8 Ways I Saved in July
Oh, it always makes me sad to see July end because that means summer is almost over. August is full of back to school preparations in our household so it will be busy, busy, busy! July was plenty busy again but I managed to save in quite a few ways. Here are some of my saving highlights from this month.
Like last month, we used more gas rebate cards to pay for gas on our family vacation. There weren’t as many Marathon gas stations on the road from Indiana to Iowa to Nebraska to Kansas to Missouri…but it still helped reduce our out of pocket gas expenses.
I shopped at CVS and bought 4 items for free – plus I still have $2 in ECBs to spend. I love it when I can stack coupons and ECB deals to pick up things I need for free. This used to be a regular occurance for me but the deals at CVS aren’t as good as they used to be. I’m still excited when I can get free toothpaste, though!
I redeemed 3 free Shutterfly books, thanks to free codes. I was most excited that I used one of the free codes to purchase Nathan’s 12 month baby book that I made. Full disclosure – the 3rd book isn’t ordered yet but I have until Friday to redeem the last code and intend to be finished scrapbooking our North Carolina vacation by then. These free offers are good motivation to stay on top of my digital scrapbooks!
We went out for our 6th anniversary lunch by using a Christmas gift card from Andy’s brother. Lunch prices made our gift card stretch further, even at an upscale restaurant like this one. We also had free baby-sitting for Nathan, thanks to Andy’s mom.
I bought blueberries at $1 a pint and flash froze several pints for later. There is nothing like baking with fresh blueberries in the fall or winter, thanks to our extra freezer.
We bought new paint brushes for free at Menards. We were picking up some new light plates and I happened to notice that their nice paint brushes were on sale for free after rebate. I bought the limit of 4 brushes at $5.29 each and mailed in my receipt for a full rebate. Menards is one of the few places that regular has full-price rebates. I love how easy Menards makes their rebates, too!
We used Home Depot gift cards to buy new paint for our kitchen. I had three $10 gift cards to Home Depot from surveys I completed back in 2012. We went to Home Depot and found the perfect new paint for our kitchen. (That’s the color of our new paint in the picture at the top. Oarsmen Blue. I love it!) It was a premium paint but I didn’t mind because the gift cards covered most of it.
Nathan and I earned free books from the library, thanks to the summer reading programs. We’ve both completed 2 levels now. Nathan’s earned a free egg shaker (which he loves) and a free book. I earned a free book bag and a free book. I am loving that we both get to be involved in a summer reading program! We need to stop by to redeem our last rewards (more free books!) before the program ends on August 1st.
What did you do to save this month?
I’ve never done the rebates at Menard’s. I thought they offered the rebates back for their stores. Like you had to use the ‘rebates’ for store merchandise. I will pay more attention if this isn’t the case! Thanks Kristen!
Nope. You send in the rebate, and it comes back in the form of a merchandise “check” that you can redeem for anything at Menards. I don’t do them often but there are some great free deals that can come as a result. Have fun watching the Menards deals, Christina!
I think we are saying the same thing. The rebate must be spent within the store. Which is great if you shop there or i’s convenient. I actually don’t have a Menard’s close enough to make it worthwhile. It’s kind of like Aldi’s for you. not convenient enough, but great deals to be had! Figuring out what works for your household is very unique! Like God made us! it;s truly a blessing for the help you offer on your site! Thank you!!!
Gotcha. Yes, the Menards rebates have to be used at Menards – on anything in the store. Excellent point about doing what works for you! You’re welcome, Christina…always!
Whew! I’m impressed. You’re pretty spectacular at maximizing deals and gift cards. Plus, three photo books? I guess I need to go back and read your free photo books post!
Well, I’m still finishing up the 3rd. I have until midnight tonight, right? Ha. I love flipping through the photo books and remembering our vacations, so these free codes are good incentives for me to stay caught up on my scrapbooking.