Free Stuff @ Walgreens!!

Walgreens offers a register rewards (RR) program where you buy certain products and get a coupon back for your next shopping trip. There are some pretty good freebies, but the sale ends on Sat, so find time to get there on Fri or Sat!! Now, how the freebies work is that you pay for the item and then you will get the same amout in a coupon for your next purchase (which can be in ten minutes or the next day, just makes sure to use them before they expire!!).

FREE Stuff!!

• Nivea Shave Gel - 2.49 (according to Jeff, this is the BEST shaving gel)
• Right Guard Deodorant - 2.49
• Dove Deodorant - 3.99
• Johnson Softwash - 5.99
• Aquafresh - 1.99
• Infusium Shampoo or Conditioner - 4.99

NOW, here's what you need to know about RR's!!! VERY IMPORTANT!!
There are no limits.... BUT what I've heard in the past is that if you were to buy a product w/RR's that you earned from buying the SAME product, then you will not get more RR's... BUT if you were to get the toothpaste and say the Dove deodorant, got your RR's, then went right back and bought the Softwash and shave gel using the Dove and Aquafresh RR's, then you would be all set. So you just have to remember what you bought to earn the RR's that you're spending and then go back as often as you can to buy other things...

ANOTHER tip!! If you have coupons for these free items USE them!! Coupons will make these better than free. Nothing better than having a store PAY you to take some stuff off their hands, right?? For example, you have a $1 Nivea coupon, when you buy that item and use the coupon, then you would still get back the full value of the Nivea despite paying 2.49 minus $1.

Ok one more RR tip!! When spending RR's, make sure that you've gotten up to at least the value of the RR you plan to spend. For example, you have 5.99 in RR's to spend from the Softwash and you pick up the Dove Deodorant and the Aquafresh, which comes to 5.98. I'm not sure if they will adjust the penny or not, but just to be safe, they have 10 cent xmas gift bags. Add one of those, pay with your RR's and 9 cents (plus tax IF you're unlucky enough to live in a state that charges sales tax - BLAH to that!!) then you will be sure to get back your 5.98 in RR's.

So, here is a possible scenario:
Trip#1
Aquafresh
Right Guard
Dove Deo
Nivea Shave Gel
Total comes to $10.96, which you will pay and then get right back in RR's

Put that stuff in the car and head back in!
Trip #2
Infusium
Softwash
Total comes to $10.98, you pay with your $10.96 in RR's and two cents (besides, who wouldn't want to add in their own two cents?). You get $10.98 in RR's.

Repeat trip #1, but don't forget to add a 1o cent gift back since your total will be less than the RR's from trip #2. Alternate these scenarios as many times as you can to stock up! If you want to spend less money out of pocket, you could break this up into smaller txn's, but to spend $10 that you can keep rolling into more free stuff would be worth it to me...

And just for fun, here are some other good deals...

• Crayola Color Wonder marker sets - BOGO (I <3>
• 4 ft inflatable Snowman or Penguin - BOGO - 19.99, so really about $10 each - maybe not a great deal, but they look awfully cute, so thought I'd mention it. HA
• Cottonelle Bath tissue 12pk - 2 for $9 - IN AD COUPON, so grab the flyer when you go in OR you can print the coupon from Walgreens.com before you go

Happy shopping!! eeerrrhhh.. I mean Happy Thanksgiving and hope you've enjoyed Black Friday eve! :-)

Free Paper Towels & Cheap Breyers Ice Cream @ Shaw's until Nov 12

I haven't been keeping an eye on the sales so much lately, but had to share this one...

This week at Shaw's they have a spend $30 get back $15 in coupons for your next order. I know I've mentioned this before, but most people don't realize that these deals are on the pre-sale prices, so you don't REALLY have to spend $30 to get the $15 back. I haven't been clipping coupons for awhile, so all of the deals I'm going to post are without coupons.

Scott Paper Towels
pre-sale price = $2.09/roll
sale price = $0.99
Buy 15 rolls for $14.85
It gets even better... the store I went to yesterday had a blinky coupon machine on the shelf for $1 off 4, so I grabbed 4 coupons & bought 16 rolls instead of 15 - paid $11.85 and got $15 back for my next shopping trip. Nothing like getting paid to take home 16 rolls of paper towels, so keep an eye out for the coupon machine. :-)

Breyers Ice Cream
pre-sale price = $5.29
sale price = $2.99
Buy 6 cartons of ice cream for $17.94 - use the $15 in coupons from the paper towels, pay $2.94 and you will get another round of $15 in coupons for your next trip.

There are lots of different items that are included in the spend $30, get $15 deal - just check the back page of the weekly circular for what's included. Rumor has it that the Old El Paso products aren't working for the deal - maybe they were skipped in the system programming - so I'd stay away from those, but mix & match... get what you need & stock up on stuff that you will use... One last tip - you CAN double or triple the deal - meaning that you could buy BOTH the paper towels & ice cream in one transaction and you'd get back $30 in coupons.

