CVS & Bashas

I wasn't too excited about the ad for CVS this week, but I still went in so that I could take advantage of a $5 off $15 coupon and roll a few ECB's. I thought I was going to leave with more ECB's though. I made a mistake, I didn't realize that the limit for the May allergy med deal was 3, I thought it was 5. I already have 2 at home and I got 2 more this time...oh well. I only ended up losing about .20 something cents worth of ECB's though, so I still pretty much got it for free, I just didn't get the ECB. I was bummed because I thought I was gonna get paid this run. Hehe.

Here is what I got:

(ECB's to start with: $39.56)



* 2 CVS allergy med (May deal)
* 2 Rolaids (May deal)
* 1 Excedrin
- $5 CVS coupn
- $2.00 Excedrin coupon

Total: $8.45

**I Paid $7.98 in ECB's and $.47 + $.20 tax OOP.

I now have $39.37 ECB's!

*Want to see more CVS savings? Visit the Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars!*




*************************************************************************************
$1.50!



I had to make a quick run into Bashas to score some cheap toilet paper after I left CVS. They have these Charmin 4 packs on sale for 10/$10. I used (3) -$.25 coupons that doubled to $.50 ea. So I paid $1.50 for 12 rolls of TP!

Fry's & Wal-Mart

Tuesday I went to Fry's to score a few deals since it was the last day of their ad. It was my first time using e-coupons. When I first heard about e-coupons I wasn't too excited because I don't want them to replace paper coupons, hehe. I enjoy cutting and sorting coupons, call me crazy but its fun to me!

Anyway, I loaded coupons from P&G and Unilever to my Fry's VIP card and was able to use them along with paper coupons as well! So I did pretty well!

* 2 Covergirl eyeshadows
* 2 Herbal Essences hairspray
* 1 Wisk laundry detergent

- Buy one get one free CG e-coupon
- $1.50 Wisk detergent e-coupon
- Buy one get one free Herbal Essence e-coupon
- $1.00 Herbal Essence coupon
- $1.00 Herbal Essence coupon
- $1.00 CG coupon
- $1.00 CG coupon
- $1.50 Wisk coupon

= $3.07 + tax for $16.65 worth of stuff!

I also went to Wal-Mart this week and scored the following:

* 3 packages of Farmland Bacon
* 2 packages of Hebrew National Franks
* 1 Silk Chocolate Soy Milk
* 1 Bagelfuls
* 2 Wishbone Bountifuls dressings
* 2 Tobasco sauce
* 1 Motts for Tots juice
* 3 Bush's Grillin' Beans
* 2 Snuggle Dryer sheets
* 3 Dixie napkins 160 ct.

I paid $14.39 for $36.14 worth of stuff!

I finally made it to CVS!

Its been a pretty rough week here. My baby was sick pretty much the whole week, and Wednesday night we actually had to take him to the ER because he was very very dehydrated. They gave him an IV and pumped 2 bags of fluids into him. While we were there I got super duper sick and could barely even be there for my baby. Thank God I have such a wonderful husband who is also such a wonderful Daddy! I hope nobody else gets this awful stomach flu, but we are finally doing better!

I was thinking that I wasn't going to be able to go out and get any deals this week and I was sad, hehe. I had deals planned for Walgreens, Fry's, CVS, and Basha's. Lucky for me with the 2 grocery stores I have until Wednesday. For Walgreens I had a plan to roll a $3 RR, but it was going to expire on the 22nd so I had to use it that day. Since I was sick I sent the hubby to go get some free Gatorade with it instead of my original plan. Hey, at least it kind of worked out because I needed the Gatorade, hehe. I REALLY wanted to get to CVS this week, i'm such a nerd, I have withdrawls if I don't get there at least once a week. Haha! I was finally able to go tonight though. I was pretty happy with what I left with for $.78 OOP.

ECB's to start with: $38.55




Almay i-color $6.99
Almay i-color $6.99
Maybelline Great Lash (my fav!) $4.79
Maybelline Great Lash $4.79

= $23.56

-$5.00 off $15 CVS coupon
-$1 Almay coupon
-$1 Almay coupon
-$4.79 Maybelline Sale, Buy one get one free
-$1 Maybelline mascara coupon
-$1 Maybelline mascara coupon
-$6 ECB
-$2.99 ECB

Subtotal = $.78
+ tax: $.38
= $1.16 OOP


I now have $39.56 ECB's! Yay! I am $1.01 ahead!

