Tuesday, August 26, 2008

CVS 8/24

CVS is looking quite good to me this week. Here's my run-down and my plan.

Transaction #1
  • 2 Revlon Nail Polish BOGO @ $4.59
  • 1 Kotex 16 count box @ $1.49
  • 1 Playtex Gentle Glide tampons 18 count box $4.99
Total $11.07
  • Use $2 off $10 printable
  • $1 off any Kotex product (7-20 SS or there is also one in the last issue of All You)
  • $1 off Playtex (6-22 RP This is an older coupon for some of you -- if you don't have it, just increase your oop by $1 -- it will still be a good deal)
  • 2 $2 off Revlon (7-20 SS)
Total OOP $3.07
You will earn
  • $1.49 ECB from Kotex
  • $3.00 ECB from Playtex

Transaction 2

  • 2 CVS tampons with free liners @ $4.99 each
  • 2 Zipfizz drink @$5.99 ea

Total 21.96

Use a $4/20 printout

Use your 4.49 from the last transaction

Total oop =13.96

BUT you'll get ECB for $15.98 (Your grand total so far is $1.05 and you have all of this stuff. But WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!)

Transaction 3

  • 2 packages of Stayfree pads $9.00
  • 2 tubes of Colgate $3.99 BOGO

Total $12.99

  • $2/10 coupon
  • 2 of the $1.00 off of Colgate from this past week's insert
  • 1 BOGO coupon for the Stayfree from 6/29 RP

Total oop 4.49 (Pay with the ECB from above, so not really oop at all!)

Earn ECB of $5.00

Thursday, August 21, 2008

FaceBook Flop: What a Mess!!

For those of you who haven't been following the FaceBook coupon saga ---- three words sum it all up nicely: What a mess!!

Click through to here to find an article that lays out the facts rather nicely

Then go here to find some perspective from someone who got caught in the mess (Note: I really respect IHeartCVS and commend the incredibly ethical behavior demonstrated through all of this --- if you scroll down to older posts on the blog, you'll see examples of what I mean. Classy individual who totally has a right to way more ranting than is being done)

Personally, I found out about the coupons while they were still very lucrative -- but being a FaceBook chicken, I delayed considerably. By the time I got there, the coupons were down to about $.50 off or so --- wasn't sure they really were even worth the toner and paper, but I did print out a few of them. Thankfully, I didn't get around to using them --- thus potentially destroying my reputation with several stores (at one of the stores I frequently patronize, the manager has been known to tell a particular balky cashier "This lady knows what she's doing. If she gave you the coupons, just put them through.") You don't come by that kind of reputation easily --- and I would be raging, blazing mad to have it ruined with a mess like this (which I think is a big part of IHeartCVS's point).

Check out Dana's post about ethical behavior --- its a tad preachy for my taste, but that's the audience at that blog, so....... But regardless --- she's got a point. We have to be ethically and morally responsible people..... period... end.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary

I think that one of the internet abbreviations that tickles me most has got to be YMMV. I don't know why, it just makes me smirk when I see it. Well, today was certainly a YMMV kind of a day.

I did a fair amount of shopping: Stop and Shop, Big Y, Price Chopper, CVS, and Walgreens. (Whew!) Some stores, I did better than I had planned --- some stores were disappointing and deals didn't work out the way I had planned at all. It's just the way of things when you're stacking up sales, coupons and rebates/ECBs all over the place.

So here is how it all played out:

Stop and Shop: I did some fresh food shopping (fish and a few veggies that aren't likely to be at the farmer's market on Saturday). My sales hunting was limited to Windex (2/$5 and then coupons on top of that) and cat food (free coupons -- for the Humane Society). But when I got there, I discovered they actually had a better deal on the Cheerios than Walgreens --- where I had planned to do the Cheerios deal. So -- I shuffled my coupons around and worked the Cheerios deal in Stop and Shop (4/$6 less the Cheerios Challenge coupons -- ended up as 4/$2 Woo Hoo!!)

Big Y: I had rainchecks left from their 08/08/08 sale last week when they ran out of EVERYTHING. So I got two more boxes of Cheerios ($.88 each less a coupon for $.75 off two), and two cans of coffee ($.88 each). They also had L'Oreal Pro Vive shampoo on sale Buy One Get Two free -- and I had three coupons good for $1 each. It ended up at $1.99 for three bottles of shampooo. I really didn't save any money from the CVS L'Oreal deal, but I ended up with three bottles of shampoo instead of two.

Price Chopper: The only thing that really piqued my interest this week was the Scott toilet paper at 12 rolls for $5.99. That's not a bad price, but I had $.75 coupons and the flyer from Price Chopper had coupons for doubling any paper product coupon. Final price 12 rolls for $4.49. So, I bought 24 rolls. I have additional coupons, but I'm not sure I want to stockpile that much toilet paper. The food pantry can't take it because the rolls are not individually wrapped (one of the rules at the local food pantry). I'll have to decide before Saturday when the sale ends. We'll see.

CVS: This was hugely a YMMV kind of a trip. I planned to work the Johnson and Johnson deal with some smallish packages of Bandaids -- and I had a pile of coupons at the ready (realistically, I could have bandaided the entire US forces in Iraq with the bandaids from the coupons (hmmmm, that might have potential for the Charity Challenge....) But YMMV -- so only the funky super bandaids were working and the Neosporin. So I ended up with two tubes of Neosporin for just under $5.00 (paid in ECBs) and 5 ECBs back -- free Neosporin -- that's good. Then I hunted like mad (at two different CVS stores) for the toothpaste that is part of the glucose monitor deal. Not only couldn't I find it, but no one in either store had the first clue about it (I guess none of the other deal hunters in my area have tried this one yet eh???) I ended up with some Colgate that didn't work -- and a gift card for $5.00 because the shift supervisor at my favorite CVS was so terrific (Go Hollie!!) I couldn't find my Crest coupon in the mess I had made of my coupons by that point (I hate revising plans on the go). The Puffs tissues weren't the right ones (so the Grocery Game isn't foolproof then??)