I collected a few pre-sale & sale prices on the items that I'm interested in, so here are a few to consider if you want to make a plan before you shop...

I've listed the pre-sale price, the sale price, & quantity needed if that is the ONLY thing you were to buy to get the deal. The end price is assuming, you've already done a deal & already have $15 in coupons. So, for example, you'd only pay $1.83 for 17 pasta sides. Not too shabby!! If you have coupons for any of these items - USE EM because it will only bring down the amount that you pay.

Item
Knorr Pasta Sides Pre-sale = $1.79; Sale = $0.99
(buy 17, so $16.83 minus $15 = 1.83)

Knorr Rice Sides Pre-sale = $1.69; Sale = $0.99
(buy 18, so $17.82 minus $15 = $2.82)

Lipton Soup Mix Pre-sale = $1.69; Sale = $0.99
(buy 18, so $17.82 minus $15 = $2.82)

Progresso Broth Pre-sale = $2.69; Sale = $1.49
(buy 12, so $17.88 minus $15 = $2.88)

Progresso Soup Pre-sale = $2.50; Sale = $1.49
(buy 12, so $17.88 minus $15 = $2.88)

Skippy Peanut Butter Pre-sale = $2.29; Sale = $1.99
(buy 14, so $27.86 minus $15 = $12.86 - not a GREAT deal, but not too bad if you mix these in with other items, but less than $1/jar of PB is not THAT bad either & we use TONS of PB here)

Klondike Bars Pre-sale = $3.99; Sale = $2.99
(buy 8, so $23.92 minus $15 = $8.92)

Hellman's Mayo Pre-sale = $3.99; Sale = $2.99
(buy 8, so $23.92 minus $15 = $8.92)

Ragu Pasta Sauce Pre-sale = $2.50; Sale = $1.99
(buy 12, so $23.88 minus $15 = $8.88)

Shedd's Country Crock Spread Pre-sale = $4.99; Sale = $3.39
(buy 7, so $23.73 minus $15 = $8.73 - for this one, IF you want to stock up, I'd buy 6 + one 99 cent item - like a soup mix, because 6 is VERY close to the $30 needed)

Q-tips Pre-sale = $2.99; Sale = $2.50
Again.. mix these in with something else if you really need 'em... not worth it to buy $30 worth of Q tips unless your family goes through hundreds/month...

Happy Shopping!!

Great sale at CVS this week!

Three day sale - Aug 23-25
Composition Paper - 100 sheets - 99 cents, FREE after ECBs
Maybeline Mascara - BOGO

Lots of good ECB deals:
Pepsi 12-pks 4 for $12, get 3 ECB's back, 4 for $9 or $2.25 each
Kraft Mac & Cheese = 4/$4 - get back 2 ECB, so 4 boxes for $2 or 50 cents each (I think I recently saw a buy 3 get one free coupon in the paper, so that would be 4 boxes for $3 if you have that)
Spend $15 on Enegizer Batteries, get back $5 ECBs
Spend $10 on Glade air fresheners and get $3 ECBs (there are USUALLY Glade coupons around to make this deal worthwhile)
Spend $25 on Aveeno skin, sun, or hair and get $10 ECB (I'm going to look for some coupons for this - I wanted to try the baby Aveeno sunscreen)
Spend $15 on Neutrogena skin, sun,men's, or hair and get $5 ECB
Spend $15 on Biore, Jergens or Curel Skin Care or John Frieda Hair Care and get $5 ECB
Spend $15 on Revlon Face, Eye, Lip or Nail and get $7 ECB (I REALLY like the new mousse mineral make up)
Speedstick $2.49 get back $1 ECB, so $1.49 each (limit 2)
Addidas deodorant - get $3 ECB, price is not listed
CVS Skincare products - get $3 ECB when you buy 2 (sometimes, the travel packs of cotton rounds are included and if they are this time, they would be a money maker at 99 cents each. )
Proctor & Gamble feminine care products - get $2 ECB when you buy 2
Excedrin Menstrual Complete, Excedrin Migraine or Vagistat products - get $3 ECB
Carefree Pantylines $3.79 with $3.79 back in ECB's = FREE!! Limit 4!

Other deals...
Summer clearanace 50% off - some things were tempting at 40% off last week, such as fans and chairs in a bag... I also like their knock-off Crocs for kids, which will be about $4 a pair. Might be worth it to get larger sizes for next summer. (Jaden has two pairs & loves em)
T-Shirts 5 for $10 - why not at $2 each?

Buy-One-Get-One FREE (BOGO)
CVS Batteries (I have a coupon for a free pack of them, so I'm thinking that SHOULD get me TWO free packs. You can never have enough batteries!)
Cover Girl Outlast lip color & lipstain - there are always CG coupons in the Proctor & Gamble inserts - I think the last one was $1 off 1 OR $2.50 off of two, which you could definitely use for this deal, since you'd be *buying* two items.
Almay Foundation, powder, blush or concealer


(ECB = Extra Care Bucks, which are coupons that are as good as cash at CVS)

Kraft Deal @ Shaw's... and Cheap Post Cereal

Want some free or more than free Kraft products? The only catch is that you have to send away a mail-in-rebate...

