Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Fabulous SC Johnson rebate!




Click here to get the full details, but SC Johnson & co. has a rebate going where if you purchase 3 of the included products, you get a $5.00 rebate. I will be keeping my eye out for the cheapest item matchups for this deal so that it can be a great moneymaker. There is no start date listed so I am guessing the promo is already going. The end date is 7/15/2010 (so there's no rush) ;) and each family can get up to 3 rebates!

Safeway grocery day

Well Safeway's ad this morning isn't doing a whole lot to excite me. It's a good thing I still have plenty of groceries from my shopping trip last week to tide me over. Here are a few deals I see:

Colgate toothpaste 10 for $10 (or 1.00 each)
*use $1.00/1 from 9/27 SS if advanced whitening or advanced clean are included.
Final price= free

Honey Bunches of Oats $2.50
Use $2/1 here
Final Price: $.50

Silk soymilk- 2.99
*use $.75/1 Silk Soymilk, Any 1/2 Gallon - 09-13-09 SS
Final price= 2.24 (a great deal for 1/2 gallon of soymilk!)

Safeway canned vegetables -.79 each

Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Gels $2.99
*use $1/1 from 8/23 SS or $2/1 here
Final Price: as low as .99

Kraft Singles $1.49- limit 2
*use $1/1 e-coupon here
Final Price: .49


Smithfield bacon 2 for $6
*use $3.00/1 IP coupon here if you haven't printed one already
final price= free!

Wheat thins 2/$5
*use(2) $1.00/1 here
final price: $1.50 each . . .not the same as free like they were at Rite Aid and CVS last week, but still a pretty good deal.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Costo's free Triple Flex supplement sample



I know, I know, who wants a triple flex vitamin supplement sample? I DO!!! I have actually had my eye on these supplements for weeks now, ever since the crackle in my knees has turned up it's volume. Does this stuff work? I dunno, but I'm willing to find out for free! If you want a sample too, just click here!
(Thanks common sense with money!)

My freebie mail update

Over the past week or so I've been getting so many freebies in the mail that I've signed up for, it feels like Christmas every time the mail comes :) Saturday my eos sweet mint lip balm that I told you about here came. It's a full size product! The lip balm portion is very good size, and I love the flavor . . .has anybody else gotten theirs? Leave a comment and let me know what you think of yours.

I've also gotten my free Wal Mart greeting cards, Total Cereal, Honey Nut cheerios, and Mars' free chocolate coupon, which they ended sign ups for last friday :(

If you want to get in on the freebie action, just check daily on my blog for links to sign up for freebies, or subscribe to my thread and you'll get an email whenever I update my blog (an easier method).

Stay tuned for today's freebie!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Rite aid, finally!

Seems like my local couponing buddies swiped most of the diapers at Rite Aid, but I was able to gather up 3 in the sizes I needed. Here's what my scenario ended up looking like:

Store 1: Paid 5.11 w/ tax. Will get back 6.99 in rebates
Proantinox-6.99
-3.00 q
-6.99 SCR(single check rebate)
final price: 3.00 mm (moneymaker!)

Seattle's Best dark chocolate-.67 (marked down from 2.69)
Clean & Clear makeup removing facial wash -4.50
-3.00 mq
-2.00 RA adperks q
final price: .50 mm!

Store 2 (because store 1 was out of my diapers!) paid 14.70 (11.98 +2.72 tax). Will get back $10 Huggies rebate, and I am just $2.50 away (pre coupon amount) from getting a $5 rebate for Rite Aid's fall gift of savings rebates. 4.70 for 3 packs of diapers isn't bad (that's .05 per diaper !), and if I get another good deal in the next couple of weeks and qualify for the fall gift of savings rebates (don't forget, this is separate from the single check rebate I'll be getting for the diapers and proantinox), the diapers will end up being free!
Huggies Pure and Natural- 11.00
Huggies Supreme Natural fit- 11.00
Huggies Supreme Natural fit -11.00
Wheat thins 4 oz-.99
Wheat thins 4 oz-.99
- 5/25 RA q
-5/25 RA Health purchase
-3.00 Huggies mq
-2.00 Huggies mq
- 2.00 Huggies mq
-3.00 RA perks Huggies q
-3.00 RA perks Huggies q
-1.00 wheat thins q (printed last week)
- 1.00 wheat thins q (printed last week)

