Feeding the Hungry

If you don't follow my other blog, at least go check out this post.

By using the P&G coupons which will come out in Sunday's paper 11/2/08, you can help feed the hungry during the holidays.

Pink Coupon Bar

Did you know you can print AWESOME coupons right from that pink coupon bar in my right-hand column over there??

Here's a list of some of the coupons you can print this week:

Personal Care
-$2.00 Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Moisturizer
-$2.00 Dove Clinical Protection Anti-Perspirant/Deodorant
-$1.00 Pert Plus
-$1.00 Lever 2000 Body Wash
-$1.00 Eucerin Body Lotion
-$1.00 Neutrogena Hand Cream
-$4.00 Alaway Eye drops
-$2.00 Bayer Heart Advantage

Household
-$1.00 off 2 Bic stationary products
-$2.00 off 2 Oust Air Sanitizers
-$.50 off any 1 Ruffies trash bags
-$.50 off 2 Viva single roll paper towels or 1 multi-roll pack
-$1.00 off Balmex diaper rash product
-$1.50 off Huggies Little Swimmers

Food
-$1.50 off Tava 4pk
-$2.00 off 2 Gourmet Dining skillet meals
-$1.00 off Orville Redenbacher's popcorn cakes
-$1.00 off Perdue Short Cuts Chicken Breast strips
-$1.00 off Hershey's Bliss chocolate (8.6 oz bags or larger)
-$.55 off Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
-$.75 off Assorted Cheerios cereals
-$.75 off Cocoa Puffs cereal
-$.75 off Assorted Total cereals
-$.60 off 1 box Fiber One bars
-$1.00 off 2 Go-gurts
-$1.00 off 4pk YoPlus yogurt
-$.75 off Fiber One cereals
-$1.10 off any 3 Hamburger Helper Microwave single cups or One Hamburger Helper Microwave Pack
-$.60 Cheerios Snack Mix
-$.75 Curves chewy granola bars

CVS Deals 8/10-8/16

Here's a list of the deals with printable coupons for the week. To see all of this week's specials, make sure you pick up a flyer from the front of any CVS store. (this is courtesy of SlickDeals and A Full Cup)

ExtraCareBuck (ECB) Deals
Purchase any two oxy products includes oxy acne treatment 0.65 oz, wash 6 oz or cleansing pads 90 ct - get $2.00 ecb - Limit 5
Oxy product B2G1 free, pdf - post #101
- $1.50 Oxy Product, any printable pdf

Purchase $10 of select Candy - get $5.00 ecb
-$1 off 2 Wonka Mix Ups, Printable

Purchase $15 in Energizer batteries - get $5.00 ecb
$5 rebate for Energizer lithium 4 pack or larger . Exp. 8/31/08
Link : http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/co...coupon.pdf
- $1 Energizer Product, any printable

Purchase $25 of baby products - get $5.00 ecb
Huggies or Playskool wipes 2/$5
$1.00 off playskool wipes printable
Johnsons bath products
bath items asst coupons printable
Johnsons gift set $7.99
$3.00 off gift set printable

Purchase Alavert at $5.99 - get $3.00 ecb - Limit 1
$4 off Alavert

$10 ecb wyb $30 ROC Skin care (Price starting at $7.99) Limit 5
$5.00 off sign up here

Buy One Get One Deals
Colgate Toothpaste includes Total Whitening, Baking soda & peroxide, sparkling white, kids toothpaste and sponge bob plus or wave toothbrush
Colgate, Total, $1.50 off, Printable

Additional Sales
General Mills cereals—2/$5
- $1 Lucky Charms printable
- $1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch printable

Bic Dry Erase markers 4ct $3.99 look for BOGO pack
-$1/2 Bic Stationery products www.coupons.com

Bic Soliel razor or refill $4.99
-$2.00 printable Q printable

Nature Valley granola bars are 2/$5
$.60 off Q. Coupons

Don't Forget Your Coupons This Sunday!!