Shaw's is running a Kraft promo that expires on 8/23. Here's the deal - buy $25 worth of specific products and get a $5 coupon for your next shopping trip AND $20 from a mail in rebate (takes 6-8 weeks). The list of products can be found on the back of this week's flyer or on signs throughout the store.

For this, I went by the sale prices to meet the $25 AND I used mfg coupons to lower my total amount paid. I happened to stumble upon some Kraft coupon books in the store - which was quite fortunate as I'm not exactly organized these days when it comes to coupons. Just as an example, here is what I bought:

1 bottle A1 - found a coupon on the display for $1 off beef when you buy A1 and who doesn't need beef?
2 boxes of Ritz Bits Crackers - $1 off 2 from the Kraft coupon book
2 boxes of Teddy Graham Munch Packs (12 single serve each) - $1 off 1 from the Kraft coupon book; used 2
4 Planters Trail Mix - $1 off 2 from the Kraft coupon book
2 boxes of Capri Sun

Total before coupons = $26.41 (could've gotten one less trail mix, but the coupons were $1 off 2)
Total after coupons = $20.41 minus $5 from last week's Proctor & Gamble deal
Got back $5 coupon for next trip and $20 in a few weeks from the rebate.

There were plenty of products to choose from, I just chose what we'd be most likely to use at my house. A few of the other products included in the deal that I can think of off the top of my head... Kraft Mac & Cheese (4/$3), DiGiorno pizzas, Kraft shredded or cubed cheese, Oscar Mayer, Jello, Miracle Whip, Wheat Thins, Starbucks, etc...

The offer is only 1 rebate per address/household, but you can always send the $20 to someone else's address... parents, siblings, friends, whoever. I'm sure they won't mind, especially if you put their name on it. I'm thinking about going back for some more of the munch packs, as they're great to have in the car for lil ones.

Other notable deal this week...
Post cereals are on sale for 2 boxes for $5... there is a coupon in the flyer for $4 off when you buy 4 boxes AND there were two Post cereal coupons in the newspaper inserts last week or so, which I did happen to have, so $10 - $4 - $2 = $1 per box.

Happy Shopping!! :-)

P.S. Nothing too exciting at CVS this week. Just thought I'd mention it...

Shaw's Sale Ending TOMORROW 8/6

I love it when Shaw's runs specials that say, spend X amount and get X amount back on your next shopping trip, because what most people don't realize is that the amount that you NEED to spend to get the money back is based off of shelf price, so the more deeply discounted the item is, the less you will spend.

This week, there were two specials ... one where you needed to spend $30 to get $15 back and another where you spend $20 and got $5 back. You can mix and match the products, you just need to be aware of the shelf price. The spend $30 deal can be doubled up - say spend $60 get $30, however the spend $20 cannot be, which is important, because you want to make sure that you divide up your purchases accordingly.

Here is how I worked this out today to get the most for my money, while limiting my purchases that things that we will use...

Trip #1
4 All Small & Might HE
2 Diet Snapple 6-pks
13 Lipton Rice Sides
2 Lipton Tea bags
----------------------------
Shelf total = $61.80
Sale Price total = $41
Coupons* = $8
Price Paid = $33.00
Coupons returned = 6 x $5 off your next purchase = $30

*Coupons used:
$1 off 2 All
$1 off 3 Lipton sides
$1 off 2 teabags
$5 from a previous shopping trip

Trip #2
1 8pk of Bounty Paper Towels
1 box feminine products
1 Puffs Plus Cube
----------------------------
Shelf total = $21.47
Sale Price total = $16.49
Coupons* = 3 x $5 from previous trip
Price Paid = $1.49
Coupons returned = 1 x $5 off your next purchase = $5


Trip #3
1 box Pampers Cruisers
1 Puffs Plus Cube
----------------------------
Shelf total = $21.68
Sale Price total = $20.99
Coupons* = 4 x $5 from previous trips
Price Paid = $0.99
Coupons returned = 1 x $5 off your next purchase = $5


Total Cost without discounts = $104.95
Total Savings = $69.47
Total Price Paid = $35.48

Hope this helps someone! Happy Savings!! :)

CVS - MORE Free School Supplies & LOTS of ECB deals!

Shocking! More FREE school supplies. Similar to previous weeks - 3 days only... Items included are as follows:

Erasers or Glue Sticks 3pk or Sticky Notes $0.99
One Subject Notebooks $0.99
Pens 20ct and/or Wooden Pencils 10 ct $0.99
Compass and/or Protractor $1.50
Scissors $2.99
Ruler $0.99
Book Cover $0.99
2 Pocket Poly Portfolios $0.49

For all items, you pay the sales price and get Extra Care Bucks (ECB) back... best way to do it is to buy a few items at a time so that you can use the ECB's earned to buy more things that produce ECB's. Limit is 2 for all.

