Saturday, June 26, 2010

World's Best Cat Litter

Free Cat Litter with Rebate!!! Will probably go fast, so get on this Frugalista Find!

Making your own tortillas!

I just put the amazon.com giftcards that I redeemed from Swagbucks to good use!  I got free shipping and used $30 in amazon giftcards, and I put just $.96 on my debit card.  Put this together with an awesome homemade tortilla recipe, and it's a major Frugalista Find!

At about $5 a pop for a package of large tortillas, (even if you didn't use amazon gift cards you'd redeemed for free from Swagbucks) This will pay for itself in 6 months if you normally buy tortillas or taco shells just once a month!

As a healthy bonus, you have the choice to make yours from whole wheat flour which might not be an option for tortillas in your local grocery store.  I like to use half whole wheat and half regular flour.  Double the batch, and freeze the ones you don't use for dinner!  They'll keep for quite a while.

Making tortillas from scratch isn't for everyone, but if you're willing, it's a fun way to be more involved with what goes on your family's plate and save some money at the same time.

BOGO Athenos Hummus

Like Athenos Hummus on facebook and get a BOGO coupon.  These go on sale quite frequently at ShopRite for under $3 to make this a Frugalista Find. 

If you haven't gone the hummus route yet, try it with baby carrots, grape tomatoes, pita chips, or use on a turkey sandwich.  It's a healthy alternative to ranch dip or mayo since it contains olive oil and generally leaves out the high fructose corn syrup and saturated fat you might find in other condiments.  Some hummus does contain high fructose corn syrup, so if you're avoiding that, check your label.

Thanks Mojo Savings!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Photography Special

A friend of mine here in New Jersey is offering a GREAT special and I want to pass it on to you.  She specializes in infant, maternity, and breastfeeding.

Vivi Photography

For $75.00: a 30 minute mini session with one subject, 5 edited digital proofs, 1-8x10, 2-5x7s, 2-4x6's. Booking now for July and August.  Travel fees may apply if you're outside of Central NJ.

Smart Ones, smart coupon!

Fill out a short survey and get a $5 off coupon for the purchase of 10 WeightWatchers Smart Ones.  If you hit a sale, this is a great deal. 

I like to have a few of these on hand in the freezer in case The Hubs has an evening meeting out and Molly and I are eating duo -as opposed to solo.  I don't like cooking a full out meal on those nights, but I'm tempted to eat poorly if I don't have something like Smart Ones on hand.  Molly likes these nights because it often comes with Brinner... breakfast for dinner for her.  An egg with fruit and yogurt. 

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Perfect Swagbucks timing

If you didn't sign up yesterday, today happens to be your lucky day for signing up on Swagbucks!  Today only, you'll get 20 extra swagbucks when you sign up by entering the code "SweetTweeting"after you've signed up!

I tried it myself and apparently it only works for new signees.  So head on over and start your Swagbucks adventure.

Thanks Maven on a Mission!

Wedding Season Saves

Gorgeous wedding gowns, bridesmaids gowns, and all of the other wedding essentials at waaaay lower than boutique prices. I especially love this one, and at about $150, it's a fabulous Frugalista Find!




















Thanks, Jess!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Swagbucks... heh?

Do you ever search online?  Ever google?  Know other people that search online?  Then I can think of no good reason you shouldn't be using SwagbucksSwagbucks is simply a search engine that rewards you for searching through their site, instead of google or bing or your current favorite. 

It takes about 2 minutes to sign up, you don't have to pay anything, or sign your life away.  Once you sign up for Swagbucks, you'll immediately get 30 swagbucks and you're on your way to 450, the amount you need to get a $5 amazon giftcard.  A few times a day when you search on Swagbucks you'll continue to get swagbucks. 

Initially, it may seem like it takes a while to get enough Swagbucks for an amazon.com or starbucks giftcard, but just wait until you get referrals!  I bet you have at least 15 friends that you can refer to Swagbucks, and you'll start accumulating enough giftcards to fund your entire Christmas/Hanukkah budget!

