Thanksgiving CVSing- Negative $4

Call me a nut- but shopping at the CVS Thanksgiving sale was the highlight of my entire week.  I could hardly wait.  Instead of waiting until thanksgiving morning and hitting a store as they opened, I chose to do the Midnight thing at a 24 hour store Wednesday night.  I got there at 11pm, I was the first couponer.  I was in heaven.  I had plenty of time to carefully pick my items, peruse the store and be ready just a few minutes before midnight to check out.  I even ended up taking advantage of a few other 100% reward items, because I was there afterall and had time to hunt them out.  After all- who can't use free batteries and pepto bismal?

I'm not going to individually detail the whole order because if you read the ad or my previous post then you know what I did.

My total before coupons was  $89.25.
My total after coupons was $70.60
Extra Care Bucks earned $74.56

That's right- I came out almost $4 ahead of what I spent- plus I get to keep all that great stuff!

I did split it into 2 transactions and rolled the ECB from the first one into the second to keep my out of pocket down- and I also bought 2 of the coloring play houses for $12.99 each with some of my ECB- but I left there wanting to dance the jig.  This couponing sale hunting thing is totally for me- I love it!

(Side note- 'that coupon lady' that I sometimes mention who beats me to Walgreens and buys ALL of whatever is 100% rewards?  She came in to the CVS around 11:45pm........with 8-10 people.  She lined them up, handed them each a shopping cart with an idential shopping bag and they began a convoy around the store scooping up all the reward stuff.  I'm not even joking.  CVS limits their deals to 1-2 per card, which makes it possible for us all to participate in their sales.  She's apparently found a way around that.  At least I beat her to the store.  And I guess maybe her 'carepackage' ploy is legit- after all, who would come out at midnight on thanksgiving just to help a friend score free toothpaste?)

Them Drugstores!

I can honestly say that the sales I am the most excited about for this years 'black friday' are happening at the drug stores, even though I find it troubling that they are open on Thanksgiving (What is up with that anyway?  Seems like every single place I drive by this year has a sign that they are open on Thanksgiving?  Do people really not have friends or family that they go to visit anymore???).

That being said- there are some pretty good lists of things totally free after rewards, and a little bit of money to be MADE if you have coupons for those items.  Here is a list of what I plan to hunt down:

CVS
Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal $2.87, $2 ECB
M&M's 4/$10, $4 ECB
Excedrin $.99, $.99 ECB
Colgate Total $2.87, $2.87 ECB
Cepacol $4.99, $4.99 ECB
Hershey Drops king size (2) $.99, $.99 ECB
Breathe Right $5.99, $5.99 ECB
Finish Quantum $2.99, $2.99 ECB
Pepto Bismol $2.99, $2.99 ECB
Advil 10ct $2.99, $2.99 ECB
Fiber One 90 $3.99, $3.99 ECB
Wet n Wild Flirt Nail Set $2.88, $2 ECB
Soft Lips chapstick $2, $2 ECB
Carmex $1, $1 ECB
Conair Blowdryer (ours is smoking- which I'm pretty sure is not good) $9.99, $5 ECB
Theraflu $1.87, $1.87 ECB
Color i tunes ear phones $6.99, $6 ECB
Bakugan & Beyblades b1g1 free
giant cardboard play houses that the kids can color $12.99 (I know- right?)

Walgreens:
Some states have WINE free after register rewards- Indiana is not one of them.  boo.
Arm & Hammer laundry detergetn b1g2 free $6.99 for 3!
Welches sparkling juice 2/$5 (I have coupons that will make them $1 per bottle)
Bic Flex 4 razors or Soleil razors 2/$6, $4 RR
Gillette Pro Series Skin Care gel 2/$7.50, $5.50 RR
Revlon Lip Gloss $4.99, $4 RR
Lady Michum Deodorant 2/$7, $5 RR
Dentek Flossers $2, $2 RR
Scunci Hair Elastics 2/$3, $3 RR
Crest 3D White toothpaste $2.50, $2.50 RR
Therma Care $2.49, $2.49 RR
Colgate Pro Clinical toothpaste $3, $3 RR
SAMe $10, $10 RR
Prep H Totables $2.75, $2.75 RR

Can't wait to see what I am actually able to find in the stores!  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Cars 2 DVD

When Disney releases a big name movie- there always seem to be multiple ways to get it cheap, or even FREE!  Cars 2 is no exception!