OTHER ECB deals...
Pampers 2/$20 and then $5 ECB back = $7.50/pk (less any other mfg coupons)

Spend $20 get $10 ECB's on the following products:
Electrasol 2/$9 ($2.25 mfg Q)
Resolve or Woolite 2/$9
Lysol All purpose cleaner 2/$6 ($1 off 2 mfg Q)
Neutra Air 2/$6 ($1.50 mfg Q)
Lysol toilet bowl cleaner 2/$6 ($1 off 2 mfg Q)
Airwick Scented Oil refill 2/$6 ($1 off 2 mfg Q)
Lysol Disinfectant Spray 2/$8 ($1 off 1 mfg Q)

Here's what I am going to do (MAYBE)...
1 Electrasol @ $4.50
1 Neutra Air @ $3
2 toilet cleaner @ $6
1 disinfectant spray @4
1 oil refill @ $3
=20.50 - 2.25 - 1.50 - 1 - 1 = 14.75 with 10 ECB back, so effectively spending $4.75


IF I had multiple coupons, which unfortunately, I do not, I'd get...
4 Electrasol @ $18
1 Neutra Air @ $3
= $21 - 2.25x4 - 1.50 = $10.50 with 10 ECB back, therefore spending 50 cents.

Blink tears FREE after ECB's ($7.99 with 7.99 back in ECB's)

More Free School Supplies at CVS - 7/16-28 ONLY!

Hope you saved your ECB's from last week to spend on more free stuff this week...

MORE FREE School Supplies!!
*Compostion Books 100 sheets - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2
*Erasers, Push-pins, or Binder Clips- you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2
*Pencil or Notecard case - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2
*Pilot Easy Touch Pens 2pk - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2
*Swingline TOT Stapler or Caliber Sticky Notes - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2

Back-to-School BOGO's (be sure to check the prices as these aren't always a great deal):
Bic Mechanical Pencils
Sharpie Markers
Stretchable Book Covers
Backpacks
Index Cards
Glue
Scissors
Wooden Pencils
Crayola Crayons
Tape Notebooks


Other noteworthy specials ...
*Colgate Toothpaste - you pay 2/$10 and get 5 back in ECB's - limit 2
*Copy Paper - you pay 2/$10 and get 5 back in ECB's - limit 2
CVS Tampons FREE - you pay $1.99 and get 1.99 back in ECB's - limit 1

*All items with an asterisk are part of the 3 day sale... Sun - Tues ONLY.

This week at Shaw's.... thruThursday, July 23rd

Cheap meat! The ad says 4 packages of meat for $19.99 with in ad coupon. The reality is that the coupon gives you $5.04 off any four packages of meat that are included in the deal. I bought 4 ham steaks with a Shaw's price of about $10 and pay $5. The cheaper the sticker price, the better the deal will be, but if you need meat, it's definitely worth checking out.

FREE Bananas when you buy two Fresh Express salad. There is no stipulation that mandates you buy the 2/$5 bags of salad, so I bought the shredded lettuce (good for tacos) and shredded coleslaw, because those were less, but if you normally buy/use bagged salad, might as well get some and the free bananas to go with it.

$3 off $10 (in ad coupon) when you buy participating products. The back page of the ad shows lots of different products that qualify. I got two packages of applesauce, one clingwrap, apple juice, and one powerade. If you have mfg coupons for these items, then even better!!

Cherries $1.99/lb. Seemed like a good deal to me! :-)

More Free School Supplies at CVS - 7/19-21 ONLY!

Need school supplies??? More FREE stuff! :-)
Three days only 7/19 - 21...

*Memo Books 50-80 sheets - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2
*No. 2 pencils 24 ct - you pay 1.99 and get 1. 99 back in ECB's - limit 2
*1" vinyl binder - you pay 3.00 and get 3.00 back in ECB's - limit 2
*Papermate Pens 10 ct - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2
*Filler paper 150 sheets - you pay 2.00 and get 2.00 back in ECB's - limit 2

Other bargains valid the whole week...
-Duracell batteries (4pk of AA 0r AAA, 2pk C or D, 1 9-volt) - 2.99 - 1 ECB - 1 coupon from last week's Red Plem = 0.99
-Speedstick $2.99 - 2 ECB = 0.99
-CVS pantyliners = FREE after ECB's (0.89 - 0.89 ECB)

CVS - Free School Supplies this week! (7/12-14)

Finally some FREE after Extra Care Bucks deals!

Three day sale, so ONLY Sunday-Monday-Tuesday.

School Supplies!
*1 subject notebooks - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2
*8pk pens - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 3 (I am DEFINITELY getting these. We are ALWAYS looking for pens around here!)
*5 inch Scissors - you pay 2.99 cents and get 2.99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2 (good to have in your purse for coupon clipping!)
*school glue - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2
*12" plastic or wooden ruler - you pay 99 cents and get 99 cents back in ECB's - limit 2
Portfolios for 5 cents - limit 10

Free Hardcover Photobook! (limit 1)
You pay $7.99, get back 7.99 in ECB's.

