Walgreens- finally

Just as I suspected, the Tampax and Always were all gone.  I stopped in earlier in the week and they were out, but I know they restock on Thursday.  Guess I should have drug my sorry self in there yesterday.

But I did manage to get everything else on my list:

Total Spent $10.44- earned $8 in register rewards

$8.97- 3X$2.99 Nice trashbags (w/in at coupon)

-$3 ($1 off Nice trashbags- Marsh coupon book)

$3.49 kotex pads

$3.49 kotex tampons

-$2 (2-$1 mq's)

$10 2 Got2B hair products

-$3 mq (only had 1- shoot!)

$6 2 colgate 2/$6

-$2 (2 -$1 mq's)

$1.99 Nice snack bags (no special deal or coupon- just needed them)

$18.47- 32 various Mars easter singles (m&m bunny mix, milky way bunnies, snickers eggs)

-$14 (14 $1/2 mars mq's- must have mis counted, could have used 4 more- still $4.47 for all those is great and they will make some great give baskets for my neices and nephews!!!)

-$10 register reward from last week

-$3 register reward from the kotex (she rang them up first in their own transaction because they have been having problems with it- so I just rolled it into this transaction)

-$9.82 15% friends and family sale on 3/30/12- wooo hoooo!

Total cash paid $10.44, got back $5 RR wyb 2 Got2B and $3 RR wyb 2 colgate

Jello and Strawberries!

This week at Meijer if you buy 4 jello puddings or gelatin, you get a free pound of strawberries.  I'm planning to make jello eggs this week- you know I'm going to do this at least twice!!!!

Also- if you have not checked into the toy deals at Target this week, you might want to head over to totallytarget.com and check it out.  When you combine the Hasbro manufacturers coupons (from the paper sunday or printed from their website) with the Target store toy coupons PLUS those great coupons in their circular on Sunday- you've got some super cheap easter basket items.  I know I was able to pick up some fun things for the kids!!!

I still have yet to do my walgreens or cvs shopping this week.  I know.  I plan to try and get there before the week is over- although I'm certain the cheap tampons and mayonaise are long gone.

Couponing slump

I can't get excited this week.  Money making chocolate, $1 tampons (possibly money making if used on the rebate), free hair product, $.69 kool aide jammers, cheap easter basket toys at Target.............doesn't seem to make a difference.  I can't get my act together. 

I'm behind on clipping and organizing.

I haven't been able to find any newspapers to purchase for two weeks.

Every stores shelves seem to be wiped clean of anything that is on sale.

It's discouraging, and I'm getting frustrated. 

I've never been one to wipe out a shelf.  Very rarely to I purchase an 'extreme' amount of anything (two weeks ago I bought over 40 milky way bunnies for 'free' for room party bag stuffers, that felt a bit extreme- but there were still 3 cases on the shelf).  I buy for my family, my sisters family and I donate to food pantries.  Not truckloads of stuff.  A bag or so every couple weeks.

But with so many people now utilizing coupons and the sales to save money- it seems like I can not ever find anything on my list.  And this week it is feeling pretty crumby.

Ever have those weeks??

CVS:
2 zhu zhu armors $1 each
2 cover girl eye shadows $3.99 each (will use in the P&G rebate)
1 cover girl eyeliner $4.29 (will use in the P&G rebate)
3 Nutrition $4.50 each
1 kit kat $1.25
1 powerade $1
3 hershey candy $3 each
2 M&M's $3 each
$45.02 total before coupons
- $3 (3 $1 covergirl mq's)
-$3 (3 $1 nutrition mq's)
-$2 wyb 3 hershey mq
-$2 (2 $1 cvs coupon machine hershey q's)
-$1.50 wyb 2 m&m's mq
-$1 cvs coupon machine wyb 2 m&m's
$35.52 after coupons plus I used some last weeks EB's and the balance of a gift card, I paid $16.52.
I earned back $5 EB's from the nutrition, $3 wyb $10 covergirl, $1 wyb 2 M&M's, $1 wyb 2 Hersheys.

Walgreens:
$10 Berry Colon Cleanse
$12 4 mountain dew 12 packs
I used a $10 RR from the coke deal last week, paid $12 plus tax.  I got back a $10 RR from the colon cleanse.  I wanted to buy the Neosporin wash trial pack and submit for the full rebate which turns into a $5 money maker after using a $5 mq- but they were out.  This would be a great way to roll some RR back into cash- I'll have to look for it at another store.  Plus- I've been wanting Ally to try this wash as her skin is so irritable and itchy!

In case you are wondering- I have gone over my $350 goal for this month already.  There have been some great sales and I just haven't wanted to pass them by!!!!

Grocery Sales

This week there are a couple of great deals at the grocery stores (for my family anyway).  Keep in mind, I do not do a full line up of all great deals- I'm just going to list what really worked for me this week.  (If you want a full line up for the Indianapolis area- I suggested http://www.ingoodcents.com/- on the header you can find each grocery store and their sale match ups).

Kroger:
Got2B hair products on sale for $3- if you didn't use all your $3 off 1 mq's at the last walgreens sale you can pick them up and pay tax only!!!!

Marsh:
Chi Chi's salsa and tortillas $1.50.  Spend $10 and get $2.50 in my marsh bucks.  Use the $.50/1 mq's that double and you've got a great deal.  I bought 4 tortillas & 3 salsas ($10.50) and used 7 mq's (-$7) and paid $3.50 out of pocket and earned a $2.50 marsh q back. 

