4.18.2011

I Love a Good Contest!





Hello Couponing Friends! I must say I am super excited to add my two cents worth to Anna and Chris' site! First, let me say, I am by no means an extreme couponer. However, my mother informed today that I am becoming one! I simply try to find the best deals with one salary. I will say that I have gotten in quiet a routine of shopping now, and when I do a "big" shop every 3 weeks I save no less that $95. So I am working out the kinks and finding out what works for my family, but I am having a blast doing it! With that said my next BIG shopping is a good week or so away, but I am excited with my CVS and Target adventures today.


CVS: Spent $12.89; Saved $25.81....What did I buy?


(2) Bottles of Nivea Body Wash on sale for $3.88 (had 2 $3.00 off coupons). Paid $1.76 for both

(2) Bottles of Head and Shoulders on sale for $4.99 (had a BOGO coupon). Paid $4.99 for both

(1) 3 Pack of Listerin Breath Freshner Strips on sale for $1.00 (5 for 5) (had a .50 coupon). Paid .50 for them.

(1) 6 Pack of Scott Mega Papertowels on sale for $4.98 (Reg. 7.39) (had a $1.00 coupon). Paid $3.98 for the 6 pack!



****Got $2.00 in extra care bucks *****


So at CVS was a hit.....have a few other coupons to go back and try to stock up on some goodies tomorrow....


Target: Spent .56 (YES .56!); Saved $5.36.....


(2) Bottles of Heinz Ketchup (Facebook had a coupon today...First 50,000 people got a $2.00 off coupon) The ketchup was on sale for $1.71 (had (2) $2.00 off coupons)....Target had to pay me!


(2) Easter Eggs filled with M & M's priced at .99 a piece (had $1.00 off coupon for 2)



This my friends is just the beginning. Am going to hit up another CVS tomorrow...

4.17.2011

Rite-Aid vs. CVS! And the Winner Is...

Woot!  This morning I got up extra early (for a Sunday) and got dressed, then headed to the drug stores before church, leaving everyone still asleep in their beds. Chris is so good to me...I appreciate his willingness to get up with the kids and get them dressed and ready for church so I could go do my drug store shopping early in the morning.  He's awesome. :)

So anyway, I got up and left the house @ 7:45 am and headed out to Rite-Aid.  Armed with my +UP rewards, Rite-Aid coupons, and matching manufacturer coupons, I was ready to save some cash!  Here's what I bought:

4 Glade Candles (to be used as gifts): $2.50 each
2 Glade Aerosol Air Fresheners: $2.50 each
1 Febreze Set & Refresh Air Freshener: $2.50
1 Febreze Air Effects Air Freshener: $2.50
2 bottles of Windex: $2.50 each
2 packs of Dixie paper plates: $3.99 (B1G1 free)
1 box of Ziploc Slider bags: $2.50
Total before coupons: $31.49

I had $5 +UP rewards from my last visit, and I had $15 in coupons (both Rite-Aid coupons, from the adperk website, AND manufacturer coupons -- I matched them up with the help of Jenny from Southern Savers, of course!), so my grand total (including tax) was $13.68.  (That's like saying I paid $1.06 for each item!)  I got $10 +UP rewards for spending $30 (before coupons) on household items, so its kinda like I got all that stuff for only $3.68.

Oh!  And on the bottom of my receipt, there's a code to go the the Rite-Aid website, take a survey about their customer service, and get $3 off my next purchase of $15 or more.  SWEET.  I am *so* doing that.

After leaving Rite-Aid, I stopped at my favorite little gas station (the only one I know of that carries my beloved double coupon edition of the paper) and picked one up.  Today the regular paper has double coupons, so the double coupon paper has FOUR inserts!  WOOHOO!!

