Free diapers at Rite Aid

At the Workshop on Saturday several people asked me how I get cheap diapers. My answer? Shop at drugstores. Only buy your dipes at drugstores. Forget Target, forget Wal-mart.

Here's a great scenario for you this week!! If you live in Nashville area and haven't shopped at Rite Aid before, but would like to try, I recommend shopping at the West End store (the one across from Centennial Park/Wendy's/Vanderbilt, on that weird corner) in the evening or weekend. My favorite Rite Aid employee ever transferred there from my store a few months ago. She's an Asst Mgr/lead (whatever her title is) and her name is Brennan. She is a couponer and understands how coupons work. She'll override questionable things (like combining a bogo mq with a x/xx mq and a bogo sale) and is really awesome! She works nights and weekends (she's in school), so go see her and tell her Brandy said hi! :)

ETA: Sorry! It's the mega packs, so do this...

For the scenario, I am using a $2/1 coupon
ETA: There are new $2/1 Huggies q's HERE !

Go HERE to see how to get the Nature's Bounty coupons and info about printing them, then do this!

I have Huggies for this scenario, but if you prefer Pampers, those are on sale with the same deal and the last P&G insert had a $2/1 Pampers coupon.

Buy
1 Huggies Mega packs $17.99 (sale bogo50%)
1 Huggies Mega pack $8.99
1 Nature's Bounty $4.99 (sale bogo)
1 Nature's Bounty $0 (sale bogo)
1 Nature's Bounty $4.99 (sale bogo)
1 Nature's Bounty $0 (sale bogo)
1 Nature's Bounty $4.99 (sale bogo)
1 Nature's Bounty $0 (sale bogo)
=41.95

Use
$5/20 VV coupon
2 $2/1 Huggies ip HERE
4 $5/1 Nature's Bounty ips
2 $3/1 Nature's Bounty ips
6 $1/1 Nature's Bounty VV coupons
=-$41

Total oop: $.95 + tax

This also earns you $14.97 toward the Healthy Heart rebate, so if you want to finish that up, do a couple of these scenarios...

Buy
1 Flexamin 14.99
1 Flexamin $0 (bogo sale)
1 Nature's Bounty $9.99
1 Nature's Bounty $0
=$24.98

Use
$5/20
2 $6/1 Flexamin mq
2 $2/1 Nature's Bounty ip
4 $1/1 Nature's Bounty/Flexamin Rite Aid VV q
=-$25

=-$.02 + tax
Earn $24.98 toward Healthy Heart rebate


Buy
1 Flexamin 14.99
1 Flexamin $0 (bogo sale)
1 Nature's Bounty $9.99
1 Nature's Bounty $0
$2 filler things
=$26.98

Use
$5/20
2 $6/1 Flexamin mq
2 $3/1 Nature's Bounty ip
4 $1/1 Nature's Bounty/Flexamin Rite Aid VV q
=-$27

=-$.02 + tax
Earn $24.98 toward Healthy Heart rebate

Deals today!

I stayed up late last night making my list and this morning headed out the door at 9am with my four year-old in tow.

Walgreens
First, we hit Walgreens. I was lucky to have gotten papers from my friend in Atlanta the week the Nivea Lip bogo mq was in - so I had some of those to get some great overage! I also had a "free" Huggies diapers coupon I got for complaining about some dipes we bought that the tabs kept ripping off, so I used that to get the rr back. I had three transactions and also got papers.

1 Huggies 8.99
-$Free mq (from complaining)
-$1/1 Huggies from Wags Children's Activity booklet
1 Caramel
2 Kotex pads $2.99/ea
-$2/2 mq ip
8 Nivea Lip care $3.99/ea
-$bogo mqs @ 3.99/ea x4 =15.96
-$.50/1 mq (found at KMart) x4 = $2
-Wags in-adq ($.99/ea, subtracting $3/ea) = $24
2 Children's Tylenol $4.99/ea
-$3/2 mq
-$1/1 Walgreens Children's Activity booklet q x2 = $2
3 Lady Speedstick $1.99
-$1/1 mq
3 Colgate Total $2.99
-$1.50/1 mq
6 Starbucks fraps $2.19/ea
-Wags in-adq ($1.25/ea, subtracting $.94/ea) =$5.64
-$1/1 ip x6 = $6
4 Purex $5.99 bogo
-2 bogo mqs
1 Post Shredded Wheat $1
-$2/1 ip
1 Sunkist gummies (clearance) $.65
1 Walgreens bar antibacterial soap $.79
- Wags in-adq ($1/3, subtracting $.45)
5 Sunday papers $1.50/ea

Also used $14 rr to pay.

Total tax: $6.40
Total oop: $7.14
Total saved: $134.94 or 94.7%


Then I went to Target and couldn't find a single deal I was looking for. :( Will have to go to one in Nashville this week.


Wal-Mart
I used the rest of my Breakstones coupons for Cottage Cheese doublers.

