Free Giveaway "Wow! You Saved How Much?" Step by Step Money Saving Guide

You can buy “Wow! You Saved How Much?” here for only $7.95, but it is worth far more and you can save more than the price of the book on your first trip to the store, if you follow the simple steps provided! Plus, you have the chance to win a copy for yourself right here. Simply leave a comment.

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For your extra entries to be counted, be sure to leave an additional comment directing us to your entry. Only one additional entry per method (i.e. While multiple tweets are great it only one will count as one drawing entry.) The contest runs until 10/15/10 at 11:59 pm EST. One winner will be notified by email on 00/00/10 and receive a copy of “Wow! You Saved How Much?” by snail mail. The Winner will have 48 hours to complete the claim form or a new winner will be chosen.

Review by A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

Wow! You saved how much? is a book for anyone interested in saving money with coupons. If you already use coupons there is still information in this book that is worth the price of the e-book. The author Renita R. Perrone is a stay at home mom who home schools her two children. She started couponing in order to save her family money after she quit her job that paid more than her husbands salary. They had to learn to make ends meet just to pay their mortgage. Sound familiar to anyone? It’s becoming a common story lately.

Renita routinely saves over $500 a month using coupons and she lives in an area that doesn’t double coupons. That has always been my frustration with coupons. The area I live in doesn’t double, most stores don’t accept other stores coupons or printed coupons. I live in an area with large families so you’d think that the stores would be a little more coupon friendly than they are.

The other problem I have had with coupons is that I’ve never had a consistent system that made sense to me. Renita walks you through that problem in an easy to understand, simple way. If you have had trouble in that area then this is a book for you. She lays it out step by step and includes tips and tricks to stay organized and get the most from your coupons. I loved the easy style in which she wrote this book. You feel like she’s sitting next to you and you are just having a casual friendly conversation about coupons.

There are two ways you can get this book. You can order her E-book for $4.95 or you can order a printed book from Create-a-Space for $7.95.

I bought my own copy of this e-book and was so excited about it I contact Renita to ask if she would like to do a giveaway. I received no monetary compensation to write this review.

If you would like to host a "Review and Giveaway please contact us at wowyousavedhowmuch@gmail.com We will provide a signed hard copy or a E-Book of "Wow! You Saved How Much?"

Hi Everyone,

I’m on vacation this week, so I’ve asked my friend, Cheryl, over at Simply CVS to be my “guest blogger” this week. I’ve followed Cheryl’s CVS advice for probably a couple of years now. Nobody does it better! I’ve been amazed at how she has turned a $10 CVS gift card into literally hundreds of dollars worth of products. What she can’t personally use, she donates to people or organizations that can. I’m sure you will learn a great deal from her “CVS 101: Ten Steps to Saving” blog! I’m posting “chapter one” but when you get done, head on over to her site and check out the rest! Thank you, Cheryl!

...Since 5/1/2010

.. ......Saved

.......$1483.93

.........Spent

... ....$24.09

..Saved Year To Date

...... .$2188.93

Disclaimer

Simply CVS is in no way connected to or compensated by CVS/pharmacy. I am just a satisfied customer who has learned to save thousands each year shopping at CVS and I love to teach others how they can, too.


CVS 101: Ten Steps to Saving

CVS Shopping = Super Savings

Do you want to learn to save money and easily keep your family stocked with necessary health and beauty items, some food and cleaning supplies for free or pennies on the dollar?

You can keep your family's H&B item needs met with very little out of pocket cash. You will also be able to have extra items for gifts, for sharing or for donating. Just by shopping at CVS and using their weekly sale ad, their coupons, their extra care bucks' program and manufacturer coupons.

It is a whole new way of thinking and shopping, but it is also very rewarding. It will take a while to learn the ropes, change your thinking and get the hang of the system, but before long you will be enjoying the benefits of learning to "CVS."

Below are 10 easy lessons to get you on the road to enjoying the benefits of shopping at CVS.

CHAPTER ONE:

CVS EXTRA CARE REWARD CARD

Have you ever thought of CVS as a place to save money on your basic health and beauty needs and some of your food needs? Even bring home some items for free? I never did, but CVS Pharmacy is a great place to do just that. I have been shopping at CVS weekly now for a couple of years and each week I bring home several to dozens of things for pennies on the dollar.

Let me help you get started saving at CVS.


Step # 1: Get an CVS Extra Care Reward Card.

With the CVS Extra Care Card you will receive sale prices, extra bucks on certain items (these are coupons on the end of your receipt to use almost just like cash at CVS) and quarterly extra bucks on all of your CVS purchases and prescriptions, and CVS coupons for a variety of products in the store (see the CVS 101 Lesson "What's an Extra Care Buck").

