Case in point...

So have you entered any drawings? Brianna did on Saturday at the Trade Show and her name was drawn for a movie bowl. It was a nice big bowl filled with 2 movies and all kinds of snacks. She was thrilled!

You can't win if you don't enter

Today is an exciting day. There is a gal coming down from Kalispell to template my bathroom. Three weeks ago my sister and I went to a building and home show in Kalispell. One of the vendors there had a drawing for a free granite counter top. I entered the drawing and won! The owner is coming to template our bathroom. Then we get to choose what kind of granite we want. They will fabricate it and come and install the new counter top. When there are free drawings to enter, take a minute and fill out a card. I know the odds aren't great that you will win when you enter drawings, but hey, you can't win if you don't enter.

Pick up those coupons

About a week ago I was at one of our two local grocery stores. As I was walking through I noticed that they had one stack of coupons on the side of the cooler for meats. I had never seen anything there before, so I stopped to check out what the coupons were for. They were buy one get one free for Bistro Naturals sausages or hot dogs. It looks like maybe they are introducing a new product and are offering coupons to encourage you to try them. Finding hot dogs and sausages that don't have nitrates and are made from meat that is not mechanically separated and yet economical is not always easy, so this looked like a bargain to me! This is not the time you take one coupon, you check the expiration date (4/30/09) and ask yourself how many you could use. Honestly, I took all that was left and gave some to a friend. I bought four packages to try them out. There is no use in stocking up on them if we don't like them. Well, we did like them so the next time I was at that store I checked and they had some packages marked 50 cents off because they were within one week of their sell by date. So, I bought all 10 packages they had marked down and used my coupons. I brought them home and put them in the freezer and we'll enjoy them on the BBQ this summer. I got those 12 ounce packages of sausages for not the full price of $3.29, but buy one get one free, plus the $.50 off because it was near the sell by date, for $1.15! Now that is a deal!

When you see coupons while you are shopping, they may not be a great deal that day, but if it is something you use, pick up a coupon (or two or three) because it might become a better deal later. Our grocery store also had coupons for $1.50 off a package of Oreo's if you buy a gallon of milk. It wasn't a great deal this week. But if Oreo's go on sale and I need milk anyway, it could be a good deal in the weeks to come.

I don't use coupons for lots of things, but this time, I think I saved big.

Watch the size on packages

Today we were at our local grocery store. They had a big display of pop. They were on sale for $4.99 for a case of Coke. My husband noticed that there weren't 24 in a case anymore. They now have 20 cans in a case. So, the price hasn't changed, but you are getting less for your money. So check out not only the price, but the quantity/size you are buying.

It always pays to ask

I don't always read things as closely as I should. We received an email from Choice
Privileges stating that if you stayed at one of their motels during a certain time frame on two separate occasions, you could earn a free night stay. Because we had plans that included needing a motel, I thought this was great. However, when I went to check to see if they had awarded us those bonus points today, they weren't there. So, I clicked on the promotion link and read all of the details (which I should have done at the start) and found out that to get that free night, you had to book your stays through choiceprivileges.com . Oops! I then sent an email to their customer service asking if there was anyway I could receive credit for those two stays and earn my free night. I received a very nice email back from them a few hours later letting me know that as a one-time courtesy they would award me those bonus points. The two lessons I learned were:
1. Read the fine print. It will save you from having to ask for special help later.
2. It never hurts to ask. Since they said yes, I have a free hotel night (value approximately $85). If they had said no, I would have only lost the 5 minutes I took to write the email.