Playing Catch Up: So Many Huge Scores!

With the magic and madness that is the Christmas season, the pace unfortunately has not been conducive to blogging. So brace yourselves; here comes the mega catch up edition of Vintage Meets Modern! This fabulous post will include many of my favorite ways of saving money, including couponing, free samples, and thrifting. Be prepaired for the most magnificent descriptions and images of how to save money! Enjoy dear readers!

Couponing
The point of frugallity has come to where I don't even shop at department stores without coupons. Why pay retail for anything on products with such high markup?! This line of thinking came in especially handy for Christmas Shopping. :) In one store we purchaced 5 gifts for friends and family members. The gifts would have totaled over $80 but since we had $30 off in coupons, it was like getting two gifts for free! Here are a few of the fun gadgets that we saved serious cash on.

From left to right: Flexible LED Tripod Light/Camera Tripod, Remote Key Finder, MP3 Speaker Dock

Were you aware that coupons can also be applied to fine restaurant dining experiences? I know many people occasionally recieve coupons from burger joints, sandwich shops, and pizza places in the mail, but nicer sitdown restaurants such as Applebee's, Chili's, and Sweet River often release dining coupons online. Freebies websites (like the ones I've listed in previous blogs) are an excellent way to find out about these coupons, often the day they are released, so you can take advantage of these great opportunites before they expire or become out of stock. Another excellent source to save money and locate restaurants in your hometown is Restaurant.com. They often have sales where you can get $25 gift certificates to specified restaurants for as little as $2! Check with the website often for these sales. On Christmas Eve, my husband and I enjoyed a lovely lunch at Sweet River Grill using ourt $25 certificate. We had to spend a minimum of $40, but we still spent only $17 out of pocket; over half off on a fabulous meal including beverages, appetizer and HUGE entrees! The food and overall experience was superb! Here are pics of the scrupmptious bacon cheddar potato skins and prawns dinner that I enjoyed!


*Another fun bonus of the holiday season the giving and receiving of... GIFT CARDS! We gave a couple gift cards this year, and also received several. In a way, it is an ideal gift. It's like recieving free money to pick out your favorite things at your favorite stores. Wonderful gift cards we received this year: $50 Walmart Card, $25 Target Card, $30 Applebee's Card, $15 Starbucks Card. Wow, $120 to be spent on fun things and special experiences that doesn't have to come out of our hard earned wages! I heart giftcards!

Free Sampling
See my previous blog on free samples for the list of websites through which I've received the following AMAZING samples! A few tips when signing up for free samples:

• Do NOT ever give out your phone number! If a free sample requires you to give out your phone number (required fields are usually marked with an * or in red) pass on it because you WILL receive incessant telemarketing calls.
• If you do not wish to recevie spam email offers in your main inbox, create a seperate email account for signing up for such offers.
• Beware of scams. A sample offer from a legitemate company needs only your name and address (and will usually ask for your email) to send you a free offer. If they ask you for any other personal information, do not sign up for that offer, and beware of sites that will send you a free item only if you agree to sign up for a service with a fee. Read all fine print carefully!

With the proper precautions in mind, there are many wonderful freebies that you can get and enjoy! Look at all that I've recieved in the last two months!

Thrifting

I usually stop in at a thrift store every couple of weeks, but hadn't been having much luck recently. That's the way it usually goes; for the most part you'll buy one thing or nothing, and then you'll just have a crazy day where you find so many awesome things! Well, I had my mega score day a few days ago. For a grand total of $34.50 (the most I've ever spent in one trip to a thrift store) I got a whole new wardrobe of clothes some home decor items and two popular novels. Check out the following:







The following is a cost breakdown of my awesome finds!

• Purple Blown Glass Lamp: $5.50
• Mercury Glass Hand Sculpture: $1
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Book: $2
• The Girl Who Played With Fire Book: $3.50
• New Forever 21 Rose Skirt: $3
• Black Ruffled L.E.I Dress: $2
• Purple Studded Top: $2.95
• 3 Sweaters: $2.95 each

Whew, so many awesome things! I hope you've enjoyed this special holiday edition of Vintage Meets Modern, and feel free to share your awesome finds with me!

•