There are two ways to do this: you can either pick up an application in the store or fill one out on line. The benefit of picking one up at CVS is that you can get it immediately and can start shopping and saving.

Be sure to link your CVS card at Upromise to earn savings for college on selected items while you shop.

Step #2: Register Your Card Online

Go to CVS.com and on the top right hand side is an "Extra Care" icon which when clicked has a place to register your card. Be sure to put down that you want to sign up for all CVS home and email mailings--you will receive added savings in the form of periodic mailings of coupons.

Within a few weeks of registering your card you should receive an email from CVS with a $4 coupon good on a $20 purchase if you gave an email address. Then keep your eyes open for more emails with special savings.

CVS has great customer service. The 800 number is on the back of the card you will receive (800-SHOPCVS). You can also contact them thru their website. If you have any questions or concerns call CVS and they will clarify anything you might not understand or tend to any problems you encounter at your local CVS.
To read the remainder of this article, please visit Simply CVS.

Now, on to the deals this week!

Know the Lingo
BOGO – Buy one, get one free
SS – Smart Source (coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
RP – Red Plum (coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
PG – Proctor & Gamble (coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
GM – General Mills (occasional coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
Blinkie – coupon dispensers in stores
Peelie – coupons found on products that you peel off
Hangtag – coupons found hanging on bottles
All You – Magazine sold at Walmart or via subscription

Whole Foods: Click here for their coupons. If you prefer to shop at Publix, they should accept these as competitor coupons.

Publix Greenwise: Click here for their weekly ads.

Many thanks to IHeartPublix.com for their great tips on shopping at Publix!

For Publix “super deals” for 8/16-8/25 please click here.

For Publix full sale list with coupon match-ups for 8/19-8/25, please click here

For Publix ongoing sale list, please click here

For Publix Advantage Buy Flyer sales, please click here.

Renita's Favorite Money-Saving Sites

http://www.simplycvsshopping.com/

http://www.specials.publix.com

http://www.iheartpublix.com

http://www.iheartwags.com

http://www.iheartcvs.com

http://www.cvsdeals.gather.com

http://www.grocerydeals.gather.com

http://publixpennypincher.blogspot.com

http://www.southernsavers.com

http://freefrugality.blogspot.com

http://getadealdude.com

E-Book now available!

I’m excited to tell you that my book is now available as an e-book! So, you can save money while you learn to save even more money by purchasing an e-book instead of a traditionally bound book! For more information, please click here. http://wowyousavedhowmuch.com/GET_YOUR_E-BOOK_.html

Renita is a resident of Palm Beach County, and author of “Wow! You Saved How Much?” For more information, visit her website at http://wowyousavedhowmuch.com.

I grant permission for every reader to reproduce on your website the article you are now reading but copy this article, without any alteration whatsoever. Include the copyright statement, too, please.

"Copyright © Renita R. Perrone All rights reserved. Permission granted to reprint this article on your website without alteration (excluding the weekly deals) if you include this copyright statement and leave the hyperlinks live and in place." http://wowyousavedhowmuch.com

Simple Saving Strategies / Weekly Deals 8/5-8/11/2010

Back-to-School time is quickly approaching! Have you been watching your stores sales flyers for the deals? I hope so! I managed to get some great deals at Office Depot last week. This week they are offering a free backpack with a $10 minimum purchase (while supplies last and in stores only). And most stores are offering some really good prices on school supplies right now. But, before you start buying, why not take yourself on a little shopping spree in your own home? We recently had to move our couch looking for something. Needless to say, I found enough pencils underneath to last us at least a year, if not more! I also needed a large 3-ring binder and didn’t want to buy one when I knew we had one somewhere. Sure enough, as we were de-cluttering our office, my husband found exactly what I needed, along with some page protectors that I wanted for organizing some of my children’s crafts. So, take a good inventory of what is in your own home before spending money unnecessarily. And don’t forget that the tax-free back-to-school shopping is August 13-15 for Florida residents. If you need more information on that, please click here.

A couple of other quick tips to help with your grocery budget:
1.) Make sure you are purchasing your produce in season. Publix has an easy guide on their site here. Or, you can find a guide map that shows each state (to help with purchasing local produce) here.
2.) Consider reducing the amount of meat you use. I will be the first to admit that this is very hard for us. But eating one meatless meal per week could cut down your grocery budget by a decent amount. Adding rice to a vegetable stir-fry will help it be more filling, and is also very healthy if you’re using long-grain rice.
3.) Stop buying all the different cleaners for your home! Most things can be cleaned perfectly well with vinegar, water and baking soda. Even bleach is a simple and effective cleaner that is very affordable. If you need more information on homemade cleaning recipes, please see my article on Frugality of Homemade Cleaning Products.
4.) Stop using paper towels! I know paper towels are convenient, but they are not very cost-effective. For many tasks, old rags work better and they don’t cost you anything. In addition, cloth napkins can save you purchasing paper napkins all the time.