Small containers (2pack) of Lloyds BBQ pork/beef/chicken are $2.50 each- earn a $2.50 my marsh buck when you spend $10.  BONUS- I found $1 mq peelies on them.  So I bought 4, used 4 mq's, paid $6 and got back $2.50 marsh q.  It was like paying $3.50 for 4 2packs.  Each little pack is only enough for one sandwich- but with the coupons I thought this was a good deal since Dan packs his lunch every day.  I wouldn't have bought them had they not had peelies.

Wholly Guacamole- if you 'like' them on facebook there is a $1.50 off 1 coupon you can print right now.  It's on sale for $2.50 and part of the spend $10 get $2.50 promotion- great deal.

Keep in mind- I had to ring my order in 3 transaction because you can only earn 1 my marsh buck per order.

Meijer:  I haven't even had time to read through their ad yet.  Any good deals to be had?

Yeah- I'm still shopping

I know- I've been hit or miss here lately.  But I am still trying to pick up the deals as I see them each week.

CVS- 3/12
$9- 3 Cadbury Eggs $3 each
$2 jolly rancher jelly beans
$5.99 zyrtec (EVERYONE in my house uses this but me)
$15- 5 $3 diet cokes
$31.99 total before coupons
-$2 wyb 3 cadbury eggs mq
-$4 any zyrtec mq
-$1 wyb 2 diet coke mq from cvs website
-$1 wyb 2 diet coke mq from cvs website
$23.99 total
Received back $5 ECB wyb $15 cokes, $3 ECB wyb $10 certain easter candy, $5.99 ECB zyrtec ($4 money maker!) It's like I paid just $10 for all that!
Plus- at my CVS- they had TONS of the Zhu Zhu accessories and cases and they ALL rang up for $1 each!  I bought a couple as a surprise for the kids- maybe for their easter baskets!


Walgreens 3/12:
$4.78- 4 $2.39 Right Guard Deodorant b1g1free (on clearance!!!)
$2.60- 2 ivory b1g1 1/2 off
$5 - 10 snickers eggs at 2/$1
$20- 6 cases of diet coke
$32.38 total before coupons
-$3 wyb 2 right guard printable mq (adjusted down to $2.39)
-$3 wyb 2 right guard printable mq (adjusted down to $2.39)
-$.35 ivory mq
-$.35 ivory mq
-$5- 5 $1/2 Mars easter mq
-$3- 3 $1/2 diet coke mq (found on a tearpad at Marsh)
$18.90 total paid
Received back $10 RR wyb $20 in coke/nestle and $4 RR why 4 rightguard products.  It's like I paid $4.90 for all that after my register rewards!

That coke deal is a great one!  I'm thinking of possibly doing it one more time this week and stocking up.  I generally try to not use a lot of canned pop at home- but these would be great to have on hand for camping and vacations!

Meijer Cheese- Dang I almost missed it!

I'm not sure why I didn't read the sale paper better last week- I almost missed one heck of a deal at Meijer.  Today is the last day for their sale here in Central Indiana- so if you want to try and take advantage of it- you gotta hurry!

Total money out of pocket $35.20.
That is 8 bags of shredded cheese, two sliced cheese, 2 cracker cheese, 4 of the new chicken coating cheeses, 4 cream cheese, 5 of the new kraft indugence cream cheeses, 3 cooking creams and 7 packs of gum. 

And the kicker?  I have $20 in coupons for my next shopping order.

When you buy 5 kraft cheeses, you save $3 instantly.  Limit one per transaction.  Therefore, I rang up 5 orders (yes it took forever and no I didn't hog a lane- I kept moving to the back of the line).  Each time it would not only deduct the $3, it would spit out a $4 off my next shopping order thanks from Kraft.

Wowza!

In addition, I used $27.60 in manufacturer coupons.  Heck of a sale.  Glad I discovered it before I missed it, we were out of cheese!!!

Oh- and the gum?  It's on sale for $1 a pack, I used up all my save $1 on 1 pack mq's from a couple weeks ago- who can resist free gum!

February- that's a wrap!

For the first time ever, I have tracked every single penny I spent on anything in a store as well as each coupon and sale price.  I downloaded a coupon savings tracking form from another blog (sorry- I don't remember where) and I started in January.  But that month I only entered things that I bought with coupons.  For instance, if I went regular grocery shopping and didn't use many coupons- I didn't enter it.

In February I did.  Every single thing I bought- I entered.  Birthday gifts, groceries, stock up on personal care items, drinks, all of it.  I must say- I am surprised by what I found. 

I spent $480.83 the entire month.  I thought that the total would have been much lower.  We are still spending nearly the same amount of money per week on grocery & personal care items as we used to- except now I am buying probably double to triple what I used to get for the same money.  So there is something to be said for that- we are much better stocked than we EVER used to be.  But still, I want to get that number down.

I spent $480.83.  I saved $504.72 with store sale prices and $675.48 with coupons, for a total of $1180.20 in total savings.  That means I saved about 71% on average of anything I purchased.  I have no complaints about that- I think its pretty darn good.

But this month- I'm hoping to spend no more than $350.  I'll be anxious to see if we can do it, especially with getting ready for vacation and a family dinner at my house.  Here goes nothing!