Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Serious Savings with Online Promo Codes: (Wrapp.com, Hearts.com)

So I wanted to make a post about the importance of online savings and promotions. I've use a couple of these to get some pretty amazing savings. To start off with, I wanted to introduce you guys to Wrapp.com. In case you haven't heard about it, this website is a gift card giving service where you can buy gift cards and give them to friends for birthdays, graduations, promotions, etc. One of the best things about Wrapp is that they will offer giving select gift cards (usually ranging from $5-10) for free. Now I know you're probably thinking the same thing I was thinking: why would stores just want to give out $10 promo codes? It doesn't make any sense! The whole ideology behind giving out these free gift promo codes is that the recipient will likely spend more than the gift is worth. For example, you give your friend a $5 promo code for Office Depot. They go to the store and buy something worth $8. They never would have gone to the store if it hadn't been for your promo code. So Wrapp is a great way to advertise for different companies. Not to mention, it's a great way for friends to give each other little gift cards and stuff like that for free!


Now a couple months back, Wrapp was having a promotion where if you gave 3 friends a promo gift for Hearts.com, you would get a $15 promo code in return. So I did this deal and ended up with $15 to spend at Hearts. An important tip about Hearts, is that you can only use promo codes on non-sale items. Hearts.com is the most adorable clothing/jewelry website. It's all about recycling, fair trade, and traditional/cultural art in all the products that it sells so you can feel good purchasing whatever you do, knowing that the money is going for a good cause. Each seller has their own profile so you see where your money is going to, whether its a leather maker in the US or ladies in Guatemala. So I ended up buying the "Deeply Denim Pouch" for $18. But shipping was about $9 so all in all, my purchase was the following:

18-(15 promo)=3+9 ship= $12

which I thought was pretty decent for a denim pouch. And next thing I know, I get a confirmation email for my purchase and at the bottom of that email, it says that they're running a special promotion that if you submit a video of you opening your package and talking about what conscious consumerism means to you, that you can earn a $75 promo code. Now this is an amazing opportunity, I thought. Since they were a company that sells mostly hand-made products that are good for the environment and help support fair trade, a lot of their stuff was on the pricier side.


So when my package arrived, I recorded myself opening it and talking about conscious consumerism; then, I sent it in. A couple days later, I got an email saying that I was talking too softly in the video and therefore, they wouldn't be able to give me the promo code; however, they could offer me a 30% off promo for entering a video or I could simply submit another video to try again. With a 75 off promo code dangling in front of my face, I was quite determined and ended up redoing the video while crossing my fingers. In the next email, they thanked me for sending in another video and sent me the $75 off code!



 With that code, I bought the "'One Sip at a Time " Guatemalan Coffee Bag Tote $58 and "Alice" Leather Bracelet $28. To be honest, I never would have bought a leather bracelet for almost 30 bucks but I'd tried making a similar bracelet a while ago and ended up breaking my needle (not leather-proof) while trying. So when I saw the exact same design, I snatched it up with my promo code! By the way, I absolutely love that bracelet. It's the softest leather you will ever feel and goes great with any outfit because of its neutral tones. For those of you who see me often, as you know that tote bag is now a regular staple of my wardrobe and is one of my favorite bags. Overall, I couldn't be happier with my purchase which is represented by the following equation:
 
58+28=86 (-75 promo)=11+9 ship= $20

So my total for all of my stuff from Hearts.com was $32 including shipping after promo codes: a haul that included one Deeply Denim Pouch, one "One Sip at a Time " Guatemalan Coffee Bag Tote, and one "Alice" Leather Bracelet. A total value of $122 including shipping for both transactions! A nifty little extra about ordering from Hearts.com is that they will sent you a complimentary dust bag for any item that you purchase, no matter how big or small. So in addition to all the other great items that I got, I also received three complimentary Hearts dust bags. These dust bags really do come in handy. The largest one I use to hold onto laundry items. The smallest one I use to hold pencils and pens. Reduce, reuse, recycle right? ;)

