Today reminded me why I love using coupons and rebates — I get to enjoy the thrill of buying without the guilt of paying for it! In fact, I will get paid $1 to buy everything in this photo.

I snagged the free 8X10 photo deal at Walgreens I mentioned yesterday on Facebook (a $2.99 value), so I am all set for a lovely gift for my friend Jayne. But before I headed out, I checked other blogs who enjoy saving as much as I do and found that I could pick up four of the expensive soy-based Glade Fragrance Collection candles at 2 for $5 at WAGS. But they also recently had a high-value coupon for $3 off 2, so now they were $1 apiece. (If you keep your coupon flyers — as you should — you can also find the same coupon in the February 2 SmartSource circular.)

But it gets better!

The same blog noted that S.C. Johnson still has this great rebate offer going that when you buy 3 participating products, you get $5 back on a rebate. So, yes, I will get paid $1 to buy everything — $13 in merchandise!

I know it is sometimes hard to believe, but these scenarios occur on a regular basis. Just this week I got a check for $12 in the mail for the two Olay lotions I bought with this rebate offer, in which I also used a $2 Ecoupon coupon (learn about them here). So not only did I get free lotion, but I got paid to buy them! I also just sent off for the great $15 Olay rebate to net two body washes and another lotion. This deal is still available! Last night, I sent off for the “try me free” rebate for Sure deodorant for men. Of course, I used a $1.50 coupon, so I will not only get the purchase price back ($1.99), But I will also get paid $1.50 to buy it. The rebate programs don’t care about coupons. They only look at the purchase price — a big secret. That means you often make money buying luxuries and necessities. Gotta love that!

This is one of my favorite aspects of couponing and using rebates — you get to enjoy items you normally would not buy when on a tight budget. I call them my little luxuries.

The Material Boy in me is happy, and you can still do this candle at Walgreens through today!

I was reading the business section in the paper over the weekend, and there was actually good economic news! It said consumer spending was up in March. One economy expert chalked it up to “frugal fatigue” — in other words, people have watched every dime they’ve spent for so long that they just want to buy, at least, a little something.

Oh honey, they are preaching to the choir here! I am going 7 months without even going to the barber shop (thanks to my handy-dandy home clipper set). TJ Maxx sends me, “Miss you” letters, and Target has put out an APB for me since I was last spotted there in December, buying two $10 gift cards for my nephews.

Yes, my name is ProHomemaker, and I am suffering from frugal fatigue.

This not only leads to long hair (in my case), but also a decided lack of anything new in the house. Right now, getting my blinds cleaned would be the biggest luxury I can think of.

But, alas, I also got hit owing taxes (that self-employment tax gets me every time), a $400 homeowner insurance bill, a $250 car insurance bill, and the dear folks at Blue Cross just informed me my health insurance premiums are now $602 per month. Even a Calgon bath couldn’t take me away.

However this brings up a point. The reason I am suffering from frugal fatigue is because I have had zero, zip, bubkes outlet to have just something — anything — as a treat. I splurged today and got V8 juice with a $1 coupon. Sad, but true — that $2 bottle of fiber-rich beverage I considered a splurge. Yep, I feel as happy as the housewife in the picture (by the way, these are from Charles Phoenix’s great web site — a super, fun look at retro America.)

Just as I was getting ready to slit my wrists, I remembered my advice from a long-ago post — that I titled Affordable Luxuries. Click the link now and do a quick read. I need to, also.

Hey, that was pretty insightful — and funny enough, I posted it nearly a year ago today. So, you know what, I am gonna follow my own advice and give myself a budget of $20 to buy something, something that would raise my spirits. I think I need an affordable luxury — stat! What about you?

Am I the only one who relishes staying in a hotel? I tried to figure why, and it came down to the fact that I love those crisp sheets, and the joy when you climb in bed.

After my last stay, I decided that I was going to try and re-create that feeling every day. No, I am not washing my sheets every day, but I am turning my bed down each evening.

I don’t mean just yanking the covers down and climbing in. Each night, while dinner is cooking — a couple hours before bed — I go prepare my bed. I take the decorative pillows off, the shams, and turn the comforter and sheets down in a neat — hotel-like — manner, wrapping the sheet around the comforter.

You don’t know how wonderful it feels to climb in a bed that is ready for me when I am ready to retire. (And, yes, this is my bed in the photo.) It’s also great for sleep, in that it’s a ritual, telling your brain that the day is over.

Little luxuries are important, especially in these times. Find more affordable luxuries with these posts.

Try turning your bed down this weekend, and see how you like this extra bit of luxe. It takes 3 minutes, but can make the world of difference when you finally go night-nights. As my Mom would say to me when I was a kid, “Sweet dreams.”

A pet peeve of mine has always been those little plastic soap dispensers that are everywhere in every bathroom. The reason being is that it’s an affordable luxury to buy a pretty soap dispenser.

But here is the problem I faced today — mine was out of soap! The homeowner association meeting is at our house tomorrow, and the powder room dispenser was out of soap. Clutch the pearls!

What to do? I could fill it with Dawn dish detergent (and remove every oil left of my guests’ hands), but then it hit me: I didn’t need soap — I need cheap shampoo!

Cut to me gurgling 99 cent shampoo into the dispenser (and it smells good, too!)

All is well in the world.

(Seriously, I hope you will consider buying a pretty soap dispenser for your bath. Mine was $8. If you think about it, that’s 8 bottles of Softsoap, but the bath looks so much prettier with an attractive dispenser, and it only took 1/2 of a 99 cent bottle of shampoo to fill it. This is truly an affordable luxury.)