This Sunday is the first Sunday in August which means that there will be THREE coupon inserts in the paper this week:

• Proctor & Gamble
• SmartSource
• Valassis

You are going to want to grab two or more inserts if you can. You can get a preview of what coupons are in each insert by going to Taylortown Preview.

Hot Deals/Coupons/Rebates/Freebies

CVS Money Maker
thanks to The "Cent"sible Sawyer for this deal

The July ECB deal for CVS Cleansing Towelettes earns $1 ECB.
The price for the "Cleansing and Make-Up Remover" in the blue package is $2.99,
It is being reported that these are free after ECBs, earning $2.99 ECBs back.
The "Exfoliating" ones are priced at $3.29 and are also reportedly earning $2.99 back.
Use the $2 off CVS Brand skin care printable with either of these and both are Money Makers!

Coupons
Have you tried BUNdinos yet? Here's a .50 coupon and a rebate form to try them free.
Click here to get $2.00 off Kashi Vive cereal.
Sign up here for Home Made Simple's Coupon Booklet - it's full of great coupons!!
CVS has some printable Beauty Book coupons available here again.

Freebies
Free sample of Pond's Clean Sweep Towelettes here.
Free sample of Huggies Diapers and wipes here.
Sign up here for the Clean Home Journal Gift Pack - it's free! (Includes a 50ct pack of Ziplock bags and $5 in coupons)

Thanks to Money Saving Mom for these freebies....
Get a free 1.75 oz sample of Explorer's Bounty coffee from Kiwi magazine
Join the Clif Marathon group and get a free mini Clif bar (Thanks, Wendy!)
Free sample pack of Pattison's Naturals trail mix
Free Easy Entertaining Recipes and Tips booklet from Lindsay Olives

**Target Deal - thanks to Thrifty Florida Mom
June 29- July 5th Sunkist, AW Root Beer, Canada Dry, and 7Up 12 packs will be on sale 3 for $7. You can use 3 of the $1 off coupons found here to make them $1.33 each pack. And you will get a free 1.5 quart Edy's Ice Cream for free when you buy 3 of the 12 packs. (no coupon needed; part of ad).

Printable Coupons

Kellogg's Rice Krispies with Strawberries - $1.00 off coupon

Get a $4.00 off $20.00 coupon for CVS by going here and adding your email address or UPDATING your information in their system! They will email you the coupon and you can print it out!

Save $4.00 on Alavert Allergy Medicine (get ExtraCare Bucks this week at CVS!)

Coupons

Here are some printable coupons for you to use...

Honey Nut Cheerios - $1.00 off (combine this with the deal at CVS this week)

Bandaids -.75 off (Walgreens has these on sale for .99 this week!)

Juicy Juice Harvest Surprise -$1.00 off (Walmart has this for around $1.50)

Kraft LiveActive cereal -$3.00 off (Walmart has this for around 3.00/box)

Kashi cereal -$2.00 off (Walmart has this for around 2.00/box)

Gold Bond Lotion - $1.00 off (Walmart travel size is .97 so would be free)

Kotex - $1.00 off (Walmart 18 ct is $1.00 so would be free)

Nivea Body Wash -$2.00 off (CVS deal this week Buy $10 worth get $5.00 ecbs back)

Excedrin Migraine -$2.00 off (CVS deal this week Buy 250 ct Excedrin for $9.99 get $3.00 ecbs)

Bath & Body Works - $10 off $30 purchase

Here's a printable coupon where you can get $10 off $30 purchase. Expires May 12th, 2008. Just in time for Mother's Day - stock up on some goodies!

HOT DEAL **Automatic Shower Cleaner**

Go here for a $7.00 off coupon for the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner Starter kit. Wal-mart has these on sale for $12.00 this week so you can pick one up for $5.00!

**NEW CVS COUPON!!**

Yeah - this is great!! A new $3.00 off $15.00 purchase coupon is available and it doesn't expire until 6/6/08. Whoohooo!!

Thanks to Money Saving Mom for her terrific directions on how to get this coupon! Go here to get those directions.

