So there are several coupons expiring tomorrow (the last day of the month). Today is Sunday and all the new ads come out for CVS, Walgreens, and Target. This morning I got a super deal at CVS, I spent 10.82 but saved 38.78! And I got a $2 coupon off my next purchase. Two of the good deals are outlined below:
Crest Toothpaste with Scope on sale for $2.99
Minus a $2 off one MF coupon
=$0.99 out of pocket
BUT I got $1.00 ECB coupon for my next CVS visit...so it was virtually FREE (and I was able to get that deal twice!)
Cover Girl sale at CVS, buy one, get on 50% off
Remember that great MF coupon for $8 off two CoverGirl products I used earlier...well I found 3 more of them! So far I got a mascara and eyeliner together for only $2.49. I'm going back to get more eyeliner and eyeshadow (as I now have two unopened mascaras-so that should last me a while) :)
There are lots of other good deals that would take a while to list so I'll just write about the best ones to save time!!! Happy bargain shopping!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Great Covergirl Deal at CVS-HURRY
I've been not as intense on couponing lately, but I had some EBC (CVS reward coupons) to use that expired today. So before work I stopped in to use the $6 before I lost it. While I was there I scanned my CVS card at the Magic coupon machine and I received two great coupons:
$3 off a $10 cosmetic purchase of your choice
$0.50 EBC
So my super great deal that I got while there was on Cover Girl cosmetics. I had an $8 off two Cover Girl products from this months P&G Sunday insert. I used that with my $3 CVS coupon.
CG Eyeshadow $3.89
CG Mascara $7.79
-$3 CVS instant coupon
-$8 MF Coupon
=$0.68 for the two items!!!
Hurry offer will expire on the 13th!
$3 off a $10 cosmetic purchase of your choice
$0.50 EBC
So my super great deal that I got while there was on Cover Girl cosmetics. I had an $8 off two Cover Girl products from this months P&G Sunday insert. I used that with my $3 CVS coupon.
CG Eyeshadow $3.89
CG Mascara $7.79
-$3 CVS instant coupon
-$8 MF Coupon
=$0.68 for the two items!!!
Hurry offer will expire on the 13th!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Two Great Trips...FREE toothpaste!
Ok I made two good runs this morning. Too many people are out there snagging up the deals on Sunday!!! I still was able to find a few things though. I had a giant list for Walgreens but not everything was in stock.
CVS Deals:
Ritz Crackfuls- FREE with instant coupon out of the Magic Coupon Machine...just scan your card and see what you get! Value of $2.50
Dawn Dish Soap, 9 oz bottle, Retail $1.77, on sale for $0.99, add $0.50 MF coupon = $0.49 (x3)
Herbal Essence Shampoo/Conditioner, Retail $3.99 on sale $2.99, add $1/2 MF =$2.50 each (ECB of $1 each)
Crest Complete Toothpaste, Retail $2.49, add $1 MF Coupon =$1.49 each (ECB of $2 each)
Then I added $5 ECB from last purchase.
Grand total was $4.74 and $6 of ECB printed out for next time. Total saved was $18.43. Retail $19.77. Savings of 88%! And looking back I had $2.99 more in ECB that I didn't use!!! I could have had almost 100%!!! And the clerk even said WOW when she saw my coupons back!
CVS Deals:
Ritz Crackfuls- FREE with instant coupon out of the Magic Coupon Machine...just scan your card and see what you get! Value of $2.50
Dawn Dish Soap, 9 oz bottle, Retail $1.77, on sale for $0.99, add $0.50 MF coupon = $0.49 (x3)
Herbal Essence Shampoo/Conditioner, Retail $3.99 on sale $2.99, add $1/2 MF =$2.50 each (ECB of $1 each)
Crest Complete Toothpaste, Retail $2.49, add $1 MF Coupon =$1.49 each (ECB of $2 each)
Then I added $5 ECB from last purchase.
Grand total was $4.74 and $6 of ECB printed out for next time. Total saved was $18.43. Retail $19.77. Savings of 88%! And looking back I had $2.99 more in ECB that I didn't use!!! I could have had almost 100%!!! And the clerk even said WOW when she saw my coupons back!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Great coupons this week!