First- make sure you are a member of the Disney Movie Rewards.  They almost ALWAYS release a $5 coupon good for the first week a DVD/Blueray is released.  And you know that is when the stores offer some great prices on the new release as well.  SAVE YOUR RECEIPT!

Second- watch those coupon circulars for rebate offers.  Each Disney movie has two proof of purchase tabs- so you can send away for two rebates.

Third- pair with a sale.  For instance, this week at Target when you buy 3 Huggies diapers you get a $5 gift card.  Kimberly Clark offered a $10 rebate on Cars 2 wyb $20 in product (Huggies is one of their products).  PLUS a few weeks ago, Target printed a coupon in the smartsource or redplum for a $5 giftcard wyb $25 in Kimberly Clark Products.  I have three more of these rebates- if you would like one leave me a comment with your email and I will mail one to you.

For Instance:
Buy 3 Huggies $8.99= $27
Earn a $5 giftcard from store promo= -$5
Earn a $5 giftcard from target coupon= -$5
PLUS use any coupons you have for Huggies= -$3 (3 $1 coupons)
$14 for 3 packs of diapers PLUS I can now submit for a $10 rebate on Cars 2!
(I have a baby shower coming up- Diapers are ALWAYS a great present!)

Plus- Band Aid offered another $10 rebate wyb $10 in Johnson & Johnson topical health products (band-aid, neosportin, cortaid, J&J red cross items).

Here's what I'm doing:
Buy 11 Johnson & Johnson Red Cross travel first aid kits (in sample section) for $.97 each= $10.67
Use 3 $1 off any J&J red cross item= -$3
Use 4 $1.50 off any 2 J&J red cross item= -$6
Total $1.67 plus I can now submit for the $10 rebate.

Rayovac also offered a $5 rebate wyb 2 packs of batteries.

Yes- it is a pain to have to trim off the proof of purchase UPC's from all of the products and fill out the forms and photo copy the receipts and such- but I find it to be worth it.  This is going to make a GREAT christmas gift for my kids!

Drugstore 4 day sales!

CVS 11/20:  $3.00

 Turtles $1.99 each- used $1 off coupons made them $.99 each (what a nice addition to a christmas gift for the mailman or teacher?)
Excedrin $.99 (I found one with a bonus free nighttime formula!) get $.99 in ECB.  FREE!
American Greeting Cards $.99- get $.99 in ECB (limit 3 per card)  FREE! You can never have enough cards, plus I have a friend collecting them for deployed soldiers to be able to use to send back home to their loved ones- yay!)



Walgreens 11/20:     $5.05

Hefty ziplocks b1g1 free w/ in ad coupon $3.49- used $1 off 2 coupon, makes them $1.25 per box
Brut deodorant 50% off $1.49- used $1 off any Brut coupon, makes them $.50 each
Infants Advil $4.99.  Buy 2, get $3 RR.  Used 2 $1.10 Manu Qs PLUS 2 $2 Walgreens Qs from the spring infant care booklet.  Paid $3.78 and got a $3 register reward back. Makes them $.39 each.
Same thing with the Childrens Advil (had to do a second transaction- only one RR per transaction on the same items, as always).

PLUS- each Advil transaction produced a $1 manu q from the catalina machine.  AND the cashier gave me back the walgreens infant care coupons- she said she didn't need them and I could reuse them.  I may get two more bottles of the childrens advil- they had a nice long expiration date!

Target- my favorite store!

Target 11/16  $10.75

Wowzers this was a super exciting shopping trip!

2 Heinz Ketchup $1.79 each (regular price- we were out which is cause for panic in our home)
3 Johnson & Johnson first aide kits to go $.97 each
1 Scrabble Flash Game $19.89 (Emily is hoping for this for Christmas- it's on price cut, normally over $25!)
2 pasta sauce $1 each
2 penne pasta $1 each
8 Curel hand lotions at $2.99 each
$54.30 before Tax

Coupons:
-$1 mq heinz ketchup (printed from internet)
-$1 mq heinz ketchup (printed from internet)
-$5 mq scrabble flash (printed from internet)
-$5 target toy coupon book scrabble slam
-$1 target printable wyb both pasta and sauce
-$1 target printable wyb both pasta and sauce
8 -$1 curel lotion mq's
3 -$1 any J&J red cross mq's

Paid $30.75 cash.  Got back 4 $5 gift cards ($20!) from the Curel lotion.  This weeks deal- get a $5 gift card wyb 2 Curel handlotions.  If you buy the $2.99 tubes, and use a $1 coupon on each, you pay $4 and get $5 back.  I made $1 for every 2 tubes I bought!  These are GREAT items to use as gifts for teachers and co workers- not to mention nice additions to care packages and such.  I practically skipped to the car!

