CVS and Wal-Mart runs this week

Days like Wednesday make me giddy to use coupons. I hosted the neighborhood playgroup on Monday and was "morning sick" all day Tuesday, so I was (and still am!) running behind on shopping deals this week. I still have a Walgreens run for diapers and a Kroger run for milk and toilet paper, but I managed to knock out biggies this week - CVS and Wal-Mart. And I did it with the Punkinhead in tow!

CVS was first. Here's the run down.
Transaction #1
I swung by the "magic" coupon printing machine and got $1.50 in ECBS instantly.

2 Golden Emblem (CVS brand) Cheese Crackers 9oz @ 1.97 ea. (Punkinhead digs these)
Received $2 in ECBs

4 3-packs of Kleenex tissues with lotion @ $3.69 ea. (good stockpile built now)
4 $0.50 off coupons on Kleenex 3-packs
Received $4 in ECBs

$15.41 Total after tax with $6 in ECBs to spend.

Transaction #2
3 12-packs of Caffeine-Free Diet Coke on sale for $11
Used the $6 in ECBs, so the total after tax was $5.41.


Wal-Mart had awesome deals.
8 Beech-Nut Let's Grow Microwaveable Meals $1.06-$1.16 (Totally a convenience item for when I need to throw a portable meal in the diaper bag.)
8 $1 off coupon on any Let's Grow product

3 No More Tangles Spray @ 2.72 ea.
$3 Off 3 coupon on Johnson's products

2 Johnson's Buddies soaps @ $0.97 ea.
1 No More Tangles Shampoo & Conditioner @ $3.52 (my receipt has gone missing so this amount may be slightly off)
$3 Off 3 coupon on Johnson's products

4 Green Giant Steamers on sale @ $1.50 ea.
4 $0.50 off 1 Green Giant Steamers coupons

1 Healthy Choice Frozen Dinner on sale @ $2.00 (Kept me from buying fast food for lunch!)
1 $1 Off coupon for any Healthy Choice Frozen item

Without coupons, this trip would have cost me $35.58. With coupons....$14.19!!!! That's over 60% off.

Admission

I know I coveted it. I begged for it. I blogged for it.

And I finally got it.

But I don't entirely like it. The Couponizer.

I love the money I save using coupons. It takes work, but as a stay-at-home-mom, I consider it part of my job to make the most of the one income we have. So, coupons. It's not for everyone, but I've grown to love the process. But not the disorganization that happened because I dove into the deep end. Total immersion into the coupon culture.

I've search all over YouTube, frugal blogs, coupon blogs, etc. for a coupon sorting system that would work for me. The Couponizer seemed to be the be all, end all, and I was eager to try it.

But here's why it sucks for me. I hate to cut coupons. The Couponizer needs you to cut all the coupons you file in it.

I use The Grocery Game to stockpile food deals and I like how it allows me to cut only the coupons I use. But I also need a way to quickly and easily sort through and keep track of all the other coupons I use at CVS and Walgreens.

I've decided to start my own system. When the Smart Source(SS), Red Plum(RP), and Procter & Gamble(PG) come in the Sunday paper, I'm entering all the coupons into an Access database. I'll be able to search it by publication date, source packet(SS,RP,PG), product type, expiration date, product name, quantity of coupons, etc. The time spent entering these once a week will be an hour at most.

Then all the coupon packets will get put into an accordion file(uncut) by source packet and then by packet date. When I need I coupon, I can search the database, pull the correct source packet, cut the coupon, return the source packet to the file, and go shop. No cutting a million little squares, no scissor blisters.

Never fear about The Couponizer being wasted though. All those random coupons that I get in the mail with samples, the blinkys from the grocery store aisles, and the ones I pull from magazines will get sorted in it. These loose coupons will also be entered into the database, but their "source" will list TC(The Couponizer).

It's taken some work, but I think I'm one my way to a system that's finally going to work for me. Yay!

Attention procrastinators!

So you haven't order your holiday cards yet? Good for you! This Kodak deal is rewarding you for taking your sweet time.

I, myself, have already ordered this year's holiday cards. Okay, I did it last Friday, and they haven't even been delivered yet. I decided to go ahead and get some more cards with this deal because I always find that there are folks not on my official list that I get cards from and need to add last minute.

I found this deal at another great "frugal" site Money Saving Methods . Her site's great and I'm going to add it to the frugal blog list to the right for y'all to check out.

So, the deal:

You can get THREE sets (30 photo cards total) for free! Plus, you get 75 4x6 prints free for registering with Kodak Gallery. You have to use the 75 prints within a month, but still, score..


I'm reprinting Carrie's instructions here, but you can also follow the link above to her original post.

* Click here to register with Kodak Gallery. Your 75 Free Prints will show up as a credit on your account. You ONLY have 1 month to use them. So, don't delay and lose those prints.

* Upload your holiday photo and create 30 cards (3 sets) Your quantity should show 3.

* Enter code tryus3

* Enter code 20freecards

You will have to pay shipping/handling, but it comes to a little over $3.(HotMommy paid $3.48)

Carrie also has instructions on how to save on shipping by having the cards sent to CVS. I personally thought spending the $3.48 to have them sent right to me was totally worth it.

The cost of the cards is pretty decent if you want to order more than 30 cards too.

No word on when this deal ends.....get busy!