Tylenol for 99 cents... less if you happen to have a coupon!
You pay $3.99 and get $3 back in ECB's. Limit 3.

Now... if you don't know how to play this game... the more trips you're willing to make, the less you will spend out of pocket.

If you want to spend less, get one pair of scissors first, pay 2.99 and get your ECB's back. Put those in the car or in your purse and buy 3 packs of pens & 1 portfolio.

3 @ 0.99 + 1 @ 0.05 = 3.02; pay with ECB's and 3 cents.

Go back with your 2.97 ECB's and get the 2 notebooks and one glue. You will pay 0 and get 2.97 back in ECB's.

Head back in and get one more glue and two rulers. Same thing, you will pay 0 and get 2.97, repeat until you've gotten the limit of all of the free items and then you can turn around and use those ECB's towards the Tylenol. Assuming you have no coupons, you will pay $1.02 (+ tax if applicable)

So... for a lil over $4, you will get school supplies and Tylenol.

If you don't mind spending a lil more and you plan to get the photobook, get that first. Then go and get $7.99 worth of the school supplies and/or Tylenol.

Trip #1 Photobook -

$7.99 = 7.99 ECB's

Trip #2: 2 notebooks (.99), 3 pens (.99), 2 glue (.99), 1 ruler (.99), 2 portfolios (.05)
Total = $8.02, pay 0.03 and get $7.92 ECB's

Trip #3: 2 scissors (2.99), 1 ruler (.99)
Total = $6.97, pay with ECB's - should have one extra 99 cent ECB left, so you will get back 6.97 and add the other 99 cent ECB giving a total of 7.96 in ECBs

Trip #4: 2 Tylenol (3.99)
Total = 7.98, pay with 7.96 in ECB's and 2 cents, get back 6 ECB's.

...go buy the last Tylenol or whatever else I might have missed... looks like a good deal on Scott TP and detergent if you're not picky about your brand.

There might be a more efficient way to do this (definitely if you don't mind spending more), but I'm in a hurry... so this is what I came up with quickly... Hope this helps the parents that need to send school supplies in for school this coming fall AND these are always good stocking stuffers!

Go quick, I'm sure this stuff will go fast!!! And don't be afraid to ask for rainchecks if the stock is out... Good luck and happy shopping!!

Need Photo's?

Snapfish special... 1 cent per photo up to 50 prints! So 50 cents plus shipping & handling & tax if applicable. I just entered an example order and shipping was $3.44, which would be a lil under 8 cents per print. Much cheaper than drugstore or discount prints and I've always been pleased with the quality of Snapfish prints.

When checking out, enter PENNY in the field that asks for a promo code.
Now go take some pics! Offer expires on July 10th.

Shaw's Sale Starting 7/3 Ending 7/9

In case you didn't get enough coke products last week, there is another special this week!

For 3 days only (7/3 - 7/5)... ENDS TODAY!!

• Buy 5 12-pks of coke for $10 and get 2 free hotdog or hamburger rolls
• Southern Style Spareribs $0.99/lb

Specials good for the whole week...

• Chicken legs, drumsticks, or thighs $0.99/lb
• Sirloin Tip Steak $3.99/lb
  
• Fresh Cherries $1.49/lb
• Tostitos or Salsa 2/$5 + in ad coupon for BOGO salsa, so you could get 1 bag of Tostitos and 2 salsa for $5. There is a coupon that used to be found in some of the grocery stores that is get a Salsa free when you buy two chips, so you could combine that offer with this deal and should be able to get 2 tostitos and 2 salsas, BUT the in ad coupon says manufacture, so I'm not sure if that would work or not. Wouldn't hurt to try it.
  
• Sargento Shredded Cheese $1.99
• Golden Gate Wine $2.99 - never heard of it, but might be worth trying for $3/bottle? Why not? LOL
• Corn on the Cob 10/$1.99
• In Ad coupon - get $1 off any 2 Keebler or Kellogg Cookie or Cracker - this is a store coupon and can be combined with any mfg coupon that you might have for these product

BOGO's - make sure to watch the prices on these, because sometimes the Shaw's prices are inflated so that the BOGO's aren't as good as they might seem.

• Breyers Ice Cream
• Sabra Hummus
• Shaw's Wheat or Multigrain Bread
• Arnold Whole Grain Bread
• Devil Dogs

Go to the movies much? If so, there is a special where you can get up to 2 free movie tickets by purchasing the following products:

• Breyers Ice Cream
• Popsicles
• Klondikes
• Breyes Fruit or Ice Cream Bars

$15 worth of products for one ticket/$30 worth of products for two tickets. I would assume these values to be based on shelf prices rather than sale prices. For example, the Breyer's Ice Cream is BOGO and the price is $5.50. So, you could buy 6 cartons, pay $16.50 and get 2 free movie tickets since the shelf total would be great than $30.

