This Crab Likes Free Stuff

I’m a junkie for free stuff– “If it’s Free, it’s for Me!” may as well be tattooed on my forehead.

And ya’ll- I get a LOT of free stuff.    I haven’t paid for toothpaste, shampoo or razors in over a year- I could build a toothpaste razor FORT.  I have $600 worth of skin brightening face serums in a box under my sink that I did not pay for.  Cold medicine?  Chapstick?  Lip gloss?  Free, free, free.

I know what you’re thinking- “those claws were made for pinching products!”  But it’s all 100% legit.

With a little time and effort, you can get free stuff, too!  Over the next few posts, (workload permitting,) I will tell you how to get started.

Here’s what I’ve got in my arsenal:

• Deal websites  (ebates.com, slickdeals.net)
• Coupons, (I know, I know- get over it!  I just got 4 boxes of Life cereal for $3, TYVM!)
• Mail-in-Rebates
• CVS (most of my free stuff comes from here.)
• Survey sites (I got paid $50 to do my taxes, thanks SurveySpot!)
• Product testing (The $600 of face brightening serums came from this.)
• Free Samples (Great for traveling!)

Every Saturday, I clip my coupons and plan my shopping trips while I watch The Soup on TIVO.  It’s NOT THAT TIME CONSUMING and it’s totally worth the savings.  My boyfriend used to make fun of me, but now he’s just amazed that I can walk into a CVS and get $40 worth of stuff for $8 out-of-pocket.  My last trip to the grocery store, I spent $39 and saved $49.

If you want to get started NAO, start at slickdeals.net.  It’s the most comprehensive deal site I’ve come across and it’s where I got started.  This website saved me HUNDREDS of dollars over Christmas and continues to be my main source of deal information.

Paint Your Face Inexpensively

I’ll be up front about it. I am a bit of a make-up whore. It’s a legit way to paint on your face. Short of drawing penii on your cheeks with eyeliner or whatever, no one will look at your war paint and wonder what the hell you were smoking that morning. Since I’ve always been a cheap bastard, I figured I might as well share some of the brands I use hat still yield good results. I have very sensitive skin and I’ve fared very well with these.

1. Wet n Wild: Yes, yes, I know, the name sounds dirty. For the longest time, I assumed it was kid’s make-up because the name was a turn-off. The prices were always so damn tempting, though, so I gave in. And lo and behold, it is not a bad brand at all. They also sell cheap make-up accessories such as brushes, pencil sharpeners, etc. that are a necessity.
2. N.Y.C. (New York Color): Another one I underestimated for a long time. Again, the target group seems to be teenagers, but if you pick the right items, you’re good to go. Plus you know you always wanted to try funky eyeliner colors.
3. Rimmel: This seems like a no-brainer, but it isn’t necessary. Rimmel are a very reliable brand. Some of my favorite items in my make-up bag come from that shelf.
4. CoverGirl: Ignoring the controversy where their current cover girl is concerned, this actually is a good brand. I was a little worried about some of their perfumed products setting off skin allergies, but it wasn’t the case.
5. Revlon: With Revlon, you might actually have to look at the price tag on occasion. Generally they are cheap, especially when it comes to eye shadow, but they do sell higher-end products. They have a diverse color palette I find wonderful.
6. Maybelline: The same rule a above goes for Maybelline, even though I will faithfully buy their damn mascara until my wallet shrieks and dies because it actually yields results I like.
7. L’Oreal: We’re working our way through the upper end of the drugstore spectrum. L’Oreal actually has an affordable line called HIP that entails very highly pigmented eye shadows, which very few other brands do.
8. Almay: Not quite as “low-end” as the others, but I know for a fact that Almay does not test its products on animals, which I cannot necessarily guarantee for the others. If you are pale like myself and have issues finding foundation that matches your skin-tone, you might want to check them out just in case. Their make-up also covers a broad spectrum of skin types.

