Digital Coupons from DG = Free Stuff

Greetings fellow cheapskates! It is a nice Monday evening here on Ridgewood Circle, made even nicer by the fact that I snagged the following items at one of the MANY (aren't they everywhere these days?!?) local Dollar General stores for only 50 cents!

Apparently, Dollar General began offering DG Digital Coupons about a month ago, but I somehow just discovered it today. Anyway, if you go RIGHT HERE super quickly and sign up using a very simple form, you will have loaded a digital coupon to your account good for $2.00 off any purchase of $2.01 or more. It says it is good until 10-3-14. Now, I could probably have found something for a quarter or less, but I just went ahead and picked up these pork and beans since they were only 50 cents and right next to the noodles. You can use the coupon for whatever you want as long as the pre-tax total is $2.01 or more. They have that Dollar Aisle that would make the choice easy, and you could pick up a candy bar or a pack of gum to bring the total where it needs to be. Ideas: 2 of the 6-packs of Dollar General's store brand TP, 2 bottles of Awesome brand laundry detergent for $1.00 each (it really does work!!) or a couple bottles of shampoo. It really doesn't matter - - it's FREE!

Unlike other digital programs associated with a card (like Kroger or Food City), this is strictly tied to a phone number. I have read the Terms and Conditions, and cannot find anything about them prohibiting more than one account per household, so I signed Prentice up as well. When you redeem coupons, you tap the little icon and enter the phone number with which you registered into the keypad at the register (the same one you use to swipe your debit/credit card). It automatically deducts the amount. The employees in the store at which I shopped seemed totally unaware of anything and everything I was talking about, so I did have to take a few seconds to explain DG Digital Coupons.

Now, go forth and get freebies!

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous week from our house to yours!

Dollar Tree Medications That REALLY WORK!!

First, let me begin by saying that I am in no way affiliated with Dollar Tree, nor are they compensating me to write a review of their products. Now that that's out of the way, I would like to let you know about my positive experiences with a couple of different products they offer in their "medicine aisle"! Medication from the Dollar Tree?!?!? Some may wrinkle their noses at the very idea of entrusting their health and well-being to a bargain basement pharmaceutical offering from such an establishment. Not I... And, yes. I DO have health insurance provided by my employer. But who wants to take time out to make an appointment with the doctor, pay a co-payment and possibly be referred to a specialist (such as an allergist) for additional tests, then shell out even more for a prescription? I don't know about you, but I have better things to do with my money and time IF the issue is straightforward. If one of us is really ill, I will see the appropriate medical professional. However, I think we all dabble in the practice of medicine a little bit, diagnosing ourselves and our families here and there. I mean, that's what the internet is for, right?

Anyway, back to my little issues. My allergy symptoms have been driving me insane all summer: itchy, yucky red eyes, headaches, coughing, "junky" stuff all throughout my upper respiratory system and upper quadrants of my lungs. In addition, it was beginning to get to the point that I was having to limit any spicy (and yummy and flavorful) foods as well as cut off eating by 6 or 7 p.m. so I wouldn't have miserable heartburn that antacid chews wouldn't touch. So, basically, there are two problems here: allergies and acid reflux. While in Dollar Tree, I saw products claiming to address both issues, so I thought, "Why not? They're just a dollar, after all." I must say, I am pleased with both!

Pictured below is Assured All-Day Allergy Relief tablets, 14 count. Here is the product description from dollartree.com: Get relief from hay fever and other upper-respiratory allergies! All-day relief tablets pack a punch against allergies with 10 mg of the antihistamine Cetirizine HCI. Provide temporary relief from  runny nose, sneezing, itchy nose or throat, and itchy, watery eyes. Well, folks, the claim held true for me. I have had great relief from my symptoms since last week, and have felt better than I have in months regarding my allergy symptoms.  With customer ratings on the website of 4.8 out of 5 stars, others agree! At $1.00 a box and comparable to Zyrtec, this amounts to a bit over $2 for an entire month's supply!

