CVS this week- 9/21

Ok so I got some decent deals today but I am most excited to tell you that the Malt o Meal cereal is clearanced 75% off! I don't need any more cereal, but for .25 a box I am thinking of building the kids a fort in the living room! It will be like a gingerbread house, only cereal boxes. I know how this going to go. This week they will be excited. Next week, they might have a couple of bowls for a snack. Next month, they will be giving it to the mail man. I sure hope he likes 'Froot Loops'.

Ok here's a good deal.

I feel like a good deal involves me looking feverishly for my coupons, so I had to post this one. Target has their easy mac cups on sale for .70 each. I'm not sure if this is a clearance price, or just a sale price. The post I read didn't specify. Either way, I think the regular price of these at Wal-Mart is .77. There was a $1/2 Easy Mac coupons in last Sunday's paper, as well as on SmartSource.com. That makes the cups .20-.27 each. This is enough for my 2 girls to share for lunch. If you have any of the All You coupons left, this would be a great way to redeem them. Who really needs all that Kool-Aid?? I would much rather have something we will eat!

*If your grocery store does double coupons up to a dollar, this would be an even sweeter deal. Considering the original price, of course.

Just to let you all know, I did try this today and it worked like a charm. The cups at my Wal-Mart were .75 each. I am now the proud owner of 20 easy mac cups! And 1 Crystal Light, 1 package of natural hot dogs, a family size box of wheat thins, and 1 box of low fat fudge bars. I found you could print the easy mac coupons on a couple of websites besides smartsource.com, so I was able to print 8 total and I had 2 from my own newspaper inserts (8/24 rp, in case you were wondering). The fudge bars weren't free but they were reduced to $1. Much cheaper than skinny cow. I hope they taste as good. I spent a total of $8.05. Not too bad for 3 full sacks of edible items!

CVS 8/24-8/31

The deals are not plentiful this week. I may stop by tomorrow when I'm out and about. Here are the best deals I see.

5 ecb wyb Stayfree, Carefree, or OB for 2/$9 (Limit 1)
BOGO up to 6.49 6/29 rp

1.49 ecb wyb Kotex Lightdays for 1.49 (Limit 1)
.75 off 7/20 SS, $1 off any in ALL YOU, $1 off 7/31 SS, $1 off Printable
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=rbdhcjf66756477&bt=wi&o=50465&c=KT&p=9UjIsJNW

$3.00 ECB wyb Playtex Gentle glide 18 ct or Sport 16 ct @ $4.99 Limit 1
$1.00 off Playtex Gentle Glide Plastic Applicator Tampons, any 18 ct. or more V 6/22/08 exp 9/21/08
$1.00 off Playtex Sport Plastic Applicator Tampons, any 16 ct- V 6/22/08 exp 9/21/08

There is also a pack of Playtex Sport 36 ct tampons w/ a free intuition razor on sale for $5.99. No eb but if you need a razor this would be better to use your coupons on.

If there are any other deals I missed please include them in the comments section.

Freebie Friday

I apologize that I can't copy links on here. Just copy and paste the address to your tool bar.

Wal-Mart (more than one freebie)
http://instoresnow.walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-free-samples.aspx

$5/20 Walgreens plus other coupons, good today and tomorrow only.http://www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp?ec=hn579_getcoupon

Free Cascade Rinse Agent (enter to win a dishwasher too!)http://www.cascadeclean.com/en_US/specialoffers.do

Bounce Awakenings Dryer Sheets
https://pgpromotions.archway.com/bounce_us/?language=en&utm_source=awakenings_bouncesite

10 free tokens to Chuck E. Cheese. This is a printable reward calendar. Looks really cute! Chuck E Cheese had printable valentines last year with free tokens on them so you may want to save this site!http://www.chuckecheese.com/promotions/rewards-calendars.php

If you have other freebies, or really good coupons, feel free to post them in the comments page! Happy Friday!

Free Chick-Fil-A- September 1st

I L-O-V-E Chick-Fil-A. Unfortunately, it is really expensive fast food, and hubby doesn't like it. (I think he may be a communist because he doesn't like cobbler either.) With our food budget being sliced almost in half, there is no going out this month. FREE Chick-Fil-a! Bonus: You don't have to dress like a cow!
Free three-count order of Chick-n-Strips while supplies last, eligible participants should visit participating Chick-fil-A locations from 10:30 AM until close on Sept. 1, 2008 wearing at least one visible article of clothing that contains any football team logo or collegiate logo and mention this Promotion.

ELIGIBILITY: Offer available only to legal U.S. residents of AL, AR AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, and WY. Limit one per person.
Go Sooners!

