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.
Showing posts with label frugal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Victoria's Secret Coat Deal (the deal's not a secret)
Victoria's Secret has a bunch of coats on sale right now. Plus use the Offer Code Pick50 and get an additional 50% off! I got a white puffer coat. It'll be perfect for next winter 'cause by the time it's delivered it's not going to fit over this preggie belly!
Apparently, this code also works for sweaters too.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Frugality the Walgreens way
I had a really great trip to Walgreens this week. It involved stockpiling Buzzkill's and HotMommy's favorite cereals, getting dish washing soap practically free, and getting much needed concealer better than BOGO.
Here's how it went:
Kellogg's Special K Strawberry 2 boxes @ $2.50 (my fav)
Coupon for $1 off when you buy 2 box of any Special K cereals
Raisin Bran 2 boxes @ $2.50 (Buzzkill's fav)
Register Reward of $3 earned by buying 4 boxes of cereals
Electrosol Dishwashing pods 20 count 2 boxes @ $3.49
2 Coupons for $2.50 off 20 count boxes
Walgreens Easysaver rebate of $1.50 earned this month
L'Oreal Concealers BOGO - bought 2 for $8.99
Coupon for $3 off any L'Oreal foundation, concealer, powder or blush
So, after coupons my subtotal was $16.97 plus $0.66 tax for a total of $17.63. On top of that I earned a total of $4.50 in RR and Easysaver rebates. That's a total savings of $33.49.
Thanks Walgreens!
Want to see more Drugstore Savings? Visit the "Cent"sible Sawyer's Drugstore Divas!
Here's how it went:
Kellogg's Special K Strawberry 2 boxes @ $2.50 (my fav)
Coupon for $1 off when you buy 2 box of any Special K cereals
Raisin Bran 2 boxes @ $2.50 (Buzzkill's fav)
Register Reward of $3 earned by buying 4 boxes of cereals
Electrosol Dishwashing pods 20 count 2 boxes @ $3.49
2 Coupons for $2.50 off 20 count boxes
Walgreens Easysaver rebate of $1.50 earned this month
L'Oreal Concealers BOGO - bought 2 for $8.99
Coupon for $3 off any L'Oreal foundation, concealer, powder or blush
So, after coupons my subtotal was $16.97 plus $0.66 tax for a total of $17.63. On top of that I earned a total of $4.50 in RR and Easysaver rebates. That's a total savings of $33.49.
Thanks Walgreens!
Want to see more Drugstore Savings? Visit the "Cent"sible Sawyer's Drugstore Divas!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Holiday Contests & A Little Horn Tooting
I know when I think about the holidays, two things at the top of my list are Walmart and Subway.
Well, maybe not the top, but I kicked tushie at Walmart on Black Friday and I crave Subway roast beefs more than fortnightly. So, I think about them. Your thinking about them now too, aren't you?
Luckily for us, a terrific frugal blogger (and soon-to-be mommy), The Centsible Sawyer is giving away a $100 Walmart gift card and a $15 Subway gift card.
Check out her YouTube channel as well. She's from my home state and I just love hearing the accent so dear to my heart.
P.S. On a bragging note, I payed $3.26 for 3 12-packs of Caffeine Free Diet Coke at CVS today. It was 3 packs for $11 and I had $7.99 in ECBs from Black Friday shopping to use. Buzzkill LOVES the stuff and I find it drinkable as well, so we go through a good bit in a month. I'm always trying to find a way to pay less then 20 cents a can.
Well, maybe not the top, but I kicked tushie at Walmart on Black Friday and I crave Subway roast beefs more than fortnightly. So, I think about them. Your thinking about them now too, aren't you?
Luckily for us, a terrific frugal blogger (and soon-to-be mommy), The Centsible Sawyer is giving away a $100 Walmart gift card and a $15 Subway gift card.
Check out her YouTube channel as well. She's from my home state and I just love hearing the accent so dear to my heart.
P.S. On a bragging note, I payed $3.26 for 3 12-packs of Caffeine Free Diet Coke at CVS today. It was 3 packs for $11 and I had $7.99 in ECBs from Black Friday shopping to use. Buzzkill LOVES the stuff and I find it drinkable as well, so we go through a good bit in a month. I'm always trying to find a way to pay less then 20 cents a can.
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!
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!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Contest, contest, contest
One of my favorite frugal blogs is running a contest in conjunction with the new season of Lipstick Jungle. The Punkinhead and HotMommy love Brooke Shields.
Go enter the contest and check out the blog: Penny Pinching Parent
Penny Pinching Parent lists the diaper and formula deals every Sunday all in one convenient blog post. They always have a link to it on their front page too.
Go enter the contest and check out the blog: Penny Pinching Parent
Penny Pinching Parent lists the diaper and formula deals every Sunday all in one convenient blog post. They always have a link to it on their front page too.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Target Pop Tart Deal
This is the kind of fun I can have when Buzzkill is home an extra day during the week!
Target had Pop Tarts 4 boxes of 12 for $9. Good deal, but wait.....when you buy 4 boxes of 12, you get a $5 gift card for Target! I bought 12 boxes yielding me $15 in gift cards.
Kellogg's has a deal that if you buy 10 products and submit a Fuel for School rebate form from the newspaper a few weeks ago, you get $10 back!
So basically, I paid $27 upfront, got my $15 gift cards, and will soon have a ten dollar rebate on the way = overall cost to me the consumer...$2 for 144 Pop Tarts.