Some obvious tips when buying: check for coupons whenever you can or just randomly drop into a drugstore if you have the time. A lot of times they will have certain items on sale or even clearance at almost ludicrous percentages; Rite-Aid, for example, convinced me to actually buy something rather than stare longingly by putting make-up on 75% discounts.

Have fun!

-musicpup

3 Tips on how to save money at the drugstore without using your 5 finger discount.

Here are some basic tips that can save you some money when buying drugstore necessities.

1. Buy mens shaving cream–it’s a lot cheaper, and works just as well.  The only thing you will be missing is the pretty pink packaging, and your legs/armpits smelling like roses for 5 minutes.

2. Do not be afraid of drugstore brands (except in some obvious areas).  In general drugstore brands have almost identical ingredients as the name brand product.  For instance, in the summer, I use body lotion that has a small amount of self-tanner in it.  Jergen’s makes a good one, and it runs for about 10-12- bucks.  The Rite-Aid version works just as well, and costs 6-7 bucks.  Drugstore brand (men’s) shaving cream is also just as good as Gilette’s.  Bodywash, soap, and facial cleansers are also good buys when you pass on the name brand and go for the drugstore brand.  If you are skeptical about a particular item, compare the ingredients, and base your decision on that.  Same goes for over the counter medications (ibuprofin, antihistamines, etc.).

3.  Coupons, and specials.  I know, I know, coupons bring up memories of standing behind the person at the grocery store that has 200 items and a coupon for each one.  Blech.  It also reminds me of John and Kate Plus Eight.  Blech again.  But if you look carefully at the flyer that is usually provided at the entrance of your drugstore, often you will find some kind of coupon or special on your favorite hair color, shampoo, etc.  It’s worth perusing those flyer’s.  Trust.

Voracious is really the only word for it.

I accepted the fact that I’m a book whore a very long time ago, maybe that one time that I got through four Goosebumps books in the span of three days. It was summer, after all, and headless ghost mysteries don’t solve themselves. Some would use the term ‘voracious reader’ instead, which is just as apt, or ‘bookworm’. I don’t like the latter though, because to me, it connotes timidity and.. worminess. But I digress.
Anyway, this love of reading is catching up to me, since it’s not a good idea to blow my money at the bookstore when it could go to more practical things. That, and the fact that I’m running out of shelf space. What to do?
Currently, I’m rationing the amount of reading I do at any one time. It’s not working well, as I keep telling myself “just one more chapter” and then I’m fifty pages from the end. There’s also re-reading, which I do enjoy, but c’mon, we all know how Harry defeats Voldemort in the end (except for those of you who claim to have no time for HP anymore, you know who you are), and Scarlett doesn’t end up with Rhett, unless you read Scarlett.
Lastly, there’s the glaringly obvious solution of just going to the library. It’s a great place, usually with wi-fi, dvds with no rental fees, and of course – books galore. Don’t get me wrong, I spent a lot of time there when I was younger, taking full advantage of my school’s limited selection (who in the hell doesn’t stock T.S. Eliot?!) as well as the county’s more plentiful one. Unfortunately, I’m a horrible procrastinator with an amazing ability to accrue late fees like you wouldn’t believe. Needless to say, libraries/librarians are not my friends. There’s also the pain of returning the book in the first place. I would much rather take a book I just finished, and go to my bookcase, where I can place it in alphabetical order with all the rest. Is that weird? Nevermind, I don’t need to know.
For now though, I have to keep rationing. Until some kind soul decides to gift me some credit at Borders or Barnes & Noble (and my birthday isn’t for months). I prefer Borders, because if you sign up for their rewards program, you can get some really great coupons via e-mail, without the membership fees that B&N has. Also, never pass up the bargain books section at either store, I’ve found some really great things in there. Failing all of this, you can always read some books online, at Bartleby.com, or just by typing in a title on good old Google and going from there. Good luck,  Matilda Wormwoods of the world!