Alavert - **Hidden Deal**

I have not tried this myself yet - but I've heard from many people who have tried this deal and it seems to be working!

Alavert or Alavert D is on sale a CVS for $6.99 this week. Go here for your $4.00 off coupon - you can print 5 of these. You will receive $4 EB back on each Alavert! There is a limit of 5 of these.

**Deal Worker**
Purchase 3 Alavert (6.99 x 3) $20.97
Use $4/$20 coupon
Use (3) $4 off coupons

Pay $4.97
Receive $12.00 back in Extra Bucks

Purchase 2 more Alaverts in another deal totaling up to $20 to take advantage of your $4/$20 coupon and use your remaining $4 off Alavert coupons as well.

CVS Deals for 4/20-4/26

I am going to list the "deals for the week" here in this post and I will list in the next post some ways you can "work your deals".

Things to know:
ECB = extra care bucks

WYB = when you buy

coupons to use are in red

There is a limit of 5 on all these unless otherwise stated

ECB Deals
Mennen Speed Stick 24/7 For Men (2.7-3oz) $3.99 FREE after $3.99 ECB -- LIMIT 1
-$1 any 24/7 Speed Stick 03/30 SS exp 04-26-08

Soft Soap Spa Bodywash 12oz $4.99 FREE after $4.99 ECB (this is a monthly deal)

$1 ECB WYB CVS Agua Pur Water -- LIMIT 2
*Gold Emblem Purified Drinking Water 24pk, 16.9oz bottles (3.99)

$5 ECB WYB AcneFree
*Redness Relief Treatment (Starting @ 19.99)
*Complete Scar or Pockmark Filler Treatment (Starting @ 19.99)
*AcneFree Severe or Clear Skin System (Starting @ 19.99)
-$2 AcneFree 3-step clear Skin System .exp 05/3/08 RP 04/20/08
-$5 AcneFree 4-step Severe Acne System .exp 05/3/08 RP 04/20/08
*WrinkleFree System (29.99) or 24 Hour Facelift (39.99)

Spend $15 get $5 ECB on the following items:
(All are a monthly deal EXCEPT Curel)
*Biore Full Line
*John Frieda Collection Shampoo, Conditoner 2-10oz or styler 0.8-12oz $4.99
*Jergens Moisturizer 16.8-21 oz, Natural Glow Body 4-7.5oz or face 2.5oz
-$1 any Jergens natural glow Moisturizer 2.5+ oz or any Jergens Moisturizer 7.5 + oz. SS 4/20 exp. 6/30/09
-$1 any Jergens natural glow Moisturizer 2.5+ oz or any Jergens Moisturizer 7.5 + oz. exp. 5/19/08 printable
-$1 any Jergens natural glow Moisturizer 2.5+ oz or any Jergens Moisturizer 7.5 + oz. exp. 5/19/08 printable
*John Frieda Collection Luminous Color Glaze 6.5 oz or Frizz-Ease Serum 1.69oz $7.99
-$1 any John Frieda Collection product (frizz-ease, sheer blonde, brillant brunette, radiant red, luminous color glaze or lustrous touch) exp trial sizes SS 4/20 exp 6/30/08
*Curel Moisture Lotion 13oz $6.99($1.00 Curel Life Stages Moisturizer found in beauty section of CVS exp. 6-30-09)
$1.50 any Curel Life Stages moisturizer 8.5+ oz SS 4/20 exp 6/30/08
$1.00 any Curel moisturizer 3.5+ oz SS 4/20 exp 6/30/08

$2 ECB WYB Clairol Nice & Easy
-$2 Nice'n Easy .exp 4/30/08 RP 03/09/08
-$2 Any Clairol Nice n Easy Hair Color Product exp 5-31-08 VS 4/20