Bought:
14 Breakstones Cottage Cheese doublers $1/ea
-$1/1 mq
Total tax: $.96
Total oop: $.96
Total saved: $14.00 or 93.1%

Rite Aid
I HAD to go to Rite Aid today to try out the Carefree Ultra deal. I am considering going to the other Rite Aid in a little while to get some more. I was able to get $1.01 overage per pack just using the VV coupon! It expires today though.
I did four transactions so I could use four $5/20 coupons and got:

13 Carefree Ultra pantiliners $.99/ea
-$2/1 RA VV coupon
1 20 oz Mt Dew $1.49
1 Newcastle 6pack
2 Nature's Bounty $5.49/ea bogo
2 Nature's Bounty $4.99/ea bogo
-$5/1 x1 Nature's Bounty mq
-$2/1 x3 Nature's Bounty mq
-$1/1 x4 Nature's Bounty RAVV coupon
2 Anti Monkey Butt Powder $3.99/ea
1 Reeses pnut butter cup $.88
2 Nature's Bounty $7.49/ea bogo
-$3/1 x1 Nature's Bounty mq
-$1/1 x2 Nature's Bounty RAVV coupon
1 Abolene cream $7.99
1 Bottled water $.99
1 Suave kids shampoo $1.99
4 Nature's Bounty $4.99/ea bogo
-$3/1 x4 Nature's Bounty mq
-$1/1 x4 Nature's Bounty RAVV coupon
1 Stacy's Pita Chips $3.00
-free coupon from Facebook
1 Listerine Pocket Pack $3.99
1 Efferdent tablets $5.99
2 Nature's Bounty $6.99/ea bogo
-$2/1 x2 Nature's Bounty mq
-$1/1 x2 Nature's Bounty RAVV coupon

Total tax: $6.29
Total oop: $5.11
Total savings: $174.72 or 97.1%
~Then earned:
$3 SCR Anti Monkey Butt x2
$7 SCR Abolene
$1 SCR Suave
$3 SCR Listerine Pocket Pack
$5 SCR Efferdent
= $22
And $12.87 toward J&J SCR
$34.94 toward Healthy Heart SCR

Why it pays to coupon

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but today I was running all over town and decided to price check an item.

Here's the deal, I thought I would see how much Purex detergent was at each store. If I was a shopper that just bought what I needed at whatever store I was at, without bothering to look for deals, I would be wasting a lot of money.

@ Kroger: Purex detergent $4.12
@ Target: Purex detergent $4.99
@ Wal-Mart: Purex detergent $4.49

If I just needed detergent, saw my bogo coupon from last week, I might grab two bottles while out doing my other shopping. I would pay the above price for two bottles with one bogo coupon.

But, if I were me :) I would go to Walgreens. Purex is $5.99 and it is bogo all month long! So I pay nothing for two bottles.

Walgreens deals, week of 2.28

There are not a ton of great deals this week, but a few good things. Some deals which will have a whole lot of YMMV!

The deals:

Lady Speedstick $1.99
-$1/1 mq found in CVS Reinventing Beauty Magazine
=$.99
~Earn $1rr

Colgate Total $2.99
-$1/1 Colgate mq found in CVS Reinventing Beauty Magazine
=$1.99
~Earn $2rr

Children's Tylenol Cold $4.99/ea, buy two = $9.98
-$3/2 mq 1.3.RP
-$1/1 Walgreens q (from Children's Activity booklet) x2 = $2
=$4.98
~Earn $5rr

Starbucks Frappuchino bottles $1.25 w/in-ad coupon
-$1/1 HERE
=$.25/ea

There could possibly be a deal on cottonelle wipes. I am going to check it out tomorrow!

Then there are a couple of deals involving bogo mq's. When it comes to bogo mq's and walgreens in-ad q's, you CAN get some great deals. I recommend writing the price YOU want taken off the transaction (full price, not price after Walgreens coupon). Tell the cashier, this is a bogo coupon, it's $2.99 (or whatever) I went ahead and wrote it on there for you. (imply you're trying to help them out).

Purex laundry detergent is on mega-something for the month of March. Purex detergents are bogo all month. There is a bogo coupon in the 2.21 RP for Purex. IF your store allows you to use a bogo coupon with a bogo sale (and they should since they will get reimbursed - the store sale pays for one and the manufacturer pays for one. - Ok, really the manufacturer is paying for both since the manufacturer reimburses the store for the store sale and the coupon...but for our purposes....)
=Two free detergents if your store allows!

Reach toothbrushes $1.29/ea
-$.99 wags coupon (in-ad) (essentially, this is a $.30/1 coupon per tb purchased)
-$bogo mq 12.6 RP or 1.3.RP
-$1/1 ip or 10.4 RP
=various. Overage.
In this situation, the regular price of the item is above $1, so when you scan your manufacturer's coupon it will subtract a dollar, then have the Walgreens in-ad q scanned and it will take off an additional $.30. This will give you $.31 overage (buy something to cover it).
If you use a bogo mq, you can write in the price of $1.29, totally legitimately as this is the sale price of the toothbrush (some stores only will want to take off $.99) So give it a go and see what happens.

Nivea lip care $3.99/ea
-$.99 wags coupon (in-ad) (essentially, this is a $3/1 coupon per lip care purchased)
-$bogo mq 2.7 RP (regional, Nashville did not get these)
-$.50/1 booklet coupon (found at KMart, Rite Aid, Walgreens)
=various. Overage with bogo q or cheap with booklet q.
If you use a bogo mq, you can write in the price of $13.99, totally legitimately as this is the regular selling price of the item(some stores only will want to take off $.99) So give it a go and see what happens.

Making money at Rite Aid

This week is a great week for anyone wanting to start off at Rite Aid.

First, you will want to create an account at Rite Aid if you haven't already. This will allow you to enter your receipts into their rebate program.

Once you've created an account there, then go and create a Video Values account and watch 20 credits worth of videos to earn a $5/20 coupon. Be sure one of the commercials you watch is the one for Nature's Bounty. Once you have 20 credits, select to print the $5/20 and the $1/1 Nature's Bounty coupons and when the print screen comes up, select to print 20 or so of these. You can do that HERE.

Then go HERE and read about how to get coupons for Nature's Bounty products. Follow the directions and print 6 each of the $5/1, $3/1 and $2/1 Nature's Bounty coupons.