So I've scooped out this weeks newspaper coupons...you should grab at least 2...well worth it. Plus I have a big list for Walgreens! This week the three big stock up items are toothpaste ($0.99 a tube), Dawn dish soap ($0.49), and Bengay ($0.99). I'm going to have to get there early tomorrow before work because these deals will not last long!!!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Deal of the week
Ok so today I got some good deals, but the best one was Revlon nail polish for 27 CENTS! Retail price of $4.43. Target had a pretty coral color on sale in the clearance isle for $2.27. Add a $1.00 Target coupon and $1.00 Manufacturers coupon out of the paper...final total $0.27....Awesome deal! If there was other colors I might consider going back with the same deal...but one will be just fine. That's 94% savings!!! I only ended up with a 40% overall savings on my whole transaction. But I got stuff I needed (cat litter, swifter duster, mayo) and had $15 in coupons!
Other good deals include:
Masterpiece BBQ sauce .99 sale plus .50 MF = .50/bottle (I picked up 4)
Duncan Hines cake mix or icing .99 with store coupon, MF coupons (b2g1) and ($1 off) = $1 each (x5)I have some birthdays coming up!
Crest toothpaste $2.99 sale CVS, add $1 MF & $1 ECB (for next purchase) = .99
My couponing may be thrown off with the holiday. But there is a Walgreens in Kirksville now....have a safe a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!
Other good deals include:
Masterpiece BBQ sauce .99 sale plus .50 MF = .50/bottle (I picked up 4)
Duncan Hines cake mix or icing .99 with store coupon, MF coupons (b2g1) and ($1 off) = $1 each (x5)I have some birthdays coming up!
Crest toothpaste $2.99 sale CVS, add $1 MF & $1 ECB (for next purchase) = .99
My couponing may be thrown off with the holiday. But there is a Walgreens in Kirksville now....have a safe a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
My personal shopping reflection
So I've started to listen to the Krazy Coupon Lady (KCP) podcast and I really enjoy it. I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about all of this. Joanie (one of the hosts) was on TLC's new hit reality show "Extreme Couponing". I do have to admit after watching a few episodes I was inspired to pay more attention to coupons and go for those large percentage of savings. Today I reflected on my shopping style and how it has evolved over the last year.
I have always have loved a good bargain and sought out sales. I also have also always loved Hy-Vee (I worked there in high school and even won the College scholarship). So I guess from my years of working at a grocery store I feel at home there. Now I've always been one o hold out for a good clothing sale and happy to wear clothes for years if I like them. But as for grocery shopping I haven't been so good over the years.
At first my approach was "it's food-you gotta have it-there's no good way to hold out for a good sale! I'll spend what I spend but try to save a little by buying generic" That approach made my weekly grocery bill for 2 around $150. I love to cook, I love to eat it was easy to spend. I didn't like my totals but didn't really worry much.
Then I came into a rough patch where I really had to watch my money because I didn't have much left over each month. So I started watching what I bought in groceries. That was the only bill that I hadn't put a budget on. After about six months I was really good at knowing what a good price was. I had started to watch prices and take note of what sale price versus regular price was. I also quickly realized that just because it has a flashy sign that says Sale doesn't mean it's a good sale. A sale could be ten cents off or a dollar and ten cents off! And there's a big difference. And bigger sizes are not always cheaper when you calculate it out. I often use my cell phones calculator to check price per ounce. So with this method I would try to lightly stock up on items we used a lot that would stay good until I could use them. So if it was on sale for at least 50 cents off regular I would buy two so I had one in reserve. I also tried to stock up when things were on sale and not just because I liked my pantry being full. I also started meal planning at the beginning of the week for what I had in my cabinets so I wasn't wasting anything or buying everything needed for the meals each week. This kept me from buying regular priced items as much out of letting my stomach do the shopping. This method reduced my grocery bill quite a bit. I was spending about $80-$100 a week.