Bottle Caps: Good for Things Besides Drinking Games by Brookidy

I’m a Diet Coke addict. Seriously. When people at meetings ask how I take my coffee, I tell them, “in a Diet Coke can”. I drink 6-7 full glasses a day, and there’s one on the nightstand when I go to bed. I prefer it chilled, then poured over ice in an insulated cup so that the melting ice doesn’t dilute the pure, delicious flavor. I’m a junkie, it’s my crack, and I don’t care that it’s probably not that good for me.

Since my hubs suffers from the same addiction, I usually purchase ten to twelve 2-liter bottles per week. (I know it’s expensive – more on that later.) One day, while accidentally paying attention to what I was doing, I noticed a tiny code inscribed on the inside of the bottle cap.

Being a hardcore conspiracy theorist, I immediately assumed that the bottle was outfitted with some sort of tracking device, and promptly set it on fire. After my husband finished scraping the molten plastic from the bathtub, he calmly informed me that the code was part of the My Coke Rewards promotion, which he had been participating in behind my back for months.

Since he is quite possibly the cheapest man on the planet, the hubs had become obsessed with entering the codes at mycokerewards.com in the hope of accumulating enough points to get something for free. I assumed that the choices would be as follows: Coke T-shirts, Coke glasses, Coke cooler… anything branded with the Coke logo that I could carry around, making me an unwitting marketing tool for the man.

Wrong. The website does have lots of Coke branded merchandise, but it also has a lot of really useful, even cool stuff. Around Christmas of last year, we had accumulated over 3000 Coke points. I used a very small amount of them (150, I think) to order customized photo coffee mugs from Snapfish.com. My parents and in-laws loved them. And they were free.

Feeling flush from success, I continued entering codes weekly, saving up for something bigger, better, and most importantly, for myself. The payoff came earlier this week. I entered a few codes, then decided to browse the available awards. Jackpot: 2000 points got me a $50 Nike gift card. I had been pondering the purchase of a new pair of kicks anyway, so the prospect of a $50 savings sealed the deal. I purchased the card, and was immediately given a discount code good for use at Nikestore.com. No snail mail, no shipping fee, no 4-6 week processing time. Instant gratification, it’s what our generation demands. I got my new shoes, saved $50, and even got free shipping from Nike. No gas for a trip to the mall, no pushy sock upsell from the bishes at Lady Foot Locker, no $6 impulse trip to Cinnabon’s.

You may be wondering, “why should I spend $400 to get $50”. Listen, I buy a lot of shit that gives me JACK in return, so anything is a good thing. If you’re going to be buying the product anyway, you may as well let the company give you something for your loyalty. Sure, it takes a while to accumulate enough points for anything super, but it’s worth it. And, you’ll probably find that a lot of your friends, neighbors, and co-workers don’t save their caps, so you can take theirs and accumulate rewards at no cost to you.

As happy as I am with my freebies, I recently had to end my relationship with Diet Coke. I’m now buying the Publix brand “Diet Cola”, or the Sam’s Choice at Wal-Mart. It took some time to get used to, but now I really like the taste. Why? Diet Coke is going for about $1.75, and last week the Publix brand was 2 for $1.00. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Until I can afford to go back to my longtime lovah, I will continue to scrounge trash cans at the ball park, looking for forgotten caps, saving up to buy a subscription to O, The Oprah Magazine (257 points).

A Luxe Dinner for Two a la the Prettiest Pretty Princess

This is my favorite go-to meal when I want a sumptuous mouth party without a lot of fuss, prep, cleanup, or expense. In order to come in under budget there’s an assumption that you have some basic cooking paraphenalia in your lovely cupboards. Note: I usually just make this for myself with one steak and I get to have leftover veggies, but if you have someone you’d like to treat to a yummy meal, it’s a perfect date night dinner. If you already have most of the ingredients the dinner is less than $15 and both people will be VERY satisfied.

