Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

CVS trip


I stopped by CVS this afternoon and had luck!  I bought:
An 8 roll pack of CVS brand paper towel (not pictured) on sale for 4.99
5 cans of Bumble Bee white Albacore tuna on sale .88 cents each
- Used $1/5 coupon from Bumble Bee's website
CVS brand bodywash 1.99
- Used free coupon from CVS email (you receive when you sign up for email alerts through their CVS care card)
- Used $2 ECB from my last purchase
Total before tax was 6.77
Total savings of 14.54

Free yogurt!


I've never tried Yoplus yogurt, though I do like Yoplait!  Anyway, if you go here you can sign up to try it free.  You'll have to sign up for the Betty Crocker newsletter, but they send out more great coupons and recipes.  I actually just got a coupon for free Yoplus in the mail today, so I'll be trying this soon!

 

Free Museum Entrance

Target is sponsoring free and reduced-price events.  Click here to see if there are any in your area.  Sadly, it's all large cities, and the Children's Museum of Richmond is my closest participating museum.  Hopefully you'll get lucky! :)

Thanks, Money Saving Mom!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Cheap Movies



The Hollywood Videos on the eastern part of Virginia are closing their doors next month (the manager said the 16th, I believe).  They are currently running everything 20% off, or their "active" movies are 7.98 each or 3 for $20.  My store started their closing sale last Monday and still had quite a lot left today.  Game Stop attached to the store also had all their video games on sale.

Of course if your store isn't going out of business, or even if it is, still check out their clearance with free shipping which has a few of the same DVDs being sold in their store for $7.98.

You can still currently rent movies the next few weeks, though there are only going to be 2 new movies released.  All the movies released within the last 4 weeks are not on sale, I'm unsure if they'll be running on sale closer to closing or just be transferred to some of the stores that are staying open.

Bath & Body Works Sale



I stocked up at Christmas so will probably sit this one out, but Bath & Body Works again has their signature collection items Buy 2 Get 1 Free, Buy 3 Get 2 Free.  There is a new free full size signature collection body wash with any $10 purchase coupon here, and the code can SAPPHIRE also be used online for the same thing.

Today also started the 20% off total purchase that I got in the mail, apparently they have the free full size item online instead.  If you happen to have both, it's worth a shot to try to combine.  Regardless, you can possibly Buy 3 Get 3 Free which would work out to be $5+ each.

If you are shopping online, go through one of the following to get cash back on your purchase (I've used both and can attest that you will get a check--they're legit :))
1)  Ebates
2)  Mr. Rebates
Both sites will give you a $5 account credit just for signing up with them.  You do not give these sites your credit card information, only the merchant who you deal with.

My home away from home

So I just got home from Target... :)
I did very well.  Of course, part of that was because the cashier probably wouldn't have batted an eyelash had I burst into flames in front of him, so was putting everything through, regardless of the sales price.  So I probably owe Target about $3, but that's besides the point.


I bought Curious George 2 for $6.99 (on sale from 14.99)
 - I'm going to have to exchange it, though, I picked up the second one which did not have the code for $5 in grocery cash as the first one I picked up did.  This will be a Christmas present.  The movie, not the grocery cash.  That's all mine! :)
Heinz vinegar on sale .99 cents (used a .50 cent off coupon from here)
Market Pantry pudding for .69 cents (for Angel Lush cake!!  Yum!)
5 Weight Watchers Smart Ones at 2.44 each (not on sale, but I had a $1/5 coupon about to expire so bought them anyway)
Heluva Good Dip 2.79 (free with free product coupon from their FaceBook page--no longer available)
Cool Whip on sale for .89 cents
2 Clean & Clear travel sized products 1.12 each (used 2 $1 off coupons from the paper yesterday)
2 Gillette Body washes 1.79 each (used $4/2 coupon--this was where he didn't adjust the coupon price down)
4 Gillette deodorants 1.79 each (used 2 more $4/2 coupons)
Dove Men's body wash with free travel size attached 3.58 (this was on a clearance endcap, used $1 off Target coupon no longer available, and a $1.25 off manufacturer's coupon)
Reynold's recycled aluminum foil on clearance for 2.54 (used 1.25 off coupon from coupons.com)
Ruffies trash bags on clearance for 3.10
2 Purina Busy Bones on sale 2.66 each (used B1G1 free coupon from yesterday's paper)

