Super Savin' Momma!

I had an exceptionally good day of savings yesterday.  At CVS, I managed to get $33.51 in products for $1.26 (ONLY TAX!).  At Weis, I got over $200 of groceries and paper products (TP) for $95.32 after rebates.  There were some great deals at Weis, including free cereal and 70% off produce, but I was MOST excited about 60% off Charmin (the only brand that will do)! 

Here's how that deal worked:
(3) Charmin big packs/sale: 12.99 ea.
-(1) $1/2 Charmin in the P&G insert

Total: $37.97

Get back: $10 catalina on your next order when you buy (3) specified P&G products
Submit for $10 P&G rebate wyb $30 in P&G products (any)

Makes for a total of $17.97 or $5.99 each!

It's really difficult to find a great TP sale, especially if you have brand loyalties, so I'm still doing a happy dance over that deal!

I went to CVS yesterday and got a B1G1 coupon for Starburst candy.  Combined with a sale and 2 manu. q's, it made money for me (though, I don't know what to do with them--Starburst cookies, anyone?)

Here's what I got:

(2) Panete $6.97
(2) Starburst Candy sacks $6
(2) Cascade $7.98
(1) St. Joe's aspirin $2

-(2) FREE Pantene (bonus from Facebook offer)
-5 ECBs (from last week)
-(2) $1/1 Starburst, Lifesavers, or Skittles
-B1G1 Starburst, Lifesavers, or Skittles CVS coupon ($4.29 off) (red coupon machine)
-$2/2 ANY shampoo or conditioner CVS coupon (red coupon machine)
-(2) $1/1 Cascade (P&G)
-$1/1 St. Joseph's Aspirin

Total: (negative subtotal) $1.26

ECBs earned: 2 (St. Joe's), 1 (Pantene), 1 (Green Bag Tag 4th scan)

I was really happy with these sales/deals because hubby said the dreaded "While you're out, can you get..." for the Cascade.  I had already planned on using the other money earned from this transaction to pay for detergent ;0).  Plus, I was low on shampoo (and by "low" I mean I only had 3/4 of ONE bottle of shampoo :D)

Adventures in Mommyhood is BACK!

Saving at CVS

If there are four-letter words in the coupon world, "need" is definitely one of them.  If you need something, you no longer have the luxury to name your own price for an item: you have to pay whatever the retailer wants to charge you that day.  I NEEDED two things this weekend: Q-Tips (how did I miss that?) and Mucinex (I've been taking it every four hours with Motrin and I'm just starting to feel better).  Thankfully, the coupon machine at CVS printed out a $2/$10 contact, eye, or ear care purchase.  Since I had a raincheck for free after extrabucks contact lens solution, I was able to add the smallest box of Q-Tips (we must have the name brand) and get it all basically for free. 

Here's what I got (yes, this is my best pic :P):

Here's how:

Transaction #1
(2) Honest Teas $2 (I thought I'd be getting ExtraBucks for this, but I had already done this deal this MONTH, so I couldn't)
-$1/1 Honest Tea (Recyclebank)
(2) Powerades $2
-Free Powerade (My Coke Rewards)
1 Carmello candy bar $1.19
-Free Carmello candy bar (Red coupon machine)
(2) Revlon Topspeed Nail Polish
-(2) $1/1 Revlon color cosmetic (SS 8/14)
1 G-Fit flavored water
1 Revlon Crazyshine nail buffer $0.99 (75% off clearance)
- $1/1 Revlon tool (printable)
1 Renu contact lens solution (redeemed a raincheck) $7.89
-$2/1 Renu solution (printable)
1 Q-Tips 170 ct. $2.77
-$2/10 contact, eye, or ear care purchase (red coupon machine)
1 CVS bandages $4.19
-FREE 20 CVS brand fabric bandages (red coupon machine)
1 Poise liners 44ct. $6.49 (don't knock it if it's free ;D)
-FREE Poise product up to $6 (catalina from Weis)
1 Vanilla Body wash (CVS brand) $2.27
-FREE body wash  up to $2.27 (but it takes off $3 when scanned...not sure...) (from Facebook when you "like" CVS's MinuteClinic)
-$5/$40 purchase (as you can see, I exhausted all of my FREE coupons to get to $40)
-6 ECBs from last week

Total Due: $4.99
Got Back: 12 ECBs (3 for each nail polish and 6 for the contact lens solution)

Transation #2:
(4) G-fit flavored water $4.00
(1) CVS brand Mucinex $12.49 (tarnations to NEED)
-12 ECBs

Total Due: $4.65
Got Back: 5 ECBs

So, I spent $9.64 total and saved $63.18, or 87%.  I'll take it--but only because I'm sick.  :D


I also stopped by Staples this afternoon to get more office supplies.  Here's what I got:

Here's how I did it:
1 Z-grips mechanical pencil 7 ct. $3.99
-$3.99 Easy Rebate
2 Sharpie Markers 2 ct. $0.50
1 Staples pencil sharpener $0.50
2 Hammermill Copy Paper $9.98
-$8.98 Easy Rebates

Total: $15.87
Rebates: $12.97

So, it's like I got $29.95 in office supplies for $2.90, or 90% off!  This paper is gonna come in handy with all the coupons I'm printing!

Note: CVS has a great deal running right now for Huggies diapers in their gas promo!  You could get a small supply for super cheap!  Here's how:

Buy:

(4) Huggies Slip-On Diaper Jumbo Packs $8.99 ea.
-(1) $2/1 Huggies slip on diapers (store coupon) (it limits "one per visit" but if you had the time, you could go four separate times and still get the gas card with your final purchase)
-(4) $3/1 Huggies slip-on diapers (SS 8/14)
Total due:  $20.96
Get Back: $10 gas gift card
It's like paying $2.74 per pack!

