We are all trying to save money in today’s economy. How do we stretch more of our dollars? I use coupons and rebates to S-T-R-E-T-C-H my dollars further, and I enjoy the thrill of the hunt. Below are great tips I have listed on how I save more money on this coupon chat.

Now granted buying store brands or using a homemade alternative (think cleaners) is cheaper, but there are many times I can get name brand for either Free or much cheaper than the store brands.I say why not if you are getting the items for free.

Another really great tip is not to be brand loyal. I do have certain brands I like more than others, but trying new brands can help save money. There are times that I liked the other brand more than my usual favorite brand. I don’t buy too much convenience food or condiments. They aren’t healthy and it’s usually cheaper to make your own  version from scratch. I can substitute healthier items such as whole wheat or extra vegetables into a meal.

I don’t have access to really great supermarkets like Kroger’s, Albertson’s or  Save-A-Center, but I still manage to find great deals with the stores I do have access to in my small town. I have 3 local family owned stores and a Super Wal-Mart. I am not fortunate enough to have a store with double coupons except for Fred’s Dollar Store. They only take coupons up to 65 cents and 1 coupon per item. I find I save more with CVS and Walgreens.

So where do I get all these coupons other than the Sunday paper? I buy certain coupons off ebay, I post on coupon forums, and other coupon clipping sites where you pay for their time to clip them. You can also trade them on these coupon/rebate sites. There are lots of sites but I have a few sites that I like to frequent and get coupon previews so I know if I should bother buying the paper or save my money. I also get coupon inserts from the paper recycling bin. It’s easy access (no digging in dumpsters or climbing) and free for anyone. I take a couple which are usually right on top when I’m dropping off my papers already. It’s right down the road from my house. I can’t always count on it, but I usually get extras each week. Some stores will even give you the coupon inserts on old papers if you ask. This will depend on the store and area. Another great place to get coupons is your local library. Many have coupon trading groups. If your library does not, then try to start one.

I don’t save hundreds of dollars off a single shopping trip, but I do save enough to make it worthwhile. To save the most is to combine a rebate with a coupon. Walgreens and CVS will allow you to use one manufacturer coupon along with one store coupon per item. I also shop at Rite-Aid and do their rebates each month. It’s a great way to earn some free stuff which I also use as presents or donate the extras.

Listed below are some great websites and just copy/paste the links into your browser. Enjoy! What are your favorite coupon sources?

<a href=”http://www.mycoupons.com/boards/”>My Coupons Board</a>

<a href=”http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/index.php”>Hot Coupon World</a>

<a href=”http://www.fatwallet.com”>Fat Wallet</a>

*This is a great coupon clipping service. They are fast and have a great variety.

<a href=”http://thecouponclippers.com”>The Coupon Clippers</a>

*This is an online site or you can also join to get a paper subscription but I am a member of the online only. Lots of great deals/info posted here.

<a href=”http://www.refundcents.com”>Refund Cents</a>

I received credit for 10 referrals for the month of May. It was a bonus month where you received 20,000 for each set of 5 so my balance was over 40,000 points. I was able to cash out 3 more Best Buy GC’s! I have now cashed out $100 worth of Best Buy gc’s and almost halfway of getting our Wii. The next problem will be actually finding one at my store. I could have redeemed a Wii on their site but I was worried that they may have run out before I had enough points. It was actually 17,500 points cheaper getting the Best Buy cards. I also signed up another 7 people for this month so next month will be another 10,000 points just for referrals. I love this site. If interested in joining this great community then just send me an email below asking for an invite.

Email For BoomerTowne Invite!

I stumbled upon Merchandising and Mystery Shopping back in the late 1990’s not long after I started surfing the net. I used to see ads in my local paper about getting paid to shop but they also always wanted money for a packet. First rule is NEVER EVER pay a fee to a company for info. Good legit companies will never ask for money from you. Those are scams and run away as fast as you can. I have worked for over 20 different companies in the last 10 years and have never paid a fee to work. Again, this won’t make you rich, but it is a good extra income. Sometimes you will you can get with a company who will give you a lot of work so it is possible to make a pretty nice income of even say $20,000-30,000 (this is definitely true if you live in a big metro city). My towns around me are building up and so are the number of jobs. There is some competition, but if you are reliable, have some experience, and take last minute jobs then you will be offered more work. I was with company that the scheduler always called me first since he knew that the job would get done quickly and could depend on me if someone cancelled.

What kind of work will you be doing you ask? Well it depends on the company but I have done Mystery Shopping jobs like evaluating a bank, real estate jobs, buy something from a store, and you either keep it or have to do a return, restaurants, clothing stores, electronics, video game and movies, actual movie theaters, gas stations, pizza, burger joints, pharmacies, grocery stores, and so much more. Pretty much anyone with no experience can start but the more experience you have the higher paid jobs you can receive. This again depends on your area and the company. I don’t take the small $7 jobs unless it’s a quick one and I’m already doing something else. Most jobs pay $10-15 each and there are ones that pay $20-40 (again most of these require more experience). There are times that I will take 3-5 jobs for one day so I spend less money in gas, and I earn that day about $50-80 for a couple of hours worth of work. Most jobs are 10-20 minutes long. The more you do the faster you get with the paperwork.

Now Merchandising is a little different and again you don’t have to have experience but it will definitely help. I did have experience since I used to work as a stocker at my local Wal-Mart, and I used to put together the displays, shelving, and could read a plan-o-gram (the paperwork that shows how to put the display up and where everything should go). It’s really not hard once you get the hang of it, but most companies really prefer you have experience. These pay much better and usually it’s by the hour but sometimes it’s by the job. Most of my jobs I got paid $10-12/hr. Some companies are cheap and only want to pay $8 but I did take one since it was 4 stores all within a 20 mile radius and it was a weekly job so a nice steady stream. Of course gas was still pretty cheap when I was doing this regularly. So now you should definitely consider the cost of gas. I love the flexibility and to me it was fun.