Then head HERE and scroll down to the second post and print the "Carefree Ultra Protection Liners (Scented or Unscented, 16 ct) $2off 6pp" print of Carefree $1/1 Rite Aid coupons.

Now.

Here's the deals:
Nature's Bounty is bogo. The cheapest vitamins are Vitamin D at $4.99. You want to do a scenario that looks a little something like this

Buy
Natures Bounty 4.99
Nature's Bounty 0.00
Nature's Bounty 8.99
Natures Bounty 0.00
Carefree Ultra $.99/ea
Carefree Ultra $.99/ea
Carefree Ultra $.99/ea
Carefree Ultra $.99/ea
$7.02 of things you need (or free after scr items)
=$25

Use
$5/20 VV coupon
$1/1 Nature's Bounty coupon x4 = $4
$2/1 Nature's Bounty coupon x4 = $8
$2/1 Carefree Ultra x4 = $8 {Your cashier may mark this down to $.99. I am not totally sure how each store will handle this. You might do one transaction with only one, see how they handle it, then go and get more if they put it in for the full amount. I suspect the register will process it for the full $2, but the cashier may not like that and enter it for $.99 only}
=$25

You will earn $3.96 toward the J&J Rebate, #24
and $13.98 toward the Healthy Heart Rebate, #552

Here are some other items that are free/mm's this week after scr. If you use your overage from the vitamins/carefree to pay the oop on the free after scr items, you're getting those things free AND getting money back for them!

Listerine PocketPacks $3.99
-$1/1 mq 1.3.10 RP or 10.18.09 SS
=$2.99
~Earn $3 SCR
=Free

Efferdent $5.99
-$1/1 6.14.09 SS
=$4.99
~Earn 5 SCR
=Free

SatinCare Shave Gel $1.99
-$1/1 2.17.10 P&G
=$.99
~Earn $1 SCR
=Free

Gilette Series Shave Gel $1.99
-$1/1 2.17.10 P&G
=$.99
~Earn $1 SCR
=Free

Kroger deals, week of 2/28

Looks like some good deals next week at Kroger. No mega sale, but possibly some freebies. This is the end of the month, so get over to cellfire and shortcuts and load any coupons you want. These will disappear tomorrow and new ones will be loaded on Monday, this means you will have the possibility of having multiple of the same ecoupon to redeem! Looks like there may be some deals on GM products, so go ahead and load those betty crocker, pillsbury, etc coupons.

I'll walk Kroger tomorrow to see what deals I can find.

Also, go print any coupons you want from Coupons.com and Smartsource.com - these will be reset or removed and new ones up at the beginning of the month.

More money making Rite Aid deals next week!

I am preparing for our Coupon Workshop, so I will give you details later, but here's the basics:
Nature's Bounty is bogo again and the rewards coupons should have reset for you by now to print more of those coupons and earn more toward your $25 gift card.
Carefree pantiliners are $.99, with the $2 VV coupon, this will either make them free or give you overage depending on how the cashier handles them.

Food Lion pet deals

There are a few deals on pet items at Food Lion right now with the $2/5 FLip.

A few items to note regarding Food Lion.
1. When you use FLips like a $2/5, your $5 qualifying is $5 BEFORE you scan your MVP card, so if there's a sale on an item, the regular sale price is the value that counts for the $5.
2. BOGO coupons are recognized by the register and automatically tell the cashier to enter the regular retail price. So if an item is on sale and you have a BOGO coupon, the regular retail price will be the "free" value, giving you more than free on one item.

Here's a deal I did yesterday

1 bag Chef Michael's dry food $3.99
2 Cesar's entrees $.70 sale (regular $.89)/ea
1 Eggnog flavor Coffee-Mate $1.50 sale ($2 regular)
Total pre-sale: $7.77

-MVP sale: $.88
$2/5 pet FLip
BOGO Cesars mq =$.89
$2/1 Chef Michael's
$1/1 Coffeemate FLip
$1/1 Coffeemate mq ip (no longer available)
=-$7.77

paid: tax only!

Also look for deals using Dentastix with $2/1 mq and Might Dog with the bogo mq (we didn't get that one here)

I also did this

2 Dentastix 2/$6
=$6

-$2/1 Dentastix x2
-$2/5 FLip
=-$6

=$0 - paid tax only!

Scrounged up a few Target deals

I found a few Target deals, YMMV on if your store carries these items.

Gillette Body wash 8 oz on sale for $1.99
-$4/2 mq 2.21.10 PG
= 2 Free

First Baby Alive doll $4.98 (clearance)
-$5/1 ip HERE
=Free

Fur Fighter $3.99
-$4/1 ip HERE
= Free

Then there's the Kellogg's Fruit Crisps deal but we didn't get the good q's in our area. . . you can check out Totally Target for details on this deal.

Quick- run to CVS- Super huggies wipes deal!

If you have children, you might want to run to your nearest CVS store.

Huggies wipes tubs are on sale 2/$5. No big deal, right? Well the large refill packs are ringing up at this sale price with CVS card! These are regularly priced at $7.99. Many people are also reporting that when they scan their card, they are getting a $2/1 CVS coupon for Huggies wipes. Stack that with the $.50/1 Huggies home mailer for FREE wipes!!

CVS is known for fixing these "errors" super-fast, so if I were you? I'd get out there and find a 24-hour store now or be at the doors when they open tomorrow!!

New printables

Might want to go get these while they're still available!