*For more CVS deals visit The Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars!

Sick baby, shopping withdrawls and weird weather.

My precious baby boy got a bad case of the stomach flu last night. Poor little guy. It was a rough night for us, but luckily I have a wonderful husband who really helped me out a lot!

Anyway, since baby D is sick I haven't been able to go out and score my deals yet. I am looking forward to going when he feels better, usually I go shopping on Monday or Tuesday, so this feels weird. I am SO hoping he feels better soon. He is just miserable and it breaks my heart.

Anyway, lil D is napping right now so I have been browsing around online, when I stopped here
seriously, What is up with the weather? Yesterday it was like 109 hot degrees and today is still hot, now they are saying it could be 79 on Thursday? We'll see if it really happens, I would like one last treat before the summer...

Sweet coupons, Walgreens & Used Coffee Grounds.

What a sweet coupon day! There are really some great coupons in today's paper! Besides the one delivered I got 3 more! One I purchased at Starbucks and the other two were free at Walgreens!

I still had a $10 RR so I made a quick Walgreens run after church to score some toilet paper and extra newspapers since the coupons rock! Well, today was my first experience with a negative subtotal! Here is what I did:

~2 AZ Republic @ $1.85 ea (yeah, I didn't know they cost 1.85 I thought they were $2 - Yay!)
~Pack of 12 Double Rolls Ultra Quilted Northern TP: $8.99
~Walgreens Coffee filters: $.99
~Walgreens travel size tissues: $.29 (Filler item)

Total = $13.97

-10.00 RR
-3.00 WG coupon for Northern TP
-1.00 manf. coupon for Northern TP

Subtotal = $-.03
+ $.88 tax
= $.85 OOP

I was surprised that my $1 manf. coupon went through, I thought it wouldn't go through since I was going to go in the negative

**Walgreens paid me $.03 today! YAY!!

************************************************************************************



This morning we went to Starbucks so I could get my Sunday morning Pike's Place Blend coffee, yum yum...hehe, and to browse through the paper (and to sneak a peak at the newspaper bin hehe, too bad there wasn't any left over papers in there this morning, darn...haha.) It was definatly a good morning though! I thought my total seemed a little low for what I purchased:

~Tall brewed coffee: $1.60
~Bagel w/cream cheese: $.80/$.35
~AZ Republic: $2.00

= I was only charged $3.47 w/tax

When we left I had a look at the receipt and I was only charged $.50 for the Sunday paper! Yay!

I was also very happy because we scored a bag of used coffee grounds from their "Free used coffee grounds for your garden" bin! I know you may be thinking "Wow, free used coffee grounds?"

A few weeks ago we hooked ourselves up with a compost bin through the city and decided to start collecting our grass and tree clippings along with our fruit and vegetable scraps, etc. . to help nourish our landscaping and garden. You can also use coffee grounds in the bin because they generate heat and will speed up the composting process. I love that we are not only saving money by doing this but our plants will be healthier and happier! The Starbucks I usually go to never has any in the bin. :)

Hope you are having a great Sunday! I'm off to finish my coupon cutting, sorting and filing.

I have had a few people ask me why I buy things I don't 'need' at the time. I have tried to describe to them why I do it and how I do it, then this morning I found the perfect post to explain why at Mommy Making Money.

It is so nice to have the items you know your family needs, on hand BEFORE you need it! What makes it even better is knowing that you didn't go over your budget to get these things, AND the majority of it was free, close to free, or purchased with very low OOP.

Having a mini store in your house is not only beneficial to you and your family, but also to extended family or even others in need. I haven't even been doing this for very long, but I already have plenty of extra toothpaste and razors, etc, that I can happily share with others! My parents were over yesterday and they left here with a Venus razor, 2 packages of Zantac and a sample of Prilosec, which was helpful to both them and myself. God knows I have enough razors on hand and we don't have any need for Zantac here. Both items were money makers when I purchased them which allowed for me to buy items that were 'needs' for my family last week.

So, go get your Sunday paper tomorrow, check out the ads, clip your coupons and take them with you when you do your shopping. I get excited about it every week. The fun part is thinking, "I wonder how much I can get for $____ amount of money this time", and not thinking "I wonder how much all of this is gonna cost me?"


Happy shopping!

