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!

Good Golley I luv me some coupons!

Marsh put select Kelloggs cereals on sale this week for 50% off.  I was lucky to have printed the $5/5 boxes coupon a week or so ago.  That means I got 5 boxes of applejacks, fruit loops and corn pops for just $.76 per box!!!!

On to the drug stores.

I didn't take a picture.  Yesterday I was wrangling Allyson who was home sick with scarlet fever and I just didn't have an ounce of energy left.  I mean, you've seen how scattered I've been on this here blog.  My time has been abducted by aliens I'm afraid.

Anyway-

Walgreens:
#1 transaction-
$8 On the Go Drink Mix vitamin C supplement
$2.49 huggies wipes
-$.50 huggies mq
-$2 RR last week
$8.72 total (with tax)- got back $8 on the go RR and $2 huggies RR (this is regional and I expect it not to last long on the wipes since it makes them free- but yay I got one!)

#2 transaction-
$26, 6 diet coke 12 packs (may as well stock up)
$0, 2 tiny 8packs of coke cans (free when you buy 3 12 packs)
-$4.33 free 12 pack coke mq (bought with my coke rewards points)
-$4.33 free 12 pack coke mq (bought with my coke rewards points)
-$8 RR from #1 transaction
-$2 RR from #1 transaction
-$2 RR from last week
$7.16 total (with tax)- got back $10 RR wyb $20 in coke or nestle items

Total cash out of pocket $15.88 for over $40 in product and I have a $10 RR left over for next week.

CVS:
$7.49 scott 12 pack tp
$7.49 scott 12 pack tp
$7.49 scott 12 pack tp
$5.49 scott 6 roll paper towels
$5.49 scott 6 roll paper towels
$3.79 therma care lower back 1 ct.
$4.99 colgate pro toothbrush
$4.99 colgate pro toothbrush
-$5 Scotts mq's (5 at $1 each)
-$.75 colgate mq
-$.75 colgate mq
-$1 cvs buck
-$20 giftcard (I had a $20 pharmacy coupon from Meijer and my CVS pharmacy honors them.  Thanks to scarlet fever girl I had a prescription I was there filling).
$22.96 total (with tax)- I got back 2 $4 cvs bucks for the tooth brushes (she had to manually print the second one- you want to watch that) and $3.79 cvs buck for thermacare PLUS I got a $10 gift card for buying $30 in the Scott products. That's $21.79 I have left over for next week, almost exactly what I paid!

Marsh Sale starting 2/16/12

When I read through the Marsh circular for this week- I just knew I had to get over there!

Total cash out of pocket for everything in the picture was $29.07.  Plus I earned 2 $4 rewards ($8 total) for my next shopping trip.  I actually earned 3, but I used one on one of my transactions today.  In that picture is 6 boxes of cereal bars, 16 cups of yoplait greek yogurt, 2 gogurts, 8 boxes of fruit snacks, 16 chocolate bars (putting them in the freezer for upcoming smores season!), 6 hamburger helpers, 6 double packs of instant mashes potatoes, two poptarts and two kelloggs krave cereals.  Oh- and Sam.  He's in the picture too : )

All total between the store sale prices, promotions and manufacturers coupons, I saved $116.88- plus I still have the left over $8 for next time that I earned (buy 8 of certain items, get $4- the yoplait greek yogurts were part of that deal at $1 each!  Bought 8- used 4 $.50/2 mq's that doubled to $1- paid $4 and earned $4- FREE!) (Keep in mind- I did three transactions with the items in that promotion because I wasn't sure if I could earn more than one in each order).

I was kind of hoping that the GM cereal sale (buy for instantly save $4) included some of the new cheerio flavors that we have been getting high value q's on, or the new frosted toast crunch- but that is a no go on both.

I didn't have any q's for the hot dogs, but buy 1 get 1 at $2.29 per pack (makes them $1.15 each) is a good deal in the winter months.  PLUS- don't forget to go to the Marsh Website and print your coupon for a free flat bread (I found them in the deli/gourmet cheese area) when you spend $50.  Just be sure to hand over that coupon FIRST if you are using coupons, because if your coupons drop you below fifty and they try to scan it last, then it won't go through.

Good shopping day for some great items- none of which are super healthy, but will serve as great desperate dinners or treats for lunch boxes!

My shopping 2/13/12

I didn't post a single shopping trip last week.  I went shopping- picked up some of the free snickers valentines and a few other things- but all in all it just wasn't a super exciting shopping week.  Which worked for me- I just didn't have it to give.

Yesterday I hit both cvs and walgreens.  Again- this week is not too impressive- except the free Got 2 B hair product, SCORE!

Walgreens:  $4.58 

 $6.58 Hefty zip bags $3.29, b1g1 free
-$2 2 $1/2 mq's (made them $1.15 per box, great price!)
$11.98 Got 2 B hair products $5.99, b1g1 free
-$12 4 $3 mq's from sundays paper (yay!)
$4 St. Joseph Aspirin (paid in 2 seperate transactions)
Paid $8.56
Received back 2 $2 register rewards wyb st. joseph aspirin

CVS: $.50 profit

$9.99 One Touch blood glucose monitor
-$10 one touch mq
$5.50 2 colgates at $2.75 each
-$2 2 $1 colgate mq's
$7.96 4 speedstick deodorants at $1.99 each
-$7.96 2 b1g1 free mq's- should have deducted $1.99 but automatically rang at $3.99 (the full price) (2nd one adjusted down $.02)
Paid $3.49
Received back $4 register reward ($2 wyb colgate- limit of 2 per card)

I have a girlfriend (you know who you are) that uses coupons, even stores them in a binder, but says she has never been able to get any items for free.  This just might be your week girl!

CVS again

I went back to CVS for some stuff I missed.  CVS seems to be where it is at this week!

#1 transaction
3 schick womens shaving cream $4 each
-3 $.55 mq's
$10.35 (I used some cvs bucks- but lets pretend I didn't- kay?)
Earned $12 in CVS bucks ($4 for each shaving creme)

#2 transaction
1 Physicians formula organic mascara $10.49
-$2 mq peelie that was on the package (score!)
-$8 CVS bucks from transaction #1
$.49 plus tax
Earned $7 in CVS bucks (physicians formula wyb $10)

#3 transaction
3 Mountain Dew 3/$10 (you know- for my dan the man)
1 pack of gum $1 (needed something else to use all my cvs bucks-too bad I already got my free cadbury egg!)
$.00 plus tax
Earned $4 in CVS bucks

So- for $33.49 in merchandise I paid $10.84 out of pocket (in theory- but I did roll some CVS bucks) AND still have $4 CVS bucks for next time!!!!!  I was going in to buy the mountain dew anyway- because my husband drinks it all the time.  So basically I got the rest of the stuff for free in addition to what I was planning to spend in the first place.

Man I love coupons.