Grand total before tax $23.09.
Total Savings: 37.62
Plus, once I exchange the DVD, I'll get $5 back.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Walgreens trip

So the lady at Walgreens tried to tell me I couldn't combine a manufacturer's coupon and a Walgreens coupon.  I told her I most certainly could (but was nice about it :)), and then she told me, oh, maybe your coupon won't take because it's for more than the price of the item.  It was for the Stride Mystery Gum that was .79 cents with the in-ad coupon and then I had the manufacturer's coupon off the gum that basically said you wouldn't know how much it is for until it's scanned at the register.  So mine was at least more than .79 cents off.  I'll probably add that on to a Rite Aid purchase to get my total above $15 or $25 for a coupon.


Schick Extreme 3, 4 count razors on sale for $6.99 (used manufacturer's $3 off coupon and Wags $2 off March coupon)
2 packs Stride mystery gum 1.29 (used .79 cent in-ad coupon)
2 Planter's Trail mix on sale 2/$3.00 (used $1/2 Planter's products from the Mr. Peanut FB page)
Not pictured:  Act Mouthwash 5.29 (used $1 off manufacturer's and $1 off Wags March coupon)
Total was 9.32 with Total savings of 11.88

I also went to my mom's house where she was cleaning out her cabinets and gave me three bags full of canned goods.  Score! :)

mediNsite

A friend of mine owns this business, so I know it's legit and can attest to the fact he knows what he's doing!  Become a fan of mediaNsite on Facebook, it's a "Social Media Marketing Solutions for your growing business."  Or he can help you out if you need help operating your cell phone. :)

Like I said, he knows what he's doing, is very friendly, and there's not a question too dumb that he won't help you with.  Trust me, I've asked a few in my time!

If nothing else, become a fan because he updates it with great tidbits of wisdom!!

Gardening, coupons

Make sure you're signed up for Lowe's outdoor living newsletter and Home Depot's garden club.  Both newsletters are very informative, and often contain great coupons!

I'm saving up my Swagbucks to get a Lowe's giftcard.  My neurotic female dog destroyed our stair rail (I mean chewed on every single wooden one!) during some horrible separation anxiety a couple of years ago.  We're looking to move soon so I'm saving up to get a free giftcard to put towards some of the cost of repairs.

I also have My Points I'm saving up for to get either another Lowe's or Home Depot giftcard.  We're doing a few other cosmetic repairs as well.  Has anyone determined whether Lowe's or Home Depot is cheaper, overall?  I did some product searches on both of their website but decided it was about the same?  Anyone have a store preference?

Free photo prints

Money Saving Mom has the info on how you can get 20 free prints at Walgreens now through April 7, 2010.  Upload them online, use code 20FREE4X6B at checkout and pick in-store pickup to avoid shipping charges.  She says you have to order 20 print exactly, no more, no less.

I've personally used Walgreens to print photos like this before and I've been impressed with the quality.  Their photo associates are also usually really friendly.  Anyway, when you place your order you can choose which store to pick them up at as it gives you the time they'll be ready at each store.  Last time I did this I chose a store I don't usually go to because it was on the way to where we were going to eat dinner and would save me a trip out later.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Dove coupons, freebie


The Dove website has new printable coupons up.  It looks like you might have to be registered with their newsletter/website to print, but I can assure you they send out emails very infrequently.  You can also sign up for a free sample of their daily conditioner by clicking on the button to the right of the coupons.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Gap Online coupon code



Today through Saturday, March 27 you can get an extra 20% off sales items online only, using code BG9F6N4XNPD3 at checkout.