(From Chick-Fil-A's website)

Freebie Friday

If you haven't bought the ALL YOU magazine yet, go and buy it! Most stores have their KoolAid packets for around .10 each. In the All You magazine there are coupons for FREE Wheat Thins, dressing, hot dogs, crystal light, and kraft singles, when you buy 3 kraft products. KoolAid is made by Kraft so you can get all that stuff for 1.50, plus the price of the magazine (1.77 here)! WooHoo! My kids don't drink KoolAid but I read on another post that you can use the lemonade flavor to disinfect your dishwasher. I guess that isn't technically FREE but it's pretty close. The magazine is loaded with other great coupons as well, and some great recipes.

Free Purina One dog (or cat, I think) food. Since we got our puppy on Mother's Day I have bought 1 bag of dog food. Everything else I have gotten for free by signing up for coupons! Call this number Call 1-866-894-BARK (2275). It takes about 2-3 minutes...FULLY automated

Do a survey for $74 in P&G coupons. http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/en_US/jsp/EDS_Page.jsp?pageID=UMLP&brand=eds_brandsampler
This is pretty painless but takes a few minutes.

FREE IAMS Dog or Cat Food coupon http://www.startsampling.com/sm/100323/captureAddress.iphtml?item=100323&source=
If you do any coupon trading this would be a good one to have if you don't have pets.

With our drastically reduced grocery budget this month, these coupons will help out
a lot!

I'm not sure why but blogger is not letting me post links to any other sites unless I put it on the right side of the page. Until I figure this out, you can cut and paste the link to your toolbar. If anyone knows how to fix this problem please let me know! I am not very techie!

FREE Professional Haircare

One thing that I really have a love/hate relationship is the price of hair care. I love to go to the salon for a cut and color, and grown up conversation. Then I have to pay.......EEK! Dave Ramsey would be so ashamed. To make matters worse, they want me to come back in 6 weeks. Well my friends, I may have discovered the greatest thing since hair color in a box, which I can NOT do. Hubby and I and the girls were at the mall today (I went to pick up a book that I had ordered with the Borders $5 off code) when I walked past Regis and noticed a sign. It said something about hair models, blah blah, inquire inside. The nice lady told me that they use 'hair models' to teach new techniques to their staff. This time they are doing foiling highlights, any color you choose, free of charge. Since I was the first to sign up, the instructor will be doing my hair. I don't know how often they do this but I'm hoping to get on some sort of list so they can call me when they need a model. I will let you all know how it turns out and if I get any more info the day of the services. Wish me luck and call your local salon!

My Homeland trip

I know I posted the deals yesterday but this is the first time I've been owed money at the GROCERY STORE! It has happened at CVS numerous times but this was exciting. Homeland will only double one of the same coupon per transaction. No problem, I will do multiple trasnactions. It's not like I haven't done it before.

Transaction one-

Notebook paper .50
Boneless Pork Ribs 3.99 (reduced for quick sale)
Pickles 1.00
Shred cheese 1.50
Pickles 1.00
Glue Sticks .50 (for Peyton's preschool class)
Sour cream 2.00
Iced tea 1.04
creamer 2.00
Secret 1.00
Pillsbury dinner rolls 1.00
Pillsbury french loaf 1.00
MINUS
1.00 pickles
.60 tea
.44 tea
1.00 creamer
1.00 creamer
1.00 secret
1.00 secret
.35 rolls
.35 rolls
.35 french loaf
.35 french loaf

Total oop 9.03

MQ 4.30
BonusQ 3.14
Homeland card savings 15.83
Total savings 23.27 (74% off)

So then I do transaction 2. I had 3 more creamer coupons and 1 more tea coupon. Here's where planning better would have come in handy. She rings up the tea and 1 creamer. My total after coupons was -1.06!! I just handed her my other two creamers with their coupons. My total oop was 1.28, which is great but if I had thought better I could have used some of the items I didn't have coupons for, like the pork ribs, on the second, third and fourth transaction and had close to 0.00 oop. I'm still okay with it because I am still learning the grocery store coupon game, but I was so frustrated with myself for not paying closer attention.

Homeland Deals 7/29- 8/5

As you know we don't have the AMAZING grocery store deals that some of you have in other parts of the country. We do have Homeland, who doubles their coupons. So when they have decent deals, like they have had the past couple of weeks, it is worth posting about. Especially since Homeland is not included in the Grocery Gathering! Here are the best deals I see so far.