Friday Freebies

• Click here for a free Excedrin sample, thanks to Wal-Mart.
• Click here for a Tide w/ Dawn sample. (wait for Kelly to get out of the way, hehe)
  
• Click here for a Free Quaker Simple Harvest Granola Bar or Hot Cereal sample.
• Need some caulk? Here is a free sample of GE's new 'Caulk Singles'
• I just received this potty training dvd sample in the mail a few days ago, I won't be needing it for awhile but hopefully it will be helpful when baby D is big enough for the potty!

CVS Shoppin' article

People are really starting to catch on to how much money you can save by shopping and stockpiling at CVS and Walgreens. Click here to read the article posted on MSN Money. A few of my favorite blogs are mentioned as well! There are also some great links to answer questions you may have about all of this! CHECK IT OUT!

A few freebies..

• Click here for a free sample of Advil and a $2.00 coupon.
• Click here for a free Playtex Sport sample.
  

• How would you like 2 Regular Chili Cheese Coney combos at Sonic for $5? Click here to get your coupon, expires July 31st!

5/14

Last night I ordered a FREE Roadside Emergency Kit! This will be nice to have! To find out how you can get yours, & a few other goodies visit JANE4girls $800 Annual Budget For A Family of 4!

*Thanks to Denise at The "Cent"sible Sawyer I found about these freebies:

Visit Dunkin' Donuts anytime between 10 am to 10 pm tomorrow, May 15th if you would like a FREE 16oz. Iced Coffee! Gotta love free coffee!

Visit Dippin' Dots anytime between 4 - close on May 20th to get a FREE cup of Birthday Cake Flavored Dippin' Dots in honor of their 20th Birthday!

and..

Also visit Dippin' Dots between May 27th and June 24th for their "Two-fer Tuesdays." Buy one get the second for $0.20!!

5/13

I just wanted to apologize for not posting any CVS scenarios for the week. To be honest I never really knew what I was going to do until right before I got there yesterday. So I will go ahead and post about the 'scenario' that I did.

CVS:



ECB's to start with: $ 31.74

Ajax .77
Colgate 4oz 2.99 (-1.50 coupon)
Colgate 4oz 2.99 (-1.50 coupon)
Schick Intuition 9.99 (-4.00 coupon)
(2)CVS Allergy 5ct 3.79 (May freebie)
(2) Hawaiian Tropic lip balm 1.99ea.

Total: $28.30
- $7 coupons
= $21.30
-2.79, 3.99, 4, 4.99, 5 ($20.77 ECB's)

Subtotal: $.53
+ .61 tax
=$1.14 OOP

Earned: $27.58 ECB's

Ending ECB amount: *$38.55 ECB's*

Thanks to a couple of friendly posters at Slick Deals and Hot Coupon World I learned that the 'buy 2 Hawaiian Tropic items get $10 ECB' promotion this week includes the lip balms which are $1.99 each. So you spend $3.98 and receive $10 ECB's back! That is $6.02 profit! Yay!

***Note to above: I walked around CVS trying to find these and right before I was about to give up I found them. The Hawaiian Tropic display was in the back of the store at the endcap of the office supply aisle? Hehe, kind of strange.... they had sunblock in different areas all around the store. So you may have to hunt around to find them, but its worth it!

$ Want to see more CVS savings? Visit the Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars! Here

*For more CVS savings and other stores as well visit Money Saving Mom!

Walgreens:



RR's to start with: $22.00

Trans #1:

Pert Plus 3.49 (-1.00 coupon)
Kleenex .59
(2) Stayfree @ 3.00 ea. (-2.00/2 coupon) (-2.00 Easy Saver catalog coupon)
Walgreens brand pads 1.99

Total: $12.07
-$5.00 coupons
-$6.00 RR

Subtotal: $1.07
+.97 tax
=$2.04 OOP

*I will earn $2.50 for the Pert Plus, and $1.99 for the Walgreens pads back w/ the monthly rebates.

*My original plan didn't work out. I had a $2.00 off coupon for Pert Plus which would have made it $1.49 so I bought the Kleenex as a filler item so my total would be at least $6 to use my RR. I checked out with the store manager and he noticed that the coupon was only for 'botanical blends Pert Plus' or something so I couldn't use it. I forgot to have him take the Kleenex off too since I no longer needed it for a filler, but its ok...I can always use Kleenex.



RR to start with: $16.00

Trans #2:

(2) Stayfree @ 3.00 ea. (-2.00/2 coupon) (-2.00 Easy Saver catalog coupon)
Walgreens light bulbs 1.69

Total: $7.69
-$4.00 coupons
-$3.00 RR

Subtotal: $.69
+$.46 tax
=$1.15 OOP

*I will earn $1.69 for the light bulbs back w/ the monthly rebates.