Links to coupons:
3.00 pure and natural here. Print 2 or 3
2.00 any Huggies here (see coupon printing tutorial below if this doesn't print for you)
$5/$25 Rite Aid here
Rite Aid Huggies q here (get Proantinox and clean and clear q's here too)
*the $5/$25 and the $2 Rite Aid huggies q are coupons you print from Ad Perks. Ad Perks is a program Rite Aid does where you watch short commercials on their site and then you get a store coupon afterwards. You can pick which commercials you want to watch. For instance, if you want a Huggies coupon, you click on Huggies, etc. Pretty self explanatory.

Stay tuned: Rite Aid Diaper Deal results coming soon!



Off to do my grocery shopping and my Rite Aid "vacation diaper deal". I'll let you know how it goes.

Printing Bricks Coupons from Firefox


The internet browser that I use is Firefox. Often times when I go to print a "bricks" coupon it takes me to a page that says "Please Wait". . .I wait, and wait, and wait, and no coupon!! Bricks coupons are internet printable coupons that are often high value and therefore very popular. They circulate the coupon world quickly and are very helpful to us who love to ave money. Anyhoo, after having this problem frustrate me to no end, I googled it and found that different browsers have different "languages variants" in the url space. By simply changing the "wi" or "vi" to a "wg" it magically prints the coupon! SOOOO, if you use Firefox, remember to "wg" the link. If you use Internet Explorer make sure there's a "wi" or "vi". Same with AOL.

Hope that coupon printing tutorial helps!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Olay ProX 28 day sample


Just got an email from Vocalpoint and if you're signed up with them, you can request a free 28 day sample of Olay ProX here.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Lazy Week in the coupon world

Haven't posted here much because I haven't seen many deals flying around. It's a super slow week at CVS . . .free toothpaste and that's about it.

I have been scoping out Rite Aid deals because they have a pretty good diaper deal going on right now and since we're going on vacation in October for a week, I will need to get a small stock of disposables going on.

Also, there are free Wheat Thins at Rite Aid this week. And if you can get your total to 20.00 or more, you can score a $5/$20 coupon from riteaid.com if you watch (or pretend to watch while you're really watching The Office on t.v.) a certain amount of ads on their site. Here's the link to the deals I've been reading about on Deal Seeking Mom

Here are some deals worth mentioning at Target:

Skintimate Shave Gel 7 oz $1.89
  • 1.50/1 coupon from Better Homes and Gardens 10/09 issue
  • OR
  • $1.50/1 in Ladies Home Journal magazine 10/09 (Skintimate);
  • $1.50/1 Skintimate in Woman's Day 10/09 magazine
  • $1.00/1 in 8/2 SS
Final price: .39

Earth’s Best Baby Food (2-oz 2nd Stage), $0.69
$1/10 Earth’s Best Baby Food printable
(again, preparing for our trip in October as I have been just making baby food 'cause it's so darn easy if you have a few minutes!)

Final Price: $0.59 ea. wyb 10 after coupon!

Target Cranium games

7.99-9.99
There is a $5/1 Target printable HERE
Final price: 2.99-4.99
(a great gift idea!)
Thanks Charlene, from My Frugal Adventures for hightlighting this deal!


littlest man just woke up so I'll post about my Rite Aid trip after I go tommorow. Also, I'll be doing a grocery trip in the next couple of days and will post that as well. Target trip will be coming this week, too!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Free Chocolate Friday


Don't forget to go to realchocolate.com to sign up for your FREE Mars candy bar. Yep, totally free either snickers, milky way, twix, 3 musketeers, or M&Ms. Hurry and head over there, as they limit the number of coupons they send out each friday and they usually run out by early afternoon.
I like to use "free item" coupons at CVS to help increase my pre-coupon price to get me to 20.00, 25.00, or some other number so that I can use my $4/20 or $5/25 CVS store coupon that prints out on my cash register tape (CRT). Does that make sense? By doing this I end up paying nearly nothing oop (out of pocket) after all coupons which is always my goal.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Target cleaning deals