Oreo Cakesters $1/1 HERE and HERE

Yoplait Fruit Smoothie Frozen mix $1.25/1 HERE

Silk Soymilk $.75/1 HERE (join Silk community)

Baby Alive First for Me doll $5/1 HERE (Check Target, some of these are on clearance for $4.98)

2/21 Deals around town

Ok so there's not a lot of great deals this week, well, anywhere, so I'm listing everything I see in one post.

Publix
I found two new booklets/flyers at Publix this week- one says Healthy Kids on the front and the other is a P&G flyer. Both are all Publix coupons. In the Healthy Kids booklet are a couple of coupons that might be good deals, a $.35/1 Birdseye frozen veggies and a $bogo Frusion coupon. The flyer of P&G coupons I found on a cardboard display near pharmacy and had a $.55/1 Publix coupon for Puffs. This will come in handy for your Nyquil deal.

Also, Ruffies trash bags are $2.19 (small pack) and there is a $1/1 Publix q in the yellow adv. buy flyer. Stack that with a $.50/1 mq (regional, I bought mine on ebay) for $.19 for a pack of trash bags. I can never find good deals on trash bags, so this is a decent deal.

Walgreens
I am please to report that the Excedrin menstrual is indeed included in the 2/$5 sale this week. there is a monthly rr deal for this product, get a $2rr wyb 1. So, Buy one for $2.50, use the $2/1 ip from HERE to pay $.50 oop and get a $2rr back!
Sadly this is the ONLY deal at Wags this week. I had to roll my rr's into more joint juice and spend the rest on papers.

Rite Aid
The only thing I see is a deal on J&J Baby, IF your store is coupon friendly and will allow you to use multiple VV coupons at once.
J&J Baby items are Buy one, get one for a penny and are priced at $4.49. So you pay $4.50 for two.
Use the $1/1 VV coupon and one of the myriad J&J coupons $1/1, $2/2 etc. Buy ten.

10 J&J Baby = $22.50
$2.50 of filler stuff

-$5/20 VV coupon
-$1/1 VV coupon x10
-$1/1 mq x10
= $0 oop

Too many biscuits?

If you're like me and have an overload of canned biscuits in your fridge (um, yeah, I have 24 cans so far!), here's a recipe that I know you have the ingredients for. And it's YUMMMMMMMY!!!

Monkey Bread
2 Cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick Butter
**If you like nuts, add those to the cinnamon/sugar mix

Cut/tear biscuits into fourths, set aside.
Mix cinnamon and sugar and toss biscuit pieces in sugar mix (do a few at a time).
Spray bundt pan with cooking spray.
Drop biscuits into bundt pan.
Melt butter and mix in brown sugar until dissolved. Pour over biscuits. Bake at temp recommended for biscuits for time recommended, or until top is golden brown.

Oh man...sooooo good!!

If Kroger matches HT's Super doubles this week...

Beginning on Wednesday, there are some decent deals to be had. :) I am not holding my breath since they did not match the last time, but there's always a chance, so here's what I see just at a glance. . .

Non-mega deals:

Ocean Spray Juice Cocktail $1.98
-$1/1 ip (no longer available)
=Free

Colgate Total Toothpaste $1.67
-various q's incl. booklet found at CVS $1.25/1
=Free to cheap

Garnier Fructis $2.88
-$1/1 2.7.10 SS
=$.88

Dove/Degree Deo $2.00
-$1/1 1.31.10 RP
=Free

Kellogg's cereals Frosted Flakes $2.77
-$1.50/2 mq ip HERE
=Free
~Catalina deal: Buy 3 & Get $1.00
Buy 4 & Get $3.00
Buy 5 or more & get $4.00

Healthy Choices dinners $1.88
-$1.25/2 HERE
=$.63/ea wyb 2

Mega items:
(prices listed are before the mega discount)

Campbells Chunky Soup $1.65
-$1.50/3 or $1/2 HERE (either coupon, doubled takes off $1 for each can)
=$.35/ea

Ritz Crackers $2.49
-$1/1 1.24.10 SS
=$.49/ea

Cheerios $2.49
-$1/1 ip HERE or HERE
=$.49/ea

Honey Nut Cheerios (if included) $2.49
-$1/1 HERE
-$.55/1 cellfire e-coupon
=$.49/ea

Chocolate Cheerios $2.49
-$1.25/1 (no longer available)
=Free

Orville Redenbacher Popcorn $1.99
-$1/2 1.24.10 SS
=$.99/ea wyb 2

Pillsbury Grands (if included again this week) $1.29
-$1/2 HERE
-$.30/2 shortcuts e-coupon
=Free, -$.30/ea after mega
~Catalina deal: Buy 4 & Get $2.00
Buy 5 & Get $3.00
Buy 6 or more & get $4.00

Banquet frozen dinners $.88
-$1/10 1.10.10 SS
~Buy ten, total $8.80, -$2 (doubled coupon)= $6.80 -$3 mega = $3.80 for ten dinners!

Publix mm deals

Publix sales lately have been severely lacking (in my humble opinion), and we know the Green Adv Buy flyer has no deals in it this month, so here are the mm's I've found (admittedly few and far between!) Please share if you've run across any others!

This week only:
Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers $2.99 bogo
-$2/1 mq 1.3.10 SS {Believe it or not, this extremely high value q was found in the Nashville region...only as far as I can tell!!}
=-$.50/ea

Birdseye Steamfresh veggies $1.79-$2.39 50% off
-$.50/1 mq 2.7.10 SS
=-$.21- $.20/ea depending on price
~ Check to see if the regular veggies are included this time around, and not just steamfresh varieties- if so, look for the frozen chopped spinach if you need overage! It's notorious for being super-cheap (around a dollar normally, so fifty cents after 50%off discount), and then with the 50% off, decent overage.

