Get a Jumpstart on Christmas Shopping with a $50 Gift Card Thrifty Momma Ramblings Giveaway!

Christmas is right around the corner so Thrifty Momma Ramblings is hosting a $50 gift card giveaway for one lucky reader to get a jumpstart on Christmas shopping! You can be totally selfish and use it for yourself if you choose. I will post the list of stores you can choose from for your gift card. The rules are super easy and this contest will end on Sunday, November 6th at 11:59 PM CST. So basically midnight. The winner will be announced on the blog the following day and I use Random.org to pull the lucky winner by number.

Giveaway Rules:
To enter this drawing all you have to do is leave a comment about how you would spend the $50 gift card if you won. As I said, you could use it on holiday shopping, regift to someone else, or use it on yourself. No anonymous posters please. You don't have to have a blog but leave your name at least in the comment. All anonymous poster comments will be deleted. I hope you enjoy the giveaway. This giveaway is only open to United States (US) Residents! Only one entry per comment, but and I have included a a couple of extra ways to earn more entries.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
2 Extra Entriess- Blog about this drawing on your blog linking back to this post. Leave me a comment with the link that I can follow and see it.
1 Extra Entry- Subscribe to my email list located at the top right hand side below header.
1 Extra Entry- Retweet this contest or follow me on Twitter (You can do both but you only get credit for one.)
1 Extra Entry- Follow my page on Facebook or Share on your wall (You can do both but you only get credit for one.)

Stop reading already and leave your comment for your chance to get a jumpstart on Christmas shopping with a $50 to one of the following stores of your choice. Thanks so much to all my readers. I wouldn't have much of a blog without you guys. Good luck!

$50 Gift Card List:
1) Wal-Mart
2) Target
3) Amazon (online)
4) CVS
5) Walgreen's
6) Best Buy
7) Rite-Aid
8) Itunes

The Free Christmas Spending Challenge

So you are probably wondering what is a free Christmas spending challenge. It's a challenge that I'm doing this year to pay for Christmas with our pocket change and the things I get for free. This includes gift certificates I redeem from My Points and other reward programs. I am also using the change we've saved in a jar. I normally use this money to pay for presents for our family like DVD movies and games. This year we are on a tight budget like most people so I decided to spend less. I can still give nice and thoughtful gifts without spending a fortune.

I give gifts to around 30 people which includes my family, hubby's, teachers, mail lady, and such. My hubby and I aren't exchanging any presents this year unless I can score some great deals on DVD movies and/or games, but I'm not holding my breath. I also buy items for gift baskets that I get for free or almost free. I get lots of compliments on my gift baskets from my friends and family. I have Tupperware left from in my inventory that I will give as gifts. I do plan on making homemade treats this year like chocolate covered mint patties, peanut butter balls and fudge.

I already have several gift certificates saved up. I redeemed 2 $10 Subway gift cards and a $10 Chili from My Coke Rewards. I just ordered another $10 Chili gc so I plan on giving those 2 to a couple. I'm hoping to get the Snow White blu-ray DVD combo pack that will be on sale at Wal-Mart on Tuesday for $9.96 plus tax after I use the $10 off coupon I printed. That will make another wonderful gift. I also got stainless steel water bottles on clearance. I just requested a $50 check from my bank since I use a free checking rewards program. I am getting a $25 CVS gc from My Points which I will use to help pay for the great deals I'm getting. I also did the CVS Monsters vs Aliens deal this past week. I paid $6 for that movie which is a great stocking stuffer for my son. My son's Christmas and Birthday is already paid for with all those Bionicle Legos we scored last October so click here to read about that great deal. I'm glad we saved them so that is a huge help to our Christmas budget. I found a couple more gifts I had bought but didn't give them last year. I have a bad habit of forgetting what I buy people earlier in the year, and then buy something else when it gets closer to Christmas. I will report back and update my Christmas spending challenge especially when it gets closer to Christmas.

My Freebies for the Week

I went yesterday to do my weekly big 3 shopping. Yep each week I hit Rite-Aid, Walgreens, and CVS to get the weekly deals.