Want to Save $ on Gas?

As most of you know, when you spend $50 at Shaw's you will be rewarded with a coupon for 0.10 off/gallon of gas. This promo comes and goes... but at the moment, there is a supplemental deal where if you buy 5 of the following products, then you will gain an addition 10 cents per gallon:

• Shaw's all beef patties
• Shaw's salad
• Ken's Steak House Dressing
• Klondike Bars
• Hood or Popsicle Frozen Novelities
• Mt Olive Pickles ($1/1 6/28 newspaper insert)
• Chatham Village Croutons
• A1
• Knorr/Lipton Pasta or Rice Sides
• Shaw's Cheese Curls
• French's Mustard ($1/2 coupon - 6/21 newspaper insert)
• Cain's Sweet Relish
• Hefty OneZip Bags
• Homelife Everyday Napkins or Cutlery
• Sargento Sliced Cheese
• Pepsi 6-pk bottles
• Grey Poupon Deli Mustard
• SoBe Life Water
• Pepperidge Farm Goldfish
• Homelife Party Cups
• Schweppes 1ltr bottles
• Smartfood Popcorn
• Kool-Aid Jammers
• Honey Maid Graham Crackers
• Shaw's Marshmallows
• Hersey's Chocolate Bars ($1/2 6/28 newspaper insert)

THEN to make the deal even sweeter, if you register your coupon or Shaw's card at override.com, you will get ANOTHER 10 cent's per gallon for a total of 30 cents off per gallon of gas which would be $6 if you were to buy 20 gallons of gas. Not bad considering that gas is creeping up in price lately...

Free Toothpaste at CVS this week...

and not much else worth mentioning in my opinion.

Colgate is on sale for $0.99 and there was a $1 coupon in yesterday's newspaper = FREE toothpaste.

Other possible deals...

2/$1 Campbell's Tomato or Chicken Noodle soups

2/$1 Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna

2/$4 General Mills Cereals - $1/3 coupon in 6/28 Smart Source
The offer is 1 per household, but if you bought 3 boxes, you'd pay $9 - $1 coupon - $2 ECB = $2/box which is about as much as I'm willing to pay for cereal, because you can usually find deals on it.

If you REALLY need papertowels, Brawny come out to be less than $1 per roll after ECB's (6.99 - 2 ECB = 5.99 after ECB.

What I would do is... IF you need these items, buy the papertowels and the cereal. Take those out to the car and then go back in to get the soup and tuna, so that you can pay for those items w/the $4 ECB's that were earned on the cereal and papertowels.

After the past few months of horrible sales at CVS... I might start looking at Walgreen's & Rite Aid deals... stay tuned! :)

Coke & Kielbasa

So... you want to get the coke & kielbasa deal at Shaw's this week, but don't know what to do with the kielbasa? WELL, I can help!! I've just posted three kielbasa recipes on my cooking blog.

Check it out!
http://cookingchristy.blogspot.com

Shaw's Sale Starting 6/26

Just browsing the circular and saw a few things of interest...

• Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce 10 for $10 -$1 off 1 Smart Source 6/21... so FREE!!!
• Coke 5/$12 AND with that 2 FREE packages of Hillshire Farms Kielbasa or Smoked Sausage - coupon in sales ad - should be able to combine this with $1 off 2 Hillshire Farms products coupon from Red Plum 6/7 to make this an even better deal

• $0.99/lb Eggplant, Zucchini, Summer Squash (eggplant parm would make an inexpensive dinner! check out my cooking blog for an easy recipe http://cookingchristy.blogspot.com/)
• 10 for $10 - Coolwhip (time for some tasty summer desserts!)
• Sweet Corn - 10 ears for $1.99 ...MMMmmm...
  

Need soap? If so, it's a good week to stock up on Dove Products!
Spend $15 on Dove and get a $5 coupon towards your next shopping trip.

• Dove Bar Soap (6pk) $6.99 (shelf = 7.99)
• Dove Body Wash $6.99 (shelf = 7.99)
• Dove Body Mist 2/$6 (shelf = 4.99)
• Dove Shampoo 2/$6 (shelf = 4.99)
• Dove Conditioner 2/$6 (shelf = 4.99)
• Dove Deodorant 2/$5 (shelf = 4.69)

Just keep in mind that this deal is based on shelf price.

Scenario Example #1
1 Shampoo
1 Conditioner
1 Body Wash (or bar soap)
Shelf total = $17.97
Sale price = $12.99 and you would get a $5 coupon back.

Go back and either get the same products OR...

Scenario Example #2
2 deodorants
1 bar soap (or body wash)
Shelf total = $17.37
Sale price = 12.99 BUT you would use the $5 coupon and only pay $7.99 and get another $5 coupon

Scenario Example #3
2 Body Wash (or bar soap)
Shelf total = $15.98
Sale price = 13.98 BUT you would use the $5 coupon and only pay $8.98 and get another $5 coupon

I think you get the point...