Current, until q's expire...
Rolaids 3pk $1.50 (I found these on clearance for $.75/ea!)
-$4/2 mq 1.3.10 RP
=-$1 wyb 2

Knox Gelatin $1.39
-$4/1 mq 1.24.10 RP
=-$2.61

Thai Kitchen Ginger Noodles $.69- $.79
-$1/1 mq HERE (enter zipcode 44301)
=-$.21- -$.31 depensing on price

Mahatma rice small packs $.79
-$.50/1 mq 2.7.10 RP
=-$.21

Mahatma Valencia Rice $.89 (great for risotto!)
-$.50/1 mq 2.7.10 RP
=-$.11

Yakisoba $.79
-$.50/1 mq 1.31.10 SS
=-$.21

If your store accepts Whole Foods coupons:
Oikos yogurt (prices vary)
-$1/1 mq 1.3.10 SS
-$1/1 Whole Foods q HERE
= overage of about $.30-$.70 depending on price

The High-Value P&G booklet is back!

Around this time last year, P&G had a deal- if you bought $50 of P&G products, and submitted receipts, you'd get a coupon booklet- it was known as the $120 booklet and there were some SUPER coupons in it!

It's going to be available again very soon- so, if you're getting in on these deals at Rite Aid, or buying P&G products anywhere else, hang onto those receipts!

Go HERE for more info.

Some Kroger deals, week of 2/7

Hmmmm, I'm noticing a trend. Hardly any good Publix deals lately, but I'm finding myself shopping at Kroger more and more.

This week is another Mega sale. The deal this week is, buy 10 participating items and get $3 off, so, essentially, $.30 off each item.

Some included items:
Purex @ 2.19 (after mega)
-$.35/1 mq 1.10.10 RP
=$1.49
~So this isn't a GREAT deal, BUT! When you buy two, you get a $4 catalina good on your next order! So, buy ten items, two of them Purex, and get a $4 cat. Profit of $.61/ea
ETA: Just so you know, this cat deal is actually, $4 wyb 2 or $5 wyb 3. This is a bit silly - you get a better deal by only buying two at a time! (Buy more, save less?? hmmm). So only buy two at a time for the best deal :)

Pillsbury Grands (canned) $.69
-$.30/2 ip HERE or HERE
=$.39/ea
~Another catalina deal with Pillsbury. Get a $2cat wyb 4, $3 wyb 5 or $4 wyb 6!

Chef Boyardee Micriwaveable bowls (if included) $.70
-$.40/1 1.10.10 SS
=$.10 overage each

Gatorade 32 oz $.69
-$.50/1 1.10.10 RP
=-$.31
(makes me wish I had more of the coupons)

Campbell's Chunky Soup $1.29
-$.50/2 2.7.10 SS or 1.3.10 SS
=$.80/ea wyb 2
~Decent price if you need items to get up to ten for your free Purex! :)


Here's a scenario for you (if you have a bunch of gatorade q's, swap those for some of these items, or get ten of those, in addition to these items to bring your oop down!)
Buy
2 Purex $2.49/ea
6 Pillsbury Grands $.99/ea
2 Chef Boyardee bowls $1.00/ea
=12.92

Use
(Mega discount) $3.00
2x -$.35/1 Purex (doubled)
3x $.30/2 Pillsbury (doubled)
2x $.40/1 Chef Boyardee (doubled)
=-7.80

Total oop: $5.12 + tax
Earn $4cat for Pillsbury, $4cat for Purex

And of course you can roll the cats, so you can turn around and do an identical transaction, adding one of the cats to your coupons you're using, paying oop of $1.12 and getting two more cats back!

HOT HOT HOT coupons@

Go to coupons.com and check out some new super-hot coupons! Kelloggs has released some $1/1 and $2/2 coupons. In our area we rarely get Kellogg's q's, so this is a super q for us! There are several other good ones, so scan them all while you're there.

My Rite Aid and Walgreens trips

I made my weekly morning trip to Walgreens for my papers and other items, and I had to go to Rite Aid for a free make-up moneymaker (I'm donating it to THIS organization...I don't even wear make-up!).

Did pretty good!

Walgreens
16 transactions- started with $84 in rr's
8 newspapers
2 Cryostat Hemmorhoid relief
5 Super Poligrip
3 Epsom Salts
1 Joint Juice powder packs
1 Joint Juice cans
1 20oz Mt Dew
pencils- fillers
7 Dove Body Wash for Men
1 Disney Valentine activity book - fill
8 boxes of Nabisco crackers- clearance and $.99/ea sale
1 Post Honey Bunches- Just Bunches
2 Huggies
Total tax: $11.14
Total oop: $14.46
Total rr's left: $78.00


Rite Aid
5 transactions, broken down so I could use 5 $5/20 coupons. All in all I got
7 Nivea body washes
8 Covergirl Mascara
2 Covergirl blush
2 Covergirl Eyeliner
2 Covergirl powder
2 Covergirl aquasmoothers
3 Carefree pantiliners
Total tax: $9.60
Total oop: $13.94 (-$1.96 from gift card) = $11.98 cash
Earned: $35 Visa card (for P&G), $5 Rite Aid card (Nivea)

=$28.02 profit

Rite Aid scenario

I may update this post again, but here's another Rite Aid scenario for you, using qq's from tomorrow's inserts

Here's another Nivea scenario:

Buy
1 Dove for Men $4
6 Nivea lip $2.99/ea
=$21.94

Use
$5/20
3x Bogo lip 2.7.10 RP
3x $1/1 Nivea product 2.7.10 RP
$1.50/1 Dove for Men ip
=$3.48 oop

Earn $4 scr (Dove 4 Men), $5 gift card (wyb $15 Nivea products)

A special Kroger survey

Somehow I was invited to join a special "consumer Panel" through Kroger. I suspect a lot of people got these invitations, but I'm not sure.
I went to fill out the survey, and here was my favorite question (paraphrased, I don't remember exactly word for word):

How many coupons do you use on your average shopping trip?
*A large amount (more than 6 coupons)
*A moderate amount (3-5 coupons)
*A small amount (1-2 coupons)
*I do not use coupons

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow. Are they out of touch. 6 coupons is a large amount??I guess my coupon use must be "glacial". heh.