Now, on to this week’s deals!

Know the Lingo
BOGO – Buy one, get one free
SS – Smart Source (coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
RP – Red Plum (coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
PG – Proctor & Gamble (coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
GM – General Mills (occasional coupon inserts in Sunday’s papers)
Blinkie – coupon dispensers in stores
Peelie – coupons found on products that you peel off
Hangtag – coupons found hanging on bottles
All You – Magazine sold at Walmart or via subscription
Whole Foods: Click here for their coupons.

If you prefer to shop at Publix, they should accept these as competitor coupons.
Publix Greenwise: Click here for their weekly ads.

Many thanks to IHeartPublix.com for their great tips on shopping at Publix!

For Publix “super deals” for 8/5-8/11, please click here.

For Publix full sale list with coupon match-ups for 8/5-8/11, please click here.

For Publix ongoing sale list, please click here.

For Publix Advantage Buy Flyer sales, please click here.

Renita's Favorite Money-Saving Sites
http://cvssimply.blogspot.com
http://www.specials.publix.com
http://www.iheartpublix.com
http://www.iheartwags.com
http://www.iheartcvs.com
http://www.cvsdeals.gather.com
http://www.grocerydeals.gather.com
http://publixpennypincher.blogspot.com
http://www.southernsavers.com
http://freefrugality.blogspot.com
http://getadealdude.com

E-Book now available!I’m excited to tell you that my book is now available as an e-book! So, you can save money while you learn to save even more money by purchasing an e-book instead of a traditionally bound book! For more information, please click here.

Renita is a resident of Palm Beach County, and author of “Wow! You Saved How Much?” For more information, visit her website at http://wowyousavedhowmuch.com.

I grant permission for every reader to reproduce on your website the article you are now reading but copy this article, without any alteration whatsoever. Include the copyright statement, too, please."

Copyright © Renita R. Perrone All rights reserved. Permission granted to reprint this article on your website without alteration (excluding the weekly deals) if you include this copyright statement and leave the hyperlinks live and in place." http://wowyousavedhowmuch.com

Make Saving A Habit

In today’s society, the majority of us truly do live paycheck-to-paycheck. Sometimes it is because we are actually overspending and sometimes circumstances get us into a financial pinch. However, one key component of getting out of debt is learning to save. I know what many of you are thinking right now. “How can I save when my paycheck barely covers (or doesn’t cover) the bills.” Believe me, I fully understand!! But saving money needs to become a habit. It doesn’t just happen when you finally have extra money after paying bills. If you wait until then, you will continue to get deeper in debt.

I strongly suggest that you open a savings account that does not have a minimum balance to avoid a service charge. Then take a set amount of each paycheck and put it into that account. We prefer to use an ING Direct account (http://ingdirect.com) for this for a couple of reasons. First of all, ING offers a better interest rate than traditional banks. And secondly, since they are an online bank, you don’t have immediate access to your funds. Transferring money to and from your account is easy, but it does take a couple of days. Be sure to check with your bank about withdrawal or transfer fees. This prevents us from using the money for impulse purchases. However, if you don’t have a traditional bank to use to transfer funds, call around and find a bank that offers an account to suit your needs. By the way, ING Direct is FDIC insured.

So now you’re still wondering how you are supposed to do this if there isn’t any extra money after the bills, right? Would you really miss a buck or two out of each paycheck? Maybe even $5-$20 is manageable. Whatever amount you decide upon is good. The real point is to make it a habit to save. Mark your calendar for about three months after you’ve started saving and see if you can raise the amount you are putting into the account. Hopefully, by doing this, the next time something unexpected happens, you’ll have the money there to pay cash and not get into further debt. And it’s a good way to reduce financial stress by knowing you have a small “cushion.” I know some people who take the money they save by using coupons and put that into their savings accounts. Where there is a will, there is a way!

I grant permission for every reader to reproduce on your website the article you are now reading but copy this article, without any alteration whatsoever. Include the copyright statement, too, please.

"Copyright © Renita R. Perrone All rights reserved. Permission granted to reprint this article on your website without alteration if you include this copyright statement and leave the hyperlinks live and in place." www.wowyousavedhowmuch.com

Budgeting

A few weeks ago I talked about being aware of what you are spending. This is an important first step toward getting on a budget. None of us like having to be on a budget. But, the reality is that we won’t get anywhere, financially, until we learn to live on a budget.