In other news, I got a coupon in the mail yesterday from Gap brands for $10 off any purchase that could be used 4 times, once at Gap, once at Banana Republic, once at Old Navy, and once on-line.  Methinks that's because I have charged too much in the past on my Gap charge card... Anyway, if you have a charge card keep your eye out.  I got it with my updated card, so maybe they send that out with them now?

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Pictures!

Yay, my wonderful sister did good!  She revived my camera! :)

So here are my exciting shopping trips from this week!


First, my Rite Aid trip that worked out much better than I planned!
Cottonelle 20 pack double roll $10.99 (receive $2 single rebate check) less $1 RA Video Values coupon, less $1 Coupons.com coupon (now only .50 cents)
Pert Plus for Men on clearance for 1.99 less 1.50 off manufacturer's coupon
Johnson's Baby Lotion 2.99 less 1.00 off in-ad coupon less 1.00 off manufacturer's coupon
Reese's Dark Chocolate Cups 2/$1 less two .55 cents off manufacturer's coupons
Less $3 off $15 coupon attached to my last Single Rebate Check email update (you can get a $5 off $20 from earning 20 RA Video Value "points" by watching videos).
Grand total after tax $8.05 and I will get the $2 rebate check from RA, so $6.05!


At Target I stocked up on Sobe Lifewater for my husband:
10 Sobe Lifewaters at 10/$10, used 2 B1G1 free coupons (there are also .50 cent off coupons available on Target.com), got back a $5 giftcard for buying 10.
Sugar Free Kool-Aid mixes 2.69
Jennie O ground turkey on sale for 2.25 (down from 4.49)
2 Lean Cuisines clearanced to 1.44 each
Lactaid milk 3.29
Dannon yogurt was on sale 10/$4.50 and I used $1 off 10 manufacturer's coupon
Kraft Fat Free cream cheese clearanced to 1.42
2 Tattoos for .67 cents each (to donate)
4 Glitter stickers for .74 cents each (to donate)
Also I bought birthday plates not pictured for 1.99
Less .05 cent credit for taking my own bag
Grand total was $31.26 and I used $5 Target giftcard from last week's Kellogg's deal, bringing my out of pocket to $26.26 and I got the $5 giftcard to use next time.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Amusement Park Savings

First, follow Busch Gardens on Twitter for the latest scoops and chances to win tickets.  If you've never been or are looking for a vacation spot, Williamsburg has all you need.  Between Busch Gardens, Water Country, Prime Outlets, Pirate Cove Golf, Colonial Williamsburg, Great Wolf Lodge, tons of great restaurants, hotels, and much more, it's a great place to vacation.  You're also near VA Beach so could go there as well.  It's a great area to be in, there's tons to do!

Up a little further North, thanks to the Daily Press' Savvy Shopper for this one:
"Kings Dominion is selling general admission tickets for $33.99 (the price of child's admission) when purchased online April 2 through May 31. You must use the ticket during that period.
There are no refunds or rainchecks available on tickets purchased online.

Regular admission to the park is $59.99. When purchased at this price, you may use the ticket twice during the operating season.
The park opens on April 2 and operates on the weekends until June 4, when it opens to visitors daily."

Twenty Three Ways to Save Money

Twenty Three Ways to Save Money
Why 23?  I didn't write them down as they were coming to me while laying in bed.  Had I, I probably would have made it to 25.

1)  Walmart is not always cheaper. You can price match at some other stores with Walmart's ad if they do have a better sale.

2)  Drugstores can be cheap! Combine their sales with their coupons and manufacturer's coupons and you can save a ton!

3)  Generic is not always cheaper. At Target over Christmas their Del Monte vegetables were on sale for .42 cents* each. Their store brand was .47. Then there was a Target coupon on their website for $1/10 and a Del Monte coupon for $1/8. Total price .22 cents each!
*my figures are based on memory, so it may have been a few cents more or a few less, but you get the idea.

4)  Shop with a list. You'll be less likely to give into impulse buys.

5)  Use restaurant.com if you're not picky about where you'll only eat. Wait until they run an 80% off sale and get a $25 certificate for $2!

