Giveaway: 5 Totally Free product coupons worth over $17!

I enjoy entering giveaways.  Sometimes I win more than I need, and today I'm giving one lucky winner five totally free coupons worth up to $17.30

The winner will receive an envelope with the following coupons inside:

Free any half gallon of Silk soymilk up ti $4.30 expires 10/31/2011

Free bowl of Fruit and Maple Oatmeal at McDonalds expires 12/31/2011

Free box of six count Pillsburty Toaster Strudel up to $3.00 expires 7/7/2011

Free 20 count or larger bag of Halls drops up to $2.00 expires 8/31/11

Free Pemmican Beef Jerky up to $6.99 expires 12/31/11

Open to the USA only.  I will pick a winner from random.org on May 7th at 11:59 pm.

Be sure and leave a way I can contact you, either your e-mail or twitter name.

It's easy to enter.  First and mandatory entry. . . just comment on this post.

For additional entries you can do the following:  (Just leave a new comment for EVERY one you do, and please leave username or link on each one.)

• follow me on Google Friend Connect
• follow me on Networked blogs
• follow me on twitter
• post my button on your blog
• "Like" my page on facebook  The Radar Report on Facebook link
• "Friend" me on facebook Me on facebook
• Tweet the giveaway daily using @jenndiggy.  Here's a tweet you can use:

#win a #giveaway @jenndiggy is giving away 5 totally free coupons valued at over $17  http://tiny.ly/4Q2b

Good luck!

Knocked 15 things off my bucket list this week!

I knocked 15 things off my "Bucket List" this week.

I started a "Bucket List" years ago, well before the movie.  But "Bucket List" sounds a bit nicer than "Things to do before I die".

Meet a President.
Go to Mongolia.
Learn to blow a bubble with bubble gum.
Visit all 50 states.
Enroll in a Hebrew class.

For the most part just stupid stuff.

I switched bedrooms last winter.  Being single, I can decorate however I want.  I *had* been in the only room without paneling and had a number of photos hanging on the walls and it felt all cosy.

I don't like pictures on paneling.

So I decided since I have tons of Post-Its because of sales a few years ago to write each item on my Bucket List on a Post-It and stick it on my walls.  Temporary solution to the decorating problem.  At least it feels more like "my" room. 

Last week my aunt saw snow on her porch.  This week it got up to 80 degrees.  So I turned on the fan in my room the other night.

By the time I got up, I had post-its scattered all over me and I even found the post it of "a president" in my bed. 

Maybe next time I re-decorate I shouldn't use things that could flutter off the walls in the presence of a ceiling fan.

Yes, I knocked 15 things off my bucket list, this week, but they are re-stuck to the walls!

Couponing and the recent storms

For those of you who coupon and get good deals, I'm sure there will be opportunities and places to send items to those in Alabama and Georgia who need things like toothpaste, toothbrushes, deoderant, school supplies for children, etc.

A Large Flat Rate priority mail box would be ideal to ship items in.  (I believe it's $13 to mail) and it is based on the size NOT by weight, so you could fill it with bars of soap and other heavy items and no matter how much it weighs you still pay the same flat rate.  With careful packing these things can hold A LOT! 

Just something to keep in mind since I think many of us have extra toothpastes and deoderants!

Why "The Radar Report"?

Did you know "The Radar Report" will be celebrating it's 20th anniversary in June?  Well it is!  I started "blogging" before the Internet. More on that in a moment.

I was in school in Tennesse when I earned the nickname Radar.  I wasn't a gossip.  I just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time for information.  I was observant.  I could put two and two together.  Even a few years ago, Mom was watching a General Hospital and she was clueless the identity of the bad guy.  I knew who it was from the beginning of the story line.  After all, what a great way to bring the character back in, but I digress.

For instance, one time in college, I was walking into my all-female dorm.  The local pharmacy was making a delivery, and I heard the delivery man say who it was for.  I told our dorm mom I could take it to her since I lived beside of her.  (And the dorm mom was elederly and had trouble walking stairs, and I lived on the third floor.)  The dorm mom was happy to take me up on the offer, and the delivery man said, "That's medicine for mumps.  If you haven't been vaccinated, don't get near her."  Oh the days before HIPPA. . .

So, I deliver the medicine  (I had to be revaccinated at that school year because the school said I had my MMR two weeks too early as a baby for it to count on their immunizations.)  I said, "Guess what, you have mumps."  That was news to her.  Like I said, right place, right time.

