Company Contact List Update

Here's an update on my progress with contacting companies and manufacturers. So far, I've contacted the first nine companies on my list. This is how it went down:


1. Continental Airlines. We flew on Continental at the end of July and had an awful experience. My email wasn't answered for ten days, which didn't sit well with me, but we'll hopefully be receiving a refund for the bulkhead seats we paid for but didn't get to sit in.


2. Cetaphil (face wash). The response I got from Cetaphil suggested that I visit the website to print coupons, and also said they would mail coupons to me.


3. Pepsi. Unfortunately, Pepsi couldn't offer me any coupons, but they suggested that I "like" their Facebook page to stay aware of any special promotions.


4. Boudreaux's Butt Paste. Within four days, I received in the mail from Boudreaux's five small sample packets and three $1/1 coupons.


5. Angel Soft. Angel Soft does not offer coupons through the mail.


6. Magnum (ice cream bars). Okay, first, have you tried these things? They defy description, especially the caramel ones. They didn't offer me any coupons by mail, but suggested that I sign up at their website to receive special offers in the future.


7. Lysol. I received an email response from Lysol, but there was no offer of samples or coupons.


8. Burt's Bees. Again, Burt's sent an email thanking me for my kind words regarding their products, but didn't offer any coupons.


9. Gerber. Gerber suggested visiting their website for coupons and promotions, but also said I can expect coupons in the mail.


10. Avent (breast pump). I haven't contacted Avent yet. Their website is less than easy to navigate, and from what I can gather, I can only contact them via telephone about the breast pump. And of course, I can only do that before 6 pm Eastern Time. My pump has a broken piece. It still works, but every time I use it- which is about six times each day, as I exclusively pump- it's more difficult to make it work. The thing has to last me at least three more months, until G is one year old, so I'm really hoping Avent can hook me up with a replacement part.


If you're contacting companies this month, I'd love to know who you've talked to and what the outcome is.

Jeans for $7.50 at Target!

Today only, for the next nine hours, you can purchase two pairs of jeans from Target for just $15! Simply go to Target.com, click on the Daily Deals banner near the top of the screen, and purchase your Mossimo jeans. The price is $15 for both pairs, and the deal comes with free shipping. There are a variety of sizes and lengths offered, but the deal expires tonight. So hurry!

Saving Money on Printable Coupons

With any luck, you’ve been able to score some great deals by using coupons that you’ve printed online. Unfortunately, with all of that savings come some expenses. Printer ink and paper can seem expensive, but they don’t have to be. Here are my tips for saving money without breaking the bank.

1. Reuse Paper

When you print one or two coupons at a time, you’re left with one- or two-thirds of the sheet. You can stick that remaining paper back into the printer and print a couple more coupons on it.

What about those annoying coupons that print at the top of the page, then print an ad on the rest of the paper? Just cut off the coupon, turn the paper around, and send it back through the printer. Stores accept coupons with things printed on the back. With that in mind, you can reuse virtually any paper in your home that only has ink on one side.

2. Adjust Your Printer Settings

Set your printer to print only in black, and make sure you use the fast draft setting. The fast draft setting will print everything using as little ink as possible. Coupons will come out looking slightly faded, but again, stores will still accept them.

Many computers are different, but you’ll likely be able to find your printer’s settings by going to the control panel from the start menu. Changing those settings will help you preserve ink when printing other documents, as well, and the settings can easily be changed back when necessary.

3. Save on Ink

There are a couple ways to avoid paying full price for ink. The first is to refill your cartridges yourself. Refill kits can be purchased at any office supply store, drugstore, or mass retailer (Walmart, Target, etc.) or online. The process can be messy, but well worth it.

If you aren’t up to filling cartridges on your own, you can take them to an office supply store. At Office Max, you can refill your cartridges and earn rewards points to use on future purchases.

The second option is to buy inexpensive ink. Staples will pay you to recycle your cartridge with them; the check they send is only good at Staples, but that allows you to keep rolling the savings back into buying more ink and paper. Walgreens runs specials on ink from time to time, as does Walmart. I haven’t purchased ink online, but I’ve heard from others that it’s a good option.

More than once, I’ve heard the argument that using printed coupons isn’t worth the savings because of the amount of money you have to spend on ink and paper. False. All you have to do is make the most of the paper and ink you have, and be wise when purchasing more.

Soap.com

A few weeks ago, I posted about a Living Social deal to soap.com. The deal was a $20 voucher to soap.com for $10. I purchased the deal, knowing that the prices at soap.com are often much higher than what I would pay at Walmart or Target. I was confident that, with research, sales, and the free shipping that soap.com offers on first time orders over $25, I could make the purchase worthwhile.

My order arrived last week, and this is what I got:

For the sake of this price breakdown, let’s do some math. I paid $10 for a $20, voucher, or 50%. My order total was $27, and I paid $17, or 63%, which means I saved 37%. Still with me? Just remember that 37%; I’ll be using it right now.

-Burt’s Bees lip balm, two pack: $5.50. Based on the above math, I saved 37%, so I only paid $3.47, or $1.74 each.

-Infant Advil: $5.99. At 37% off, that’s $3.77

-C. Booth body scrub: $6.25. With the discount, I paid $3.93. I must confess, this was a splurge just for me; body scrub isn’t something you’ll typically find on my stock-up list.

-Accu-Clear pregnancy test, three pack: $8.95. After a 37% discount, the price was $5.64. Nope, I don’t plan to need this anytime soon, but I’ve realized that pregnancy tests are something that, when I think I need one, I’ll pay full price for. It’s better to have a few on hand that I bought inexpensively to avoid paying an arm and a leg.

As you can see, I got some good deals. Nothing that’s going on my all-time best list (no, I don’t really have one of those), but I’m still happy with the transaction. If you purchased the soap.com deal, I’d love to know what you bought with it!