Rite Aid week of 2/7

If you haven't done the P&G deal at Rite Aid yet, which is, buy $100 of P&G products and get a $35 Visa card, you might give this a go next week.

(YMMV, as some stores will not like taking the higher priced item as the free on the bogo coupon. WHat I do? I write in the value of the item to be used as "free", since the manufacturer will reimburse whatever value is on there (as long as there's no "maximum value"), there's no reason the store should not allow the higher one to be used as the free.)

Covergirl Make-up all on sale Buy-one-get-one 50% off
Buy lots of papers this weekend and clip the Covergirl BOGO coupons from the P&G insert.

Buy
1 Covergirl $8.99
1 Covergirl $4.49 ($8.99 item, rings 50%)
1 Covergirl $7.99
1 Covergirl $3.99 ($7.99 item, rings 50%)
=$25.46

Use
$5/20
BOGO mq 2.7.10 P&G = $8.99
BOGO mq 2.7.10 P&G= $7.99
$2.50/2 mq 2.7.10 P&G
=$24.48

=$.98 oop +tax

Repeat this 4 times to get the Visa gift card and only spend $3.92+tax oop!!

Quick, RUN! to Kroger

Here's a new deal to add to the current Mega sale at Kroger. This sale will likely end tomorrow, so get ye to Kroger tomorrow!

First, go to Publix and browse the canned meats, look for the blinkies. There's a new blinkie machine out with a $1/1 Hormel Chili Masters Chili. These are $.84 after mega-discount at Kroger! This is a gain of $.16/ea after coupon. We don't eat meat, but these look pretty good. Especially the White Chicken one. I bought a bunch for family members, they were Thrilled. These babies sell for $3.29-$3.49 at Publix and regular priced at Kroger!!
Kroger does not have this blinkie, and I haven't been anywhere else, but you might find it at Food Lion. I will look tomorrow.

Basic through Extreme Coupon Workshop

Alright ladies and gentlemen. Loads of people have been asking me to tell them how I do what I do, so here's your chance! In collaboration with Colleen over at CustomCouponing, we'll be offering our first Basic through Extreme Coupon Workshop in a few weeks! We're SUPER excited and want to get going with a bang, so we'll have a few door prizes as well. :)

Just please RSVP so we will know how many people are coming so we can have the right amount of materials for everyone! When you RSVP please include a number where you can be reached.

What? Basic through Extreme Coupon Workshop
Where? Christ Church Nashville
15354 Old Hickory Blvd
When? Saturday, February 27th, 2-4pm

RSVP? By 2.19.10 to earthymamablogger@yahoo.com
Cost? $10 per person, this covers materials and handouts

Should I bring anything? Yes! Your questions, a pen and any friends who want to learn to save money the right way!

I hate confrontation

And I am starting to wonder if many grocery stores require their managers to be complete morons. Sorry, but I am so tired of having to explain why coupons are legitimate and why it is ok to use them. Today, at Kroger, they told me they couldn't take the $5/1 Nature's Bounty coupon on a bottle of vitamins that was $3. No matter that they've done it a million times before. No matter the store will get reimbursed $5.08. Nope, can't take it. I said to the dense manager, "These are legitimate coupons and using one coupon on one bottle of vitamins is a legitimate use of the coupon a stated on the coupon. Kroger will be reimbursed full face value for the coupon when presented." His response? "But the register won't allow it". I said, "You're right. The register is telling you the coupon exceeds the value of the item, but all you have to do is override that." To which he replies "The register won't allow it". *pulling my hair out* "You do it all the time, why is today any different?" "Well we're not supposed to." "Why not? It's a legitimate use of the coupon?" And around the merry go round we went, several times. Finally I said, forget it.

Although, I wonder, if the pre-sale price was above $5- would the q have beeped? I bet not. I'm going to try it. lol.

Joke's on them though. They didn't realize I had other mm's I had already gotten that the cashier pushed through. My total was $22.93 and I had a large bag of dog food. I went ahead and paid, then turned around, went to customer service and returned the dog food, getting $22.98 back. lol. They paid me $.05 after all. HA! And they didn't get the $58 of coupons in payment I would have spent there. Their loss. I went from Kroger to Rite Aid and used the same coupons for overage, and got my dog food free.

Kroger:
Total value of items purchased: $60.33
Spent: -$.05

Rite Aid:
Finished off my RA gift card by buying $7.49 Nature's Bounty vitamins, used the overage for dog food. Free Chex Mix. Used a gift card I got with overage yesterday to pay for the total. :)
Total Value of items purchased: $26.24
Spent: $1.03 on gift card.

Total profit today: $.05

Great Printables round-up

I have found some great printables from asll sorts of places lately, so I'm compiling them. Here you go!

Chocolate Milk FREE wyb 1 Gallon of milk (if you still have the Free gallon wyb $100 groceries, that's both milks FREE!) HERE (sign up and then print coupon)

Dove $2/1 Ultimate Deodorant HERE or for IE HERE

Dove $1.75/1 Dove Men + Care Body & Face bar (4 bar pack or larger), $1.50/1 Dove Men + Care Body & Face Wash both available HERE (you might have to back out and register to print...