First Stop- Rite-Aid:
1 Crest Whitening w/ Scope [$3.19] -75 cent coupon

Total- $2.65 w/ tax
I'm getting $3.19 back with rebate so free and made a 54 cent profit!

Second Stop- Walgreens:
Cheerios [$1.99] -$1 coupon (printable)
Pert Plus [$3.79] -$2 coupon

Total- $3.00 w/ tax
I'm getting $3.79 back from Walgreens FAR so I made a $2.00 profit. If you have that TMF rebate you can get even more. I already did one.

Final Stop- CVS:
2 Glade Air Fresheners [$1.76] -88 cents BOGO coupon
2 Puff Tissues [$1.76] -50 cent coupons (2x 25cent)
4 Crest Whitening Toothpaste [$7.96] -$4 ECB & -$2 coupons (2x $1)
Dove SkinVitalizer [$9.99] -$3 ECB & -$3.50 coupon
6 L'Oreal Vive Shampoo [$20] -$9.99 x3 BOGO coupons -$6 coupons (6x $1)
Colossal Express Mascara [$4.99] -$2 ECB -$1 coupon
Infusium Family Size Shampoo [$5.99] -$3 coupon
2 Intuition Razors [$7.98 ($3.99 raincheck)] -$6 coupons ($3x 2)

Total- $14.65 w/ tax
I also had a $5/30 CVS receipt coupon I used. None of the items were free but they were very cheap after coupons and ECB's. I used all my ECB's this trip since I wanted the lowest out of pocket cost.

Today's Shopping Trip

I went shopping today to grab all the deals for this week. I first went to Rite-Aid and bought the Garnier Shine and had a $1 off coupon. So total was $3.25 and I am getting back $3.99 with rebate.

Then I went to Walgreens and bought the Airwick Flameless Candle and Glade Scent Candle. I paid $6.46 with tax and I'm getting back $4 in rebates so total is $2.46 for both items. That was 99 cents each. I also bought 3 Glade refill candles for $2.45 after rebate and coupon. They had 2 of them on clearance for $1 and I got one free with that coupon. I like to give the Trio candles as presents to the lady that delivers my mail and such.

I went to CVS and got the following:
2 Trident gum
2 Colgate Total toothpaste
4 Herbal Essence Shampoos (they have one that I can't get anywhere else)
2 Bic Soleil Razors
1 Schick Intuition Razor (have rain check from last sale)

I used $15.74 in coupons and 9.79 in ECB's so grand total was $6.42! I spent $16.13 total on everything and I'm getting $7.99 back in rebates for a grand grand total of $8.14 for all of it! The razors are going to be part of those Christmas gift bags. I also had to do some Wal-Mart shopping and bought 5 Skintimate Shaving creams that were $1.47 each and after $1 coupons I got them for $2.54 with tax. Those will also go in the gift bags. I missed that sale when they were $1.74 each and I think that was Walgreens. I don't know how I missed it, but this is still good. My nieces love the smaller ones to use when they sleep at a friend's house.

Rite-Aid Rebates

I must say that I love doing the Rite-Aid rebates. My only real disappointment is that my store rarely has the advertised items in stock so I can't always get the free items. I did get my check for July today and I requested it the last week of July. It was shipped on the 4th of this month so that is very fast processing. I wished Walgreens would implement an online rebate redemption system like RA. My check was for $29.32! I spent $32.xx this past week on the great FAR items. I have $27.95 pending already for the month. I saved an extra $12 in coupons. I got a free can of Old Spice shaving cream since the razors had a peelie. That was a nice freebie I wasn't expecting.

Thanks to 1stopmom for letting me know that I can now enter my receipts online to Walgreens. I knew there were testing this, in select areas, but no clue it was open for everyone. I was able to put in one yesterday and saved it. I will report back when I'm ready to fully submit it. Thanks again my readers. You guys rock!

Second Week of July- More Great Shopping!