Ok, so after that little stop, I headed on down to CVS.  I didn't do as well as I had hoped at CVS today because one of my coupons (a $5 off $40 purchase) didn't scan...It came up that it had already been used, which was weird.  Turned out, it was actually expired.  Grrr. I hate when that happens.  So anyway, I had piled all my stuff into one big transaction so I could use the $5 off a $40 purchase coupon and then didn't get to use it.  Oh well.  Anyway, I think I still did okay. Here's what I got at CVS:

2 tubes of Maybelline mascara: $5.89 each
1 bag of Easter basket grass: $0.99
1 PAAS Easter egg decorating kit: $1.99
1 CVS Green bag tag: $0.99
1 GE Energy Smart light bulb: $2.99
18 rolls of Cottonelle TP: $8.99
CVS Training Pants: $10.99
Total before ECB and coupons: $38.63

I had $10 ECB from last week, and I had $10.50 in coupons, so my grand total with sales tax was $19.40. That's really not too bad, considering nearly $11 of that was training pants that were not on sale!  I also got back $16 worth of ECB, so its kind of like I paid $3.40 for all of this.  Not too shabby, eh?

*I know you see Dr. Pepper and Sprite in that picture.  Here's what happened.  I was running low on time...I had planned to take advantage of the Coke products deal...Apparently it didn't include Dr. P or Sprite.  I paid $4.99 for each of those 12-packs!  No way is that gonna happen.  Those bad boys are going back to the store this afternoon and I'm getting my $20 bucks back!

So...what do you think?  Which store won today -- Rite-Aid or CVS?  Where did I get the better deals?  Let me know if you got some good deals somewhere else!  I always love hearing other peoples' success stories, so please share! :)

ETA: I returned the Dr. Pepper & Sprite, so I got my $20 back, and I went ahead and got the Coke products.  I got 4 12-packs for $13.  I used ECB to pay for them, so I ended up only paying $0.27 for them.  Woohoo!  I also got $3  ECB in return, so I now have $6 ECB for next week.  Nice. :)

4.16.2011

Back from a Break!

I'm baaaack! :)  Since I am *not* an extreme couponer, I did not do my usual Sunday drugstore deals last week.  I took a week off because, frankly, we didn't really need anything and the deals weren't so amazing that I just had to get out there and take advantage of them.  So there!  See?  I am not an "organized hoarder" like the crazy people on TLC.

This week, however, I am totally back in the game.  I am planning to hit up the CVS and Rite-Aid tomorrow.  CVS is gonna be good because I have $10 ECB to start with, and Rite-Aid is just having some awesome freebie deals and those deals, combined with my $5 +UP rewards from a couple of weeks ago, will make for a really good shopping trip.

First, you should really check out this week's CVS deals and Rite-Aid deals from my favorite couponing source...Southern Savers!

Now, here's my plan for CVS:  I'm going to pick up some Easter basket grass, a PAAS egg decorating kit, a Green bag tag, a GE Energy Smart light bulb, (3) 12-packs of Coke products, 2 tubes of Maybelline Mascara, 18 rolls of Cottonelle TP, and a pack of Pull-Ups.  My total (before coupons and tax) would be $46.77...but with the $10 ECB and coupons I have, I will pay only $24.27 plus tax and get back $13.97 ECB for next week (so its kinda like paying only $10.30 for all of it).  Nice!


Rite-Aid will be even better!  They are having a sale where if you buy $30 worth of certain household items you will earn $10 +UP rewards.  I am planning to take advantage of this and buy a can of Lysol Neutra Air, 2 bottles of Windex, some Purex 3-in-1 laundry sheets, 2 cans of Febreze Air Effects, some Lysol toilet bowl cleaner, a box of Ziploc bags, 2 cans of Glade aerosol, and 2 Glade candles.  My total for all of this (before coupons or tax) would be $31.47...but with my $5 +UP rewards and my Rite-Aid coupons (through the adperk website) matched with manufacturer coupons, I will pay only $8.72 plus tax AND I will get $10 +UP rewards back (so its kinda like they're paying me $1.28 to take it out of the store)!!!

Of course, by the time I get there after church...who knows what will be there and what will happen.  Of course I will post an update, but this is why I have learned to take ALL my coupons with me, not just the ones I plan to use.  :)  For example, I have a ton of extra coupons cut out for the Rite-Aid products, just in case the items I plan to buy are sold out.  There were a ton of other items I could buy to reach the $30 limit and if I can use coupons to buy those items, I will.

Anyone else planning to hit the drug stores tomorrow??  Let me know if you have a strategy that works for you!