6)  Make meals ahead of time and freeze them. It's so much easier to heat up something already made. Almost as easy as running out to get something. And much cheaper!

7)  Utilize ebates.com or mrrebate.com if you shop online. You'll get cash back on your purchases. (Hint: if you do #5 and pay $2, they still give you the percentage back off your non-sale total!)

8)  Use up what you have in your kitchen. Use supercook.com and type in an ingredient, it will pull up a list of recipes using that ingredient. No need to let things in your kitchen go to waste.

9)  Other great recipe sites: foodnetwork.com, myrecipes.com, and prevention.com

10)  Save your receipts and do price adjustments! Most stores give you 14 days. Hint: if you go to a store that price matches to others and what you bought goes on sale at another store within the 14 day period, the store where you originally bought the item will price match their competitors sale!

11)  Organize your coupons! You can't use them if you can't find them or don't know what you have.

12)  If there are paticularly good coupons in the paper one week that you'll use, buy an extra paper or two. But do this at Dollar Tree so you're only spending $1 for extra coupons. I used 9 papers last month = $9 and used $300 worth of coupons. That is a great return on investment!

13)  Manufacturer's wouldn't put out coupons if they didn't want to entice you to buy their product. So do it!

14)  Stock up. Fine, you just opened a new tube of toothpaste. Still buy another. You can get another one for .20 cents now with sales/coupons or wait until you're completely out and buy a new tube for 3.00. Same goes for toilet paper.  However, when I say stock up, please don't wipe the store out of an item, save some for others!

15)  Warehouse clubs are great for dairy, produce, meat, and other things, but paper products usually work out to be higher priced than at other stores.

16)  Let your favorite brands know you like their products. Sometimes just from inquiring about things you can score great coupons from the company.

17)  To curb shopping, get in the mindset that you'll only visit certain stores with a coupon. Then, when the coupon comes, recycle it. If you don't have it to spend, you can't spend on a whim!

18)  Always, always, always comparison shop on large purchases! Be sure to visit retailmenot.com to look for coupon codes as well. Some stores have free shipping if you pick it up in their store, while you can still use an online savings code (ex: Sears).

19)  Watch for offers when you buy things. If you have a coupon for something, look around. Recently I had a coupon to get free toothpaste, when I picked it off the shelf I noticed a taller box in back that contained a free travel size toothpaste. So I was able to get both free. Often you can get deodorant with a free travel size attached, also.

20)  Don't pay to have sales matched up for you (ex: couponmom.com). Follow a free blog newsletter that matches up sales for you. TotallyTarget.com matches up Target deals, CommonSensewithmoney.com matches up drugstore deals and Walmart deals. If there are online coupons that you can use, they link up to it for you so you don't have to search all over.

21)  At the beginning of every month check out coupons.com, redplum.com and smartsource.com. They are great sources of online printable coupons and update at the beginning of each month.

22)  Check your store's coupon policy. BJ's Club allows you 14 days after your purchase to return with a coupon to have the price adjusted!

23)  Another great source for all things money, savings, investment, etc is walletpop.com and dailyworth.com DailyWorth is strictly a site for women and money. I mean, no one will get you if your husband visits the site, but it's geared towards women.

If couponing sounds overwhelming, according to The Wall Street Journal, the average person makes $100 for each hour they spend couponing!

Since January I've saved $700 using coupons and store savings (some of this after Christmas sales for next year), and have been able to donate at least $200 (of that 700) worth of things to programs I know can use them.  If you need ideas on getting started donating, I can come up with some great ones for you! :)

More goodies!

I still have no pictures, but I do have some things to share!!

First, I got some great Bath & Body Works coupons in the mail today that start at the end of the month.  Free signature collection trial size item with NO purchase necessary!  Second was to save 20% off your entire purchase.  Generally when these come in the mail they also come out online, so I'll keep my eye out.  Their coupons say not to be combined with any others, but multiple times I've had cashiers take more than 1 coupon on a purchase.

