Extreme Shutterfly Savings!!

There are just a few things I use coupons for: diapers, wipes, formula, cleaning supplies, and Shutterfly products. I am a picture-holic, so it is smart for me to use Shutterfly coupons. These things are kind of a luxury. I know that I don't HAVE to have them, but I sure do enjoy having memories preserved in a book format.

Last month, I was looking through our iPhoto library on our computer. I needed to delete about 2,000 photos because our memory on our computer is almost completely full (did I mention I am a picture-holic?) I had recently read an article in Ladies Home Journal on the best back-up plan for photos that are saved onto the computer. After reading the article, I decided to put my trust in Shutterfly. They are completely free, will never delete your photos, and offer unlimited storage. I went through our photos, edited them, and uploaded them to Shutterfly.

I then decided to go ahead and make a book. I have made several books in the past: Ava's First Year, The Best Father In The World, and Ava's Disney Extravaganza. This was going to be the MOTHER of all books because I took about 2,000 pictures on our last vacation before we had Ava. I had to carefully decide which pictures would make it into the book and decide how many pages I needed. It took me about a month and a half to design, but I finally finished it!

How I Paid For This Gigantic Book

With a debit card...duh! :) haha! No really, this book was going to cost $216. There was no way that Jeremy would ever let me order something like this for that much money. I had to get fancy with my couponing techniques. So this is what I did:

• I had over 4,000 Pampers points saved up. I cashed in 3,000 of those points for a FREE 12X12 hard cover Shutterfly book (a $54.99 value)
• I ordered the book when a sale was going on (30% off all books) Although I got the book free, I added a storytelling design to it ($4.99 extra) and added 90 extra pages ($1.50 for each extra page)  The sale brought the price of each page down to $1.05 each.
• I used a promotional code (SHIP30) to get free shipping and handling on my order (because it was over $30)
• Last but not least, I had a 10% off coupon for my entire order.

I paid $98 for the book and saved $118!! WooHoo! It was still an expensive book, but the only way I could have beat those savings was if I had waited until the books went on sale for 50% off. Since I did not know when that would be, and I had coupons that would expire, I had to settle for the 30% off sale. But, I am really proud of my 110 page jewel! I gave it to Jeremy last night as a "Just Because I Love You" gift. He was really excited to see all the pictures from our amazing vacation!