Brother, can you spare a snail?

February 8th, 2011 at 01:52 am

I'm having an algae explosion in my fish tank. All I want is one of those tiny, simple snails that goldfish do not find interesting or delicious.

Petland refused to sell me one. The little guys were all over the tanks. But they were like "what those stupid things? you don't want that."

Um yes, I do. They tried to sell me a big mystery snail for $3.95. Um no. Goldfish eat their eyes off and they die horrible deaths. Not on my watch.

My hubby thinks it's ironic that no one wants to give us or sell us a snail, considering our last tank was riddled with them. They do a great job on the algae. I'll guess try another store this weekend.

***Why am I broke? Oh, it's Feb.***

This has been a huge money out week. We paid homeowners insurance, car note, $300 deposit for kid 1's 2011-2012 preschool tuition, credit card bills, regular preschool tuition, 529 plan debits, electric bill. The list goes on.

I had to take money out of savings to cover it all. It's always depressing, but it's always the same this time of year. You'd think I would expect it by now. From January 1 to the end of February is always tough, because we have so many big bills due.

Then, like magic, we manage to tread water and then get ahead again come March.

*** Coupon experiment***
In coupon news, I did take mjrube's advice and bought the Renpure Organix shampoo at Walgreens. They are having an unadvertised BOGO sale, plus each item has a hang tag saying "Try Me Free" for a rebate of the total purchase price.

So, fingers crossed. I paid $6.99 retail price for one, got one free, and sent in the rebate card for the $6.99. We'll see if it works. I'm skeptical, but a lot of the coupon sites swear by this kind of thing.

I just hope it's accepted. It would officially be my first free shampoo!!

I am finally getting the hang of it. I only look at couponmom.com. The funny thing is now that I have been doing this for a while, I can spot the errors. Like coupon values they forgot to double, ergo a better deal than the site leads you to believe. And, I'm finally starting to catch deals.

I.e. Target has a $2 off store coupon, plus there is a $2 manf. coupon in the 2.6 Sunday insert for any Garnier face product. I smell something for maybe cheap or free. I plan to check it out this week.

***Couponing for a cause***

Now that I am getting the hang of getting things for free with sales/coupons, I printed out a list of wants and needs for the two main family shelters here. I put them in my purse. If I find a great deal, I will put it in a box to donate to the family shelter.

The idea of homeless babies and toddlers drives me crazy. It may not be much, but I will do as much as I can.

Posted in Uncategorized | 20 Comments »

20 Responses to “Brother, can you spare a snail?”

FrugalTexan75 Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 02:03 am 1297130627
1297130627

Good for you!

I hope you get what you're wanting for your fish tank.
ThriftoRama Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 02:20 am 1297131624
1297131624

I'm almost to the point of shoplifting one off the live plant display!!
mjrube94 Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 02:37 am 1297132660
1297132660

Way to go thrift! Two free shampoos...impressive. Keep track of the rebate (copies if you can, along with the exact address, expiration date etc). Not only does this help you track it and make sure you get back what you're expecting, but you can also track it if they come out with another rebate later in the year, you'll know if you already took advantage of it or not.
ThriftoRama Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 02:59 am 1297133998
1297133998

Well, I'm reluctant to say it's free until the rebate arrives. Until then, I paid $3.50 a pop!Oh well, at least it was BOGO, right?
mjrube94 Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 03:23 am 1297135392
1297135392

If you're interested, I also have extra rebate forms for a free Snapple 6-pack (plus $1 coupon, making it a money maker), and a free Pedia Sure 6-pack (not sure how old your kids are, or if they'd use it). Let me know if you want them and I'll mail them off to you...
ThriftoRama Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 03:34 am 1297136074
1297136074

We would use the Pediasure, but not the snapple. If it's worth the price of a stamp to you, I'd love to have it! Babies are 2.10 (months) and 1.3!
Astere Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 09:37 am 1297157869
1297157869

You could try buying a live plant from a heavily snail populated tank. Snails will usually hitch a ride on the plant.
mamas debt time out Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 01:55 pm 1297173334
1297173334

Wow, February is when it always hits for us too. You are doing awesome with the coupons. I like asters idea of buying a plant with a snail on it.
ThriftoRama Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 02:56 pm 1297176996
1297176996

I may do the plant angle. That's how we got our last snails and they worked out wonderfully. I haven't done that yet, as the only store that sells them is a decent hike away. I tried to hit the close ones first!
HouseHopeful Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 03:09 pm 1297177790
1297177790

The snails work great! If the chain pet places won't give you one, you should see if you have any small business fish or pet stores around. They would be more likely to give you one (or a few)
WISEWOMAN Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 05:22 pm 1297185739
1297185739

Have you tried a plecostomus for your fish tank? It's also an algae eater.
ThriftoRama Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 05:32 pm 1297186340
1297186340

I've heard plecos sometimes try to eat the slime coating off of goldfish, which can hurt them. I don't want to take any chances.
mjrube94 Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 06:18 pm 1297189109
1297189109

Thrift, here's the link to the PediaSure rebate form. Go to the Pediasure website, FAQ tab, and scroll to the bottom. If you sign up for their newsletter you can get a $3 off coupon, making this a $3 moneymaker!

http://pediasure.com/pediasure-rebate
Looking Forward Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 06:38 pm 1297190285
1297190285

I thought of you "shoplifting" a snail too while I was reading your post! LOL! It seems silly the pet store won't give or sell you one.

Best of luck with all your couponing.
ThriftoRama Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 06:53 pm 1297191226
1297191226

Well, Petland isn't the best pet store.
crazyliblady Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 07:37 pm 1297193827
1297193827

How about a sucker fish?

www dot greataquarium dot com
ThriftoRama Says:
February 8th, 2011 at 08:28 pm 1297196910
1297196910

I'm not sure they can live in an unheated tank. I also have heard they are more sensitive than goldfish and require more care. I'm new to this aquarium thing. I don't want to press my luck!
My English Castle Says:
February 9th, 2011 at 03:07 am 1297220847
1297220847

Making a quick getaway with the snail?! It's too funny.
I stopped into Walgreen's (Al Green's at our house) to use my Register rewards today on greeting cards and got the free hand sanitizer. We've got friends with a son on chemo, and we don't use hand sanitizer, but I bet they'd like it.
LittleMsMom Says:
February 9th, 2011 at 02:34 pm 1297262049
1297262049

Your Post reminded me that I mailed away for that rebate on the shampoo also.

It said mail within 4 weeks of purchase. I bought it on Thanksgiving or black friday and Just made the mail in time limit. So I just passed my 6 week processing period. Or was it 8-10. Humm either way my rebate should be here soon.

That rebate is going to be my first snowflake into my Mortgage Emergency Fund.

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Thrift-o-rama

Brother, can you spare a snail?

20 Responses to “Brother, can you spare a snail?”

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