So, once I left that school, I started a newsletter called "The Radar Report" which I published about every two or three months at first, and it dwindled to about twice a year until I started keeping up with friends via e-mail.  It included all kinds of news of my life as well as friends' lives.  I had a section "Tales from the Coupon Crypt".  A couple of my favorite lines were "I had to fight off a moth in the shower" as well as the article "Local boy Makes Good on Way to DeVry" recounting the amusing story of how a friend went back to school to DeVry on Christmas Day and his car broke down and the town rallied 'round him in a "Save Ferris" fashion to get him a free hotel room, a garage opened up and fixed his car for free, and a pizza place gave him a free pizza delivery.

In true blog giveaway form, about a year into the print edition of "The Radar Report" I offered a "Radar's Cleaning House Sweepstakes".  Yes, it really was a "cleaning house" sweepstakes.  I gave away stuff from the house that was good, useable, but I didn't want.  One friend was "blessed" with an 8 track tape player which he acually thought was cool.  Another got a box of stuff she and her brother and sister really enjoyed, but I termed "Box of stuff perfect for when she holds their next yardsale."  (They did every year to make money for the annual carnival in town.) 

There was a freebies section where you could call 800 numbers and get free stuff.  My friends were amazed in college I got a free pair of pantyhose by calling an 800 number.  (Panty hose to girls in the 1980s who attended church regularly -- like gold!)

I'm thinking I might reprint parts of the print edition of The Radar Report at times.  I pulled a few out the other night and was laughing so hard at some of the stories.  I also would find funny photos and add to the stories.  An example was when my youth group had new officer elections, I labeled a photo of the Supreme Court with names of those of us in the officer positions of the youth group.

I amused myself with the way I worded things as well.  I hosted a Christmas party for friends one time, and I said "Partaking of refreshments were . . . " and then added, "Attending but not partaking of refreshments was . . ." 

So that's why my blog is called "The Radar Report".  :)   Old habits die hard, and since I've been using "The Radar Report" as my newsletter name for years, seemed fitting to bring it into the 21st Century as a blog.

Signed Bible

I love to haunt yardsales, thrift shops, and auctions.

I used to see lots of Bibles and often collected them to send to an organziation that ships them to other countries.  http://www.bf.org/biblenet.htm  Of course, since that time the post office has elimiated the economy shiping for M-Bags making shipment to other countries very expensive for books.

Anyway, a few years ago I found a Bible I decided to keep.  (Of course it's also missing part of the New Testament, so not complete.)

The way I remember it, I got it with a few Bibles and my mother opened it, and said, "Wow, look at all these signatures."  I looked over, and recognized all the names.  It pretty much is a "Who's Who" of the WV north district of the Church of the Nazarene from the early 80s to early 90s.  The district superintendant, visiting evangelists, missionaries, pastors of various churches.  I went to a Nazarene church for years as well as spent two years at a Nazarene college, so I recognized many of these names!

I had never heard of Bible signing before I ran across this Bible, although since I've heard it's common in a few denominations.  I have heard everything from "These people are heroes of the faith and people we should look up to" to "No person should sign a Bible because that's God's Word and humans aren't God." 

But still I think the Bible is really neat! 

There are more signatures than this, just took one photo!

My guinea pigs' cage

I often see people asking about a cheap cage for guinea pigs.  I made mine for under $25 (and since this photo was taken I've expanded it to almost twice the size in this photo and used leftover materials.)  Store bought cages are almost always twice this expensive.

Store-bought cages don't give guinea pigs enough room.  (Guineas need anywhere from 4 square feet to 7 square feet PER PIG so I know my cage still is on the border of small, and it's twice what you see in this photo.)

First I got some "chloroplast" -- it's that plastic cardboard kind of stuff that you often see signs made from it.

I figured out the size I needed, cut it, made sides about 4 inches high, and attached it on the corners.

Then I connected "Neat Idea" cubes from Target.  Other people have had success using the connectors in the box, but I wired mine together.  It is more moveable for me as well as seems to stay together better.  I made sure the guineas couldn't eat any of the wire or get hurt on it in any way.

Line the cage with the bedding of your choice.  (I use flannel sheets.  I put a layer of puppy pads underneath, flannel sheet, and I actually layer this so I can do an easy "cleanout".  Wash the sheets by hand to get the worst of it off, then it goes in the washing machine.  I had been using Carefresh, but as large as the cage is, it hurt my back to lift the trash bag when cleaning out the cage.  That stuff gets HEAVY.  Carefresh is also  expensive.  I figure by switching to flannel I save $40 a month in Carefresh and $35 a month on the chiropracter.  (I used to have to go monthly, and since I switched to flannel, I can go six months.)  That's a $900 a year savings right there.  Okay, so I do sometimes question how long the washer and dryer will hold up since even after a hand washing some of the sheets are a little dirty, but still at $900 savings a year, and I think it's much nicer for the guinea pigs.