$3 ECB WYB Claritin 12 hour 20ct or 24 Hour 15-20ct. ($15.99) LIMIT 1
$2 Claritin Non-Drowsy Allergy Product, any 10 ct.+ 3-16-08 SS (4-16-08)
$4 Claritin Non-Drowsy Allergy product, any 15 ct.+ 3-16-08 SS (4-16-08)
$3 any Non-Drowsy Claritin Allergy Product (10 ct+) SS 4/13 exp 5/13/08
$5 any Non-Drowsy Claritin Allergy Product (20 ct+) SS 4/13 exp 5/13/08
-$3.00 Claritin Product printable
-$4.00 off Claritin printable


$5 ECB WYB (2) CVS Skin Care Products
*Regenerating Skin Care Cream, lotion, serum 0.5-2.5oz,
*Wet cloths 30 ct,
*Thermal polisher 6oz. Starting @ $6.49
*Highly Defining Skin Care 1.7-5oz Starting @ $8.49

$10 ECB WYB 2 Dexatrim LIMIT 1
* Max Daytime 60ct, Max 20 20ct. or evening 60ct (Starting @ 14.99)
-$3.00 off Dexatrim printable
-$2 off any Dexatrim Max or Dexatrim Max20 Product printable
-$3 off any Dexatrim Max or Dexatrim Max20 Product printable

$10.00 ECB WYB Dual Action Cleanse w/ Green Tea Fat Burner Bonus -
Limit 2
*Purifier 60 ct & colon clear 90ct

$10 ECB WYB Freestyle Lite Meter Strips - Limit 1

$10 ECB WYB Freestyle Lite Blood Glucose Monitoring System (10.00) LIMIT 1
Printable here bricks coupon. http://www.abbottdiabetescare.com...litelaunch

Fine print on coupon says with purchase of 50 test strips.

Spend $15 get $5 ECB on the following items:
*Garnier Fructis Shampoo/Conditioner Sale Price 3/$9.99
-$1.00 Garnier Fructis Conditioner, any except trial exp. (05-01-08) VAL #1 01/06/08
-$1.00 Garnier Fructis Shampoo, any except trial exp. (05-01-08) VAL #1 01/06/08
-$1 Garnier Fructis Shampoo .exp 7/01/08 RP 03/09/08
*Garnier 100%
-$3 Garnier 100% color .exp 6/30/08 SS 03/09/08
*Nutrisse, Nutritioniste
-$1.00 Garnier Nutritioniste Cleanser or Moisturizer, any exp. (04-30-08) VAL 01/27/08
-$3.00/2 Garnier Nutritioniste Cleanser or Moisturizer, any exp.(04-30-08) VAL 01/27/08
-$1 Garnier Nutritioniste cleanser or moisturizer .exp 4/31/08 RP 03/02/08
$2.00 off Garnier nutritioniste printable
-$1.00 off Garnier nutritioniste printable
-$1.00 off Garnier Nutritioniste Cleanser or Moisturizer exp 7-31-08 VS 4/20
$1 any Garnier Nutritioniste Cleanser or moisturizer RP 4/20 exp. 7/31/08

$6.00 ECB WYB 2 Maybelline Moist Extreme Lip (2 for $9.99)
-$2 Maybelline Volume Seduction XL lip plumper or any lip .exp 05/10/08 RP 02/10/08

$3 ECB WYB Miralax 30 dose (19.99) LIMIT 1
-$2.00 MiraLAX Product, any exp. (04-30-08) SS #1 02/10/08
-$2.00 off Miralax printable

Spend $15 on Neutrogena Suncare get $5 ECB
*Neutrogena Suncare or Sunless Tanning (Sale Save $1.00)

Spend $25 Get $5 ECB on the following items - Limit 1:
*Olay Daily Facial
-$1 Olay Facial Cleansers .exp 04/30/08 SS 03/16/08
*Total Effects full Line

$1 ECB WYB Oral B or Act Powerbrush
*CrossAction or Stages 5.99

$2 ECB WYB Pantene, Herbal Essence, Head & Shoulders, Infusium -- Limit 1
*Pantene 25.4-25.8oz,
*Infusium 16 oz, Herbal Essences or Head & Shoulders 23.7oz (2/$12)
-$3.00/2 off any (except trial size) Herbal Essences Product exp. 4-30-08 VS 3/30