 

Sunday, June 2, 2013

CVS Haul Week of 6/2/2013

So today was an interesting shopping trip! I went to CVS with a couple things in mind and coupons in hand. As always, I took full advantage of a couple extra care buck deals this week. This week at CVS, when you buy any Physicians Formula cosmetic item worth equal or greater than 7.49, you get a 7.00 ECB. Also, when you buy an Oral B cross action tooth brush or select Colgate total mouthwash, you get 2.00 ECB each. I also did the CVS body wash deal posted about earlier this week.



Break Down: (including weekly sales)
1 CVS brand Fresh Body Wash = 2.37
1 Oral B Cross Action Tooth Brush (normally 9.99, on sale this week for 5.99) x1= 5.99
1 Colgate Total Spearmint 16.9 oz (normally 5.79, on sale this week for 4.99) x1= 4.99
1 Physicians Formula Last Boosting Mascara (with BONUS, fullsized mascara)= 10.49

Coupons:
2 off any cosmetic purchase of 10 or more (CVS mnf q) from Magic Coupon Machine
1 off any Colgate mouthwash 8 oz or larger (CVS store q)
2 off any Colgate mouthwash 8 oz or larger (mnf q)
3 off any Oral B Cross Action Tooth Brush (mnf q)
1 Free select CVS Body Wash q, max value 2.57 (CVS store q)

Final Outcome:
1 CVS brand Fresh Body Wash = 2.37 (-2.37 store q)= free!
1 Oral B Cross Action Tooth Brush (normally 9.99, on sale this week for 5.99) x1= 5.99 (-3.00 mnf q)= 2.99, receive 2 ECB
1 Colgate Total Spearmint 16.9 oz (normally 5.79, on sale this week for 4.99) x1= 4.99 (-2.00 mnf q, - 1.00 store q)= 1.99, receive 2 ECB
1 Physicians Formula Last Boosting Mascara (with BONUS, fullsized mascara)= 10.49 (-2.00 store q)= 8.49, receive 7 ECB

13.47 -8 ECB from previous purchase = 5.47

Grand Total:
Subtotal: 5.47
Tax: 1.80
Total: 7.27 w/ 11 ECB

Okay! So here's where things got interesting. My original total was 9.27. So I was sitting in my car, looking over my receipt (always a good thing to do before leaving the store) and found a miscellaneous charge on my receipt for "1 taxable item." I'd never seen that on my receipt before. My receipt also stated there was a total of 5 items bought so I went through my shopping bag and shrugged my shoulders. Then I realized that there was no deduction for my $1 off any Colgate mouthwash (CVS store q) and instead there was a $1 charge for an item that didn't exist. My guess was that when my cashier went to manually enter that coupon (it beeped), she accidentally charged an extra dollar, instead of taking one off. I went back inside and explained what I thought had happened to my cashier. She said that yea that made sense since there was no deduction for the $1 off q and gave me two dollars back for the $1 extra she charged me and the $1 she was supposed to have taken off. And then I realized this would be a great thing to mention in my blog, a really good learning experience! Before you leave the store, check your receipt against what's in your shopping bag. Maybe your cashier forgot to enter a coupon. Or maybe the amount entered in was wrong. Be thorough and exact with your numbers the first time and you'll save yourself an extra trip to CVS!

So in total, out of pocket, my transaction cost me $7.29 for all that stuff.
A haul which included one mechanical toothbrush, one body wash, one mouthwash, and two tubes of mascara. :)
And the best part is that I have $11 of store credit I can use for next week's purchase! Since I put 8 ECB in from last week and got 11 ECB out this week, $3 of my transaction, is being recycled again next week (keep in mind, you can never make money, but you can RECYCLE it). So technically, what I actually paid for today's transaction was $4.29 and $1.80 of that was tax!! Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.