BOGO's - generally a pretty good deal, but if you can find coupons for these products, then even better...

• Friendly's Ice Cream
• Lay's Potato Chips
• Arm & Hammer detergent (I'm a Tide snob, but just thought I'd mention it)
• Peri Italian Sausage (good for adding to spaghetti or lasagna)
• Hatfield Bacon
• Hatfield Hamsteaks
• Ken's Cocktail Sauce
• Nature's Pride Bread
  
• Shaw's Light Bread
• Wise Cheese Doodles or Popcorn
• Jolly Time Popcorn ($1 off 2 printable HERE)
  

Shop Online?

If so... do you know about www.retailmenot.com?

This site collects online discount codes and all you have to do is type in the site where you're shopping and it will give you a list of possible codes. Sometimes, you will find codes for free shipping, a percentage off of your order, or even free gifts with purchase. I ALWAYS check this site before checking out.

We recently used this site to find coupon codes for Domino's Pizza. Definitely check it out!

Free Yogurt!

Yoplait is giving away free yogurt to promote a new product.

Check it out!
http://www.redplum.com/pages/SweetFinds.aspx

One more helpful hint...
Create a new email address that can be used only for signing up for product newsletters, freebies, etc. Most legitimate sites will NOT bombard you with junk mail, but it's always a good idea to have a separate email address so that you don't have to page through pages of emails that you might not be interested in.

Like to Eat Out?

I do!! I do!!
Despite how much I've been savings on groceries, I still like to eat out once a week or so. Ok, maybe more often, but I just wanted to let everyone know that www.Restaurant.com has an 80% off sale this week.

www.Restaurant.com generally offers discounted restaurant gift certificates. The usual price is $10 for a gift certificate worth $25, however from time to time, they offer 70-80% off specials. The current discount code is DISH and it's good for 80% off, which means that you pay $2 for a $25 gift certificate. Of course, there are some restrictions, but I've had great luck with this site. Some examples of the restrictions are that you have to spend a minimum of $35 and you can't use more than one certificate at a time. No restriction on day of the week or time from what I can tell.

I've bought and used certificates for The Blue Mermaid and Radici in Portsmouth and Jonathon's in Ogunquit. I just bought a couple more so that I could test out the discount code before posting it and it worked like a charm.

One warning, you will sometimes see other *deals* when you are in the process of checking out. I'd recommend ALWAYS clicking 'no thanks' to those as they can be services that will automatically charge your card.

AND make sure you have a way to print, because you will need to print out your gift certificate for redemption.

So, go buy those gift certificates and treat yourself to an extra glass of wine with dinner since you've saved so much on the food! :)

How to Find Info on the Best Deals

AAAHHH... where to start...

When I started on my quest to save money on our grocery bill, I started with www.thegrocerygame.com. I think this is one of the easiest ways to find products at the lowest price. I liked this site, because it shows you how to match up coupons to the weekly sales. It also points out when products are at the lowest price points. I highly recommend the $1 trial at least to get the hang of things. I don't use the site anymore, because once I figured out how to find the deals on my own, I didn't find it to be a worthwhile expense. Even without the paid subscription, you can get many good internet printable coupons here.

Another good site is www.couponmom.com - similar match up by stores/weekly sales and it's FREE, but I don't think it's as user friendly. HOWEVER, I like this site, because it emails me the updates when new printable coupons are available AND where there are 70 or 80% off codes for www.restaurant.com, which means $2 or $3 for $25 restaurant gift certificates (last week, I got Radici, Four, and Cranberries @ the Holiday Inn). Again, this site also offers links to internet printable coupons.

One of my favorite sites is www.hotcouponworld.com. This site has TONS of information, but I stick to the forums and I also use the coupon database. I generally read the CVS forum (http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/cvs/) to see if I've overlooked anything in the ad or if there are any hidden deals (AKA money makers). This forum posts the ads ahead of time, which is convenient to see what specials are coming up.

I also read the Shaws forum (http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/shaws/) - especially when there are Catalina deals to be had. A catalina deal is when you buy a certain dollar amount of specific products and get money back in the form of a coupon to be spent on your next shopping trip. In my opinion, these are the best scenarios for building your stockpile. One thing that many people don't realize is that these deals are generally based on shelf rather than sale prices, so you can find some helpful scenarios on this site.

Another site to check out is www.slickdeals.net. I like to check the Shaw's forum here when there are Catalina deals to be had as well. Someone will generally post the list of participating products along with shelf prices and confirmation that the items are working based on the shelf prices.

Helpful hints that I didn't realize until I started using coupons:

• When an item is BOGO, you can use one manufactures coupon per item. For example, Revlon cosmetics are BOGO at CVS this week. So, you want to get your favorite lipstick and it's $6.99. You buy two of them and happen to have two $2 mfg coupons - one for each product. So...
  

