I just broke down our total food purchases from 5/29-7/2 and we were at a whopping $1,650+! That includes grocery and restaurant visits. I can’t believe after I’ve become a professional couponer, I am spending more than 3X my original food budget. It’s not like I’m pregnant and gag at certain foods and smells or that I can’t cook. I’m a mean Ina Garten wannbe. I just love eating out! No shopping, no prep, no cooking, no whiny kids claiming to “not be hungry,” no clean up, and no dishwasher to empty the next morning. I’m glad I did this, though, because I am getting back on track with budgeting!

Be careful those of you who fell into the same trick that, “if I use a coupon at a restaurant, I’m getting a great deal.” Nothing compares to the deal you can get if you eat at home. Period. I invite you to analyze your bank statements and really see just how much you are forking over to restaurants (no pun intended). Lets make eating out special again and not a crutch because “we don’t feel like cooking.”

Here we go…

Have you seen the commercials for Quibids.com? I have and I was skeptical to giving it a try because it seemed too good to be true. Who actually can win gaming systems, electronics and gift cards for pennies? Really? Well I am here to tell you that I have had enough success, that I HAD to post about it!

Quibids is a GENIUS idea because everyone wins and you can’t lose money (in my opinion). Basically you buy bids for $.60 each. Seems like a lot, huh? Well, it turns out it isn’t, when the items you win, sell for as little as $.01. Stay with me…

Here’s exactly what it looks like…

You pay $60 to buy a 100 bid package. Then you go see what’s up for auction. Say there is a $25 Shell Gas Station gift card for auction and no one has bid on it! You will see the clock ticking down and when it gets to one second, BID! That cost you one of your bids, and the price of the gift card is now $.01. Because you bid, the clock gets set back 20 seconds, 15 seconds, or 10 seconds (based on how long the auction has been going on). This gives another bidder a chance to keep the auction going. If you are the last bidder to bid when the clock hits 0, you win!

I immediately won a $50 Kohl’s gift card + 20 bids (for $.44) and a $25 Shell gift card + 20 bids (for $.28) in two auctions. Here’s the breakdown on return of investment.

-$60.00 for initial investment of 100 bid package
+$50.00 Kohls gift card I won
+12.00 (20 bids I won during this auction)
-$.44 for the cost of the Kohls gift card
-$2.00 shipping
(I already accounted for the loss of my bids in the initial investment at the top)

+$25.00 Shell gift card I won
+$12.00 (20 bids I won during this auction)
-$.28 for the cost of the Shell gift card
-$2.00 shipping

So after 20 bids, I’m already in the positive $34.28! Plus I still had 120 bids to use on other auctions. So even if I lost every other auction I participated in, I am still making money.

Here’s what I like about the company…they protect the bidders. After I won those gift cards, I got into a bidding war on an Xbox 360 Kinect for my kids and before I knew it, I had spent $144 in bids towards the thing and LOST. I lost because I hit the “bid” button a fraction of a second too late and it was OVER. The only reason I spent that much in bids, is because I was going out the next day to buy one at a retail store for full price anyway. I thought I’d give Quibids a try and see if I could get it for a deal. The system ended up selling for $45.00 — that’s less than 1/8 of the cost of retail (+ the amount spent in bids). Well, even though it was depressing that I didn’t win, Quibids offers the “buy now” option for anything you bid on. That means you get to apply the amount of money in bids you spent during the auction, towards the retail cost of the item. So I was able to apply that $144 towards the XBOX and just buy it through them for retail. I paid $15 in shipping and avoided tax, so I still got a better deal through them than getting it at a local store.

The irony is, I was on Quibids the next two days and saw the SAME SYSTEM go for $.75 and $1.74. Man I wish I had gotten into a better auction.

Here are my tips…ONLY bid on what you would buy ANYWAY in your normal life. I never would have gone after a big item, like an Xbox, if I wasn’t already in the market to buy one. Same goes for all electronics. If you are in the market for a new computer, t.v. or game system, Quibids is a no brainer. At worst, you’ll buy it for retail, pay shipping, and still pay less than buying at a local store, because you avoid paying tax. At best you will get A RIDICULOUS DEAL that no one will believe. I also only went after gift cards to places I shop frequently and/or that I can combine with coupons (like CVS).

Also, only bid with 1-2 seconds left on the clock.

Only bid during the times there are LOTS of items up for auction and most people are working. This is usually 1-5 p.m. EST Monday-Friday

I think Quibids gives people an amazing opportunity to get killer deals without ripping you off.

Head HERE to make an account and start getting the deals!