Some tips:

1.  Refer, and refer early on in your SwagAdventure
2.  Post your big scores on facebook, on your blog, etc.
3.  Search a few times in the morning, again in the afternoon, and in the evening.  It seems the Swagbucks come about 3 or 4 times a day on an average day.
4.  Install the toolbar!  Very helpful, so you don't have to go to the Swagbucks homepage each time you want to search.
5.  Fill out the surveys under "Trusted Surveys."  You won't qualify for all of them, but sometimes you get 200-300 swagbucks just for one survey if you do qualify.  If it's more than 10 minutes -they tell you how long it should take- consider the fact that the time you're taking may negate the money you make. 

Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll be happy to help and explain.

Skinny Cow

Skinny Cow $1 off coupon!  ShopRite has the single serving cups for a $1, Wal-Mart for $1.22, and Kroger for $1.39. 

Frugalista Find of the Day


My Frugalista Find
I got this cute shirt in white to wear with leggings.  I love leggings!  It was $16.99, so with the $15 off coupon, it was $1.99.  With the shipping cost of $6.99, minus the $5 cash back and 5% cash back from using Shop At Home for the first time, this shirt will come out to less than $4.  Yay!

If you get something from this deal, let the Frugalista Find community know!

Chadwicks $15 off $15!!

*For some reason I'm having trouble changing the time zone on the the blog, but this was posted just after midnight on the 24th, so this offer is good today.

This expires today, so get on it!  Shipping is a flat rate of $6.99, but here's a way to end up with $5, plus 5% cash back.  Go to Shop At Home and search for Chadwick's.  You'll get $5 cash back if it's your first time using Shop At Home.  Use the coupon code CHFORYOU15 and get the $15 off when you check out.  A Frugalista Find!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Why the blog?

It started a couple of years ago when I became a stay at home mom and my husband started his own business.  With new expenses from having a baby and an irregular income from the fledgling business, I started clipping coupons and matching them up with the grocery deals in my local circular.  I slowly began to discover different websites and then blogs that did the work for me and found them incredibly helpful. 

I am very intentional each day to do things that save my family money, whether that be planning a shopping trip, printing coupons, baking things from scratch, reading tips on another blog, or even watering my tomato plants.  I'm intentional because I believe, as a stay at home mom, that it is a part of my job to do the most I can with the budget we have.  It's my job!  People talk about their jobs, right?  Especially when they like their job.  So that's why I've started the blog.

Since I'm already spending time putting these deals together, I'm passing them on to you!  I really enjoy passing on the good stuff I find, because I always appreciate it when people have done that for me.  

So glean from the blog, take what you want and leave the rest. :o)

Snikiddy

Sign up for a coupon for a free
Snikiddy Snack!

You can find them at Baby's R Us!

hot hot hot!!

One of my very favorite mags!  Great price.  I'm keeping an eye out for a Frugalista Find on Real Simple and Southern Living, as well.  I picked both of those up for under $6 per 12 month subscription last year.

Veria Lip Balm Sample

Veria Lip Balm Sample

Vanilla, yummmm!

Thanks mojo savings!

Nivea Sample

Nivea Happy Sensation Lotion Sample

Bodycology Sample

Bodycology

Zantac Sample


Zantac Sample

Starbucks Ready Brew


Free Sample of Starbucks' Ready Brew.

Free Samples & why they're worth your time...

One of my favorite times of the day is when the mail arrives.  Seven out of ten times it contains a free sample!  You may think it's a waste of your time to fill out forms for free samples, but let me tell you why it's not.


First of all, it's free!  As I mentioned before, you do need to consider how much time it takes to get a good deal to see if it is truly a Frugalista Find.  Once you get few things in order, which I'll explain further, you can spend just 5-10 minutes filling out a few free sample offers that will fill your mailbox in 4-6 weeks!