10/$10 Sale
Pillsbury Crescents (-0.35q)=$0.30
Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (-.30q)=$0.40
Pillsbury bread (French loaf shown) (-0.35q)=$0.30
Hamburger Helper X3 (-$0.75q)=$1.50/3
Hormel Chili/Tamales X2(-0.55/2q)=$0.90/2
Lipton Flavored Teas X2(-0.75q)=$0.50/2
Jello Sugar Free Singles (-0.55q)=FREE
Secret (-0.50)=FREE
Old Spice Deodorant X2(-1.00/2)=FREE
Kraft Jet Puffed Strawberry Mallows (-0.30)=$0.40
Mt Olive Dill Chips (-1.00/2)= FREE

10/$15 Sale
Skintimate Shave Gells (-0.55q)=$0.40
Best Choice Shredded Cheese (no coupon but great price)
Easy Mac (no coupon but great price)

10/$20 Sale
Daisy Sour Cream 24oz. (-.50q)= $1.00
Coffee-Mate Creamer (-1.00q)= FREE
Nature Valley Granola Bars (-.50q)= $1.00

Misc. Sale Items
Taste Escapes lunchmeat $2.19 (-$1q)=$0.19
Pilgrim’s Pride chicken Breast Tenders $2.99lb (-0.55q)
Luzianne Tea $1.25(-0.60q)=$0.05

Ok, first of all, to you lucky people who have Kroger or any other grocery stores who double coupons along with their awesome sales, this post is not going to impress you. I live in Oklahoma where there are no chain grocery stores except Homeland, and their good deals are few and far between. But this week they had a ton of 10/$10 deals. And they double coupons. And I had LOTS of coupons, thanks to eBay. To make a long story shorter, I got 18 bags of natural Ragu pasta sauce and 30 bags of Knorr Lipton sides for $24.67!! I saved over $65! And I got lots of stuff we will use. The pasta sauce was .50 each after sales and coupons and the sides were .33 after sales and coupons. Before the flaming begins, I did not clear the shelves of either. I am really hoping we like the pasta sauce (it's new). If not my poor college student BIL will have lots of spaghetti!

CVS Sunday

I was so excited to go to CVS today. With a 3 year old usually in tow, it just hasn't been worth it the last couple of weeks. I'm always surprised with my out of pocket b/c I think I know what it will be and then I'll be blessed by the coupon printer. Since I didn't have any extra bucks to start with (GASP!) I scanned both of my cards (Yes, I really do only have 2 cards. Really.) to see what would spit out. Much to my surprise I had 3.50 in extra bucks on one card, from my Spring spending. And I got a $2 off $10!! Here's what I did...... FYI- My CVS didn't have the DVD's. And the Revlon was in the back b/c they "haven't changed their cosmetics yet". This is when it's good to know your cashiers and make nice with them. My cashier said, "Follow me, and you can get what you want out of the box. I'll just tell everyone else that we don't have the makeup."

Transaction 1
Revlon 9.99
- 2.00 m q from 7/20
- 2/10 crt q
- 3.50 ecb
Total OOP 2.84
ecb- 9.99

Transaction 2
Scott towels 4.99
Stayfree 4.50
Stayfree 4.50
Schick Intuition 3.99
Gobstoppers 1.00
- 1.00 scott m q 7/27
- b1g1 stayfree m q 7/20
- 4.00 schick m q 6/29 (? on date)
- 9.99 ecb
Total OOP .31

I sooooooo heart CVS!! When I left CVS I hit Target to check out their shoe clearance. I got 2 pairs of sandals and a pair of fall shoes for Peyton, for next year, and super cute pair of wedge sandals for me, all for $14!!

What great deals have you gotten recently? Post it in comments! You could be helping a fellow frugal friend.

"Buying" Coupons

I have found the wave of the future!! Figure out the sales a few days in advance. Go to ebay and find 20 of the 1 coupon you need to make your deals even better. Click Buy It Now. They come to your mailbox in a few days. I'm in love! Nothing to keep up with and no searching through your box of coupons for half an hour to get one coupon. MUCH less mess too. I don't use a lot of coupons at the grocery store b/c they don't take internet coupons and they don't double coupons so it really isn't worth it unless it's an amazing coupon, like the $1 off powerade. Instead of feverishly running around digging through the neighbors recycle bins (Oh yes I did!) I just ordered them off ebay for $2.50. That's 20 free powerades plus 2 cases of dasani for a positive of .70!! (The powerades at the grocery store are .68, and I got the overage.) That, my friends, is no fuss couponing. In fact, I haven't even opened my Sunday paper from last week!!

My frugal wedding gift.