*I also used a Gillette body wash RR to get another free bottle! (-3.49) :)


I will probably pay another visit to CVS this week because I would really like to take advantage of the Eucerin deal. I have a lot of coupons! I am just on the look out for a -$/$ CVS coupon!

Last night we went to Red Robin so that my husband could get his free birthday burger! We went a few weeks ago for my birthday too. I gotta say it sure is nice to pay $9.00 and get 2 awesome burgers! I tried the Banzai Burger and it was out of this world good! Make sure you sign up for the Red Robin eClub so you can a free burger on your birthday!

Thank you Walgreens RR!

A big thank you to Walgreens! I had a lot of fun shopping your ad this week! I used some RR this evening to score 2 packs of FREE Huggies! Gosh, I love free diapers, hehe! I also got a package of Skittles and Peanut Butter M&M's for a nice Saturday treat. A real nice Saturday treat when they are free....now only if we didn't have to pay tax on them.....oh well. I still have RR to spend! YAY!

Thanks again, Walgreens!

Oh yeah, a little FYI - I did two transactions and at the end of both of them I received a $2.00 off Pampers catalina coupon. Apparently the Huggies = a Pampers coupon!

5/10

Are you frugal or cheap? Hmm, good question. I took this quiz at moolanomy to find out. My score was 25! Yay, I'm frugal!

Gillete 2 in 1 Body Wash at Walgreens!

This promotion is in next week's ad (5/11), but it has started early! The deal is you buy a bottle of the 2 in 1 body wash and when you check out you will receive a RR for a FREE bottle!

Thanks to some friendly 'posters' over at HCW (Hot Coupon World) I was able to score a couple bottles of Gillette Body Wash for the ol' Husband today for $.49 + tax! I left with another FREE coupon as well! I guess I need to head down to Walgreens again...hehe.

Walgreens!

I have had a busy couple of days at Walgreens, but I have to say that I have had a pretty good time. I still don't even think I am finished yet! This has been my first time using coupons with Walgreens and I am pretty glad that I jumped in this week!

So let's see... (please be patient with me, I am still pretty new to blogging and also new with how to post all of this info, if you have any questions about what I do, please let me know.



Trans #1:


(2) C/G Blush @ $5.99 ea.
(6) C/G Eye Shadow @ $3.49 ea.
=$32.92
Cover Girl products are Buy 1 Get 1 1/2 off this week so:
-3.00 (50%)
-1.75 (50%)
-1.75 (50%)
-1.75 (50%)
Then I used the following coupons:
(3) -2.50 off 2 C/G products =(-7.50)
(2) -FREE Blush when you purchase 3 C/G products = (-11.98)

Subtotal: $5.19
+ 1.99 tax
= $7.18 OOP (out of pocket)
*I received $20.00 in RR "Register Rewards"(prints out as (2) $10 Rewards)

This picture = the next 3 transactions.



Trans #2:

Venus Razor 9.99
Zantac 3.99
(2) Walgreens Bags @ .99 ea. (my filler items)
=15.96
-4.00 Venus coupon
-1.00 Zantac coupon
-10.00 RR

Subtotal: $.96
+$1.28 tax
=2.24
*I received a $6.00 RR for purchasing a Venus Razor and a $3.00 RR for the Zantac.

Trans. #3

C/G Blush 5.99
(3) C/G Nail Polish @ 3.99 ea.
(2) C/G Eyeliner @ 2.99 ea.
C/G Sharpener 2.99
=26.84

-2.00 (50% off)
-2.00 (50% off)
-1.50 (50 % off)

-2.50 off 2 C/G
(4) -1.00 C/G
-FREE C/G Blush when you purchase 3 = -5.99
-*6.00 RR (for purchasing a Venus Razor)

Subtotal: $2.94
+1.73 tax
=4.67 (OOP)

*Received $20.00 in RR

Trans. #4:

Venus Razor 9.99
Zantac 3.99
Peanut Butter M&M's .79
=14.77

-4.00 Venus coupon
-10.00 RR coupon

Subtotal: $.77
+ 1.13 tax
= $1.90 OOP

*Received $6 RR for Venus & $3 RR for Zantac

Here is what I did today:




C/G Tru Blend 8.99
C/G Powder 7.99
C/G Lip Slicks 3.99
(6) Crest toothpaste @ 2.50 ea.
Walgreens Bandaids on clearance for 1.00
=36.97