From dollartree.com

I chose Assured Original Strength Heartburn Relief Tablets, 12 count for my acid reflux. Let me tell you - I was really "feelin' the burn" at night more than ever before. Thinking I would need something stronger, I was skeptical that this would relieve my symptoms. I was wrong! This medication works like a charm. I take it along with the allergy relief tablet before bed, and there have been no symptoms ar all since I began taking them. The product description from dollartree.com reads: Don’t let heartburn keep you from the party! Prevent heartburn by taking one pill an hour before a meal or use it to relieve symptoms when heartburn takes you by surprise. Each tablets includes 10mg. of Famotidine to reduce acid and ease the symptoms of sour stomach or acid reflux. Take time to read the reviews on the site if you visit it. Out of all 15 reviews, it has 4.9 out of 5 stars. This medication is comparable to Pepcid AC, and at 12 pills for a dollar, a month's supply is right under $3.

From dollartree.com

Running to the doctor constantly costs time and money that many people simply do not have in excess. Next time you have the sniffles or any other simple illness, why not try alternatives such as a dollar store? Now, in no way would I suggest taking chances - - especially on your children's health, so if serious illness or emergency is suspected, please seek appropriate care and assistance from a medical professional.

From our house to yours, God bless you and have a fun, frugal, fabulous day!

Faux Carriage Garage Door - Cheap DIY

Wow. I haven't blogged since March......sorry about that. Anyhow, I'm back to post about my "new" garage door! The front of our home has been a perplexing thing to me since we bought the house 7 1/2 years ago. I love everything about my home EXCEPT for the huge garage door that overtakes the whole front and is the first thing you see when you pull into the driveway or drive down the street. I thought of painting it a different color, I toyed with the idea of making it look like wood with this faux paint/stain treatment I had seen in various places, all the while knowing none of it would turn out the way I really wanted it to. Then, I happened upon some pictures somewhere on the internet while strolling around. Someone had put some "carriage" garage door hardware on their door and had painted fake windows using gloss black spray paint. Sppppprrraaaaaaaaaayyy paaaaaaainttt.........................love it! Right up my alley, indeed.

Here is the "before" picture of my house and the gargantuan garage door. Nothing but garage, huh?

Okay, so spray paint can't shrink the size of the door, but it sure made it nicer on the eyes, in my opinion. Here is the "after".

Since I hadn't thought about the fact that I might blog on this - - expecially seeing as how I hadn't blogged in months on end, I failed to take step by step pics. Anyway, here is what I/we did:

1. Caught husband gone (I like to do my thinkin' and cipherin' alone and independently until I come up with a plan I know will work) and went to the back corner of the backyard to find a reasonably straight fence board leftover from the fence around the perimeter of the yard. Eyeballed it to make sure it would be long enough to get four "hinges", two for each side.
2. Cut a template for the hinges from a dog food box (that's two things saved from the trash - - box and old fence board). I just cut one side from the box, folded it in half and went to cuttin' with the scissors. Here's what came out:

3. Traced four hinges onto the board with an ink pen and commenced to cutting, using a jigsaw. I used some spring clamps to secure the board to my work table while cutting. 

4. Sanded the rough edges and spray painted! Hubby is involved by this point, and thinks the "hardware" I created looks really nice. I think he *may* have doubted the project originally. Please note that there are many, many hardware kits available at any major home improvement store or online, but I didn't want to pay good money for one if I didn't have to. As a matter of fact, there is still a kit in my cart on Amazon waiting to be removed. It was only like $20, but making my own was very satisfying and CHEAP!!!

Alright, that's the hinges, but what about the handles? I had some leftover cabinet door handles from our recent camper re-do, so I used those. However......they didn't look substantial enough on their own, so I cut a couple of rectangular sections from the fence board and mounted the handles to them prior to spray painting.

What about the windows? I used some good old blue painter's tape to mask off the top row of rectangles, along with windowpanes. Again, I didn't take any pictures during the process, but I got my idea for the whole project from HERE at House to Home Blog. This is an "in progress" photo of THEIR house, but is exactly how I did mine:

To prevent overspray, I cut up plastic grocery bags and taped them around the "windows" prior to painting. I didn't remove the tape and bags until the next morning to make sure it was all dry.

Here is my house again, and a closer look at our handiwork:

I just noticed another DIY project on the "after" picture that wasn't in the "before" picture from several months earlier: shutters. These were also cut from leftover fence panels and painted barn red with leftover paint from a neighbor. Cheap and free are great!!!

God bless you and have a fun and frugal week, from our house to yours!