Huggies $2/1 HERE and HERE

Peppridge Farms Goldfish $.75/1 HERE

Reynolds Parchment Paper $1/1 HERE

Reynolds Aluminum Foil $1/1 HERE

Reynolds Recycled Foil $.50/1 HERE

SOBE Bogo HERE or IE HERE

Special K Granola Cereal $1/1 HERE
(pair with the Target $1/1 HERE - if still available and get free at Publix this week!)

Special K Fruit Crisps $1/1 HERE

Starbucks bottled Frappuccino (any) $1/1 HERE (you do not have to log in with FB to get this, just cancel out of the facebook screen)

Trojan Condoms $2/1 HERE

Also, while you're at it, go HERE and request your free Homemade Simple coupon booklet- there are some great coupons in this book and it's totally free. People often ask how I can get EVERYTHING for free. Well, I gether as many coupons from as many sources as I possibly can. These booklets are merely one part of that, so go get yours!

Donations?

Since becoming an extreme couponer, I occasionally find myself overrun with a certain item, like Contact Lens solution, deodorant, Blink Tears, etc that I am really not sure what to do with. I have made a few donations, but nothing large-scale. I am in the process of making a list of some organizations in the Nashville area that will take donations of the items we have, unopened health and beauty items as well as Diabetic Monitors! :)

If you're in the Nashville/Clarksville area, check over on the left side of my blog in the next couple of days. I'll be adding a box with organizations that would be grateful to accept any donations you'd like to make.

Thank you for your generosity in helping others.

Here are a few I have heard back from so far:

Nashville:
Park Center: Offering affordable and safe residential housing for people with mental illness, women with children, homeless, and supportive housing. Beverly says: "We serve many people who do not have the income for everyday supplies. We also serve people experiencing homelessness, so any items that might help them as they live on the street would also be appreciated. We use some donated items for door prizes for our members when we have special events and we always try to have a good supply of toiletry items for members who just need them. As some of our members are able to move into housing, we always need items for what we call Welcome Home Kits. We get a laundry basket and fill it with dish soap, towels, sheets and items like toothpaste, toothbrush, etc. We are always needing linens."
To donate, contact Beverly Grant @ 615-242-3576 ext.234, Beverly.Grant@parkcenternashville.org
801 12th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203

Magdalene and Thistle Farms: Magdalene is a two-year residential community founded in Nashville Tennessee in 1997 for women with a history of prostitution and drug addiction. Magdalene was founded not just to help a sub-culture of women, but to help change the culture itself. We stand in solidarity with women who are recovering from sexual abuse, violence, and life on the streets, and who have paid dearly for a culture that buys and sells women like commodities.
To donate, contact Donna Grayer @615-320-5325, grayer3070@comcast.net
721 Lena Street, Nashville, Tennessee 37208

The Next Door: Programs, employment, and housing for women in crises. The Freedom Recovery Center provides permanent housing for women and their children with on-site access to recovery support services, specifically those addressing addiction and mental health issues.
They take the following items:
Toilet Paper
Paper Towels
Individual Tissues packs
Paper Plates
Paper Cups
Napkins
One subject spiral bound notebooks
Shampoo/Conditioner
Toothpaste/ Toothbrush
bars of soap
Razors
Lotion
Deodorant
tampons
pads
Towels
wash cloths
Set of twin sheets
Twin Comforter
Pillow
Work clothing
To donate, contact Mary Rufener @ 615-251-8805, ext. 208, mary@thenextdoor.org


Clarksville:
Old Firehouse Day Shelter: A day shelter for the homeless. They feed meals, provide showers, laundry and other assistance needed for the homeless. They say: "We accept donations of all sorts and would be thrilled to have anything you could donate. Yes we do have a need for diabetic monitors, lots of our clients are diabetic and could use them."
To donate, contact Mary Jo Lehman @ 931-542-0381 ext.0383, firehouse@CMCCAA.com
1498 Golf Club Lane , Clarksville TN

Rite Aid, week of 1/31

I've been telling you that there are some great deals to be had at Rite Aid, and I wanted to show you what I mean. This week the Nature's Bounty vitamins are bogo, including the Flexamin (thanks for pointing this out Mel@ GreatShoppingGame!). There are also some freebies...

Free:
Blink Tears 7.99 ~ earn $7.99 SCR #45
-$2/1 mq 1.31.SS
=$2mm after rebate

Colgate Total 2.99 ~earn $2 SCR
-$1/1 1.17 SS
=Free after rebate

Chex Mix $.99/ea
-$1/2 Rite Aid Video Valuesq
-$.50/1 printable HERE or HERE
=2 free wyb 2

Garnier Fructis $2.50/ea
-$1/1 Rite Aid Video Valuesq
-$1/1 mq 1.10.10 RP
=$.50/1 (or to get them free, see below!)
~
If you have five papers from 1.10.10, do this:
Buy
5 Garnier Fructis shampoo/conditioners @ 2.50/ea
5 Garnier Fructis stylers @ 2.50/ea
=$25.00

Use
$5/20
5x$1/1 GF shampoo/conditioner mq 1.10.10 RP
5x$1/1 GF styler mq 1.10.10 RP
10x $1/1 RA VVq HERE
=-$25

=$0 oop +tax
~

Cheap:
Kleenex bogo (I believe they are $2.49/ea)

Buy
6 Kleenex @ 2.49/ea bogo
=$7.47

Use
2x $.50/3 mq 1.3.10 RP (or blinkie)
3x $1/2 Kleenex RA VVq from January
=$4

=$3.47 oop + tax


Nature's Bounty printables, $5/1, $3/1, $2/1 available when you sign up HERE and enter points. For more information on codes, go HERE.

