Popsugar Must Have Bag July 2012

After many days of anticipation, I have finally received my Popsugar Must Have Bag for July 2012. I was very excited to see how big the box was sitting on my porch when I got home this afternoon. I am also a member of Sample Society and Cravebox, and I must say that the size of this box compared to the others I subscribe to was very exciting to me.

I immediately opened the box to see what fun treasures I had inside. The first item I saw was a very nice canvas bag with Popsugar Summer 2012 on the front. I absolutely love the color and I'm sure this bag will replace my current beach bag.

Inside the bag were several full sized items all individually wrapped in gray tissue paper, which looked nice against the pink color paper in the box. 

First, I unwrapped two small boxes that turned out to be Ilia lipcolor. One is a lipstick and the other is a tinted lip conditioner. The lipstick color is In My Room, which is a light coral color. The tinted lip conditioner is called Bang, Bang, which looks bright red, but since it is not lipstick and a lip conditioner, maybe it won't be so bright once I put it on.

Next, I moved on to find two more small boxes. Inside this wrapped delight I found two RGB nail polish colors. One is a beige color and the other is seafoam green, which is great because I didn't have either of these colors in my current nail polish collection.

Since I am currently on a diet the next items were especially special to me. I unwrapped the next delight to find two Kind bars. Yummy! I can't wait to try them. They seem to be good for me, too, which is a definite plus. The flavors I got are Madagascar Vanilla Almond and Cashew & Ginger Spice.

Finally, my favorite items were the bath and body products. I unwrapped the last two items to find Body Drench lotion and body scrub. The lotion is Pomegranate Crush and the body scrub is Raspberry Gelee. They both smell delicious and I can't wait to try them!

So, how does this slightly more expensive subscription box stack up? Here are the prices of the actual products that I found on the internet:

Ilia lipstick:  $24

Ilia Tinted Lip Conditioner: $24

Body Drench body scrub: $12

Body Drench body lotion: $16

2 RGB nail polishes: $32

2 Kind bars: $2.98

Total value in box: $110.98

*I have not included the canvas bag because I couldn't find a price, but I would expect to pay around $20 for this bag if I bought it in a store.

I paid $35 for this box and I think this is a great value! I will definitely order the August box. Do you want to order a box, too? Sign up HERE 

Couponing Tips and Hints

I know couponing has become "in" during the past few years. I, however, not giving in to being trendy or hip, have been successfully couponing for my entire adult life. Yes, I have been accused of extreme couponing in the past, in fact, it once took me about 10 years to use up all the Pledge that I bought on a trip to Fred's years ago. I have mellowed out some over the past few years, but the fact remains that coupons can and will save you a ton of money if you know how to use them and use them wisely.

I have the most luck getting freebies or near freebies at Walgreen's. Here are some things to remember when you go to Walgreen's:

• If Walgreen's has something on sale that you can B1G1 (buy one get one free), you can use two coupons. Since theoretically you are purchasing two products, you can use two coupons. For example, last summer I bought a certain brand of razors when they had them B1G1 and I had $4 off coupons, which actually turned into $8 off one package because the other one was free, which then turned into all free because they were $8 a package.  I have just recently used up the razors that I got a year ago!
• Walgreen's often times marks products as Clearance and you can usually use a coupon on this product and get them free or for pennies.
• Watch Walgreen's sale flyer for products that have Register Rewards. You can use Register Rewards like cash on your next trip to Walgreens. A while back Mitchum deodorant offered $4 Register Rewards if you bought two. I had some $2 off coupons for one. Combined I got several of these free if you count the Rewards. Be sure to check your local Walgreens ad, though, because I have noticed lately that this is not marked on shelves.

It takes some doing and time, but you can save quite a bit using coupons. I usually buy more than one Sunday paper since the papers themselves are so cheap and the savings in coupons more than make up for the price. I also have friends and family who don't use coupons but who get the Sunday paper, so I can get their coupons. One other important thing to remember is that if you can't get it free or close to free and you wouldn't normally buy it then you are probably not saving money.

Happy Shopping!

HyperSmash

Woolite Dark Care

Crowdtap is great because of the products you get to try. In the past few weeks, they sent me a whole boxful of Woolite Dark Care samples to share with my friends. I began my sample share at my house when we had a couple over. The woman and I started talking about laundry detergent for some reason (is this what grown women find interesting???) and I showed her the Woolite samples. She was very interested and took a sample. I continued my sample share the next day as I had a meeting with other librarians in my school district. As we broke for lunch, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share some of my Woolite samples. I brought out the samples from the box that I had put beside my purse. Some of the others said they had been wondering what was in that box all morning. Isn't suspense great? They all took a sample home and will hopefully love the product and use the coupon included in the packet.




Want to join Crowdtap and have these sampling opportunities? You can also have chances to have house parties and receive cool products, as well as answering questions and participating in discussions and accumulating points you can exchange for gifts and giftcards.  





You can also enter a sweepstakes from Woolite for a chance to win $500! Click here

Addictions? I Think So!

In the past few years, couponing, online sweepstakes, and freebies have become popular. What most people don't know is that all of this has been around for years. My entire adult life I have been using coupons, and even doing "exreme" couponing as they now call it. I have been entering online sweepstakes my entire adult life, as well. Freebies, too, are all over the internet and have been for years, you just have to know where to look. It is my intention to post great deals here on this blog, freebies, and awesome sweepstakes, so that others can partake in the fun.

It was a lot easier to win at sweepstakes, get more freebies, and do better with coupons before it became mainstream, but hey, the more the merrier, right?

Are these addictions for me? Probably. It is a great high when you go to a store and buy $100 worth of products but only pay $20. The looks you will get are priceless as is holding up the checkout line while the clerk scans all of your coupons. If you have ever played an online sweepstakes game and gotten a screen that says "Congratulations, you win!" then you know the quickened heartbeat of unbelief that you have actually won something, albeit something small. So am I addicted to winning? Yes, I am!

The Next Greatest Thing

Recently, I have discovered the next greatest thing, receiving a present in the mail with lots of surprises inside! Yes, these are called Subscription Boxes and there are MANY choices out there. You pay a small amount (usually $10-$15/month) and you will receive a box filled with several new products. A new subscription service that is due to come out this month for the first time is Popsugar Must Have. Apparently, while other subscription boxes send maybe 1 full sized product but mostly samples, Popsugar says to expect full size products.

I have signed up for this as usually the first box is really good. It is a little pricier than the others at $35 a month if you pay by the month, but it looks like it has promise to have heftier surprises than other boxes. If you would like to try it, click HERE. If you click and sign up, I will get credit for you on my account. It is a month-to-month subscription, so if you are not happy with it, just cancel after the first month.

Happy Shopping!