Many people are baffled to see my stock pile and just what I have been able to receive using rewards programs such as Shoppers Optimum, Stouffers and Swagbucks but then there are others who say it must take so much time or it's just not worth it since they buy no name products instead. This leaves me shocked! I have found 99% of the time that I can purchase name brand products cheaper than I can store brand since there are very seldom coupons for these store brand products and the quality is often times poor.
So what is the appeal of using coupons for me? The fact that I have a years plus supply of toilet paper, laundry detergent, cleaning products, dish soap, soup, pasta, razors and personal care products that I paid just pennies for each is the appeal for me! The fact that I can put that money that I would otherwise spend on groceries into things like fun birthday parties, entertainment for our family, paying off our debt and having a savings. It gives us security without having to give up the products that we love. I love that we can also try products like the Physicians Formula make up that I would never even consider buying because of the price for free. That is a huge deal for me since I am not too great when it comes to make up but I'd like to try a few different things and I found I hated the liquid eye liner and mascara so it wasn't a big deal to just give it away to my cousin.
I love that I can put together a basket full of items to give as birthday presents, get well gifts or just pick me ups for friends and family who have been having a hard time and it hardly costs us! The smiles on their faces and the fact that I have made their day just a little better is a huge deal. The fact that it is saving them money so they can use the extra to buy diapers or put gas in their vehicles for another week is huge.
I love that I can give back to my community whether it be the Humane Society who needs our donations, food banks, schools or people just down on their luck. I love being able to do my part which I couldn't previous do.
So here are a few more places you can put your money to work for you!
Icoke.ca is a great program where you can take your coke pins found under the caps and in the packaging of specially marked products. You enter the pins into the website and receive Icoke points. These points you can trade in for a variety of things including movie tickets and Pizza Pizza gift cards! All free for those Coke drinkers out there. We go through a ton since my husband is a huge coke drinker so we might as well get something for a product that we are purchasing anyhow!
Swagbucks is one of my all time favorite rewards programs. You use it just as you would google or any other search engine and earn "swagbucks" which can be redeemed for electronics, gift cards, pay pal and tons of other great items! It's completely free and it does pay! I've received well over $300 in amazon.ca gift cards using this program for a little more than a year!
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Wiserwithwords check it out! I think you will be really surprised on just how easy it is to use. We are now saving up our gift cards for Christmas 2011 since last year it was such a hit! The kids got loads of books, games and dvd's which didn't cost me a penny!
Stouffers has extended the promotion that you get 12 stouffers pins (found inside specially marked boxes of Stouffers, Lean Cuisine and Bistro frozen entrees) and you receive a $10 gift card to the store of your choice and $15 in free product coupons! This is a great promotion when the entrees are on sale or if you have coupons you can combine with them!
It's truly remarkable just how quickly you can earn rewards using products or services that you normally do anyhow. It takes a little time and effort but the savings truly do pay off! With that said I am off to make my family a big ol' fat Tuesday dinner of crepes stuffed with all kinds of fruity goodness!