The kind of Merchandising jobs you do could be anything from putting up actual shelving, restocking, and putting up displays. I mainly did displays and restocking. It was extremely rare I had to do actual shelving. I did once have to put a display that required another person to help so I employed my mom. We went to 6 stores in different towns (the same weekend) and we did get paid almost $400 which after gas we still both made $16/hr. The work really wasn’t that hard but it was a lot of fun, and gave us a chance to spend some time together. I even helped her find a few jobs in her town to make an extra income.

There is also demonstrating. This could be anything from handing out samples/coupons in your local grocery store to Wal-Mart but there are other kinds of demo work. Sometimes it can be working at a cellphone kiosk to showing an electronic gadget. There is also work involving taking surveys at a certain location. The pay isn’t as good but most companies pay $7-9/hr for 2-6 hours of work.

Last let’s talk about focus groups and surveys. I have already shared a few really great survey sites that do pay you for your opinion. I also have done focus groups. This is a little hard to break into unless you live in a metro area. The bigger the city the more opportunities. Some are done online but most are done in person. These can pay anywhere from $50-200 or even higher. There are different kinds like mock trials, medical research (with or without using oral meds), and even companies asking if you like a new product or to talk about a certain issue which could be about many things. There are so many kinds of focus groups and some are even for kids. I also have my son take a couple of surveys which pays $10 each so not bad for a young school-aged child.

Now where can I find these jobs? There are several ways to find jobs.
1)Forum boards are a great way to see jobs by location and by company. There are a few good places I check regularly for work.

Volition- http://www.volition.com/getpaid.html

Mystery Shopping Providers Association- http://www.mysteryshop.org/index-na.php (just a small word on this one. If you become certified then they will be more jobs available to you. This changed a few years ago and I have never taken the test. I’m not sure if it’s worth the fee or not).

NARMS (love this place)- http://www.narms.com/s_indiv.html

There used to be a couple more but I lost the info when my computer crashed. If anyone has more to share then please leave it in a comment and I’ll add it to the post. Thanks.

2)The other way is to check the company directly. Not all will share a job list and some won’t even take applications. You can check companies above at those forums and just go to the site directly.

3)Another of my favorite ways is to talk to other vendors and check the vendor log. When you merchandise most stores have a vendor log for you to sign with your name, company name, date and times you were at the store. Some ask for you to wear a vendor tag if you don’t already have one. This was a great way for me to find other great companies. Then I would either go to the website or call the company. Some won’t take apps but a few schedulers would add my name to their database and it’s how I got in good with one. I proved to be reliable and dependable for those that quit or backed out and I would go and do the job. Of course this helps if your kids are in school or older or even no kids. It’s not always to take last minute jobs with small children. Good luck and I hope this helps those that were curious.

So here is a quick update from my post When it Rains it Pours. I received both pairs of glasses in two weeks. You receive a case and a microfiber cleaning cloth. It’s an extra freebie that is a nice touch. I bought hubby two pairs of the Memory Titanium Frames and I opted for the extra Anti-Reflective coating for $4.95. My husband loves his new glasses. He told me that they were so light that he hardly feels them on his face, and the lenses are very clear. I paid $68.xx for two pairs with $4.95 shipping. I would definitely purchase from them again. Now the only complaint I have is to be careful you aren’t buying the wrong sex frames. I got his first model from under the men’s frame section, but the second pair I went under the Memory Titanium. I’m almost positive that we ended up with a pair of female glasses as they look great on me. So I need to call them and ask if they will put in new lenses with my prescription. Oh well but it’s his fault since he picked them out.

From their website here is what they include with each frame:

High quality stylish frame
Thin and Light 1.57 index lens
Anti Scratch Coating
Full UV Protection
Lens edge polishing and beveling
Quality Hard Eyeglass case
Microfiber Lens Cleaning Cloth
Full Guarantee

I will also say that the case is not that great of quality but it’s not terrible. It’s more of a plastic and not that hard of a plastic either. Again it’s a minor detail, and these frames are very inexpensive. I priced the cheapest pair of Titanium frames at Wal-Mart and just the frames were $108! YIKES! I don’t know how well the frames will hold-up, but I’m very confident that my husband will get good use from them. Just go to ZenniOptical.com for more info.

I just cashed out my first $25 gc to Best Buy from BoomerTowne! I still have over 1,000 pts in my account. Thanks to everyone that signed up under me and I should see those referral points by the middle of the month. Anyway it’s an awesome site and so easy to earn the points. I am getting 1,500 points a day (that’s the max) and all I do is chat on a chat board for 5-10 minutes (sometimes b/c I’m having fun chatting), a couple of easy posts on the boards. I also click on games (you don’t have to play if you don’t), accepting friend requests gives you 10pts per request, and asking for friends which is 7pts. I also do the daily trivia (25pts) and it doesn’t matter if you get the questions wrong or right. Rating tips, recipes, jokes, watching videos and there is so much more. It’s super easy and takes me less than an hour each day. Hubby does his in the morning. We are saving up for a WII which you can earn on the site but it’s about 20,000 points this way so the gc’s are better for us. I just wanted to update everyone and it’s a really easy to earn the points. Again if you are interested in joining this great site please shoot me an email (click on the link below) and provide me with your first name and email addy. It’s the only way I can send referrals is to email them directly which is a pain.

Email For BoomerTowne Invite!