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If you’re looking for a way to earn some extra cash, you may want to consider joining this awesome survey company, Toluna!

Toluna is a global site for everything related to surveys, polls and opinions! When you become a Toluna community member you enjoy the following benefits:

• Earn points worth $1 to $5 each time you qualify for and complete a survey!
• You’ll also earn for the polls and opinion topics you create!
• Each time you participate in or complete a survey you’ll be entered into a monthly $4500 prize draw!

Once you sign up, you can take several surveys a day which take about 5-30 minutes each. You will make an average of $1.00-$3.00 per survey, but occasionally you’ll receive one that pays as much as $5.00 or more. Plus, from time to time you’ll be offered to test out full size products!

From what I hear, this seems to be one the better survey companies to join. Get started here.

The October 2nd Red Plum insert will have a coupon for $0.75/1 Snuggle liquid or dryer sheets coupon with no size restriction! Snuggle Dryer Sheets are only $1.00 at Dollar General which makes for a great deal! Check to make sure your paper has them before buying several!

Deal Idea:
Snuggle Dryer Sheets (20 ct) – $1.00
Use $0.75/1 Snuggle Fabric Softener Liquid or Dryer Sheet from 10/2 RP  (exp 11/13)
Final cost is $0.25!

(thanks Saving Every Day!)

Swagbucks (one of the easiest ways to earn gift cards!) has just released a new Swagcode on the Swagbucks blog here worth 8 Swagbucks! Hurry, code expires at 3:00 PM (EST)!

• Just look for the swagcode at the end of this blog post
• Copy (Ctrl C) the code
• Go to Swagbucks homepage
• Paste (Ctrl V) the code in the box that says “Enter Your Swag Code” (right hand side under your Account Summary).
• Click “Gimme” and you should see the amount added to your account total

New to Swagbucks? Just sign up for Swagbucks. New members get 30 points just for signing up, plus enter code BIGTIMEBUCKS and get an additional 70 points! That is 100 FREE points for new signups!

Make Swagbucks your home page so you always use it for your searches. Then, start searching! You usually earn 10 or 20 swagbucks every few searches. Redeem your swagbucks for gift cards or put the money in your paypal account! You only need 450 swagbucks (you can easily get that within the first 2 weeks) to earn a $5 Amazon card or 1300 swagbucks for a $5 Starbucks card…and they add up quickly! Seriously, if you’re not using Swagbucks, you’re missing out on FREE money! There’s no obligation and no strings attached. I even downloaded the toolbar and have not had ANY issues. It’s just too easy!

Get started here.

Woohoo!! Starting Today (9/29) Giant Eagle has Brawny Paper Towel (Big Roll) on sale for $1.00!

Deal idea:
Brawny Paper Towel Big Roll – $1.00
Use $0.50/1 Brawny Paper Towel from 9/28 SS (exp 12/31) (Regional)
Final cost is FREE!

Note: Since this is such a great sale if they are out of stock make sure you get a Rain Check! You should have plenty of time to redeem this offer since the coupon doesn’t expire until the end of the year!

(thanks The Coupon High!)

Tanga is currently offering a 1-Year Subscription to Disney Family Fun Magazine for ONLY $3.50 when you use promo code DISNEY at checkout. You can buy up to a 3-year subscription at this price, and you get 10 issues per year.

Click HERE to get this offer

Extreme Couponing on TLC is an extremely entertaining show, but paints an unrealistic picture of couponing for the average person. There I said it. I must admit that when the show first started, I loved watching the numbers on the cash register go from thousands to pennies. It really is great entertainment. But that’s all it is. Entertainment. Because then I started paying attention to what these people were actually buying. Okay. We have 100 bottles of Propel. Yes, I got those free that week too. I just didn’t order 100 coupons. We have a family that consists of 2 1/2 people. We don’t need 100 bottles of propel. Okay, then they got razors. Yep, those are FREE at Walmart all the time. I have a nice pile of them myself and have given away a ton as well. What’s next? Oh, the lovely Chinese Noodle Dinner – those are terribly unhealthy, not too mention not that great tasting. I used the coupons from my 4-5 newspapers I get weekly to buy my fair share and gave them to my brother in law. Are you getting my point here? We all can Extreme Coupon the way they do on the show, but why would you want to? Seriously, if a camera crew followed me around at the grocery store, nobody would watch. It’s quite boring. Sure, I’ve gone to the store and saved 70% off my bill with my coupons. Did I buy anything I needed to feed my family for the week? No. A typical grocery store trip consists of me saving around 30%. We buy organic milk (not cheap!), fresh produce, meat and other items that I just don’t always have a coupon for (ahem, that bottle of wine in my cart). With that being said, I save a ton of money on items like deodorant, body wash, toothpaste, floss, razors, etc. that I can afford to splurge on these other items at the grocery store. Not too exciting for a TV show, but it’s what works for my small family.

Here is a picture of my realistic “stockpile”…if you can even call it that. I have a nice stock of pads, liner, body wash, shampoo/conditioner, razors and floss up the wazoo, and a few other random items that we use. My food stockpile consists of whatever I can fit in the pantry in my kitchen. My cleaning supplies are disbursed throughout my laundry room, kitchen and 2 bathrooms. And that’s about it. VERY Un-Extreme! Do I save a ton of money with coupons? Of course! Don’t get me wrong…coupons are AWESOME and your key to managing a successful budget.  You just can’t expect to get everything in your cart for free and expect to live on that.

Ways to Coupon the Un-Extreme way:

1.) Buy 4 newspapers each week. That way if something a great price or FREE with your coupon, you get 4 of them for free as opposed to just one. If it’s a product that you typically buy like diapers or cat food, for example…then consider ordering extra coupons that week. This is not extreme if it’s truly going to impact your weekly budget.

2.) Use your coupons ethically and legally. Is getting something free because you used an expired coupon or purchased a product clearly not permitted worth your integrity?

3.) Don’t expect to get an entire cart full of groceries for a dollar. It’s not realistic and will only make you feel like a failure when you cannot achieve this.

4.) Don’t clear the shelves. This is the perfect time to remember the golden rule. Take your share and no more. It’s common courtesy.

5.) Do start off small and stay small to avoid burn out. We’ve all done it. Bought 10 newspapers, clipped every coupon, organized, prepared, got a bunch of great deals…then “BURN OUT”. Just purchase what you need for your family or what you want to donate. Nobody needs a mini mart in their garage and you certainly don’t want to be featured on the next episode of Hoarders. 😉

Again, coupons are awesome and I think everyone should use them! What I wish is for everyone to coupon in an un-extreme way that saves you money without taking over your life.

Thoughts?