Most of the samples I get fit into 1 of 2 categories, bath products and snacks.  If we get a snack in the mail (granola bar, cheese and crackers, fruit snack, etc.) that becomes the snack of the day for my little one or goes into the glove box of my car for a low blood sugar moment.

For the bath products, we have a great stash of body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion.  I use the shampoo and conditioner samples frequently and it really stretches out the time between bath product purchases.  The lotion samples are great to put in your purse, beach bag, or -again- in the glove compartment of the car.

Occasionally you'll get a very out of the ordinary free item, like a Neti Pot of all things!  I heard about neti pots from a friend of mine who suffers from a lot of sinus problems.  It's an all natural way to get rid of allergens that collect in your nose, so I was really excited when there was a free offer for one.  Little gems like this free offer happen every once in a while, and they're definitely a Frugalista Find!  

I've told you the why, now let me explain the how.

1.  Set up a separate e-mail account to use for free sample offers.  I have a hotmail account set up just for this reason, because you will get newsletters and junk when you sign up for free offers.  Some of the samples you sign up for are a result of signing up for the newsletter, while sites like walmart.com let you opt out of signing up for the newsletter.

2.  To save time, download RoboForm which will fill out forms for you, turning minutes into seconds that you'll spend getting free samples.

3.  Sign up for Kraft's First Taste and check back often.  I've gotten free coupons for Mayo, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and several high dollar coupons from this site.  Not everyone gets the same coupons and freebies from this site, but the offers they post are always a Frugalista Find.

4.  Enjoy!  In 4-6 weeks, that is.  I've had a few offers that came much sooner than expected, but once you get started, you'll start to see a steady stream of free samples in about a month.

Check out the next post for some free samples!  Also, "like" TheFrugalistaFind.com on FB to get those great FB offers that often go fast: facebook.com/frugalistafind

*I forgot to mention deodorant samples!  I have a sample for my beach bag, a sample for my purse, and a sample for traveling.  Major Frugalista Find!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

This just in...

Best coupon I've seen for this site. $20 off any purchase of $40 or more at


Shop Shoebuy.com

when you pay with online banking eBillme plus Free Shipping. Enter code 'EBILLME' at check out.

I've used shoebuy.com before, but I haven't used eBillme me. If you try it, let me know how it goes!

In the beginning...

If you're on this blog for the first time, that makes two of us. I've been following 4 or 5 blogs for the past six months now, picking up on their strategies for saving and stretching a dollar, and finding my own ways to implement those tactics.

I always like to pass on the really good finds I come across, but posting each and every one on facebook would be overwhelming. For my FB friends who could not care less about the best place to buy cloth diapers, I'm sure my posts were absolutely annoying! So I'm inviting my fellow frugalistas on over to this blog where I'll post the best of what I find! The blog won't be "pretty" for a while, but just enjoy the deals while it's under construction.

The current economy in the U.S. has brought out the frugalista in many who would have previously never considered clipping a coupon. There are always good things that can be gleaned from tough times, and learning how to use money more wisely has been one of the great side-effects of the slow economy. We can all share our frugalista experiences here and learn from what others are doing to make the best use of their time and money.

My intentions are to post freebies, grocery deals, printable coupon links, special items (a killer deal on cloth diapers, leather boots, quality children's clothing, etc.), and money saving tips. If it's not worth it, I won't post it! I'm all about getting the best quality at the best price, but keep in mind that often the time you've spent searching out the best deal negates the money you've saved. Think quality+quick=slick. You want the slick deals, the ones that are worth your time and effort because it is something you will use and something that is quality. You don't want to be throwing out your good deal because it stretched out, flaked off, went bad, spoiled, made you fat, cluttered your space, fried your hair, hurt your feet, stopped working... you get the point. ;)

To get us started, here's a coupon for free travel sized item with any purchase at Bath & Body Works! There are usually $1-$2 items at the counter you can buy to make this a great Frugalista Find!
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