.83 automatically to my paypal account! Hurrah!

What is your frugal confession? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

I have been really curious about trying the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter (you’ve probably seen it on television or at the store). Of course, I didn’t want to pay the $19.99 price, and when it came down to $9.99, well, I didn’t want to pay that either.

Fortunately, I found it for 50% off at Bed, Bath and Beyond this week, and so I walked out with what I wanted at $4.99!

What is your frugal confession this week? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

Have you seen the slew of new Febreeze products out on the market–the expensive ones, like the soy candle, the reed diffuser, and the paper shades? Well, I kind of wanted to try them out, seeing how I love the smell of febreeze.The only problem? They cost an arm and a leg.

When I opened up the Parade Magazine a few months ago, there were 3 coupons $5.00 off each of these products, so I clipped them and stuck them in my envelope of coupons I keep on me. While grocery shopping a week ago, I found lots of shoppers huddled around a cart of clearanced items. Lo and behold, all of the febreeze products were on clearance for $3.49 each. Not only did I get each of the products pictured below for free, but the coupons took $5.00 off, so I had approximtely $4.50 taken off of my grocery total as well! Hurrah!

What is your frugal confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

I just cleaned out our closets and made our mid-year donations to a women’s domestic abuse shelter in Houston, as well as a Goodwill near our home. Using ItsDeductible, I was able to estimate that my efforts are worth $252 in tax savings! Woohoo!

Remember, if you are looking for a tax deduction you need to make sure the charity you are donating to is approved by the federal government. Also, ask the charity for a receipt, and only donate items that are in “good” condition.

What is your frugal confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

It’s been over two years since I took Lyla to the vet (that’s the first confession). Now that we have Danny Boy, we had to get him vaccinated and neutered. On Friday of last week I put Lyla in our Sherpa, and Danny Boy in the carrier I borrowed from my friend Helen (thanks Helen!) and we headed over to SNAP for vaccinations, de-fleaing, worming, and surgery…oh my.

After checking with several veterinarians, I found that SNAP’s wellness clinic was about half of the price. Danny Boy was neutered (the poor man), tested for feline leukemia, given a set of vaccines that included rabies, feline distemper and feline leukemia, pain medication to take home with us, a dose of Frontline, a Capstar, and we purchased non-scoopable litter while his wound heals. Lyla was given an office exam (chub-chub is 1.5 pounds over weight!), rabies/distemper/feline leukemia vaccination, a Frontline dosage, and a Capstar which almost immediately kills all fleas and other things on your pets. We also left with 3 months worth of Frontline doses for the two of them.

I ended up spending $319. If I had gone with the cheapest of the other clinics on that chart, I would have paid at least 40% more (and don’t worry, this clinic uses anesthesia and is nice and clean and everything–I would not have skimped if it was not safe or if it would have hurt my animals).

What is your frugal confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers! If you are new to this series, check out the introduction here.

I’ve been dying to share this one with you:

Since moving into our new home in September, we have wanted to get rid of a mid-sized evergreen tree that is planted along our fence line. It doesn’t go with the tropical feel of the rest of our property (think palm trees, tropical plants and vines, etc.), plus this tree keeps the sun from shining down on an area of our yard that we hope to turn into a vegetable garden.

Paul wanted to chop it down a month or so ago, but I made him wait…so that we could use it for our Christmas tree!

Chopped Christmas Tree from our Backyard

This is quite the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but I am so impressed with my idea! We saved $35!!!!

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

What are ways that you have saved money this past week, or from previous weeks? I’d love to hear them. Happy Friday!

Originally posted 2009-12-11 10:34:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

I have a confession to make before my frugal confession. Paul and I watch the Twilight movies! Not so much because we think they are good, but because we think they are bad, and thus find them quite amusing:) (my apologies to any Twilight fans out there). So, I took my husband out for a movie date this weekend to go see Eclipse. Total cost: $20. 

Onto the frugal part of this confession…when I opened up the Sunday paper two weeks ago, I found that if you purchase 3 Kotex Feminine products for $10 from Walgreens, you got a free movie ticket. What a great deal–tickets cost us $9.50 anyway, so why not get three months’ worth of product out of it also? I also donate to a Women’s Domestic Abuse Shelter; seeing how I now have six boxes of feminine products, I can certainly add most of them to my donation stash.

What is your frugal confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

This is actually rather funny. When I was 16 years old, my then step-mother bought me a brand new bathing suit she picked up at a Tj Maxx or other discount store. The swimsuit moved with me from Pennsylvania to Maryland, then from Maryland to Florida, and then from Florida to Texas…with the price tag still on. Just a few months ago when my other bathing suit had lost too much of its elasticity, I broke out this old bathing suit, tried it on, and found that it still fit my body! I ripped the price tags off, and went down to Galveston with it this past weekend. Hurrah! Beats buying a new one:).

What is your frugal confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

I had a wonderful customer service experience that resulted in me earning money! I ordered our wingback chair slipcovers off of Overstock.com, and wanted to pay using our last $100 in visa gift cards from our wedding. The problem was that I had to use two different ones to pay for them, but the system would not allow it. I ended up signing up for BillMeLater (for free), and when the bill came in, I called them and tried to make the payment using the two gift cards. They couldn’t do it, even though the Overstock.com rep told me that they would be able to.  Anyway, when I called Overstock back up and spoke with someone, they were completely apologetic, and understood that I now had to take the $100 out of our bank account, which was an inconvenience. To make up for it, he said (without me even asking) “you know what I am going to do for you? I am going to give you a $50 credit at our store to use whenever you want to, and it will not expire for ten years”. Amazing! What great customer service! I wonder what I will spend that $50 on…..

What is your frugal confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!