Speaking of multiple coupons on a purchase, did you know that like Chick-Fil-A's coupons, Bed, Bath & Beyond's coupons also don't expire even though there's an expiration date on the coupon?  And BB&B lets you use up to 5 coupons per transaction (but you must have a separate item for each coupon)?  The cashiers at BB&B will generally ask you if you have more coupons to use.

Second, you can go here to print off a coupon for a free 60 day trial membership to BJ's Wholesale Club (go through the official site, please do not print off this page).  I love our BJ's, they accept manufacturer's coupons (as many per product as there are separate UPC codes), will let you price adjust with coupons up to 14 days after your purchase, have free food samples (yummy! :)), have the lowest local prices on milk, have the lowest price on Beneful dog food (we have 2 boxers so buy the 31 pound bags for 23.99 and they often offer coupons for $2 off), and the staff are usually very friendly.  Enough for my walking advertisement, though.

Also, keep your eye out for the Red Plum home mailer, there is a coupon in it for $5 off a $50 purchase at K-Mart.  I don't care for our K-Mart, it's dirty and hard to find things in the store (do you notice I have this problem with a lot of stores??  It might just be me.), but if yours is nicer, you might enjoy this coupon. :)

I generally don't look at our Red Plum mailer as it's usually advertisements and junk, but since I found coupons for a free Gulp, $2 off a sandwich and a free Slurpee at a new 7-11 that opened locally, I do look at them now.  Occasionally there is a treasure there.  Yes, I consider a free small Slurpee a "treasure."  Haha!

Did anyone go for a free pastry or ice cream today?  I had a meeting at work this morning so ended up with free Panera, and decided against waking up any earlier than I had to for calories I didn't need. :)

Monday, March 22, 2010

Almost killed another camera!

Pictures are going to have to wait until tomorrow.  Luckily, I did NOT kill a second camera in a week's time.  There was concern, though.  My much more technologically savvy sister is going to figure out what's wrong with the picture loader thingy (this new old camera has a huge memory card, as in like 12x12, but I might be exaggerating a bit).

In the meantime, don't forget your pastry and ice cream tomorrow! :)

Updates

First, I hope to have some pictures up later today of some shopping I did last week.


Second, tomorrow is free pastry day at Starbucks.  You just have to print out or show this coupon on your phone and you'll get a free pastry with your purchase of a hand crafted beverage.

Third, tomorrow is free cone day at Ben & Jerrys!  Thankfully our closest store is nowhere near where I'll be tomorrow so I can skip this one. :)

Lastly, (for now) I used my free Purex 3 in 1 sample yesterday and was VERY impressed!  It was a true test because I was washing my curtains and knew they were going to be a big static mess.  I can't attest to how they would work on really dirty things, though I think it would hold up, but the anti-static component worked great!  I definitely will be buying a box to use on my curtains (I've been spring-cleaning).  I'm pretty stocked with Tide and All for my regular laundry, but will use it on a load of my husband's work clothes to see how it goes.  Will let you know.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Target Deals

Totally Target has the best deals for this upcoming week at Target.  I'm very excited about the Sobe Lifewater deal.  My husband loves these, and usually pays about 1.50 each, including the two he bought this morning on his way out to go fishing.  (It was a pretty 80 degrees here today!!)  Anyway, I told him we are stocking up this week.  Even at $1 each, it's still better than the usual price.

We went this evening and I bought new batteries since I threw 4 away this week.  I'd pulled them out of a Wii remote and the DVD remote, so figured I better get some more. :)

I went to buy the Dial handsoap, but they did not have the NutriSkin at my store.  Oh well.  I'm still going to hang on to the coupons in the hope that they start carrying it before my coupons expire.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

My sad camera

So my camera died.  Unfortunately I did not face the fact until I had thrown away two sets of AA batteries and was grumbling about how all our batteries were bad.  There was some nasty stuff in the trash can, and cheap as I am and expensive as batteries are, I didn't want to pick out and clean off batteries.

My sister very kindly gave me her old camera, but the memory card is too big to fit in my computer.  I have a laptop, so I haven't figured out anything fancy to do to hook it up.

