Weekend Savings

I know y'all might be getting tired of hearing about my shopping trips...but saving so much money just doesn't seem to get old! I didn’t have much time to shop this weekend, but the couple of stops that I made were pretty good ones! Here are my weekend deals from Meijer, Walmart, and Walgreens!

Saturday:

On Saturday I had some time to shop at WalMart and Meijer with my sister. I was glad that I had my coupons with me because I found some great unadvertised deals!

Walmart:

1 – Crest Pro-Clinical Daily Whitening Toothpaste (Orig. $4.75 – on clearance for $1.50)

1 – John Frieda Brilliant Brunette shampoo (Orig. $4.97 – on clearance for $1.00!)

1 – Dial NutriSkin lotion ($1.97)

1 – Sally Hansen nail clippers ($3.97)

Used:

1 - $0.75/1 Crest toothpaste

1 - $1/1 John Frieda product

1 - $1/1 any Dial lotion

1 - $2/1 Sally Hansen product

Total before savings & tax: $15.66

Total after (w/tax): $4.20

Saved: $11.46

Note: I was so bummed that they only had one John Frieda shampoo in the clearance section, because I actually use that shampoo - and I also had more $1 off coupons! I was so grateful to find that one, though.

Meijer:

2 – Ivory soap 4-pack - not pictured ($1.19)

1 – Dial NutriSkin lotion ($1.99)

1 – John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo ($6.49)

1 – John Frieda Root Awakening Conditioner ($6.49)

Used:

2 - $1/1 Ivory soap or body wash

1 - $1.50/2 John Frieda product (Meijer coupon)

2 - $3/1 John Frieda Root Awakening product

(also – John Frieda products were buy 1/get 1 50% off over the weekend!)

Total before savings & tax: $17.35

Total after (w/tax): $4.83

Saved: $12.52

Sunday:

I only had a little bit of time after church on Sunday to run to Walgreens. Last week I waited until Sunday afternoon to hit the stores, and they were already out of a lot of the sale items I wanted. So I went at 9:45, and had no problems this week!

Walgreens:

2 – Peeps bunny 4-pack (75% off! Only $0.18 each)

1 – Wylers Light singles to go ($1.00)

1 – Carefree liners (on sale for $0.99)

1 – Caress Silk soap bar (Orig. $.1.99)

1 – Dove bath bar (Orig. $1.99)

2 – Kleenex tissue box (Orig. $1.39)

2 – Lysol toiler cleaner 16oz. (on sale for BOGO Free @ $2.99)

Used:

1 - $1/1 Carefree item

1 - $1/2 Lysol toilet cleaner

1 – Walgreens coupon for Kleenex @ $0.89 each (limit 3)

1 – Walgreens coupon for Dove/Caress soap @ $0.99 each (limit 3)

1 – $5 Register Rewards from last week

Total before savings & tax: $16.83

Total after w/tax: $2.57

Saved: $14.72

TOTAL BEFORE ALL SAVINGS: $49.84

TOTAL SPENT: $11.60

77% savings!

Not a bad weekend at all! I am loving making short shopping trips when it is convenient. I am also loving the fact that I haven’t felt the need to go to the mall in 2 weeks! THANK YOU to LRWC and KCL for helping me save so much money – I can’t wait to see how much money I can save this year! (To hopefully put towards a house next year!)

Another great deal...just in time for Mother's Day!

If you are looking for a cheap but great Mother's Day gift - check this one out!


80% Off at Restaurant.com

You can save 80% with the  new Restaurant.com coupon code to get a $25 certificate for only $3. Just use coupon code: MOM at checkout.  Deal is good through 5/8/11.

I wasn't sure if this would actually work, so I tried it! Make sure you look up the restaurants in your area that accept the gift card. There were a couple of my favorites on there, so I bought one! You can't go wring with $25 worth of food for $3!

Let me know if you go for this deal!

Adventures in Couponing

I’ve always been one for finding deals and finding things on sale for what I think is a reasonable price…which basically tends to be more than 40% off of retail price. You’d think this would be hard, but with some time and effort, it’s really not very hard at all. You just need to have PATIENCE, which is something I possess a lot of luckily. :)  I started doing this when shopping for clothes and accessories, but now it has overflowed into my other purchases.