Now in May I got inspired to pay attention to coupons. I had played around with some online but wasn't real impressed with what I was finding. Why buy brand name with a coupon and still spend more than an store brand that is just as good? And most of the coupons I saw were for 35 cents off 2...that's not really a sale price. But what I was missing was 2 big things: Sunday paper coupons and the concept of holding on to coupons to match good sale prices. So the TLC show inspired and educated me to look into that. My grocery bill now is sometimes only $40 a week! Other weeks are a bit bigger if I'm stocking up, but never over $75. I feel bad spending 50. Sometimes I go to more than one grocery store or make multiple trips (real good deals have limits per visit...I just come back), but I leave with a 50% savings so if I'm already I town why not make the extra trip to save a lot? And I am super careful to buy only things I will use and stockpile only up to 3 months worth on food. (health and beauty items is longer but that's a different post). Now TLC has jaded people with their show to think that saving 90% at a grocery store is possible. Well it is only possible if you have found 15 items that you can almost get for free (which is possible) and then finding coupons to buy 50 of each item. I don't need more than 5 of any deal!!! I only buy one set of coupons (2 if it's super good) and find recycled for the rest. If I'm lucky to find a free deal, hopefully I'm lucky to find several coupons in the dumpster. Otherwise I'll watch my sales flyers and match my coupons for a reasonable stockpile that saves me a lot of money!
I have always have loved a good bargain and sought out sales. I also have also always loved Hy-Vee (I worked there in high school and even won the College scholarship). So I guess from my years of working at a grocery store I feel at home there. Now I've always been one o hold out for a good clothing sale and happy to wear clothes for years if I like them. But as for grocery shopping I haven't been so good over the years.
At first my approach was "it's food-you gotta have it-there's no good way to hold out for a good sale! I'll spend what I spend but try to save a little by buying generic" That approach made my weekly grocery bill for 2 around $150. I love to cook, I love to eat it was easy to spend. I didn't like my totals but didn't really worry much.
Then I came into a rough patch where I really had to watch my money because I didn't have much left over each month. So I started watching what I bought in groceries. That was the only bill that I hadn't put a budget on. After about six months I was really good at knowing what a good price was. I had started to watch prices and take note of what sale price versus regular price was. I also quickly realized that just because it has a flashy sign that says Sale doesn't mean it's a good sale. A sale could be ten cents off or a dollar and ten cents off! And there's a big difference. And bigger sizes are not always cheaper when you calculate it out. I often use my cell phones calculator to check price per ounce. So with this method I would try to lightly stock up on items we used a lot that would stay good until I could use them. So if it was on sale for at least 50 cents off regular I would buy two so I had one in reserve. I also tried to stock up when things were on sale and not just because I liked my pantry being full. I also started meal planning at the beginning of the week for what I had in my cabinets so I wasn't wasting anything or buying everything needed for the meals each week. This kept me from buying regular priced items as much out of letting my stomach do the shopping. This method reduced my grocery bill quite a bit. I was spending about $80-$100 a week.
Now in May I got inspired to pay attention to coupons. I had played around with some online but wasn't real impressed with what I was finding. Why buy brand name with a coupon and still spend more than an store brand that is just as good? And most of the coupons I saw were for 35 cents off 2...that's not really a sale price. But what I was missing was 2 big things: Sunday paper coupons and the concept of holding on to coupons to match good sale prices. So the TLC show inspired and educated me to look into that. My grocery bill now is sometimes only $40 a week! Other weeks are a bit bigger if I'm stocking up, but never over $75. I feel bad spending 50. Sometimes I go to more than one grocery store or make multiple trips (real good deals have limits per visit...I just come back), but I leave with a 50% savings so if I'm already I town why not make the extra trip to save a lot? And I am super careful to buy only things I will use and stockpile only up to 3 months worth on food. (health and beauty items is longer but that's a different post). Now TLC has jaded people with their show to think that saving 90% at a grocery store is possible. Well it is only possible if you have found 15 items that you can almost get for free (which is possible) and then finding coupons to buy 50 of each item. I don't need more than 5 of any deal!!! I only buy one set of coupons (2 if it's super good) and find recycled for the rest. If I'm lucky to find a free deal, hopefully I'm lucky to find several coupons in the dumpster. Otherwise I'll watch my sales flyers and match my coupons for a reasonable stockpile that saves me a lot of money!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Major savings at Walgreens and grocery stores!
Ok so my biggest savings this week was at Walgreens. But my two local grocery stores had some good buys too!
62% savings on two transactions at Walgreens!