Note: I had to get a rain check for this deal because they didn't have any Huggies Slip-Ons yet (but said they should be getting some in their shipment tomorrow), but I almost prefer it in this case.. (see how I used my rain check today to get free Q-tips?)  Happy Couponing everybody!

Because you need my two cents

Sorry I've been slacking lately, but I have a great excuse: I've had a sinus infection for a month.  I'm on my third (and hopefully last) round of antibiotics now. 

I learned something today:

When you eat baby food, don't use a baby spoon.  Otherwise, you'll feel really infantile.

Thrifty Thursday

Mom Taylor sure knows the way to this girl's heart: coupons!  She had 3 quarterly ECBs and gave 'em to me!  Aw, shucks.  Thanks a bunch!

Well, I dashed into CVS this afternoon and ended up spending an hour there.  I had wanted to get myself one of those cotton robes that have been hanging out at CVS since Mother's Day, but when I got there, they had all disappeared.  Oh well... I scanned her card and got a $2 off coupon for chips, popcorn, or cheese curls, which retail for $2.50, so I picked up a bag of tortilla chips for hubby.  There were also a lot of cough/cold medicines on clearance for 75% off.  They didn't expire until late 2012/early 2013, so I picked up a few things we're gonna want come November.  In all, I paid $0.08 for $12.91 worth of stuff!  Here's what I got with her coupons:

Money Monday

I had the luxury of going to multiple stores yesterday (thank you, Jesse!).  I wouldn't recommend it.  All that shopping is catching up with me.  I went to Food Lion right after church and got 2 newspapers because there were supposed to be some great coupons this week.  Sadly, they didn't have the Baltimore or Washington papers (they have more coupons), but I picked up a Frederick News-Post and a Herald Mail (which actually should have had the exact same coupons in them).  Come to find out 3/4 of the Frederick newspaper's coupons were gone.  Oh well, you save more shopping the sales than using the coupons, but still a bummer. 

I stopped by Martin's quickly (I hadn't planned on going Sunday) and got 10 boxes of Kellogg's cereal for a promotion that gives you $5 off your order instantly when you buy 10 Kellogg's or Keebler products.  There's some great Kellogg's coupons for $1.50 off fruit wyb 2 boxes of cereal and $1 off 3 boxes that would have been great to use, but I didn't have my large binder--just the little folio in my purse.  I did have the awesome printable coupon that was available a while back for $5/5 boxes of any Kellogg's cereal, so I just used that (and I actually used the self checkout for the first time in a long time!). 

Here's what I got:

(8) boxes ass't Kellogg's cereal $2 ea.

(2) boxes Kellogg's mini wheats $2.50 ea.

Total:

$21.00-$5 instant savings-$5/5 coupon=$11.00 oop

Six of the boxes were marked for Cars Cash, so I'll be getting $7.50 in rebates, so it's like I paid $0.35 for cereal that originally cost $3.50 each!

After dinner, I decided to take advantage of Jesse and do my grocery shopping without Timothy.  First, I went to CVS.  With the newspaper issues, I didn't get all the deals I wanted, but I was still pretty happy with my trip.  Here's what I got:

Bought:

(2) Revlon nail polish $5.79 ea

(2) CVS pantyliners $2/0.99 (50% off)

(1) Revlon crazyshine nail buffer $0.63 (clearance 75% off)

Used:

$3/$10 cosmetic purchase (printing at the coupon printer/price checker in store)

(2) $1/1 Revlon color cosmetic

Note: This coupon beeps on many Revlon nail polishes, but my cashier overrode it for me--it is a legitimate use of the coupon (past coupons with the exact same wording have had a picture of Revlon nail polish), but there is some issue with the coding.  If you're a noob or don't really know your cashier, you may just want to get some Revlon lipstick, which is the same deal--I just wanted nail polish for my little niece.

$1/1 Revlon tool printable (this coupon has a Walmart logo on it, but it is redeemable ANYWHERE)

-6 ExtraCare Bucks

Total due:

$2.11 (incl. tax)

Got Back:

6 ExtraCare Bucks

Saved:

$16.97

Finally, I did my weekly grocery shopping at Weis.  I spent $65.99 oop, saved $52.82 and submitted for a $10 rebate, so it's like I paid $55.99 for $118.81 worth of groceries!  That's a savings of 53%!

The most impressive part of this trip was the P&G deal.  You get a $10 prepaid Visa card by mail when you spend $30 BEFORE coupons (this is a lot like ExtraBuck deals).  I had some unusually awesome coupons and needed some paper towels. 

I bought:

(1) Bounty Extra Soft 8 Ct. $9.29 (shelf price)
(2) Pantene Beautiful lengths shampoo, conditioner $5.19 ea (shelf price)
(2) Head and Shoulders shampoo $4.50 ea.
(1) Pampers wipes $2.99 (shelf price)

I used:

BOGO Head and shoulders (exp. 7/31) ($5.19)

(2) Free Pantene Facebook coupon (max. value $4.99 ea)
$1/1 Bounty 6 ct. +
$1/1 Pampers thick care wipes (home mailer) (exp. 7/31–I had forgotten about that one!)

Total: $14.49-$10 mail-in rebate

That makes it $0.75 each!!!  When $4 is a stock price for the paper towels alone, that's an awesome deal!  So, including cost of the two papers yesterday I got $176.61 worth of groceries for $64.82--that's a savings of 63%!