So the past couple of weeks, I have been experimenting with using coupons and finding deals. I’ve built up a small collection of coupons – mostly for things like shampoo, body wash, razors, lotion, toothpaste, makeup, and anything else I frequently buy. I have also been visiting blogs and websites that help you get the most out of your coupons – some of my favorites include The Krazy Coupon Lady and Living Rich with Coupons. With these resources, I have been able to score some incredible deals! Some I even figured out on my own, and it makes me feel like a proud soccer mom!

Now, in order to do this correctly, it takes a lot of time and (again) PATIENCE. You have to spend time planning and looking for sales. Here some things I have learned so far:

·    Stores don’t advertise ALL of their sales. You have to physically GO to the store to see what they have on sale. For instance – I never know what’s on sale in the beauty department at Meijer. They don’t post it on the website and usually only have a page or 2 in the weekly ad. Luckily I live only a couple of miles away!

·    You get the most out of your money when you stack your coupons. Stacking means that you use a manufacturer’s coupon with a store coupon. If you can also find the item on sale, THAT’S when you start getting things for dirt cheap or free. I have a bunch of Meijer coupons to use that I am going to match up with my MFT’s coupons, so I should be getting some really great deals here in the next month.

·    It’s worth it to pay money up front to get rewards back. Here is an example – at CVS this week you can buy Crest toothpaste for $2.77, and you get $2.77 ExtraCare bucks back. Basically that means you are getting the toothpaste for free. You have to pay the $2.77 up front, but you then have $2.77 to spend at CVS on anything you want. You can also use coupons to make it cheaper if you have them! I spent $9.04 at CVS yesterday, and got $7.54 in ExtraCare bucks back. I pretty much got 2 toothpastes, a body wash, and a deodorant for free! (Or $1.50) It would have been cheaper if I didn’t have to pay the sales tax on my sister’s wine she made me get her!

·    It’s worth it to buy 2 or 3 newspapers! Enough said! If you don’t have any other way of getting more than 1 set of coupons, buy more papers! It’s a small investment on big savings! Plus you can donate or recycle the coupons you don’t use. The school I work at collects discarded coupons for soldiers. I have been bringing all of my unused or extra coupons in to donate. Find someplace that does that!

Want to know some of the things I have been getting? You may not believe me when I show/tell you, but I have the receipts to prove it!

My favorite deal so far I got last week at CVS. I’ve never been much of a CVS or Walgreens shopper before last week, but after finding out the deals I could get, I have drastically changed my shopping habits. I would go in there occasionally, but it always seemed like their prices were higher than Target or Meijer. Coupons have definitely changed my feelings on that!

So last week they had a “buy $15 worth of Clean & Clear products, get $5 ExtraCare bucks” deal going on. I remembered that I had a BOGO Free coupon for Clean & Clear body wash – which sells for $5.99 there. I also live on Clean & Clear Oil sheets, so that was my third product – all 3 costing $17.97 before tax. I used my BOGO Free coupon, so there went $5.99. I also used two $2 off 1 Clean & Clear product, and one $1 off 1 Clean and Clear product. I had $5 ExtraCare bucks from a previous purchase too. I paid a whopping $1.98 before tax, and I also got a $5 ExtraCare bucks. I MADE MONEY! This deal I came up with all on my own – I didn’t see anyone else on any websites doing this.

Yesterday I went to Family Dollar armed with my Reach toothbrush coupons and also a $1 off Febreze coupon. I got 4 toothbrushes and a full size bottle of Febreze for $1.88. Here’s a rundown:

BOUGHT:
4 Reach toothbrushes @ $1 each

1 Febreze Thai Dragon Fruit fabric refresher @ $2.50

COUPONS:

2 - $2 off 2 Reach toothbrushes

1 - $1 off any Febreze product

Now, I understand that I don’t really have a need for 4 toothbrushes. The best part about this whole experiment is that I am going to donate whatever I don’t use. I am going to keep using my coupons and finding deals, and whatever I have at the end of the year that I don’t need or don’t plan on using will be donated. My aunt collects travel sized products and purses to donate to her church, where they fill the purses with products and give them to needy or homeless women. My sister and I have been helping her out with the collection the past 2 years, and I can’t wait until she sees how much stuff I am going to have for her this year! I was also thinking about making care packages for US Soldiers (like the crazy man on Extreme Couponing!) if I can come up with enough stuff. I don’t really have anywhere to “stockpile”, so a little at a time with have to do for now.

I know it’s nerdy, but I am really excited for this! It’s a good experiment and in the end it will help out people who need it. Does anyone else do this? (Or just soccer moms? LOL)