(Interesting that in reading through this post, I realized that the cashier failed to scan 4 of the $1 coupons for the lotion.  Man, I tell ya, you have to watch them like a hawk!  Oh well- still a good deal and I'm not going to go back and fight about it.  But I am going to watch better from now on!)

We've gone nuts

CVS 11/14/11

Skippy peanut butter 1.67 each
Nature Valley sweet & salty bars $2.50 each
Jet Dry $2.99
Cashews $5.79- buy 1 get 1 free. 
Crunchy Nut cereal $2.50
Gillette Fusion travel size shave creme $2.37
$35.24 total

Coupons:
-$2 Gillette shave creme
-$.75 Jet Dry
-$.50 sweet & salty bars
-$.50 sweet & salty bars
-$2 crunchy nut cereal magic cvs coupon machine coupon (yay!)

$29.49 total after coupons.

I earned $2 in ecb for the shaving cream PLUS a $10 AMEX gift card for buying $30 in certain items.  Personally, I used $12 in extra care bucks as well to pay for the purchase- so my out of pocket was much lower.  Still though- $19.49 for all that?  Good deal I think.  (I'm putting some of the cashews aside for my father in law to go with his christmas gift- he's going to LOVE them!)

Cheap broth- it's that time of year

Sales run in cycles.  This season?  Traditional holiday cooking & baking ingredients.  Stock up on sweetened condensed milk, stuffing and..............broth.

Kroger:
Swanson chicken or beef broth $.99 per can.
Buy 10 cans, save $5.00.  Makes it $.49 per can.
Use 2 $.50/5 cans coupon from 11/6 Smart Source- which double- takes off $2.
Paid $2.90 for 10 cans of broth. 

I wish I could have found some stinking papers last weekend- I luckily was given two inserts from a friend- but that is all the coupons I have.  I would most certainly have taken another 10 cans of this stuff for my cabinet. 

Shopping 11/6/11

Walgreens:  $4

$6- 6 Smart Water liters $1 each
$1- 3 Betty Crocker cornbread mix $.33 each (with in ad coupon)
$1- 2 clabber girl baking powder $.50 each (with in ad coupon)
$6- Mars minis 2/$6
-$.50 clabber girl baking powder mq
-$.50 clabber girl baking powder mq
-$1.50 any mars minis mq
-$1.50 any mars minis mq
$10 total (used register rewards to pay)
Received back 2 $2 register rewards for smart waters (get $2 wyb 3- rang up in separate transactions in order to get to register rewards), and $2 wyb 2 mars minis.  $6 total in register rewards received back.


CVS: $3.58

$2.99 Arm and Hammer laundry soap
$2.97- 3 soft soap at $.99 each
$2.97- 3 american greeting cards $.99 each
$1.90- 2 skittles at $.95 each (found them with the 75% off halloween candy- probably just a fluke at my store?)
-$.75 soft soap mq
-$.75 soft soap mq
-$.75 soft soap mq
-$1 any 2 skittles mq
$7.58 total (used extra care bucks to pay)
Received back $3 extra care bucks wyb any 3 american greeting cards and $1 extra care bucks wyb arm and hammer laundry soap.  Received $4 extra care bucks back total.

(PS  I got a rain check for the sale on Jif peant butter- buy 2/$5 and get $3 ECB- makes it $1 a jar!  But of course they were out)

Meijer this week

This week at Meijer, there are just a couple sweet deals that drew me in:

Pillsbury Pie Crust $2- buy 4 get a free gallon of milk
(-$.50/2 mq- which doubles to $1)
Pillsbury Sweet Moments (in the cookie dough case) $2- buy 4 get a free gallon of milk
(-$1 mq)
International Coffee Creamer 16oz
(-$.55 mq which rounded up to $.99- FREE)

So- you buy 4 pie crust and use 2 coupons- you pay $6 out of pocket for 4 boxes of pie crust and a gallon of milk.
Or- you buy 4 Sweet Moments and use 4 coupons- you pay $4 out of pocket for 4 packets of sweet treats and a gallon of milk.