Of course, you can also decorate your cage, some people even make multiple levels so the guinea pigs can "go upstairs"  (just be sure and make it so they can't fall!)  

Find a really cool 1984 calendar this year

I was looking at a calendar I love from 1981 earlier and wondering what year I could use it next.  The calendar year cycles so you can use old calendars.

So, your assignment for this year is to find a REALLY, totally cool calendar from 1984, preferably cheap or free at a garage sale or thrift shop.  Why?  The year 1984 is identical to 2012, and on 2012 you can put up your 1984 calendar of Punky Brewster and relive the days of big hair, The Cosby Show, and Mary Lou Retton at the Olympics.  Because 1984 was a leap year, this is the soonest it's been able to be used again because of that pesky extra day in there.  (My dad was a leap year baby.  I had more birthdays than him by the time I was in 4th grade!)

What year can you use the 2011 calendar again?  2022 

Okay, so days to change the clocks will be different, but if you have a Facebook account, do you REALLY need your calendar to be informed of this because all 1,632 of your closest friends will be saying "Don't forget to change your clocks", and since the change always takes place on a Saturday, if you over/under sleep if your iPhone, computer, iPod, microwave, DVR, etc., doesn't change it for you, then you'll still see a Facebook posting from a few people, "Forgot to change my clocks last night and was an hour late/early to church!" So by the time you go back to work on Monday, you'll have gotten the message from somewhere. :)

I have a really neat 1981 calendar I can use again in 2015.  :)  And I have a really neat "countries of the world" coloring calendar from McDonalds that taught me to count to ten in a dozen languages in 1983.  That one is reusable in  -- oh wait -- this year.  Maybe I should find it and brush up on counting to ten in Japanese. . .

It's just cool to be able to use an old calendar.

Check out this site for all the years you can re-use calendars.  http://whencanireusethiscalendar.com/  I absolutely love that 1982 Sesamae Street calendar they have up there occasionally!

April's App of the Month

I'm trying to blog daily again, and I thought I'd mix things up a bit more, not just bargains I've found but personal news, as well as just stuff I like.

I decided to do an App of the Month post.

I got an Apple iPod touch 8 GB  for Christmas and I have really enjoyed playing around with it and seeing what great apps are out there.

Well, who knew that the eBay app is better than the website, at least in my opinion?  And it is a FREE download.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ebay-mobile/id282614216?mt=8

I listed some items earlier this month and loved checking my auctions on this.  I could see them all at once unlike the website.

I even listed a couple auctions through the app, and with the camera phone it took less time!  (Although it didn't give the pull down menu options for category listings so I did revise my items once I made it to a computer.)

I also have trouble, for some reason, reading messages through the eBay system on the website.  No problem doing that in this App.

Now, if eBay could just make their website work as smoothly as their mobile application.  :)

Help Japan by Web Surfing

Did you know that Swagbucks is offering a way you can help relief efforts in Japan without it costing you anything?  You can check out their Japan efforts page by clicking here!

I've mentioned before that Swagbucks is my FAVORITE search engine.  It gives good results, and you can earn points by just searching the web like you would do at other search engines.  Last year I traded in my points for $60 of Amazon gift cards, and so far this year I'm up to $35.

But right now, if you wish to donate points to help Japan, Swagbucks is allowing you to do so.

And if you join before 3pm Eastern (12 PST) on May 2nd, if you use the code HelpJapan you will receive an additional 50 Swagbucks just for joining!

So now is the time to join! 

My $15 headache

Coupon for $15 off any item no exceptions means no exception.

Went to a website, found an item that was $15, free shipping.  Pearl earrings.  I know that's not much for pearl earrings, but I expected them to be very tiny cultured pearls.  After all it said PEARL EARRINGS, not pearlized or "pearl look" etc.  Or at very minimum simulated pearls that looked like pearls.  (And before anyone thinks I'm living in a dream world, I bought some very tiny authentic pearl earrings once for $15 online.)

Placed an order, received my confirmation that my credit card would be billed 0.00

an about a week later these came in the mail:

Ugly.  Gaudy.  Big.  Definatley not anything that resembled pearls.  And clip ons.  (I ordered pierced)

But I thought for free, my 4 year old niece might enjoy playing dress up with them.

Then this week I open my credit card bill.  $15 charge for these.  I googled and saw this happened to a number of people.

I have my invoice where they were free.

I called the company.  I got hung up on.  I was being very nice because usually the nicer you are the more willing people are to help you.