Purchase:

• 1-2 pre-packaged bacon-wrapped filets ($3.50-$3.99 each at Kroger)
• 1 Bag of cut vegetables (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower)
• 1 bottle of Red wine to cook with and serve
• 1 Lemon
• On hand: Salt Black Pepper Hot Sauce Garlic Olive Oil Possibly Veg oil Dill Weed (fresh is better, if you don’t mind paying for it!)
• Teryaki sauce, soy sauce (or worcestershire sauce)
• Mayo or Miracle whip
• Rinse one cup of Basmati rice in a pot to get any starch out by adding water, swirl, pour the water out, and repeat until all the water rinses clear. Cook the rice (with 2 cups of water) in your rice steamer. (For extra flavor, add 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the water and 3 pinches of salt before you turn on the rice steamer, or skip this step if you are trying to cook healthy).
• Note: Adding red pepper flakes to your rice before you cook it adds a yummy extra kick for no additional calories! Try it some time.

If you do not have a rice steamer, you can cook on the stove in a pot following these instructions:   http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Basmati-Rice-232006

Relax with a glass of wine for the next 15-20 mins. (Trashy Butt In:  This is my fave intsruction.)

Heat 1-2 tablespoon of olive oil in a small sautee pan over low-med heat. Using a garlic press, press one clove of garlic into the oil and sautee for 2 minutes. I always squeeze the clove and use a butter knife to slice off the garlic bits that come out of the press to tidily get the garlic particles into the pan. This is cleaner and requires less touching than either thinly slicing the garlic or grating it on the small holes of a cheese grater, which is what you will need to do if you do NOT have a fabulous soft-grip garlic press.

Add black pepper to the oil. I use a LOT of pepper, but you know how much you like, so use that much. If you like freshly ground pepper and have a pepper grinder, use it. Add a teaspoon of Sriracha sauce, chili paste, chili sauce, Louisiana Hot Sauce, or whatever hot sauce you have on hand as long as it is NOT SWEET. If you do not have any useful hot sauce, add red pepper flakes to the pan. If you do not like spicy food, just stick with the black pepper and get a grip. (Just kidding, I love my bland sisters too!)

Add a tablespoon of Teryaki sauce and half a tablespoon of soy sauce to the pan. Turn the heat up to medium. Take your bacon-wrapped filet and place it into the pan. (NOTE: I hate bacon and usually remove it and throw it away before cooking. If you have a dog, the bacon might be a nice treat for him.)

Add 2-4 tablespoons of either red or white wine. Cover and cook each side for 3 minutes (for a total cook time of 6-7 mins). GO TO VEGGIE STEP WHILE MEAT IS COOKING. Remove from heat and let the meat REST for a few minutes before serving. Puncture your bag of vegetables and microwave for 3 minutes. While it is cooking, whisk 3 tablespoons of low-fat mayo with the juice from half a lemon and a teaspoon of fresh dill. When the veggies have finished steaming in the microwave mix the mayo/dill/lemon juice fully with the vegetables. This is YUMMY. Miracle whip instead of mayo is also good. You can adjust the ratio of these ingredients up or down to taste, depending if you prefer creamier or more tart. Alternates to the veggie sauce: You can just drizzle the veggies with lemon juice or spritz with ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’ spray. Everything should now be done cooking all at once. Serve the rice with the steak placed on top (with juice!) and arrange the veggies to the side. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the steaks. Serve with red wine OR Pear Cider to lighten up the flavor.

Alternate to sauteeing the steak: Marinade the steak for 3 hours in the sauce described above. Rub the dry ingredients (pressed garlic, pepper) into the steak before adding the wet ingredients to the marinade, leaving out the olive oil entirely. Broil in the oven in a GRILL PAN for 3 minutes on each side. ALWAYS let your steak rest for 3-5 minutes after you take it off the heat before serving.

Email me at PrettyPrincessG@gmail.com if you have any questions or want other ideas for substitutions! -PrettyPrettyPrincess