I used the Linens & Things offer I posted about a couple of weeks ago to buy a wedding gift today. I got them a crockpot and I am putting togetther a collection of crockpot recipes to go with it. I would love to have any of your recipes to include along with mine. I plan on getting an empty binder and adding sheet protectors with my tip of organizing my recipes. I will add recipes for their crockpot. With my 20% off coupon, free shipping, ebates return, and the $20 gift card I will get in a few weeks, the crockpot cost me .79!! That is a cheap gift! I can afford to get a REALLY nice binder for the recipes. =) Post your recipes!

Saving money- my new full time job?

Am I the only one that gets worn out by all the couponing and saving? I am in no way complaining but by the time I check moneysavingmom, thriftyfloridamama, afullcup, herecomesthestork, then moneysavingmom again, then organize my coupons, make my shopping list, and get out the door, it's after noon. And I started at 8am! And today was a slow day. Not a new CVS day. Between Saturday night and Sunday morning CVS planning, I'm a wreck. I WON'T even allow myself to delve into the Walgreens world b/c it seems confusing to me and I really don't want to know how to do it. It would just involve more of my time. By the time Peyton and I hit WalMart (in case they had more nuggets even though I got 9 bags), CVS (In case they got toothpaste. I already have plenty but I NEED more. And I had to get a couple of birthday gifts.), Aldi, and Target (for the grocery items I needed that they had on sale, that I couldn't get cheaper at Aldi) it was 4pm when we got home. 8-4 is a full time job. I only spent about $40 total for all 3 stores and got MUCH more than that in retail value, but my day was gone. I LOVE saving money but as I sit here in an exhausted stuper I wonder if I really save money in comparison to the time I put into it. WHO CARES? It IS fun!! And I might use 5 tubes of toothpaste before CVS puts them on sale again. =)

Free Chicken Nuggets!!

With summer quickly approaching I have been thinking of ways to cheaply entertain my children. I spent some time on http://www.orientaltrading.com/ yesterday finding cheap craft projects because I (thought) I had a code for 15% off and free shipping. Alas, I found out you had to spend $60 to get the deal. I thought of including some neighbors in on the deal, as all the little girls on our street run in a pack from Memorial Day to Labor Day but instead I decided to crash my Dave car into a curb. I am okay but the wheel is not. In case your concerned about the curb, I think it's gonna make it. I distinctly remember Dave-o saying $1000, because most insurance deductibles are $500. I hate it when he's right, which is ALWAYS! At least God has brought us to a place where we can not stress about $500, and focus on getting the free Dave car fixed. Thank goodness my parents (who we got the original Dave car from) were gracious enough to let us borrow another Dave car until the original Dave car is fixed. I promise to stay away from curbs! So needless to say, my focus shifted from funfilled 100 degree days of crafting to anything free. Free food is good, and Sprout online has craft project ideas. Can't get anymore frugal than that. (Thanks to Krystal at http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ and http://www.sensiblecents.com/ for first posting this deal. I had already discovered the frosting during the cupcake weekend.)

Fast Fixin' Dino Bites are on sale 2 for $2.00 at Wal-Mart this week. Go here, http://www.fastfixin.com/fanatics.php?section=4&catid=4,to get your $1.00 off coupons. Just sign up for their Fanatics club, and they will send 5 coupons to your printer. Go back and refresh the page to print 5 more! Then, look around on their site, and there is a place,http://www.fastfixin.com/fanatics.php?coupons=get, to print another coupon. Again, backspace and refresh the page and you'll get yet another. That makes a total of 12 coupons! I just got my 12 free bags today, and we had them for supper tonight. Don't forget to get your $0.33 frosting while you're at Wal-Mart!

Cupcakes everywhere!!

Being the over achiever mom that I aim to be, I am up to my elbows in cupcakes. Peyton's school carnival is tomorrow and I am in baking H-E-double hockey stick. Did you know one box of cake mix makes 24 cupcakes? Times 6 boxes of cake mix. You do the math. I have cupcakes on every surface of my kitchen. However, I did get a great deal! (Of course!) Homeland had their cake mixes 10 for $10 last week. I had 2 coupons for $1 off 3 boxes. Homeland doubles their coupons up to $1. End result, .33 cakes! I am saying "Thank goodness!" that I only had 2 coupons, otherwise the cupcake debacle could have gotten a whole lot worse. I was originally going to make homemade frosting ( HAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAA!! Nevermind that idea!) I booted the homemade frosting idea and went to WM to get some pre-made frosting and the Betty Crocker frosting is on sale for .88. There are stickies on the yellow cake mix by Betty Crocker for .50 off any frosting. Thus making the frosting .38 a tub! That ladies, is a deal!! And so my pounds keep packing on. At least I am getting rid of this 'sweet' deal (pun intended!).