I must sincerely apologize for my absence on my website. I feel so guilty for not keeping up with the deals. Even though they aren’t as good as they used to be, there have been post-worthy ones. Anyway, here is my explanation…

I am a working model and actress and that means I don’t have an exact work schedule. I work when jobs, auditions and castings come in. I have recently been blessed with a lot of work as I am now the spokesmodel for RoomStays.com. This has flooded my schedule weekly and I fly out this weekend to film more with them.  That doesn’t limit the work I can get, so I still do other jobs and go on castings and auditions weekly. Today, for example, I am driving to Cincinnati for a casting for a national bank commercial.

Not only have I been working, but it’s baseball season in our home and two of our boys are on teams with completely different schedules. Add in the fact that I have a toddler and a baby and you have one busy lady. I am 100 mph every day. For the few moments I’m not running around going crazy, I MUST prioritize my time and attention to my kids and husband and our ongoing back yard project (almost DONE). The dust will settle soon and I will be back to posting much more frequently.

Thank you for your patience and understanding! Keep couponing!

Check out my latest work HERE

Up&Up Baby Wash $1.52
-$1/1 Up&Up Baby Skin or Hair Care Item
= $.52

Revlon Nail Clippers $1.97
-$2/1 Revlon Tool Target Coupon
= Free!

Up&Up Ibuprofen 24 ct $.99
-$1/1 Up&Up Pain Relief Item Target Coupon 
= Free

Buy (2) Up&Up boxed diapers $13.99 = $27.98
-$2/2 Up&Up 23 ct+ boxed diapers printable coupon
Pay $25.98 get $5.00 gift card
= $20.98 or $10.49 each. That’s less than $.13 per diaper (size 4) which means a 4-month stock up price!

*If you use your Target RED debit card or if you need to burn any $5.00 gift cards, your scenarios will be even better!

I haven’t been posting anything lately because my husband and I are in beautiful Key West, FL! We got here on Tuesday morning and are flying back on Sunday. We are enjoying ourselves beyond measure and are gearing up for our friend’s beach wedding tonight. I’ll post pictures of our trip when I get home!

Buy (5) Oscar Mayer Selects Lunch Meat $2.99 = $14.95
- $5.00 instant savings
- (5) $1/1 Oscar Mayer Selects Cold Cuts from the 4/15 SS
OR  $1/1 Oscar Mayer Selects Printable coupons
Pay $4.95 for 5 or $.99 each!

Buy (5) Oscar Mayer Bacon

Head HERE to print a $5 off $35 Walgreens coupon.

Once there, click on START, then click GO TO APP. You’ll be asked a series of questions, after you answer be sure to click on REDEEM and enter your contact information. It states that your coupon will be e-mailed to you within 2 business days, but mine arrived in my inbox within an hour.  You’ll have a few weeks to use your coupon!

It’s a limit 1 coupon per customer and is valid for one use only. The purchase amount of $35+ is calculated before taxes and after all manufacturer and Walgreens coupons BUT some readers have had success redeeming this coupon before scanning any coupons. So be sure to hand this coupon over FIRST.

Bought (2) Charmin Basic 12 Double Rolls $5.97 (on sale this week) = $11.94
Bought (2) Gillette Custom Plus 3 Disposable Razors 4 pack $6.29 = $12.58
Bought Pampers Wipes 72 ct $2.99
Bought Febreze Car Freshener $2.99
($30+ worth of P&G items – so will get the $10 OYNP&GO CRT coupon)
Bought (2) Glad Force Flex Trash Bags $7.99 = $15.98
($15+ Glad items – so will get the $5 OYNO catalina coupon)
Bought (2) Pop-Tarts 8 ct $2.00 (on sale this week) = $4.00
Bought Chips Ahoy! Chewy $2.00
Total – $52.48
(Bought $50+ merchandise – so will get a $5.00 gift card)

-Free Chips Ahoy! wyb $25+ in-ad coupon (-$2.00)
-$4.97 Charmin Basic 12 Double Rolls in-ad coupon (-$2.00)
- (2) $.25/1 Charmin Product 4/29 P&G  (both doubled -$1.00)
- $.75/1 Pampers Wipes printable coupon (doubled -$1.50)
- $1/1 Febreze Car Freshener 4/29 P&G (doubled -$2.00)
- $1/2 Pop-Tarts printable coupon (doubled -$2.00)
- B1G1 Free Gillette Custom Plus 3 disposable razors 4/15 RP (-$6.29)
- (2) $1.85/1 Glad Trash Bags printable coupon  (-$3.70)
- $10/$10 P&G coupon earned last week
-$12.25 in SYWR points
Paid $9.74 out of pocket got $5.00 gift card, $5 OYNO coupon, and $10 OYNP&GO coupon
= $10.26 money maker!