Thanks to Charlene over at My Frugal Adventures for posting about this great Target cleaning products deal for Windex, Shout, and Scrubbing Bubbles toilet cleaning gel:

Windex $2.54
Shout $2.50
Scrubbing Bubbles $3.94
Subtotal: $8.98

Use $1 Windex $1/1 HERE
Use $1/1 Shout
Use Scrubbing Bubbles $1/1 coupon from 8/2 SS
Use FREE starter kit coupon (also from 8/2 SS)
Use Target $2.50 coupon (8/30 SS)
Final Price: $2.93 for all 4 items or .73 each!
...
For those who like more natural cleaning products (like me!), you can do this deal:
Buy Shout (regular Shout) $2.50
Nature's Source Windex $2.49
Nature's Source Scrubbing Bubbles $2.94
Subtotal: $7.93
Use $1/1 Shout from 8/2 SS
Use (2) $1/1 any Nature's Source cleaner from 9/13 SS
Use $2.50/1 Target coupon
Final Price: $2.43 or .81 per item!
She also mentioned that there may be store coupon peelies for the Nature's source products on the bottles so keep your eye out for those.
I think I'll be making a trip to Target tomorrow!

Common Sense with Money: A chance to win a $250 grocery gift card

I was browsing some other coupon/frugal living/money saving blogs and came across Common Sense with Money's grocery gift card giveaway. By visiting Mercedes' blog you can enter for your own chance to win this great giveaway!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Attention all Mall shoppers and What Not to Wear lovers!

Enter for your chance to win a shopping spree with the What Not to Wear t.v. show crew HERE. The t.v. show is partnering with a mall corporation GGP, Bank of America, and Express clothing, touring the country and having a 2,500 shopping spree and trip to New York City sweepstakes.

Is it a long shot? Yeah.

Would it be great to win 2,500 and a trip to NYC? Oh yeah.

OR, you could cash in and get $5,000 and forgo the trip to NYC. Oh yeah.

One can dream!

Another part of the same deal is if you spend 75.00 at a participating mall between Sept. 17th and 20th, you can go the the mall office and get a 10.00 gift card. So, if you plan on doing some shopping this weekend, keep that in mind.

CVS deal helpers


All CVS shoppers or want-to-be shoppers:

If the idea of formulating your own CVS deals is overwhelming right now, hop on over to BeCentsAble's grocery gathering and take a look at some deal ideas for this week. If you're not ready to jump on the CVS boat yet, you can at least take a look and become familiar with ways to get the best deal possible. Kerrie from Save at home mommy has put together some free and really cheap deal ideas which is a great help to beginning couponers. Check it out here:

LUVS diaper Promotion



Hey mommies!
LUVS.com has a promotion going that if you register on their website they will send you a 5.00 coupon for a pack of diapers! That's a great high value coupon. Even though I am a cloth diaperin' mom, I always like to have a small stash of disposables around for vacations where a washer and dryer won't be accessible. I rarely have to buy diapers (have only bought 2 packs in 6 months) but when I do, I don't like to pay more than 4.00 for a pack. This 5.00 coupon will really help me achieve that!

CVS trip

Yesterday I did my weekly CVS trip and scored some pretty good deals even though there wasn't too much on my list. Here's what I rounded up:

Ziploc Freezer bags -2.50
Ziploc gallon freezer bags- 2.50 ((stocking up to use for my once a month cooking :))
Edge shaving gel -2.00
(2) Reach toothbrushes- 2.99 each
Listerine Total Care-3.69
Colgate Tot. Adv. toothpaste-2.99
(2) Glade soy candles - 3.29 each
Total pre-coupons: 26.24+tax
Coupons:
$5/$25 purchase(a CVS coupon that printed out from the scanner when I scanned my card upon entering the store)
3.25 glade candle q--coupon I received by emailing the company
3.00 glade candle q--IP coupon from coupons.com a couple of weeks ago
3.00 Listerine/Reach q (8/30 SS)
1.00 Colgate toothpaste q
(2) 1.00 Ziploc q's--had in my stash--either traded for them or got them on ebay super cheap.
.75 Edge q-(8/30 insert I think)
10.00 ECBs
Total: -.01
had to add some peanut M&Ms to make it a positive amt. due (the lady had a fit about not being able to PAY me a penny to take all this stuff. So my total OOP was .50
Received: 4.00 in ECBs.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Once a month cooking