However, I am happy to report I've fed my poor husband well this week!  Crab legs (steamed at Farm Fresh, thanks!), firecracker shrimp, and sauteed cabbage Monday night, Omelets last night (okay, he made them, but I bought the $1 dozen eggs at Target for him!!), and a really good salad tonight.  I'm going to make a Hash brown casserole tomorrow night and something Saturday which I thought I needed to buy lettuce for... I'm going to have to go through my websearches as I did not save the link in my "weekly meal" folder.  You know, the folder that occasionally is filled...

Hope everyone's week is going well!! :)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Cheaper soap deal!

Here is actually a better deal on the Dial Hand Soap if you're not needing more than one or two.

Totally Target has the coupons linked up where you can get the NutriSkin hand soap for .02 cents at Target!

Kroger deals

I've mentioned before I don't care for Kroger, but they're having a great sale this week so I'll suck it up!  I'll just be sure I have lots of time in order to find what I'm looking for.

They have select items where you buy 8 you'll get $4 off.  These can be mix and matched.  Particularly I'm excited about the Lean Cuisine being $1.69 each when you buy 8.  My poor husband practically lives on frozen dinners!  I have a $1 off 4 coupon from coupons.com (no longer available).  Then I will buy Bumble Bee Tuna pouches for .49 cents each (these are normally .99 cents or higher), Dial hand soap for $1 each, but will use the .35 cents off from last week's sales flyers which will double to .70 cents off so pay .30 cents each.  (They double coupons up to .50 cents everyday.)  It's not going to be a big trip, but it should be a cheap one.

Also, Farm Fresh has some good sales through Tuesday, including jumbo snow crab clusters for 4.98 a pound, seasoned and steamed free (I don't usualy buy these so don't know a "good" price but they're $1 less than Kroger so it already looks like a better deal :))  6-pack bottle Coke products are 1.98 each, green cabbage .48 cents a pound, and Breyer's Ice Cream 2 for $5.  It also looks like they're doubling coupons up to .99 everyday this week.  I might go get a few things, especially the cabbage and Coke.  Cabbage is so yummy sauteed in olive oil!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Free stuff!

Ooh, this reminds me, not only did I get my coupon for a free Heluva Good product for becoming their fan on Facebook, but I also received my free sample of Purex 3-in-1 laundry sheets.  It was an exciting week for me! :)
You can go to http://www.purex.com/ and click on the bottom left to get a free sample, too.  You'll receive two full size laundry sheets, so two free loads of laundry!  The price on these are pretty high, in my opinion, even factoring in that you don't have to buy dryer sheets, but you could always wait for a great sale if you really like them. :)

Cheap Chip & Dip bowl!


So I broke down, I did go to our new mall's grand opening.  I was very much not impressed with it.  But that's a story for another day.

Anyway, I went to Macy's this morning with my mother and my 20% off coupon.  This is a 4 day only coupon (good through tomorrow) that doesn't have to be used with your Macy's card.  Thank goodness because I have lots of giftcards and store credits that I can't use coupons with!

Anywho, my mom was looking for dishes so I wandered over to the clearance table.  There was a nice chip and dip bowl, the box said $24.99.  I picked up the actual piece on display and it said $5.99!  The sales lady scanned it for me and it was indeed 5.99, then it took another 20% off.  I couldn't copy the picture, but the link is here.  It's marked as 24.99 online, but if you're going to be near Macy's it's worth a shot.  I've never bought one because I couldn't stomach the price for something I'd only use occasionally.

Then we went over to Target (of course!!) for my mom to get a price adjustment on a swimsuit (go, Mom!!!).  There they were confused that 2 weeks = 14 days so would not adjust the price.  So I told my mom to write to corporate, with her scanned receipt.  The problem was the register was saying her receipt was too old, but I think it's just because February didn't have 30/31 days and was counting extra days.  As were the manager and cashier.  Sigh.  Normally we probably would have let it go, but this was a $6 adjustment!  That's $6 to use to buy more things there!! :)

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Coupon organization

I just thought I'd share the way I organize my coupons, just for kicks. :)

I tried an envelope method, but my envelope was always breaking or my coupons falling out the top.  That didn't work so well.  I've had the plastic purse coupon organizer, but wasn't too big a fan of that either.