I call my credit card company.  I was told I couldn't file a dispute beacause the item had to have cost something and they couldn't put 0.00 in their system. (Didn't think at this point to mention they were not real pearls or pierced earrings.)

So I call the company back.  The man got snippy with me.  You know sometimes how it's not what you say but how you say it?  Precisely what happened.

At different points in the phone conversation he told me I had been charged $15, $6.95, and $8.95. 

He told me I used two coupons.  (Not true.)

He told me that because I gave my credit card number when ordering (required even though it should never have been charged -- I've done this with other companies with no problem) -- he said since they had my credit card number, that was giving them the authorization to charge it in any amount they desired.  (I think not!)

He told me I could return the earrings at my expense and the $15 be credited back to my credit card within two billing cycles.

I called my credit card back, told them what happened.  They said that since they were not real pearls that was enough for "item not as described".  Also I was told there was a limit of 60 days from when the charge was made to dispute it.  I was told to return them ASAP and if the credit wasn't made quickly, call the credit card company back.

I wonder how many people they charged the coupon amount to and they never noticed it.  I know I am not the only one, and this time, while $15 is a nice chunk of change, it's the principle behind it.  Unlike what the customer service rep said, just because I placed an order and they had my credit card number did NOT mean they could charge it for an amount I didn't authorize.

Surprise visit

Without Facebook, how would people reconnect?  Or would they?  I graduated college in the first year it was common for us to have each other's e-mail addresses.  Although back then, we used our .edu address as our primary address and then had to switch to another, such as mailexcite or hotmail. 

Fast forward a number of years.  Sunday night I got a Facebook message asking where I lived.  A few messages, texts, and a short phone call made for a lunch date with some old friends.  Or so I thought.

Turns out my friend and I never really went to school together, I was thinking he was someone on campus when I was and just didn't know him real well.  We do have about four dozen mutual friends and have been Facebook friends for almost three years now.  He came on to campus the year after I left, and he and his wife are currently missionaries to the Phillipines.

As it turned out, we had a great meeting and visit.  I live in a rural area, and it's often easy to think "There is nothing to do" but with my friends I ate at a place I had never eatten before.  It is Mennonite run, and there was a sitting room where we could just relax and enjoy a home-y atsmophere after our meal if we wished.  We could go downstairs and watch them putting the baked goods in the oven (only they weren't baking when we were there.)  Then we visited the old school building in that town, and I had never taken the time to look at the display of the school's history.  After that we stopped at an old bridge that is no longer used.

A fun afternoon, and I got to explore a couple places in my area I had never been to before!  And this day was made possible by Facebook!

Where I've been

I'm going to try to get back into blogging.

My guinea pig was sick for a while, had to hand feed him for weeks, but he has done really well and recovering nicely.  But he's taken much of time time for the last two months.  I'm hoping to get back into the habit of blogging daily again!

My guinea pig before feeding time with the eyedropper a few weeks back.

21¢ with $2.73 back

I'm not sure how this happened.  After all, I only had two coupons, used no Extra Care Bucks, and bought stuff that was not free for me.  My total before tax was 1¢, at least that's what my receipt said! 

I bought:
Russel Stover's Vanilla Cream Egg
a bag (2.52 oz) of mini Reese's Cups
a bottle of bubbles
Citrus Coconut anti-bacterial hand sanitizer

My total came to 21 cents.

I received back $2.73 in Extra Care Bucks.

March shopping totals

March wasn't a great month in the grocery store for me, but was a great month in pharmacies!

In grocery stores, I found items on sale that we use a lot and I stocked up!  That's why there was such a lage amount of groceries bought in March.  I spent $225.01 and saved $85.15  Not only that, I bought a lot of fresh vegetables this month, and there are no savings on them.  In addition, I had a number of mail-in refunds where I got the purchase price back, so that savings will be counted in future months when I receive the refund checks back.  (I believe it was almost $50 in mail in refunds for the month.)

In refunds, I received $18.95.

At Walgreens, I spent $67.48 and saved $208.65.  I bought a lot of frozen food on clearance as well as about 20 packages of feminime items on clearance.  Great prices on both!

At CVS I spent $14.17 and saved $54.74.

At Dollar General I spent $3.30 and saved $13.00

So what I spent for the month was $309.96.  I saved  $364.54

I also cashed in for $25 in gift certificates to Amazon from  Swagbucks   (Very easy to earn, search engine and you can earn points to cash in for gift certificates.)

So far this year my totals are:

CVS:
spent:  $84.48   saved  $245.63

Walgreens:
spent:  $93.39  saved:  $261.75


I'm hoping to not have much spent at the grocery store in April because I did do a lot of shopping in March!