Using their Register Rewards "RR" system you can get coupons off your next purchase on qualifying items. I like the ones that are $5 or more off and then I either go back in the same week to use them or hold them for the next week. It's funny because I waited until the last day of the sale and could have gone back to duplicate the awesome savings if I'd had my coupon surplus with me!*** That is one good and bad thing about Walgreens that I have learned. They do not place a limit on how many "transactions" you do with in a week to get their register rewards and good deals (CVS does-limit one per member card-one member card per household). The cool part of that is you can go back and get the deal again. The downfall is that most drug stores don't stock up on these items (unlike grocery stores) so when they run out, you are out of luck. I believe they do have A rain check policy but I'd rather get it that day. So I combine Walgreens super sales with manufacturers coupons and get RR back. This week my retail (original store price)on 11 items was $64 and out of pocket I spent only $19.97. My best deal was Dove Body wash/soap. The items I got (24oz women's body wash, 6 pack women's bar soap, 6 pack men's body wash) retailed around $8 each. They were on sale for $6 each. Then I had a manufactures coupon for each (that happen to expire the next day) that equalled $1 off each-lowering my price to $5 each. I added my $5 from a RR deal I bought earlier in the day-lowering to $3.33 each. Then I got $6 RR for buying three. So that in theory made them like $1.33 each. Then the added bonus was that the body wash had a bonus deodorant attached to it (retail at least $2). So that's not too shabby! Then there was an error that the clerk made and my RR didn't come out so I ended up with a total of $6.97 and he just gave me cash back for the RR error and I left the store for $0.52!!!
I've been listening to the Krazy Coupon Lady podcast (free on I-tunes, new one each week) and they confirmed what I have found true for grocery stores. These lady's are good and they don't have places that do double couponing and they said that a good deal on food is about 50-60%. which made me happy because the last few weeks I have averaged a 55% savings on each transaction at the grocery store (I use Price Chopper & Hy-Vee). They also confirmed that you can get better savings at these type of food stores (they call high-lows---retail high, super low sales) than at major super stores (WalMart, Target, KMart) [which if you know me it THRILLED me because I hate WalMart-email me if you want my rants on them]!!! I have even stooped low(morally for me) to look at WalMart ads and they really don't have that great of sales. I have not found a deal good enough to merit me taking a trip there-granted it might have to be almost free and the ability to get multiples for me to walk in to that store (sorry to those of you with less options in your area-Dollar General is a good option!) They also talked about Bulk stores like SAMs and Costco-on produce you might be saving but everything else you are probably paying Way too much! So that pretty much confirmed my findings so far and made me feel good.
Big grocery savings items this week:
Hy-Vee
Hamburger/chicken/tuna Helper on sale for $0.88/box, add $0.75 off three= $0.63 each. A nice thing to throw in the cabinet for a fast meal every once in a while. Retail is around $2.50.
Fresh quartered chicken-$0.39/pound, 10 pound bag (like equivalent of 2.5 whole chickens)=$3.90. that's a lot, I'll cut some of it and freeze and my crock pot one piece for this week-should make two meals for us.
Michelinas frozen entrees (great for quick lunch at work) on sale for $0.49 each (retail $1.49) add MF coupon for $1 off 5= $0.29 each! Now that cheap lunch! $1 is usually good for the things I pick up for a quick lunch but that's super good!
Price Chopper
French's Worcestershire sauce on sale $1 each, add MF coupon =$0.25 each! I used the only two coupons I could get my hands on (it was a new coupon-non thrown out yet)
Velveeta Skillets Meals (new item, like Hamburger Helper products but they look better) on sale for $2, add $1 off one =$1 each. I picked up three-retailed around $3-good deal.
So that's the highlights this week. Sorry for long (if you are still reading!) I'm going to make an effort to blog more often instead of piling it all in one big post. There's just so much to talk about!!! Next weeks goals-get a CVS card and check them out-supposed to be better than Walgreens.
***my new crazy idea is to get a traveling file box and move my surplus of coupons (remember I only buy one set each week and cut them to carry in my purse and then find recycled (ok--dumpster dive) for extra copies) and file those by date in file folders. If I take these folders on the go I can go back into a store after finding a steal of a deal and replicate the transaction. And as CRAZY as it is I've started packing scissors in my car already for quick cutting on newly acquired coupons. :) I just have too much fun with this game!!!
62% savings on two transactions at Walgreens!