Yes, experienced frugal shoppers, I know there were coupons I could have used. I even printed them out and took them with me, but the store told me they were no longer accepting web coupons. I'm new to this wheelin' and dealin' so I let it go for now....
But all in all I was pretty psyched about the deal.
I was going to be responsible and put the gift cards towards groceries next week. Then I remembered that the swimming vest I wanted to buy the Punkinhead for next summer was marked down again from $24.79 to $12.38 so i put that in my cart. And then there were some beach balls marked down to 76 cents each so those hopped into the cart too. Whoops, grocery budget help all gone!
But wait! I won a $25 gift card to Save-A-Lot from Sisterly Savings last week! I tell you, I can't wait for grocery day on Friday!
Our last deal for Saturday? We dress in Auburn t-shirts and went to Chick-fil-a for the free 3-strips of chicken for each person wearing college logo adorned clothing. I asked for our free food and sent Buzzkill to a table, then I pulled out a buy-a-Med.-Coke-get-a-Large-Waffle-Fry-Free coupon. I took that yummyness to our table and sent Buzzkill back with a buy-a-Med.-Dr.Pepper-and-a-Med.-Waffle-Fry-get-a-Chicken-Sandwich-Free coupon. So to recap: for $4.49, we feasted on 6 chicken strips, 1 chicken sandwich, a large fry, a med. fry, a Coke, and a Dr.Pepper!
I tingle inside with a little cha-ching! noise.
Target had Pop Tarts 4 boxes of 12 for $9. Good deal, but wait.....when you buy 4 boxes of 12, you get a $5 gift card for Target! I bought 12 boxes yielding me $15 in gift cards.
Kellogg's has a deal that if you buy 10 products and submit a Fuel for School rebate form from the newspaper a few weeks ago, you get $10 back!
So basically, I paid $27 upfront, got my $15 gift cards, and will soon have a ten dollar rebate on the way = overall cost to me the consumer...$2 for 144 Pop Tarts.
Yes, experienced frugal shoppers, I know there were coupons I could have used. I even printed them out and took them with me, but the store told me they were no longer accepting web coupons. I'm new to this wheelin' and dealin' so I let it go for now....
But all in all I was pretty psyched about the deal.
I was going to be responsible and put the gift cards towards groceries next week. Then I remembered that the swimming vest I wanted to buy the Punkinhead for next summer was marked down again from $24.79 to $12.38 so i put that in my cart. And then there were some beach balls marked down to 76 cents each so those hopped into the cart too. Whoops, grocery budget help all gone!
But wait! I won a $25 gift card to Save-A-Lot from Sisterly Savings last week! I tell you, I can't wait for grocery day on Friday!
Our last deal for Saturday? We dress in Auburn t-shirts and went to Chick-fil-a for the free 3-strips of chicken for each person wearing college logo adorned clothing. I asked for our free food and sent Buzzkill to a table, then I pulled out a buy-a-Med.-Coke-get-a-Large-Waffle-Fry-Free coupon. I took that yummyness to our table and sent Buzzkill back with a buy-a-Med.-Dr.Pepper-and-a-Med.-Waffle-Fry-get-a-Chicken-Sandwich-Free coupon. So to recap: for $4.49, we feasted on 6 chicken strips, 1 chicken sandwich, a large fry, a med. fry, a Coke, and a Dr.Pepper!
I tingle inside with a little cha-ching! noise.
New blogging path
This blog has been such a great outlet for me as a mom. Recipes, baby bragging, embarassing moments - you name it, I feel free to talk about it. So even though I was brought up to believe that talking about money is not polite, I'm going to do it anyway.
Not money exactly, but financial responsibility and saving money by practicing frugality.
Buzzkill and I were shocked by the skyrocketing gas prices this summer and the escalating prices of everything else related to that via shipping costs. Buzzkill works a good job and makes good money, but we made the decision that until our youngest child enters 5-day schooling, my career will be stay-at-home-mom. And that means our income decreased after the Punkinhead to complicate things even more. So, part of my new job description is household accountant and I want to make sure that I use every penny we earn to the best use it can have.
After doing research (where else?) on other mom blogs, I found there is a whole network of moms (and dads) working to be frugal. Not cheap, frugal - responsible and thoughtful about their money choices. It's been such a great education and I've loved getting to make more online friends too.
All that to say, from time to time, HotMommy's going to post about some of the great deals she's learned how to buy over the last month. It's another area I'm a newbie to, but it's become a big part of my life recently and one that I believe is here to stay. I've been stock-piling entries and will be sharing them very soon.
Not money exactly, but financial responsibility and saving money by practicing frugality.
Buzzkill and I were shocked by the skyrocketing gas prices this summer and the escalating prices of everything else related to that via shipping costs. Buzzkill works a good job and makes good money, but we made the decision that until our youngest child enters 5-day schooling, my career will be stay-at-home-mom. And that means our income decreased after the Punkinhead to complicate things even more. So, part of my new job description is household accountant and I want to make sure that I use every penny we earn to the best use it can have.
After doing research (where else?) on other mom blogs, I found there is a whole network of moms (and dads) working to be frugal. Not cheap, frugal - responsible and thoughtful about their money choices. It's been such a great education and I've loved getting to make more online friends too.
All that to say, from time to time, HotMommy's going to post about some of the great deals she's learned how to buy over the last month. It's another area I'm a newbie to, but it's become a big part of my life recently and one that I believe is here to stay. I've been stock-piling entries and will be sharing them very soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