Before my husband and I got married, we sat down to set up a budget for him. At that point he never really knew how much money he had or how much he was spending. And he used a “rounding off” method in his checkbook so it couldn’t even be balanced! For an ex-banker, like myself, that was a nightmare! He was not very happy when he saw that he had less than $20 a month left over (maybe it was even less), but after a few months he started realizing that he was getting things paid off and it was actually easier to know exactly where he was at.

So, how do you set up a budget? It’s really pretty simple. Start with making a list of your routine monthly bills. You should note when each bill is to be paid and approximately how much it usually is. Then take a look at your pay schedule to determine which bills have to be paid out of each paycheck. Obviously, if you get paid once a month this is easier because everything has to be paid out of that one paycheck. However, most people get paid at least twice per month. Once the basic bills are done, think about the expenses you have to pay less often than once a month – things such as haircuts, insurance, car maintenance, etc. Then average out how much to set aside each month. For example, if you car insurance is $300 every six months, then you need to set aside $50 a month so you will have the money when the bill arrives. Be sure to figure in expenses paid in cash as well, such as groceries, gas, etc.

Once this is all done, I strongly suggest using some form of the “envelope” system. If you are not familiar with the envelope system, the basic idea is that you would have an envelope for each budget category and actually put the budgeted amount of cash in the envelope until the bill is paid. However, few of us pay our bills in cash any more, and even fewer probably want to retain larger amounts of cash at home. Therefore there are several ways you can do this. Personally, many years ago we found a computer program called Money Matters, which has worked wonderfully for us. I’m not sure if you can even still purchase this program. Another option is to simply have a savings account and some form of a spreadsheet with the various categories listed out and use that as your savings ledger. Before the age of computers, I used to use accounting ledger paper (yes, I’m showing my age here! LOL). The key is to keep track of how much money you have available in each category at any given moment.

Now, are you ready for the real secret??? STICK TO THE BUDGET! It’s that simple. It’s not easy, but it is a simple process. For an online tool to help you out, try Budget 5000. I have not tried this, but found it while searching for tools to help you out. It’s a free service that looks pretty good. You can find it here. http://www.budget5000.com/budgeting-successfully/

Good luck on your budgeting journey! You can do it!

Barter Your Way to Savings

In tough economies such as we are currently experiencing, a good way to save some money is to barter for services. Many years ago, people bartered for services far more than we do. I remember watching TV shows, like “Little House On the Prairie” where the town doctor was overrun with chickens because that is how people would pay him!
My husband and I have been starting to do more bartering. He is a massage therapist and we’ve traded massage for music lessons, and have some ideas about bartering for dental care and haircuts. There are so many ways to do this. Maybe you don’t have what you consider to be a special skill. But we all have some abilities that others may want. Perhaps it is handyman work, cleaning houses, detailing cars, babysitting, bookkeeping, lawn care, etc. Or maybe you have a green thumb and love to garden. I know many people end up with more veggies than their family can use. Others would be thrilled to have home-grown produce!

Another idea I heard of some years back was group bartering. Instead of trading child care with the same person each time, a group of moms got together and set up “barter bucks.” They each started off with a certain number of “barter bucks” and determined a set value for childcare. When they needed childcare they would find someone else in the group that they could “pay” to watch their kids. But, if you ran out of barter bucks, that meant you weren’t doing your share and now couldn’t ask one of them to do childcare for you until you had earned barter bucks by watching someone else’s child(ren). This type of system could easily be set up among a group of people with varying talents/skills.

There are many options for bartering. It’s all about thinking creatively, and being bold enough to ask someone if they would be willing to trade services. In some cases, you may be able to barter for the labor, but have to pay for materials. But oftentimes, labor is the most expensive part of any bill.

I grant permission for every reader to reproduce on your website the article you are now reading but copy this article, without any alteration whatsoever. Include the copyright statement, too, please.

"Copyright © Renita R. Perrone All rights reserved. Permission granted to reprint this article on your website without alteration if you include this copyright statement and leave the hyperlinks live and in place." www.wowyousavedhowmuch.com

Money Saving Blog & weekly deals for 2/4-2/10/10

Most of you know by now that I write a weekly blog for Boca Raton Magazine and The Examiner.com. I would very much appreciate your views and comments as it makes the editors happy too! :)

I found and compiled some excellent information on saving on fuel that I'm sure all of us can use! In addition, I've highlighted the super deals at Publix for the week of 2/4-2/10.

You can find it here.