$2 ECB WYB 2 Pond's (Cold Cream, Dry Skin 9.5-10.1oz, Towelettes) 30ct $5.49 LIMIT 1

$2 ECB WYB Prilosec 42ct with Free Movie Offer - Limit 1
*See Coupon in pack for BOGO Free Movie Ticket (Specially marked packages)

$5 ECB WYB Regenetresse Hair

Spend $30 on the ROC Full Line, get $10 ECB
*Prices Starting at $7.99
-Register For Coupons: http://www.rocskincare.com/rocchallenge/register.jsp (Will be emailed)

$2 ECB WYB Secret Clinical, Old Spice Clinical, or Gillette Clinical Deodarant - Limit 3
*$9.99
-$1.00/2 Gillette Clear Gel, Invisible Solid, Deodorant or Clinical Strength, 1.7 oz.+ exp. (04-30-08) PG 02/10/08
-$2.00/1 Any One Secret Clinical Strength (excl. trial size) exp. (04-30-08) PG 03/02/08
-$2.00/1 Any one Old Spice ProStrength (excl. trial size) exp. (04-30-08) PG 3/02/08

5.00 ECB on any Skin Effects (Starting @ $6.99) LIMIT 3
-$2.00 on any skin effects CVS coupon 12/31/08

$2 ECB on Gillette Venus Embrace Razor - Limit 1
*$9.99
$1 ECB WYB Viva paper towels 8pk (6.49) Limit 4
-$0.55 Viva Towels--when you sign up PRINTABLE

$5 ECB WYB Wrinkle Eliminator
*WrinkleFree System (29.99)
*24 Hour Facelift (39.99)

$2 ECB WYB 3 Zone Bars
*Zone Perfect Nutrition bars 1.58-1.76z (Starting @ 1.49)
$1.50/3 printable when you sign up
BOGO free Zone Bar printable

$10.00 ECB when you buy $20.00 of Any Boost or PowerBar -- Limit 1
*Boost 6 Pack regular, high protein, plus, smoothies, or glucose control $6.99
-$3.00 off ANY multipack of BOOST Glucose Control print up to 10
1.00 off ANY Boost multipack (In Store, check endcaps, its printing out of a tiny smart source machine)
*PowerBar nut naturals or Triple Threat Bar $1.00


Other Deals
Lysol Cleaners (All Purpose 32oz, toliet bowl 24oz, sanitizing wipes 35ct or Neutra Air Spray 10 oz) $2.49
-$1.00/2 Lysol Disinfecting Wipes exp 4/26/08 printable
-$1.00/2 Lysol Disinfecting Wipes exp 5/12/08
-$0.50 on any Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner exp 5/12/08 SS#2 3/16
$1.00 on any Lysol All Purpose Cleaner Trigger, Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner or Lysol Plus Bleach exp SS 4/20 exp 6/1/08
-$0.50 on any Lysol All Purpose Cleaner Trigger, Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner or Lysol Plus Bleach exp 5/12/08 SS#2 3/16
Click on Money Saving Coupons to get some printables, most of the above are in here
Cascade Gel, Powder ( 75oz or 2 in 1 Action pacs 20 ct) $3.49
-$0.25 off one any size Cascade exp 5/31/08 P&G 4/6
-$0.50 off one any size Cascade 2in1 ActionPacs or Cascade Complete exp 5/31/08 P&G 4/6

Renuzit Ait Freshner (7.5oz adjustable solid) $0.99
-.55/1 two-pack or three singles Renuzit Exp 5/31/08 SS 3/16

Air Wick Oils Refills (Scented oil refils 0.71oz) $2.99
-$1.00/2 Air Wick Scented Oil Refills
FREE Warmer Unit wyb an Air Wick Scented Oil Refill Fragrance exp 4/27/08 SS#2 3/16

Renuzit Pearl Scents (3.52oz) 2/$5.00
-$1.00 off any Renuzit Pearl Scents Air Freshener exp 4/28/08 SS 2/17
Buy Renuit Pearl Scents Air Freshner Get Renuit Air Freshner Spray FREE SS 4/20 exp. 6/30/08

Great Shopping Day!!

