Free......need I say more?

Ok so you want to know how to score free stuff. I'm not talking about the 5 finger discount, or coupons (though I will update on some coupon stuff after), I'm talking honest to God free stuff.

It's easy.

Compliment your favourite companies.

Seriously.

For instance:

When my Husband and I were just starting to live together, he was in school and I was supporting the two of us on a tiny income, I visited a toy store on Mount Pleasent. In this toy store they had these stuffed fantasy dolls...wizards, knights and fairies. I love fairies. I know who doesn't! Well these stuffed fairies also had mounts including a stuffed frog (I also happen to love frogs and have a tattoo of one).

Now I couldn't afford to buy both the fairy and the mount, so I figured I would buy the fairy and come back another day for the mount. I took the toy home and my Husband rolled his eyes at me and laughed.

Months passed by and I returned to the store for the mount, only it wasn't there anymore. I asked the Manager when they would be getting more in, and they said never as the item was discontinued. Disheartened, I thought I will e-mail the company and find out who else in Toronto sold the toys and maybe someone will have one left.

In my e-mail I let them know of my quest (come on it's a fantasty toy, of course there is a quest) to purchase this toy, and asked very nicely if they could direct me to some toy company in Toronto with them.

A week later, while sitting at my desk at work, I recieved a package. Oddly I wasn't expecting anything. I opened it up and there it was. My frog mount. Nestled in some tissue paper with a little card. The company thanked me for my kind words and wanted me to have the toy.

It started something in me. I felt a little evil. Seriously...being honest and kind gets me free stuff?

So when my Husband and I were getting married, I e-mailed Lays about what Ketchup chips meant to us and how they were a part of our relationship (to this day friends bring ketchup chips to our parties, and say that Ketchup chips means we love eachother - I won't go into that whole story)...well Lays e-mailed me back and asked if they could send us coupons and free stuff! Sure!

I went to Body Blitz, a women's spa in Toronto and I e-mailed them after to let them know how much their spa relaxed me, and how important that was as I have severe stress issues and skin problems. They posted my letter, spelling and grammar mistakes included, to their website and asked if they could give me some free treatments as thank you! Sure!

I let my favourite coffee company know how much I adore their coffee and how my Husband and I were trying them all (like pokemon!) to see which was our favourite. They asked which one was winning so far...and then sent us some!

Companies like hearing about people who love their product...and not a simple "Dude you're awesome!" - though that might work - but they want to know why you love their product so much. Let them know and the free stuff will roll on in.

Seriously, I've only posted a couple of my stories. I have more. I like free stuff.

Finally, big name clothing and accessory companies love it when you tell them about companies selling knock-offs. I have heard stories of people getting real products when they expose fakes. Not saying you should go do that....but again honesty pays.

There you have it Free Stuff. Go and e-mail away....

Ok so I said I was going to talk again about coupons briefly. I've learnt a couple of things. 1) in Canada stacking coupons doesn't much work (well not often)
2) People will sign up to coupon websites with different address' and order coupons in bulk - this can get you banned from some sites if you are caught, and can get companies to stop issuing coupons. Risky and really not fair to everyone.

And lastly.....coupon swapping.

So Smart Canucks was a website I had listed that shows all the Canadian coupons out there. Well a little digging also shows that people around Canada will list what coupons they have, and what they want....and you swap. You can even swap Canadian Tire money for coupons.

They also have a section called Coupon Trains. Basically a number of people get together and list what coupons they want in order of importance. Then the first person sends coupons to the second...second to third and so on. Sounds like a pretty awesome concept.

I thought about getting into that stuff, but when I looked at my small amount of coupons and I thought about all the work to sort through what coupons I want (I've only just started using them yeesh), vrs what I have....and then you have post them, and search through other coupons for trade. It's just too much work for me. I dreamt about coupons last night, that is how I know I can't do all that. But that doesn't mean you can't so I am letting you know.

My Husband has asked that I not go coupon crazy even though we are trying to save money.