So, I am now officially a binder girl, or dork, or whatever you want to say!  Start up cost was about $7.  I got the zippered binder on clearance at Office Max and bought baseball card organizers at Target, I think those ran $5.
I keep my Walgreens insert or other weird large coupons in the front.  That's a Restaurant.com certificate tucked in the front.  I have my coupons grouped by category, some people alphabetize, and while I do that with my cds, I find it easier to group my coupons by category.


For instance, this is my dog food/treat page.  It's not necessarilly pretty, but I can see what items the coupon is for.  I can easily see expiration dates as well, either on the front or back of the clear pages, so can pull them out quickly.

In the back I have a page of restaurant coupons, a page of Target store coupons with at least 1 manufacturer coupon for the same product attached.  That reminds me I have two coupons I can use on the item for maximum savings.

The initial start up took me about an hour to organize, but now I can easily pop the coupons in the section, being able to add or take out an empty page as needed.  I usually cut my coupons Sunday mornings after church, before lunch, when I read the paper.  Then, I will buy any extra newspapers at my Dollar Tree and cut and organize again Sunday evening while my husband is watching tv.  That way there is something else going on and I'm still having interaction with my husband.  In fact, this week he asked if "we" had any good coupons in the paper.

Always shopping!

Lately I feel like I'm constantly at Target, I feel like I spend more time there than at my own work or home!  I thought I was done, then my husband asked when we were going grocery shopping again.  Gees, quit eating already!!  Okay, I'm kidding, don't worry, I don't starve him.


I bought 4 Lean Cuisines (coupon was $1 off 4), 5 Smart Ones ($1 off 5), 2 Johnson's Buddies soap bars ($1 off each), 2 Lunchables, store brand drink mix, store brand tea (on clearance), 1 Sobe Lifewater (.50 cents off), Golden Grahams (not pictured), and Lactaid milk.
Total was $34.22, saved $7.86 with coupons and sales.


At Walgreens there is a coupon in their sales flyer (available in the front of the store) for 3/$3.99 Reach and Listerine items.  I used that with a B1G1 free floss coupon and B1G1 free toothbrush coupons.  The taco shells and seasoning were $1 each, then the drinks on top of that brought my grand total to $4.59.  Again they wouldn't let me use my $5.99 RR from the other week so I'm going to have to contact corporate about that, and I forgot I had another $2 RR, so I'll try to roll that next week!

Here we go!

For green living, there is a free Mambo Sprouts newsletter available, this includes recipes and coupons.

I don't have children, but the website looks soooo cute!  If you sign up for a new account at bTrendie, you will automatically get a $10 credit.

Victoria's Secret is running a new Instant Win Game in which you can win a free Body by Victoria bra or up to a $500 VS giftcard!

Thanks, STL Mommy!

Will catch up soon, promise!!

I'll be posting a lot this evening.  I've been waiting until I have my camera back (I left it at my mom's house and keep forgetting to go get it!), but have a bunch of great deals and other things to post.

Have a great day!  :)

Monday, March 8, 2010

Chick-fil-A Insiders!

Okay, can you tell I'm hungry this morning?!?  Haha.  Chick-fil-A is now offering an insiders club, I guess you'd call it.  Here is the website link and it also gives instructions as to how to register for text alerts instead if you prefer.

Free Dunkin Donuts coffee on Mondays

(photo from Dunkin Donuts website)

The remaining Mondays in March, Dunkin Donuts will be offering free medium-sized hot or iced coffee.  No coupon necessary.

Thanks, Totally Target!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Mall Grand Opening!!

Our newest mall (well, torn down and rebuilt on the same spot mall) Peninsula Town Center is having their grand opening next Thursday.  Am I going to be there next weekend?  Hopefully not.  I did, however, enter to win a $1000 gift certificate, and if you're nearby, try your luck, too!  Imagine all the things you or I could buy with that... Uh-oh.