Today my mom had several errands to run so I asked her if I could bum along (to save gas) and stop at a few stores along the way for me so I could run in and pick up a few things throughout the day. She agreed so off we went.

Can I just share with you that we had a GREAT shopping day! Check out these awesome deals.

Our first stop was CVS. I was actually on the hunt for something specific when we stopped there and while I ran inside mom was looking through the CVS flyer and saw that they had a portable gas grill on sale for $19.99 - I came back outside and told her they didn't have what I wanted but she said she wanted to go check out that grill. I told her if she was going to spend that much money anyway I could show her how to get a whole bunch more without spending anymore than that. She doesn't have the patience to sit there and figure out all the Extra Bucks spending and deals and things so she said "That will be great...just do what you have to do." LOL
Here's what she got:
Gas Grill (was on sale for $19.99)
4 Cases of drinks (earned $3.00 EB)
1 - Raisin Bran Crunch
1 - Vinegar (earned $1.00 EB)
12 - gift bags w/ tissue in each one (earned $19.96 in EB)
She spent $26.00 out of pocket and has $3.00 EB left over
On our next stop at CVS (what I was originally looking for was at this store thank goodness!) I was able to pick up two of these AirWick Freshmatic Mini spray kits - on sale for $4.99 each and I had 2 - $4.00 off coupons, another SPA bathwash for 4.99 (earned $4.99 EB) and in order to get my order over $20.00 I let my son pick up his favorite magazine "Tips and Tricks" - that way I could use my $4.00/$20 coupon - My total was $9.46 and I have the $4.99 EB


Once we finished at CVS we had to stop by two different Walgreen's to get what we wanted. We were not going out of our way to get to these stores...we have about 4-5 all around where we live!
At Walgreen's we picked up:
4 cases of Dasani water (24 packs)
6 Dawn dishsoaps (.99 each w/ Walgreen coupon + .25 off manuf. coupon)
2 Trident gum (1.19 BOGOFree)
Paid $21.30 for all of this


I ran into Wal-mart to pick up all FREE items and then my husband asked me to pick up his favorite chips so I actually did have to PAY for something here! GRRRR
I had 3 coupons for these ScotchBrite Toilet Bowl Scrubbers I wanted to use and a coupon for a FREE Cascade dishwash rinse. I paid $4.24 total at Walmart for all of this. The teenage cashier wasn't going to let me use all 3 coupons for these Toilet Bowl Scrubbers - because she was reading where it said "one per purchase" or something like that. I told her well go ahead and refund two of them then and I'll just have you ring me up again individually as another customer. She said she couldn't do that because I am still the same person. I told her your cash register doesn't know I am the same person - it would be like me going to another line and making this purchase all over again. She continued to question me (as her line continued to grow longer) and finally I told her "you might want to call a manager over here and ask them because I believe you are wrong." She did call one over to her and ask and she did find out she was wrong...I really did try to be very nice about it and I thanked her for doing this but she wasn't very nice about it after that - I think she was embarrassed by then.
Our last stop of the day was Lowe's. My mom needed some stuff to repair a used pop-up camper and I told her I had a coupon I would let her use and then she could fill out the form to get me a coupon later. This coupon will get you $10.00 off a $25.00 purchase. She was able to get the items she needed -which came up to 26.00 - 10.00 coupon = 16.00! She was thrilled!!

Lowe's $10 off $25 purchase with Visa

Get a coupon for $10.00 off a $25.00 purchase at Lowe's when you use your VISA card. Coupon valid when you use your VISA card at any Lowe's Home Improvement location between April 5th, 2008 and July 30th 2008.

FREE Excedrin & 5.00 EB from CVS

This is PERFECT if you are new to CVS shopping because you can get some EB's (ExtraBucks) with no out of pocket money & no Sunday coupons needed either!!

