Karen Hellier

Freelance Writer, Coupon Lady, eBay Entrepreneur: Helping You Save Money and Work From Home

Latest Posts

Save Money on Christmas Gifts: Start Shopping on December 26th

December 26, 2017 2 Comments

Shopping Christmas Clearance Sales on December 26th Can Lead to Great Savings!

Learning By Example My mom was a professional shopper. Okay, well not really, but she seemed to be a professional shopper to me when I was growing up! Every Christmas morning, the tree was surrounded by piles of presents. mostly for my brother and I. And I was always amazed at the number of wonderful gifts my mom had managed to give us for Christmas, and yet money was tight. As I grew older, she shared her secret with me: she shopped the sales all year long and put the gifts away for the next December 25th. And she started on December 26th each year. I learned from the best and I do the same thing. So on the morning of December 26th each year, I get up early, put my Christmas red and green clothes on, and head out to the stores to go Christmas shopping!  Not only do I find fantastic sales of…
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Saving Money

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10 Inexpensive Birthday/Christmas Gifts Your Mother Will Love

December 21, 2017 0 Comments

Gifts for Mom don't have to be expensive

It’s almost Christmas, and maybe you have all of your Christmas shopping left to do. Or maybe you have most of your gifts done, but still haven’t found one for that very special woman on your list: your mother?! Well, today is your lucky day because I have created this list of great gifts any mother would love. And the best part is that these gifts are gifts from the heart and won’t cost you much money. This is a money saving blog after all! Because some of these gifts are a gift of service, you won’t actually be buying anything to wrap. But if you want some ideas to add to these gifts that your mom can unwrap, I have a list at the bottom of this post. Here’s your list of gifts your mother will love, not in any particular order: 1)Give Your Mother a Day Off:   …
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Saving Money

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Announcing the Winners of the November, 2017 Drawing

December 7, 2017 0 Comments

Prizes for the November,2017 blog drawing.

Hello Everyone! I am sure many of you are getting ready for Christmas…tis the season. I just wanted to make the announcement of the winners for the November drawing. The November winners are: 1st Prize Restaurant Gift Card: Karen Rhyne 2nd Prize CVS Gift Card: Kara Woods 3rd Prize Avon Surprise Box: Sue Schleif Congratulations to the winners and thanks to the rest of you who participated. The next drawing will be coming soon. I just want to mention that two out of the three winners had multiple entries because they shared on more than one social media site. So don’t forget, the more you share, the more chances you have to win a prize! People have been asking me why I give things away each month. Well, why not? I love getting free stuff and I am pretty sure all of you do as well. So it’s just an extra…
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Free Stuff, Monthly Contests

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The November Blog Drawing is Here

November 27, 2017 15 Comments

Sorry this is so late in the month but it’s time again for the drawing on my blog. I LOVE Christmas (I have even been known to have been called “Karen Christmas”) and to kick off the Christmas season, I am still having two prizes, but am also adding a third so there will be three drawing winners this month. November Drawing Details The entry period for this drawing is November 24th through November 30th. The winner will be announced on this blog on December 1st. Prizes: 1st – a $25.00 gift card to be used at any of the following restaurants: Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse Cheddars, Yard House, Bahama Breeze. 2nd – a $25.00 gift card to CVS 3rd – a  5″ by 8 ” surprise box filled with Avon items (of my choice) How to Enter the November Drawing If you aren’t a subscriber to my blog already, enter your email in…
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Monthly Contests

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Black Friday Sales at Rite Aid and CVS Offer Free Items!!!