I may have hit an all time low for my coupon obsession tonight. I have already stooped to stealing coupons from the bagel store on a Sunday afternoon but this is worse. I walked across the street tonight to borrow some cupcake liners from my neighbor. On the way back home I notice my next door neighbors recycle bin has the Sunday paper in it. Oh yea, I did it. I picked up the bin, ran to my porch, dug out the coupons and ran to take back the bin. I was so proud of myself until hubby said, "You know you could probably just ask them if you can have them. I bet they would save them for you." To which I replied, "But then I would be the crazy coupon lady." "Seriously", he says,"you just stole the coupons from their recycle bin. I think you already are the crazy coupon lady." What does he know? There IS a $4 razor coupon in there! And Lord knows I NEED another razor. =)

Good deal Monday

No terribly exciting deals at CVS this week so we will skip to Monday. On a side note, I have to share b/c hubby just doesn't get my excitement! Peyton's school carnival is this Friday. We are supposed to bring things for the cake walk. Homeland's ad has cake mixes for $1 each. I have 2 coupons for $1 off 3 (red plum 2/3), and Homeland doubles coupons. End result, .33 cakes! Now I just have to make frosting from the pantry. Don't forget your free Red Box Rental for the day, code PL96QA.
In case you want to sign up for free texts of the code on Mondays, here's the link http://www.redbox.com/Help/Signup.aspx.
Another great deal, Jane cosmetics at Walgreen's are B1G1 this week. Copy this coupon http://www.janecosmetics.com/coupons/coupon%20only.pdf to get them free or practically free. This is how I plan on using my register rewards from last week. Also, Sally Hansen nail polish is on sale for $1 this week and some bottles have been spotted with $1 off coupons stickies. I so need a pedi....... =)

Target & Walgreens

Target & Walgreens shopping this week did not go as well as planned. Actually I think I just didn't plan very well. I saved more than 50% at both stores but this brings me to the big question. Would I have bought those things if they weren't a great deal? No. Would I have saved more if I had bought nothing? Yes. CVS is great b/c I can get out of there for a few dollars. I think I will be sticking to it unless I can get something free somewhere else. As Dave Ramsey says it's only saving if you buy things you were already going to buy. On the other hand, I am creating an emergency fund in my pantry. Justification. I know, that won't grow wealth.

Wow......you must have some good coupons

"Wow...you must have had some good coupons." That is what my friendly cashier said at Target today. I don't know what my total before coupons was (no subtotal) but I got:
2 Morningstar Corndogs (.99 each)
2 Morningstar Chik'n Nuggets (.99 each)
20 string cheese (.04 each)
1 bag Flat Earth Chips (FREE)
Electrasol (needed) (.50 off coupon)
Oreo's (needed, wait, wanted) (clearance for 1.50)
Abby Cadaby backpack for Peyton (dollar spot- entertainment while I coupon, worth it!)
all for $11.51!

And I got a raincheck for the bed set I've been eyeing for a few months. I was actually HOPING they would be out of it so I could get a raincheck. That way I have 45 days to finish funding my bed set envelope!

What a great savings day!

Free Free Free!!!

Good deals are great but FREE is even better!!

Free Dunkin Donuts coffee
https://dunkinathome.offerprocessingcenter.com/?source=[homepage]


Free Coffee Mate creamer
http://www.coffee-mate.com/SpecialOffers.

Free Campbell's Soup at Hand
http://promotion.familytime.com/soupathand/default.asp

Free Flat Earth Chips
http://www.flatearth.com/

Free Yoplait Kids Yogurt
http://www.yoplait.com/products_yoplaitkids_coupons_yn.aspx


B1G1 Krispy Kreme Donuts
http://www.krispykreme.com/#


$3.24 purses at Target (Great b-day gifts if you have pre-teens or teens)
http://www.target.com/b/ref=in_se_pagelist/602-2454623-6693426?ie=UTF8&node=486470011&pricerange=&index=target&field-browse=486470011&rank=price&viewID=leaf&field-pricebin=&store=&rh=&page=1&fromBrowse=1

$5.99 bikini at Victoria's Secret
http://www2.victoriassecret.com/commerce/application/prodDisplay/CQO/?namespace=productDisplay&origin=QuickOrderLink.jsp&event=QuickOrderLink&cgname=OSCQONAVZZZ&prnbr=8S-219044
Use code BSEXY for a free tote on any beach sexy purchase, and code SP89829 for free shipping.

That's all I have for today!!