Here's what you do-

Print out 2 Exederin coupons at www.smartsource.com
Print out 2 Exederin coupons at www.coupons.com
Print out 1 Exedrin coupon at http://www.excedrin.com/offers.shtml

Go to CVS and purchase 5 bottles of Excerdrin 24 ct.
Hand over 5 coupons
Get back $5 in EB's

Bath & Body Works

I went to Bath & Body Works today and used this coupon and paid a total of $1.08 for these two items!! Whoohoooo - what a deal! You can get a great deal too but you have to do it before April 12th! That's when the coupon expires.

The small lotion was on sale for $1.00 and the coupon states that with ANY purchase you can get a FREE product (up to an $11.00 value) - since the Body Spray was $10.50 - it was my FREE item.

Grocery Shopping

How do you shop for groceries? Do you shop once a month, every two weeks, or do you make several weekly runs to the store only when you need certain items?

I used to like to shop every two weeks when my husband got paid. Now I try to shop weekly on a Wednesday or Thursday AFTER the new grocery store sales ads have come out and before the stores get real crowded before the weekend. Sometimes if I am out on Monday mornings I will pop into stores to see if they've reduced their meats from the weekend - you can generally catch some great sales on Monday mornings - but Monday is often my day to catch up on computer work/bookwork from the weekend so it's not often I'm out doing errands anymore.

I discontinued our newspaper subscription several months ago when I realized we could read all the news online for free and since we are trying to cut corners everywhere this would be a great place to start. At first I missed things like my grocery circulars and coupons, etc but I quickly found out that by going to my favorite store's website and signing up with them they now email me their weekly ad! We do still purchase the Sunday paper from the newstand because I can get my coupons and it's nice to have that big thick Sunday paper to lay around and read on our lazy Sunday afternoons after church - when I don't even think about turning on the computer!

Okay, so I like to shop at Winn-Dixie. I get my Winn-Dixie ad emailed to me and I click on the ad and it opens up in my browser. I quickly flip through it and add items to "my basket". (I can look through my coupons I have on hand either while I am making my list or check my list against my coupons after I have printed it out - I look at my coupons so much I have a pretty good idea of what coupons I have and what I don't have.)

When I'm done with that I can review my list or go ahead and print it out. This is the best part because after I have printed out my list and checked to see what coupons I have to match the items on my list, if I don't have a coupon for a certain item then I go online to Google and type in "that item coupon" or the name of the company and find a coupon to match that item!
I have been doing this for over a month now and I am amazed at the great coupons I've found that I can just print out online from these companies!

Here's a for instance. I decided I wanted to purchase some Tennessee Pride Sausage which is on sale this week 2 rolls for $5.00 but I didn't have a coupon for it. So I googled "Tennessee Pride Sausage" and it took me to this website where I found this coupon for $1.00 off 2 rolls of Tennessee Pride Sausage. So now I'm paying 2/$4.00.

I've been doing this for the last month and I am really impressed with how much money I've been able to save on our grocery bill. I'll know better at the end of the month after I have tracked this WHOLE month if I have cut our grocery/food expenses down...but as of right now I'm on the right track!

Restaurant Savings

Save 50% right now at Restaurant.com and get $25 gift certificates for $5. At the checkout simply enter the code LUCK and hit “apply”. This offer ends Sunday, March 16.

Addicted to Shopping!

I have been a shopping fool lately BUT not in the sense you might imagine. I am getting so addicted to FRUGAL shopping!! It has been time consuming because I am learning the ropes, so to speak, but I am trusting the more I do this the easier it will become.

This past Sunday I pulled out the sales flyers for CVS, Walgreen's, Target and Walmart and the coupons from my Sunday paper and I spent the last couple of days perusing these ads/flyers as well as The Coupon Mom's website for her free weekly list of coupon savings at these stores. The thing I like about her website is you can choose what you want from her list and just print off only what you want for each store...which I did - for Walgreens, CVS, Winn-Dixie and Walmart.