Lipstick #1 = 6.99
Lipstick#2 = FREE
Coupon #1 = -2.00
Coupon #2 = -2.00
Final Cost = $2.99 for BOTH tubes (OR 1.50 each)

• Store coupons can be used in conjunction WITH manufactures coupon. For example, Shaw's has Glad trash bags on sale AND they have a coupon for them in their weekly printable coupons for $1 off. In the newspaper, there is $0.75 which is very good news, because Shaw's doubles. The scenario would work out as follows:
  

Trash Bags = 5.99
Shaw's Coupon = -1.00
Mfg Coupon = -0.75
Mfg Coupon Doubled = -0.75
Final Cost = $3.49

Where to get coupons....
The best place to find coupons is your local Sunday newspaper. Some people subscribe to get ONLY the Sunday paper, some people make friends w/the convenience store cashiers to get the extras at the end of the day. Ask family and friends for the inserts.

Where to get internet printable coupons...
www.smartsource.com
www.redplum.com
www.coupons.com
www.thegrocerygame.com
www.couponmom.com
www.bettycrocker.com

Always check the websites for your favorite products to see if they have any current coupon or promotions. Be sure to watch your mailbox - email and the old fashioned kind - for coupons.

That's all I can think of for now... but please bear with me while I try to figure out a good format for listing the weekly specials. Thanks!

June 21-27 Shopping

CVS
Just reviewed the CVS flyer for the week and nothing too exciting or notable... I'll probably make a trip for the free after ECB* Soy Joy Bars. Not my favorite snack, but Jaden likes 'em and they're good to have in my purse for those times when I'm out shopping too long and he's getting cranky. AND I have a couple of CRT* coupons that will make them more than free (AKA money maker!). There were also some BOGO* and $2 off 10 coupons for these in Smart Source 5/31 newspaper. Frank's Red Hot is also on sale for $1/bottle. Might be good to get one of those to stash in my desk, since it's my fav hot sauce and I love to put it on just about everything, except for jello and pudding. Summary of possible CVS purchases:

• Soy Joy protein bars buy 4 @ $4 and get $4 ECB's back. (BOGO & $2/10 Smart Source 5/31; $2 off 5 CRT): final price = FREE or money maker if coupons are used
  
• Frank's Red Hot $1
• French's Mustard $1 - buy 2 and use $1 off 2 coupon (Smart Source 6/21): final price = 0.50 each
  
• Tylenol $4.99 - 2 ECB's - $2 coupon (Smart Source 6/21): final price = 0.99
• Revlon cosmetics - BOGO (there are some $1 off coupons out there and I have a couple of $2 and a $3 CRT that I'll use if I find anything that I want/need.)
  

Shaws
Sadly, no good deals like the past couple of weeks, but a few things that I'll probably pick up...

• 99 cent split chicken breasts look tempting, BUT... I don't usually deal w/chicken on the bone unless it's a rotisserie chicken from the deli
  
• BOGO* Blueberries. MMMmmm.
• BOGO Nature Sweet on the vine cherry tomatos ($1 off coupons from Smart Source 3/31 & other weeks)
• Pineapple 2/$5 (0.50 printable coupon HERE that will double): final price = $1.50 SWEET!
  
• The Pepsi deal: buy 5 12pks for $5 when you also buy a Frito Lays multipack @ $5.99. ot sure how reasonable that price is for the Frito Lay multipack, but might be ok if you need or want soda.
• Drumsticks ice cream are 2/$6 and buy 4, get back $4 coupon towards your next shopping trip; $1 off 2 coupon in Smart Source 6/14 or printable HERE
  

BJ's
Finally got a new BJ's membership... so it's been awhile since I've been there. Had some coupons from the mailer and got a few things that seemed to be reasonable prices.

• 2pk Soy Milk (1/2 gal each) @ 4.89 = 2.45 each - VERY good deal on a necessity as the best price I can usually find is 2.99 and Jaden drinks a LOT of soy milk.
• 10pk Puffs @ 10.99 - 3 = 0.79/cube. I've gotten them for less, but we needed em. Lil man always has a runny nose. :(
  
• 12pk Bounty @ 15.99 - 3 = 1.08/roll; again, I've definitely gotten paper towels cheaper, but they were much needed and the pkg said soft like a cloth, so I was thinking Viva soft, but not quite.
• 36pk of individual bags of snack crackers (Teddy Grahams, Nilla Wafers, etc) on sale for 7.29 (normally $10.29)
  
• Pampers Cruisers @ 39.99 - $10 coupon from BJ's welcome booklet - $1 P&G
• Downey @ 11.99 (again needed it, finally ran out of the bottles that I got at Kmart nearly free last year)

That's all I've seen so far this week... haven't looked at Rite Aid or Walgreens...

* acronyms:
ECB = Extra Care Bucks - CVS's instant rebate program where they give you a coupon at checkout that can be used towards your next purchase
CRT = Cash Register Tape; at CVS coupons will print on the bottom of your reciept or you can scan your card at the red machine to get CRT coupons
BOGO = buy one get one free