The website also has a list of all the stores that will be opening there.  The Limited is what I'm most concerned about.  Our closest one right now is 45 minutes away.  5 minutes away does not bode well for my wallet.  I'm definitely going to be working on my self-control!! :)

In other news, my husband and I ran to Target this morning.  I had to get a birthday card (Happy Birthday, Dad!!) and he felt like he needed more tuna pouches.  We also bought some tomatoes in addition to that.  Are Target tomatoes the best price?  Nope.  Am I making a special trip to the grocery store this afternoon for them?  Nope.  We're having tuna stuffed tomatoes for dinner.  It's quick, easy, and nutritious.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

The importance of reading your monthly bills...

So I decided today that I felt like dealing with Verizon.  I wanted to lower my monthly payment, hopefully by taking away some services we did not need (long distance on home phone since we use cells, caller id on home phone, etc--we have to keep our landline for our security system).  Well, I lowered our monthly bill alright.  Apparently, we've been paying for BOTH Fios TV and DirecTV.  Since (and I'm embarrassed to admit this...) last June.  Geeeees!  I thought our bill was high, but figured it was because of taxes and what not.  No, I've been paying for a service we have not been using to the tune of $74 a month.  Besides that, the rep said there was no way to lower our bill any as we have the cheapest bundle.  Still, $74 a month less was more than I was hoping for, and I learned a valuable lesson!!

Free coffee

 (photo from Common Sense with Money)

There are two places you can sign up for a sample of Taster's Choice, they will allow 2 samples per household.  First, on Facebook and second, on the Taster's Choice website.

I am not a coffee drinker, but ordered this sample when it was available before Christmas.  My dad is a coffee drinker, so I put this in his stocking.  There were 5 or 6 packets in the sample, all different flavors.

P.S.  For Facebook freebies, I have a separate account that I use only for this purpose.  It helps cut down on having so many updates to go through.  Companies are definitely using FB to get the word out, and they are offering tons of freebies to do this!  Make sure to search for your favorite product on there and see what is available!

Thanks, Common Sense with Money!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Walmart samples

Ah, Walmart samples without having to go to the store.  How much better can it get?

Right now, one of the samples is of Purina's new Beneful IncrediBites.  I'm not sure how it's a new product besides that there is more packaging, but I will try it.  Well, my dogs will, anyway.  IncrediBites sample will take you right to the site to request, and Walmart samples usually include great coupons for the product.

Thanks, My Pet Savings!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Target run

I ran to Walgreens and Target quickly today.

Target has their Activia 4 pack yogurts on sale for 1.79 this week, down from 2.19, then this past Sunday there was a $1 off coupon.  As you can tell from my posts, we're big yogurt eaters, so you can't beat less than 20 cents a cup.  Nothing wonderful or exciting to show, just some yogurt, milk, and dental floss.


At Walgreens, I bought Albacore tuna, with Walgreens coupon they were 99 cents each, 2 paper towel rolls for 59 cents each, the Colgate toothpaste was on sale for 2.99 with $2 RR, and I used a 75 cent off coupon so paid approx 25 cents for toothpaste (and found some packs in the back with a free travel size tube).  Their store brand batteries were on sale B1G1 free, 5.99 each, but the Energizer charger with 2 batteries was marked down from 9.99 to 7.99 so I got that instead.

It looks like Farm Fresh is doubling coupons up to 99 cents all week.  Kroger doubles up to 50 cents all the time.  Most of my grocery shopping is done and stockpiled so I won't be hitting any of those, but just putting that out there if you're interested.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Cookies!

Mmmm, not one that I'm going to do (my hips don't need it!), but if you become a fan of Nabisco on Facebook, every Monday this month they will be giving out coupons for a free package of Chips Ahoy! cookies when you buy any other pack of Nabisco cookies and a gallon of milk.  The only downside is it looks like you'll only have 3 days to redeem the coupon after printing.