Thursday is my day to run errands because I take Dakota to his homeschool park play day - (we hang out with other homeschoolers all afternoon and just play) but yesterday one of his friends came home with us so I only hit Walmart on the way home. I didn't want to bore them by stopping at the other 3 places because I knew they wanted to get home and play.

After Greg got home from work last night I went back out to the other 3 stores. I ordinarily wouldn't do this because the gas usage would probably offset any savings but I actually was looking forward to some "alone" time in the stores to just leisurely peruse the aisles and since all three stores are in the same vicinity I didn't think it would be too bad to do it this time.

First Stop - Walgreen's - Total spent out of pocket $16.37

1. Purchased 2 boxes cereal & 2 boxes Quaker Chewy Granola Bars - 4/$10.00
   Received $4.00 register rewards (used as cash for my next purchase) - Paid $10.38
2. Purchased 2 packs of Charmin Toilet Paper (6 rolls/pk) - 2/$5.00 with coupon; potting soil - .99 w/ coupon; 2 - 6 pks water 2.49 (Buy one get one free) Used my $4.00 RR from previous purchase so paid $5.99
   

Next Stop - CVS - Total spent out of pocket $25.18

1. Gillette Phenom Razor - $9.99 - 4.00 coupon earned $6.00 extra bucks (EB) Paid 6.74
2. Revlon eyeliner & eye shadow - used 6.00 EB; earned 10.00 EB Paid 17.18
3. 4 bags of Nestle Easter candy (4/$10.00) - used 10.00 EB; Earned 5.00 EB; Paid 0.00
4. 2 Degree deoderant (men & women's) on sale for 1.99 & had coupon for 1.00 off; M&M's - buy one get one free + coupon for 1.00 off; used 5.00 EB....they would have owed me change and they couldn't do that so I grabbed a chapstick and told cashier to just ring that up so total paid 1.26
   

Between WalMart and Winn-Dixie where I purchased food my totals came up to 89.00 before coupons; after coupons I paid a combined total of $74.00.

This is so exciting because I normally spend anywhere from $200.00-260.00 when I go grocery shopping but yesterday's total was only $115.55!!!

Frugal Shopping

I have been following a couple of bloggers lately who do a lot of shopping at CVS and Walgreen's. They save a lot of money by shopping there and using the various customer rewards programs offered by the two stores. If you haven't signed up for CVS' Customer ExtraCare reward card you can do that here. It's free and you earn Extra Value Bucks (EVB) on many purchases made throughout the store. These EVB can be used just like regular cash. When used with other coupons and discounts you can purchase many items for deeply discounted prices or FREE!

Walgreen's has a monthly Easy Saver Rebate program you can participate in. They publish a monthly Rebate flyer which you can pick up at the front of the store for Free or view it online and once you've made all your purchases, you complete the form and mail it back to them and they will send you a Walgreen's gift card with all the rebate money you earned on there. This Rebate flyer is also full of coupons which are different from the weekly ads Walgreen's puts out.

I went to CVS last night to pick up a few things we needed and this is how my purchases went (I was very pleased with what I got for my money!):

2 bags of M&M's: 2/$4.00 received 2 EVB
also used coupon $1.00/2 bags so actually paid $1.50 per bag + received 2 EVB

Purchase $10 of these items get $5 EVB
Irish Spring Body Wash 3.99
Softsoap 3.99
Toothpaste 2/5.00
Used 2.00 coupon so paid $11.00 + received $5 EVB

Lysol Neutra Air on sale 2/$5.00 and used coupon Buy one, get one free - register deducted the regular price of $2.99 instead of sale price; Advil was 6.99 and received 2.00 EVB so total price paid for this was $9.00 + received 2.00 EVB

Now I have a total of 9 EVB and I used those on the personal hygiene products which cost 12.58 total so after applying my $9.00 EVB I paid $3.58 cash.

Total cash paid for this trip $26.58

I am pleased with this first trip because had I purchased all of these items at another store I would have paid much more than this. I hope to collect more coupons and refine this "art of frugal" shopping this year.