This has already been another great week of shopping all the great sales! I mainly shop the drug stores each week. I also snagged an awesome deal at Wal-Mart with a set of Speed Racer twin sheets. They weren't marked but rang up at $7! I got the last set at my store. I also got the matching comforter for $18 so a total of $25 for bedding is fantastic. Here are my deals for today.

Rite-Aid I spent $23.16 and am getting back $17 in rebates so I spent $6.16 for all this (once I get my check).

2 Herbal Essence Shampoos
1 Gilette Clinical Deodorant
1 Infusium Shampoo
1 Pro-Health Toothpaste and Mouthwash
1 Venus Razor

Then we went to CVS and got the following:

4 Bic Soliel Razors & Cartridge Refills (8 $4 coupons)
2 Olay Ribbons Body Wash (2 $2 coupons)
1 Olay Face Wash ($1 coupon)
1 Olay Moisturizer ($1 coupon)
2 Febreeze Fabric Spray (2 $1 coupons)
3 Febreeze Air Effects (2 free) & 50 cent coupon
1 Febreeze Candle ($1 coupon)
1 Febreeze Oil Warmer (got free with a coupon I requested a couple of months ago)

I spent almost $20 with tax for all of it and I still have $12 in ECB's to use. The most expensive stuff was the Febreeze and Olay. I got the face wash and moisturizer for me and the body wash will also go in the gift baskets. The bottles were huge and my sil will love them.

Picture Of My CVS Deals

Here is a picture of all the stuff I got for $15. I forgot to take one and I had it all lined up for hubby to see when he got home. He was impressed how little I paid for all of it. Over half of it was for stuff to put in my gift baskets.

First Week of July- Great Shopping Day!

I already know I've had a post titled I love CVS but I really do love that store! I did most of the monthly deals and some of the weekly ones today. I saved a lot of money and am keeping a few items to put in my gift baskets I make for Christmas. I still need to get the Bic Soliel Razors monthly deal but my coupons haven't come in yet. They are well stocked at the moment so hoping that lasts. I also got some stuff at Rite-Aid today. I did 3 transactions at CVS.

Rite-Aid
1 Degree Clinical Deodorant- $6.99
2 RA boxes of Dryer Sheets (B1G1F) $3.19
1 Pert Plus (25% more bottle)- $2.50
1 Pert Plus Botanical- $2.50
1 Gum- 99 cents
1 Softsoap- $2.99

Coupons:
$1 Softsoap
$2 Pert Plus
$3 Pert Plus
$2 Degree
Total $8 in coupons

Grand Total with tax- $12.79 and I'm getting back $6 in Rebates from RA and $2.50 TMF Pert Plus Rebate so then grand total is $4.29! Not too shabby and I really needed dryer sheets and these were the huge 100 count ones! I would have bought more but these were the last 2 in the store. They were also out of the Dove Clinical and Oxy Freebies. Oh well.

Then I headed to CVS for the deals. I won't post them like above since it's too many to list but I will say I got the Free Liners, Tampons, 6 of the Sure Deodorants, 8 Softsoap bottles (B1G1F), 2 Coppertone Baby Sticks, Swiffer Duster and Refill, Right Guard Clinical Deo, and Vaseline Lotion. I got all of these items for $15! I am getting back a $2.89 rebate for the Sure. The total after the rebate for $12.11 and I have almost $23.49 in ECB's. I still need the Bic razors/refills and the CVS brand Face Wipes which I have a $2 beauty coupon to print. The coupon is too huge so I need to work on that later today. Once I get my rebates back then I spent less than $20 for all this stuff. I mostly spent money on the Softsoap body washes but these make great additions to my gift baskets. I spend around $5 per person and I give 6 of these away each year. I usually donate the extras to either the women's shelter or my Church.

I could have gotten my $12 total down to under $2 if I had used another $10 ECB but I wasn't thinking. I am still proud of how I did even with the extra $10 upfront. I still have it but just in the form on an ECB but I really like rolling the old ones into new ones. Share your totals and deals. I would love to hear about them.