My new interest venture is once a month cooking. Although I've heard about doing bulk meal preparation before, it seemed daunting, very time and effort consuming, and well, just difficult. However, with having 2 little ones now, working 2 evenings a week, and being an avid coupon clipper, meal preparation has become more of a daily task rather than a truly pleasurable daily experience. I wanted something that helped me make this daily task more efficient and less stressful. Upon my research into how I can become more efficient in daily dinner making, I came across Onceamonthmom.com. Here, Tricia lays out everything you need to plan a month's worth of meals: menu plans, shopping lists, cooking day layouts, and even food labels are included on this website. Because I am trying to include minimal red meat for our family's meals, I can easily substitute chicken or some other alternative for the beef recipes. She even gives ideas on how to substitute or alter recipes to make them more friendly for your own family.
Also on her website, she has meals/instructions on doing once a month cooking for your baby. . .she divides her menus into 6-8 month purees, 8-10 month foods, etc. and even plans meals according to what produce is in season! How fabulous for a mom of a 6 month old like me!
I plan on doing this once a month menu starting next week, as this week is busy with final plans for my sister's baby shower. I will keep you aprised as to how it goes! If anyone is interested in doing once a month cooking with me, just email me :) We can cook together!

So, until my life is once again in the spot where meal preparation is a calming, exciting, and art-like experience (yes, it once was for me!) I will be working on getting healthy, nutrutious, yet delicious meals on the table for me and my 3 boys :)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Printable Q's





Missed the papers today? You can still get some coupons from your computer!

Redplum: click here
Smartsource: click here

Target tonight

2 Honey Sunshine cereals (2.88 each)
1 Kashi Southwest frozen entree (2.88)
1 Kashi dark chocolate chip cookie (2.88)
1 Healthy Choice multigrain crackers (2.88)
1 Healthy Choice entree (pumpkin squash ravioli . . .YUM!) (2.19)
1 Softsoap Ensemble starter kit (4.99)
1 Softsoap Ensemble refill (2.99)
1 Softsoap Nutriserum body wash (2.99)
2 Rimmel mascaras (2.29) -
1 Welch's 100% grape juice (splurge for my kiddo)
1 Up&Up infant ibuprofen
minus these q's:
1.50 honey sunshine
1.50 honey sunshine
1.00 Kashi cookie q
1.00 Kashi cracker q
1.00 frozen entree
2.00 healthy choice entree
3.50 Target/Softsoap q
3.00 manu. Softsoap q
2.00 Softsoap q
(2) 2.00 Rimmel q's
.75 Welch's q
total saved: 19.75 in coupons PLUS got a 5.00 gift card
Total spent: 13 dollars and change, or you can look at it as spending 8 dollars and some cents after the gift card. Not too bad!

Major coupons this week



Don't forget to get your newspaper(s) today! There are 5, count 'em 5(!) coupon inserts in the major metropolitan papers this week, which makes the money you spend on the paper well worth it. If you didn't get your paper in time, click here and you can buy the coupon inserts!

Target has a great Kashi deal this week. If you have signed up for Vocalpoint and happen to have gotten the Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal coupons, your deal will look like this:

Promotion: Buy 5 get $5 gift card back

Kashi Items: Buy 5, Get $5 Gift Card Back- Includes the following at $2.88 each:
.
Heart to Heart Cereal, Go Lean Crunch cereal, Honey Sunshine Cereal
Frozen Entrees
TLC Bars- granola and cereal
TLC Cookies (cookies were priced at $2.54 at my store)
.
Use $1.50/2 any cereal HERE
Use $1.50/1 Kashi Honey Sunshine HERE
Use $1/2 HERE any TLC Bars
Use $1.50 off Crackers, Snack Bars or Chewy Cookies when you buy cereal HERE
Use $1.50/2 Kashi Crackers, Bars or Cookies when you buy Go Lean HERE
Use $1.50/1 Kashi cereal or snack HERE
Use $1.50/1 any HERE (new members only)
Use $1.50/2 cereal HERE
If you are a Vocalpoint member and have those Kashi Honey Sunshine coupons from a little while back, now is the time to use them. There was even a coupon for a FREE box, which will make your deal even sweeter!
There also may be peelies on the front of Go Lean cereal boxes for $1 off crackers, cereal or cookies which you could use instead of getting all cereal. Since I have cereal coming out of every crevice in my kitchen, I think I'll use some of those alternative product coupons.