-4.00 (50% C/G)
-9.00 (Walgreens coupon $3 off 2 Crest)
(2) - .50 Crest
(4) - 1.00 Crest
-1.00 C/G
-7.99 (FREE) C/G Powder when you buy foundation
-6.00 RR coupon

Subtotal: $3.98
+2.21 tax
= $6.19 OOP

*Received $20 RR (2/ -$10.00 coupons)

...and



Venus Razor 9.99
Zantac 3.99
(3) Walgreens Chap-Aid on Clearance for .40ea.
=15.18

-4.00 Venus coupon
-1.00 Zantac coupon
-10.00 RR coupon



Subtotal: $.18
+1.02 tax
=$1.20 OOP


*Received $6 RR for Venus & $3 RR for Zantac

I now have $45.00 in RR! I plan on rolling a few of them tomorrow and then either saving the rest for next week or use them up to buy Diapers!

.......................................................................................

This evening hubby came home with a few freebies! He was using up a Best Buy Rewards certificate as it was going to expire today! Baby D and I were pretty happy with what we received:



For some great deals and even a few freebie items visit The "Cent" Sible Sawyer, her blog is awesome!

.......................................................................................
I still need to post some CVS scenarios but I am still not for sure what I am going to do. I haven't really had any extra time to think of what I plan on doing since I have been so busy with Walgreens this week, hehe.

5/4 CVS

I had some ECB's burning a hole in my pocket (who am I kidding they are burning holes in my pocket every week, hehe) so I went on down to CVS yesterday, here is what I left with.



~Garnier hair color: $5.99
~Garnier hair color: $5.99
~Venus Razor $9.99
~Colgate 360: $3.99 (free after ECB)
~Adidas Deodorant: $4.99 (free after ECB)

Total: $30.95
- $5 off $30 CVS coupon that was emailed to me
- $1.50 off Garnier Nutrisse haircolor coupon (May issue of Good Housekeeping)
- $3.00 Garnier
- $3.00 Garnier
- $4.00 Venus Razor
= $14.45

Then I used some ECB's from last week to help pay for the rest:

-3.00 ECB
-4.99 ECB
-5.98 ECB

Subtotal: $.48 + tax

AND I received $17.98 ECB's back! Yay! :)

For some other great CVS deals check out BeCentsAble: CVS.

I am excited for the ad for next week! Looks like some good deals! I will post a scenario or two later in the week when I figure it out!

In the meantime I have got to try this bread.

Sharing the love.

Ok, so I decided that I am going to try and update this thing more often. Yay! I have been trying to decide lately if I just wanted to write about whatever on here or try to have a theme. I have now decided that I am just going to share whatever I feel like sharing, so I am sure it will be pretty random!

This past year I have really gotten into coupons, saving money and stockpiling. I love it! I love that I am saving my family money every week! I love that I am getting more bang for my buck. I love that I have been getting so many items for free, nearly free or basically getting paid to remove an item from a store! :)

I have always loved coupons but I never REALLY understood how to make them work for me to get the best deal, I have to say too that I am no professional AT ALL but I am learning more and more every week. I have found many internet sites and blogs that have really helped me to understand what it is that I am doing.

I am not going to go back through all of my receipts or anything, I am just going to start fresh with my posting about this today.

So, today I went to CVS. If you think CVS is no good, then you are wrong my friend, very wrong. This is the place where I find my best deals and let me tell you it starts to become an addiction. Its my hobby, yes shopping CVS is a hobby of mine. I have a lot of fun there. You would be doing the happy dance as well if you left there today paying only $3 something dollars OOP (out of pocket) and you had all of this:





All of this because I:
Cut and file just about every coupon in the Sunday paper (or wherever else I may find them) every week and browse the ads matching coupons with sale prices. I do this with CVS, Walgreens, Safeway, Bashas's, Fry's, Target...blah blah blah. I have always enjoyed looking at the ads, but this is just WAY more fun I tell ya!

To organize my coupons I first started with just a small coupon accordion file type thingy...well I have moved on from that, my friend as that little guy was just not doing it for me anymore. I never thought I would move on to a binder, but it was necessary.

Here she is in all her glory:





and here is a little peak inside:



That is one good lookin' binder if I do say so myself.

I take this big fat wallet with me when I do my shopping, tell me I'm weird, call me a nerd, do what you will. I'm saving money. Yahoo!

That is all for today, I will see what I can come up with later.