I did my first coupon outing yesterday to Shoppers. I made out well. I spent $20 and got a new razor, 2 deoderants for my Husband, shaving cream for me, 8 bars of soap (Olay), 2 body washes (Olay) and....oh actually I think that's it. Still made out really well.

Current tally: Last week final grocery numbers came in at $150. $110 less than typical. So far so good.

Coupons!! More and more Coupons!

So as promised, here is what I have learnt about coupons so far:

They are easy to obtain, you can stack different ones for greater savings, and they now come to you!

So when I think about coupons, I think about grabbing the weekly newspaper, spreading it out ona table...grabbing some scizzors and planning my shopping around whatever coupons I can find.

I was so wrong. I have since found not one, but 6 websites dedicated to coupons for Canadians (which I will post the links to at the bottom of this post).

You pick and choose which coupons you want and they either mail them to you, or in some cases you can print them off. I have been going through them and "ordering" coupons only for items I would typically buy, and ones that are complimentary to each other.

For instance, you can get a coupon for save $1 when you buy two bounty, puffs, or charmin product. Then there are two other coupons, each for $.50 off of any one bounty or charmin or puffs product. So hypothetically you can save $2 by using the $1 and 2 $.50 coupons. Nice! If the item happens to be on sale, even better!

So I check these sites frequently, they do not update on a specific basis so you always need to come back to them...maybe make it something you do when you have your morning coffee and check your e-mail.

I do get a package of fliers delivered to my house every Friday. Historically we've been picking them up and tossing them into recycling. We've always bought the same items and either they are going to be on sale at the store we choose to shop at, or not. But now as we are trying to save money, we've brought the pack in.

Today's pack contains fliers for the following stores:
Metro
Valu-Mart
Price Chop
Fresh Co. (who? apparently related to Sobeys)
Sobeys
Super Store (Loblaws)
Loblaws
 and Food Basics

I had no idea I had all these options so close to home. Tonight (or if I am honest, tomorrow morning), my Husband and I are going to through these fliers, check the sales and create our grocery list. I think the general idea is that I will do most of tomorrows shopping at No Frills to check it out...but that could change when we see what is on sale. Also good to note: A lot of these sites have their fliers on line. If you have a No Fliers sign on your door and don't get them in the mail...check out the grocery store website. You enter in your postal code and it brings you to the flier for the store closest to you.

The freezer arrives between 12-6pm tomorrow, so I might wait on buying meats until it arrives and is set up.

Our goal is to not take out cash this month, shop for things we need using coupons and sales and see at the end of April if we make out better or not.

I already saved us some money yesterday by shopping some sales. Unfortunately, this meant buying generic coffee. I really want to keepbuying Fair Trade, but it's costly...so I might do a mix of both with Fair Trade coffee for the weekend only and generic for the weekdays. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this yet though.

A fantastic goal would be if I could have coupons that compliment eachother for items already on sale...it's times like that, that you can actually manage to get some free items (not to be confused with my tips for free things, that's another post).

So here are 6 websites you should join and get coupons. I hate that at least one is specifically a "womans" site, as even men need to save money and some men are stay at home Dads and take over tht responsibility. Keep in mind, you can also check out sites for products you love...they will sometimes post coupons there too.

http://coupons.smartcanucks.ca/ this site is #1. They list coupons for all the other sites pretty much, and they also showcase printable coupons. There are forums here where people point to sales and there are trades for items...all around great site.

http://www.websaver.ca/en_ca/coupons/ small but good selection

http://www.save.ca/coupons great selection of grocery and pharmacy items

http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.ca/ amazing selection, seems to update frequently, has groceries, home, health...just so much. They also have samples...samples are always fun.

http://www.gocoupons.ca/ small selection, but premium items it seems, which is great when you want to slurge and save.

Lastly, http://www.divine.ca/en/ this isn't a coupon place per say, but they have a section caled Review Squad. Sign up, and they will let you know when new items are available to review. Pick what you want to review, they will send the item to you...just post a review within the time limit.

Next up: Review of my first shopping adventure.