While you're there, pick up some Softsoap Nutriserum body wash:
Softsoap Nutri Serum Body Wash $2.99
Use $1/1 HERE
Use $1/1 Target coupon from 9/13 SS (Smartsource insert)
Final Price: $.99


Also, there is a 3.50 Target q when you purchase an Ensembles handsoap AND a refill (9/13 SS). Pair it with a 3.00 man q. from 8/30 SS and you can score a free handsoap AND a refill, or possibly turn it into a moneymaker, depending on the prices in your Target store.

For more Target deals, click here (Thanks Charlene!)

I will be going to Target this afternoon (after my lemon cheesecake with gingersnap crust comes out of the oven) and will post how my deals went as well as pictures on how I did :)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Target Aquafresh Iso Active toothpaste


If you are a Northern Californian like me, our CVS' didn't include the awesome Aquafresh or Sensodyne Iso Active toothpaste deal like the rest of the country's CVS' did. Well, we can cash in our coupons and get Aquafresh's IsoActive Toothpaste for 1.49 using the 1.00 IP coupon here and the Target printable 1.00/Aquafresh coupon here. This week it's on sale for 3.49, so using the store and man. q's for 1.00 each makes the toothpaste just 1.49 which isn't free, but it's still a pretty good deal, especially if you're picky about toothpaste!

Deal of the Day: Cheap Rimmel Mascara



If you've been collecting your Sunday coupon inserts over the past few months, go get your 8/23 Red Plum insert and cut out the coupon for $2/1 Rimmel beauty product. At Target the mascara is about 2.29-2.79 for their mascara. Using the $2/1 coupon, you can get some mascara for .29-.59!! And, while you're at Target, you might want to do the Fiber One deal of the week: Buy 5 Fiber One products (certain ones are part of the deal) and get a 5.00 gift card. There are several places you can get Fiber One coupons from. I have a few from a home mailer coupon book I got. Go to Hotcouponworld.com's database and type in Fiber One to find out different sources of their coupons and make your deal even sweeter!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Free Bare Naked granola



Get a free sample of Bare Naked cereal or granola here. I love their granola because it's all natural with no preservatives or artificial flavors. My little one loves to munch on it as a snack, too!

Free Secret Deodorant from Vocalpoint


Vocalpoint is giving away free Secret Clinical Strength deodorant to their members. If it's a full size product, it's a great score as this is usually 5.00+ at the store. If it's a trial size, I like to put them in my travel dopp kit. If you are a member, click here to request your free sample. All you have to agree to do is review the product! You've heard me talk about Vocalpoint many times. If you haven't signed up for it yet, now's a great time :)
Thanks Charlene!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

My favorite blogs

I LOVE Saving!
I love blogging on here about my savings and now that I've started keeping a total of my monthly expenses I plan on posting how much I've saved at the end of each month. I wish I could say that I find all these great deals on my own, but I don't. I browse my favorite blogs to find great deals, sales, freebies, and bargains. That's the beauty of the couponing world, you find some deals, you share some deals, and EVERYONE saves money! A lot of these women blog from home as their full-time job and can invest a lot more time in posting about their savings than I can. So if you want to find out more about couponing, living frugally, shopping smart, or just want to see what the fuss is all about with couponing, you can check out my favorite blogs on the right hand side and clicking on the button.
Happy Saving!!!!

Kmart Doubles Week


Just a reminder that this is Kmart's last week of the year that they are doubling coupons. All coupons up to 2.00 in value can be doubled unless otherwise noted. Check out Charlene's Kmart lowdown here to get the full scoop. It's a great time to stock up on free deodorant, dish soap, snacks, and other home supplies!