Using their Register Rewards "RR" system you can get coupons off your next purchase on qualifying items. I like the ones that are $5 or more off and then I either go back in the same week to use them or hold them for the next week. It's funny because I waited until the last day of the sale and could have gone back to duplicate the awesome savings if I'd had my coupon surplus with me!*** That is one good and bad thing about Walgreens that I have learned. They do not place a limit on how many "transactions" you do with in a week to get their register rewards and good deals (CVS does-limit one per member card-one member card per household). The cool part of that is you can go back and get the deal again. The downfall is that most drug stores don't stock up on these items (unlike grocery stores) so when they run out, you are out of luck. I believe they do have A rain check policy but I'd rather get it that day. So I combine Walgreens super sales with manufacturers coupons and get RR back. This week my retail (original store price)on 11 items was $64 and out of pocket I spent only $19.97. My best deal was Dove Body wash/soap. The items I got (24oz women's body wash, 6 pack women's bar soap, 6 pack men's body wash) retailed around $8 each. They were on sale for $6 each. Then I had a manufactures coupon for each (that happen to expire the next day) that equalled $1 off each-lowering my price to $5 each. I added my $5 from a RR deal I bought earlier in the day-lowering to $3.33 each. Then I got $6 RR for buying three. So that in theory made them like $1.33 each. Then the added bonus was that the body wash had a bonus deodorant attached to it (retail at least $2). So that's not too shabby! Then there was an error that the clerk made and my RR didn't come out so I ended up with a total of $6.97 and he just gave me cash back for the RR error and I left the store for $0.52!!!
I've been listening to the Krazy Coupon Lady podcast (free on I-tunes, new one each week) and they confirmed what I have found true for grocery stores. These lady's are good and they don't have places that do double couponing and they said that a good deal on food is about 50-60%. which made me happy because the last few weeks I have averaged a 55% savings on each transaction at the grocery store (I use Price Chopper & Hy-Vee). They also confirmed that you can get better savings at these type of food stores (they call high-lows---retail high, super low sales) than at major super stores (WalMart, Target, KMart) [which if you know me it THRILLED me because I hate WalMart-email me if you want my rants on them]!!! I have even stooped low(morally for me) to look at WalMart ads and they really don't have that great of sales. I have not found a deal good enough to merit me taking a trip there-granted it might have to be almost free and the ability to get multiples for me to walk in to that store (sorry to those of you with less options in your area-Dollar General is a good option!) They also talked about Bulk stores like SAMs and Costco-on produce you might be saving but everything else you are probably paying Way too much! So that pretty much confirmed my findings so far and made me feel good.
Big grocery savings items this week:
Hy-Vee
Hamburger/chicken/tuna Helper on sale for $0.88/box, add $0.75 off three= $0.63 each. A nice thing to throw in the cabinet for a fast meal every once in a while. Retail is around $2.50.
Fresh quartered chicken-$0.39/pound, 10 pound bag (like equivalent of 2.5 whole chickens)=$3.90. that's a lot, I'll cut some of it and freeze and my crock pot one piece for this week-should make two meals for us.
Michelinas frozen entrees (great for quick lunch at work) on sale for $0.49 each (retail $1.49) add MF coupon for $1 off 5= $0.29 each! Now that cheap lunch! $1 is usually good for the things I pick up for a quick lunch but that's super good!
Price Chopper
French's Worcestershire sauce on sale $1 each, add MF coupon =$0.25 each! I used the only two coupons I could get my hands on (it was a new coupon-non thrown out yet)
Velveeta Skillets Meals (new item, like Hamburger Helper products but they look better) on sale for $2, add $1 off one =$1 each. I picked up three-retailed around $3-good deal.
So that's the highlights this week. Sorry for long (if you are still reading!) I'm going to make an effort to blog more often instead of piling it all in one big post. There's just so much to talk about!!! Next weeks goals-get a CVS card and check them out-supposed to be better than Walgreens.
***my new crazy idea is to get a traveling file box and move my surplus of coupons (remember I only buy one set each week and cut them to carry in my purse and then find recycled (ok--dumpster dive) for extra copies) and file those by date in file folders. If I take these folders on the go I can go back into a store after finding a steal of a deal and replicate the transaction. And as CRAZY as it is I've started packing scissors in my car already for quick cutting on newly acquired coupons. :) I just have too much fun with this game!!!
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