I keep going on and on about those Nature's Bounty coupons, but they are really great high values q's that get you overage - this week you can get overage at Walgreens, Rite and and Kroger with the bogo sales. All these places allow one coupon on each item in a bogo sale, so you can get some nice overage.

PLUS! There's a rebate deal at Rite Aid right now that includes Nature's Bounty products.
SCR#552 states when you buy $25 of included products, you get a $10 Rite Aid gift card, and when you buy $50 in products, you get a $25 gift card. This SCR includes the following items which can give you a free gift card for spending little of nothing.

SCR# 552 item: Nature's Bounty $4.99, $5.49, $7.99
-$5/1, $3/1 or $2/1
-$1/1 Rite Aid Video Values q
Stack a mq with a Video Values q for maximum overage.
~earn $ toward SCR#552

~scenario
Buy
2 Nature's Bounty $4.99/ea bogo
-$5/1 mq x2
-$1/1 mq x2
=$7.01 overage!
~earn $4.99 toward SCR#552
~

Now, think like a couponer and not like a regular person. Get yourself up to $20 in products and use a $5/20 for even MORE savings! Either use the overage on things you need, or buy the free after SCR items to get even more money back.

SCR# 552 item: Flexamin $14.99 bogo this week!
-$6/1 1.10 RP
-$1/1 Rite Aid Video Values q (same as Nature's Bounty)
=buy two use two q's each, pay $.99
~earn $14.99 toward SCR#552

Alright, so here's what I am doing

The ultimate SCR#552 Scenario

Transaction 1
2 Nature's Bounty $5.49 bogo
2 Flexamin $14.99 bogo
1 Colgate $2.99
1 20 oz drink 1.49
1 water .99
=$26.05

Use
$5/20
2x $2/1 NB ip
2x $6/1 Flexamin mq
4x $1/1 NB/Flex RA VVq
$1/1 Colgate mq
=-$26.00

=$.45 oop + tax

Earn $20.58 toward #552
Earn $2 SCR for Colgate

Transaction 2
2 Nature's Bounty $4.99 bogo
2 Flexamin $14.99 bogo
1 Blink Tears $7.99
6 Kleenex $2.49 bogo
1 20 oz drink $1.49 (pepsi product to get the Life ticket! :) )
=$36.93

Use
$5/20
2x $5/1 NB ip
2x $6/1 Flexamin mq
4x $1/1 NB/Flex RA VVq
$2/1 Blink Tears mq
2x $.50/3 Kleenex mq 1.3.10 SS or blinkie
3x $1/2 Kleenex Rite Aid VV q (from Jan, exp 2/28)
=-$37.00

=-$.07 oop + tax
(Rite Aid registers will allow coupons to cover part of tax, YMMV though as your cashier may not. Just throw in a candy bar or something at the end, if needed)

Earn $19.98 toward #552
Earn $7.99 SCR for Blink Tears

Transaction 3
2 Nature's Bounty $9.99 bogo
4 Garnier Fructis Shampoo/Conditioner/Styler
2 Chex Mix .99/ea
=$21.97

Use
$5/20
$3/1 NB ip
$2/1 NB ip
2x $1/1 NB RA VVq
4x $1/1 Garnier Fructis mq
4x $1/1 Garnier Fructis Rite Aid VV q
$1/2 Chex Mix Rite Aid VVq
2x $.50/1 Chex Mix mq
=-$22.00

=-$.03 oop + tax


Earn $9.99 toward #552

Total oop for 3 Transactions: $.35 + tax
Earned $25 Rite Aid gift card
Earned $7.99 SCR, $2 SCR

Total Profit: $34.65

Calphalon for nearly dirt cheap!

Yes, I'm a cookware snob. Working at Cooking Light magazine, then Linens-n-Things (in kitchenware) taught me way too much about cookware, and I LOVE Calphalon. Check out these great deals on the hard-anodized line at Amazon!

If you're in the market for some new pans, I can't say enough good things about Calphalon.

If you're not familiar with Amazon's deals, be warned, they fluctuate greatly. Once they see an item start flying out the door, it often goes up in price, so if you like this deal, jump on it and don't wait.



Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 2-1/2-Quart Shallow Saucepan with Lid is currently 75% off! This retails for $119.00 and is currently selling for $29.99!

There are several other pans on sale too:
Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 12-Inch Everyday Pan with Lid 76% off at $39.99

and others, browse around! You might get some great deals.

Walgreens deals!

I made it to Wags yesterday, with the help of my lovely husband who was enlisted to drive me (sine we had that horrid snowstorm) and watch the kids. He also got to do the Meter transactions while I got the rest of the items so it would not take as long. Lucky him. ;)

We did 17 transactions, 8 for the monitors and 9 for the other items. I also have a special order in for Joint Juice b/c he loves it- it works really well and he had knee surgery in the past, so this is very beneficial to him. Here's how we did

(started with some rr's- not sure how many...maybe about $80?)
8 Accu-check monitors
3 Joint Juice
1 Blink Tears
2 VitaminWater Lip care
4 Lypsyl Lip
1 water
6 Red Baron pizzas
8 Sweethearts candies (I LOVE these things!)
6 newspapers
3 mini sticker books
1 bubbles
1 Thermacare back
1 Advil
7 12pk Mt Dew
Total tax: $20.85
Total oop: $22.61

Will submit for Lyspyl rebate: $8 MIR back

RR's left: $87