November 23, 2017 0 Comments

Black Friday Sales Fliers at CVS and Rite Aid Offer Free Stuff

As promised, here is the list of free items you can get at the Black Friday sales at CVS and Rite Aid. Walgreens used to always participate in this, but are not doing it the same way this year. While you can get half off deals on some items at Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS were the only ones offering free items. If you aren’t familiar with these Black Friday sales, let me explain how they work. First, you need to either already have a store card for Rite Aid and CVS, or get one before you go shopping for Black Friday. The CVS Extra Bucks Rewards Program CVS has a program called Extra Bucks Rewards Program. When you buy certain items, that are advertised in their flyer with an Extra Bucks explanation near it, you will get some or all of the money you spend back in the form…
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Free Stuff, Saving Money

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If You Are Buying Gift Cards For Christmas Gifts, Don’t Miss These Deals

November 20, 2017 0 Comments

Store fliers with gift card deals

Giving gift cards for Christmas gifts is an easy option for that hard-to-please friend or relative, or for that person on your list that already has everything. In reading through the Sunday paper yesterday, I noticed a lot of deals on gift cards that will help you save money and I was so excited I just had to share these savings with you. After all, saving money is what this blog is all about! Maybe you don’t give gift cards for Christmas, BUT you can use some gift cards personally or with your family. You can also take advantage of these gift card deals and keep some extra money in your pocket! I also noticed some ways to earn extra gas points from gift cards that were not in the paper but I am including. Please watch the dates below so you can take full advantage of these offers without missing them: Dollar…
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Saving Money

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October Prize Winners

November 4, 2017 0 Comments

Hello Everyone! October Prize Winners I am happy to announce the winners for the October drawing. The winner of the $25 Walmart gift card is: Pam Day The winner of the Avon prize is: Moon Sebastian Congrats to both of you, and I will be holding a drawing every month so for the rest of you, stay tuned for the November prize information coming soon. I haven’t been very active because my husband and I were away but we are back and I have lots of exciting information to share with you this month. Especially since November is the month for Black Friday deals and the month before Christmas so I will be sharing money saving tips on both of those topics. A Free Sample Website Here’s a little tidbit though to wet your whistle before my next post. I will soon be writing a post about what I got…
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Monthly Contests

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Enter the October Drawing on My Blog

October 15, 2017 3 Comments

It’s time to announce the October, 2017 prize drawing for subscribers to my blog. If you enjoy entering contests, here’s a chance to win a gift card or a gift box. This month I am drawing 2 names for the following prizes: First Prize: A $25.00 gift card to Walmart and Second Prize: An Avon gift box of SKin So Soft Winter Lavender Scented products Here’s what you have to do to be entered into the drawing:   If you are not yet a subscriber to my blog, put your email address in the space on the top right of the front page of my blog, right next to this post where it says, “Subscribe to blog via email.” That’s it…you will be entered into the drawing for October. AND you will be notified each time I post something on this blog about saving money or working from home. If…
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Monthly Contests

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Need Extra Money? Sell Your Junk on eBay

October 14, 2017 0 Comments

Save money by not letting the grocery stores trick you into spending more money than you need to!

As I read through posts on social media lately, I have run across a lot of people looking for help earning extra money. Some are in need of extra money on an ongoing basis so are looking for a part-time job. Others are in need of extra money fairly quickly to pay an unexpected bill. I always want to shout to them, “Sell your stuff on eBay to earn some extra money.” It makes perfect sense to me and I don’t understand why everyone hasn’t jumped on the eBay bandwagon yet.  My eBay Story   Here’s a little about my own experience so you will see where I’m coming from. I was fortunate to be able to be a stay-at-home mom when my children were growing up. This was in the mid-1990s and people had just started to talk about eBay. I have always been an entrepreneur in my heart and did…
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Earning Money from Home

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Money Saving Deals You Don’t Want to Miss This Week, Including Free Coffee

September 28, 2017 3 Comments

Free Coffee on 9/29/17 for National Coffee Day

Hello all my money saving friends. There are some deals out there I just don’t want you to miss this week so I am posting about them and hopefully, you will read this post in time. Friday is National Coffee Day and Sunday is International Coffee Day If you enjoy a good cup of coffee, you won’t want to miss this special day. On Friday, 9/29/17, various coffee hot spots are giving away free cups of coffee in honor of National Coffee Day. Some are for Friday only, and some go through the weekend until Sunday night because Sunday, October first is International Coffee Day. Here’s a list of where you can get free coffee: Friday Only Wawa – 1 free cup of coffee, any size Dunkin Donuts – buy a medium sized cup of coffee or larger and get one free medium-sized coffee. Use the extra cup for a friend,…
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Free Stuff, Saving Money

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