See?  SWEET!

Frugal Findings

I am the room mom for Emily's class.  That is a lot of pressure.  This group of 22 7year olds had been counting down the days to their room party- and I was the only one they were going to tar and feather should it have ended badly.

In years past- room moms have collected $10 from each family for the two annual room party expenses.  I find this to be excessive.  $220 for 2 room parties?  Sometimes they buy a gift for the teacher at Christmas too, but still- really?

This year I decided to just front the whole thing and skip the parent drama.  I knew I could do it inexpensively- and I did.  Here is how it played out:

Games- we played a relay race of pass the apple.  First round they used only their elbows.  Second round they used their chins.  We timed the two rows and let them have a second run to try and improve their time.  Total Cost- $1 (2 apples)

Craft- Scarecrow treat bags.  I used paper lunch sacks ($.88), colored paper ($1) and 'splurged' on google eyes ($2.25).  I precut out all the pieces and the kids glued on their own.  Yellow strips for straw hair, a hat with a colored band, a nose, a mouth, a bowtie and two self sticky google eyes.  Total Cost- $4.13

Snack- Ice Cream Sundaes.  Gallon of ice cream ($4), three squirt bottles of toppings- strawberry, chocolate & carmel ($3 with coupons), Sprinkles ($0- I had them), Whipped Cream ($.89), Marshmallow Topping ($1.39) and cherries ($2.39), Bowls ($1), Napkins ($.50), Spoons ($1).  Total Cost-$14.17.

Take home treats- to fill their treat bags they made.  Halloween pencils ($1.76- 22 @ .08 each), 3 musketeers bars miniature ($.50 with coupon), suckers ($1.29), small hershey bars ($1 with coupon), hershey kisses ($1 with coupon), fruit roll up ($1 with coupons- used 2 boxes @ $.50 each), nestle crunch mini bar ($.50 with coupon), gum ($1), fuzzy sticker pom pom creature guys ($2).  Total Cost- $10.05.

Total Room Party Cost- $28.35.  It could have been even cheaper had I limited some of the toppings.  But I still feel it was a success.  The kids had fun, felt like they hit the jackpot with their treat bags they made and the cost was super low!

Crazy Busy

Sometimes, it comes in so handy that I happen to have an extra or two of most everything we use in our home.  Because some weeks become so crazy busy that you simply CAN"T get out to a store.  The past week or so has been like that for me.

Last week- basically the only thing I managed to take advantage of was a Walmart deal:

I ordered this basket of P&G product for $9.99- but it was on sale for $9 (not sure why) with FREE shipping (I received it the NEXT day).  It comes with a free subscription to Allure magazine.  Or, if you prefer, you can submit for a rebate for $9.99.  Completely free- and shipped to me!  They also included a sample of the Febreeze lantern cover things.

This week I did manage to drag my sorry self out to the store though.

CVS-

2 Folgers Coffee $3.50, used $1 mq, $2.50 per can 4 Pantene Shampoos $3.49, used $3 off 2 mq's (counted toward giftcard deal)
2 Bounty Paper Towels 8 packs $5.99, used 1 $1 mq and 1 $.25 mq (counted toward giftcard deal)
2 Covergirl eye shadow $5.99, 2nd for $1.99 (1/2 off), used $8 mq (counted toward gift card deal)
6 Skinny cow candy bars $1.19, b2g1 free.  Used b1g1 mq's- bought 1 got 2 free.

Paid $27.80- received back a $10 shell gas station gift card.  Not the best trip ever, but we were out of paper towels anyway.  And the coffee was just a great deal.

I must say though, I am disappointed that I have already used up all my $8 covergirl coupons.  This week, with this promotion, had I saved them up I could have bought tons of blush and eye shadows all for free PLUS got free $10 gas cards.  Truly a money maker- but I only had one left. Oh well.

Walgreens-
Major strike out.  The only thing they had that I thought I'd buy was the Ricola dual action cough drops ($2 get $2 register reward) which I would have used my b1g1 q on and gotten 2 for free- but of course I waited until yesterday and they were gone.  Oh well- not a big deal.

I have no less than 6 weeks of coupons stacked on my kitchen counter to cut and file.  Then I am going to get back on my serious business couponing horse- I mean it!