I got this great tip at the local farmer’s market today when I bought 20 Stargazer lillies for a banquet dinner I am organizing Saturday evening (buying the flowers 5 days before — got ‘em all for $25! Farmer’s markets are great).

Before I give that hint, I did some research and found what’s most important is to remove any leaves below the water line (to retard bacteria growth). Consensus varies on any water additives, but a teaspoon of sugar seems widely accepted. (The old aspirin trick is an old wive’s tale, from what I read.) Finally, a diagonal cut 1 inch up will incur water uptake.

Now, here’s the tip from the flower grower at the farmer’s market: She said to cut use all the above tips, but to also put the flowers in ice water! Now keep in mind, this is from someone who is used to keeping her product as fresh as possible, so I took the advice. (I think it acts as an artificial cooler for blooms, like in a flower shop.)

I’m going to keep them like this for a day, and see how opened they are for the dinner Saturday. I haven’t read this anywhere, but I think this is a flower grower’s secret. As I’ve said before in this post, flowers are always an affordable luxury.

I’ll let you in on a secret when entertaining — tealights.

My friend Annamarie came by last night. and I had a smattering of them around the living room and kitchen. They add sparkle and atmosphere for just a few pennies.

I always have a bag stocked in the kitchen cabinet for just such an occasion. I buy 100 at Big Lots for $4.99, which lasts me easily 6 months. They are also sold in bulk at Ikea, if you have one near you.

No need to buy tealight holders (though they are cheap), you can put them in crystal bowls, old wine glasses, shot glasses and more. They last about 4 hours and add so much in ambience when you have people over — or even when you are by yourself and want to relax.

This is truly an affordable luxury. Try them next time you have people come over, too. Just place them around the room, and your house will sparkle.

One of my secrets when I cleaned homes for a living was in the master bedroom. I wanted my clients when they went to bed at night to experience a bit of luxury (after I waxed, cleaned and scoured their private sanctuary clean).

As I have said before, smell is everything — from clean, to luxury.

So after doing everything in the master bedroom, I would head to the nightstand lamp, and spritz one spritz of my client’s perfume or cologne on the lightbulb. I would then turn the lamp on, then turn it off after about a minute.

The room then wafted with her favorite perfume. When the client got home and went to bed that night, the scent would once again gently perfume the room.

Now that’s luxury.

One note — you must do this on a cool lightbulb; otherwise, it could explode. Secondly, I never had a client complain about using the perfume — everyone appreciates a bit of luxury. Try it next time you clean your bedroom.

After all the work in the bath for the past week, how about a fun — and cheap — way to brighten your home?

You know what lasts longer than flowers? Fruit. And this is the time of the year!

A fresh bowl of fruit always brightens your home. Put them in a pretty bowl — perhaps one of the ones you received as a wedding gift. It will last for two weeks plus! Much longer than flowers.

Watch your favorite produce market over the next few weeks, and when you see fruit on sale, grab it — and a lot. Sure, you can eat some, but mainly we are adding “life” to a room. A living thing — be it flowers, plants or fruit — brings your rooms beyond tired and static. I recommend this for many of my real estate listings.

If you’re lucky enough to have a lemon tree in your yard, I’m sure you are inundated with fruit. Take a cue from wedding coordinators, and float it in water in a large vase. If the Bellagio in Las Vegas does it, you know it’s chic.

Whatever you do — a large bowl of oranges, or a vase of lemons and limes floating in water — you will enjoy the results for weeks.

Do you have one of those ultra-cool and “in” reed diffusers. You know, the one to scent a room? I have one in the powder room, but it’s lost its scent, even though there is oil left.

So how do you make it last longer and give off the same strong scent?

Flip the reeds!

Mine is tricky, ’cause the reeds are curled, but you still can flip ‘em, just insert each reed separately. And voila the scent is back! Great trick for these little special decor items.

That bastion of ’90s wedding gifts is back - the breadmaker! You may have one shoved in a closet or it may sit on the counter gathering dust just now, but I can tell you it’s a money-saver waiting for you.

Bread is cited as one of the (many) aspects of day-to-day life that is rising (oops, a pun) in cost. But you can save money and reap many other benefits with the trusty kitchen appliance.

Now, I will tell you, I still buy sliced sandwich bread at the store (gulp, $2.50 on sale). But all other bread and dough calls in our household are met nowadays with the breadmaker we bought in 1996.

For just a few pennies — less than 50 cents — I can serve freshly made Italian herb bread, French bread, and delightful foccacia! Furthermore, I use the leftovers to make bread crumbs, which cost an unbelievable $2.39 at the grocery store, when I can yield the same amount with the leftovers! That is penny-wise and pound smart!

Yes, bread does take time — to cook. But the prep time is 5 minutes max — just flour, quick-rising yeast, milk, butter or magarine, a little sugar and salt, and you are on your way. No preservatives! Use the delay function (available on the cheapest machine) and you will come home from work with fresh bread for dinner.

Many people don’t use the easy-peasy dough-making function on the breadmaker. That’s how I make foccacia — incredibly delicious with an Italian dinner. Or how about a sweet treat? Just tonight I mixed up some banana nut bread with a few pieces of fruit that were beyond their prime. Economical and delicious, too. The loaf would have easily cost $3.99 in the grocery store!

OK, now for the less pleasant-smelling price advice. Let me tell you, unless Emeril is going to pop in your kitchen and make a loaf himself, I would not pay more than $50 for a breadmaker. I thought you could save money by going on CraigsList for a (slightly) used one, but the going rate was still $40 or so. The higher priced ones may have more features, but I doubt you’ll use ‘em. I know I’ve been happy as a lark for 12 years with my low-priced machine.

Oh I forgot to mention - there is one more benefit of using a breadmaker. Nothing will make your house smell better!