Walgreens: the peanut butter deal worked flawlessly and I am the new owner of no fewer than 12 jars of peanut butter. The Kraft deal wasn't working at all (and they were out of Jello -- just bare shelves). But I did get the Hefty bags and some Jiffy Cornbread mix along with it). I also ended up with two AirWick oil warmers and two oil refills for free (didn't plan on them but I had the coupons handy and they aligned with the sale perfectly)

So, the next time I read YMMV, I'll smirk -- and then sigh --- such is life.

Body Shop: What a Deal!!


The Body Shop at the mall has a couple of deals going on right now --- and (as usual) combining them creates a super terrific deal.


Here's how it works:


Go here to get a coupon good for a free bottle of lotion (its the small, travel size, but its FREE!) You'll sign up to receive their email notifications of sales etc, and they'll email you a coupon good for the free lotion. Easy


Then go here to get a coupon good for a free pair of the "sweetest, softest socks on earth" (their words, not mine). This is a coupon that you can print out immediately. They're free with a $15.00 purchase.


Then go here and get a coupon good for $10 off of any in-store purchase of $10 or more.


Now, go to the mall and make a stop at the Body Shop. Pick out about $15 worth of yummy smelling slathery stuff for your body (or for a terrific gift basket for someone you love). Add the trial size lotion and the free socks. Give the clerk all of your coupons and a $5 bill --- WOW. All that stuff for a measly $5.


I'm liking the Body Shop better and better these days.


Thanks to Coupon Cravings for this hot tip.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Walgreens Week of 8/17

This looks like a pretty great week at Walgreens for me. Here's what I'm planning to buy:

Transaction 1

  • 6 jars of Skippy peanut butter -- at 3/$5 that will total to 10.00. Minus 3 coupons for $1.00 off two jars comes to $7.00 oop ---- I'll get $4.00 in Register Rewards at the end.

Transaction 2

  • 4 boxes of Cheerios at $1.99 each = $7.96 minus $4.00 worth of coupons from the Cheerios Challenge = $3.96
  • since I have a full $4.00 in Register rewards to spend and I know that the Walgreens by me applies that to before tax purchases only, I'll ad in 2 boxes of Hefty zipperlock storage bags which are BOGO at $2.79. That makes my new total = $6.75 minus a $1.00 off two coupon for the Hefties = $5.75
  • I'll pay that with the $4.00 Register Rewards from the first transaction and then I'll only owe them $1.75 plus tax. Woo Hoo!!

Transaction 3

  • I'm repeating the Skippy transaction, but because I get differing versions of the paper, I don't have all of the same coupons --- so my $10.00 will only be less $2.50 in coupons (boo hoo) = $7.50 and I'll still get $4.00 in Register Rewards (before someone asks, I'm not paying for Skippy with the Register Rewards, because then the rewards wouldn't print out again.)

Transaction 4 (can't believe I'm doing this many transactions at Walgreens. I usually only do this at CVS!)

  • Walgreens is doing a deal where if you buy $10.00 worth of Kraft products, you get $4.00 in Register Rewards. Since you know I collected a couple of copies of All You Magazine, you know I have plenty of the buy some Kraft product and get a ton of other ones free. I already know that Walgreens carries the Wheat Thin Crackers and the jello and that they count for this deal --- so that's my default plan 4 free boxes of Wheat Thins and a whole lot of jello to hit the $10.00 total. But I'm taking my whole strip of Kraft coupons from All You with me --- we'll see if I can put together something better on the spot ---- in any event, I'll walk out with $4.00 in Register Rewards --- With the Jello plan, I'll lay out about $4.00 oop.

Fifth and Final transaction!!

  • 10 boxes of the Hefty bags = $13.95 less $5.00 in coupons = $8.95 Pay with the $4.00 Register Rewards from the last Skippy Deal and $4.00 Register Rewards from the Kraft deal and owe Walgreens a whopping $.95 (The cashier will likely have a canary!)

So -- all in all, I'll lay out about $13.00 and walk out with a boatload of stuff. I'm happy.

Monday, August 18, 2008

A Husband's Tale: Married to a Couponer

Ryan in Virginia has written one of the funniest, down to earth posts about life with a couponing wife. You have got to read it!!

Go here -- but first --- go to the bathroom, and then get some kleenex - I promise you, the laughter will cause tears to run down your cheeks. (For God's sake if you're reading this in Starbucks or some other free public internet site, don't click through now -- you will get some enormously strange looks when the howls of laughing recognition emanate from your body.)

Ryan is married to Dana Adams, who is a fairly new couponer --- you'll recognize all of the symptoms (and probably share a few of them -- and the symptoms you don't share -- they'll come, they'll come). While this is hysterically funny, it is also very high praise for his wife (read through the comments too -- there are some other wonderfully awed guys who cheer for their wives as they do the seemingly impossible.) I couldn't wait to forward it to my husband and a few other guys who support this crazy habit.

Rite Aid Week of August 17th

Rite Aid has some pretty good deals this week -- especially if you can scrounge up some of the coupons. I know I try to use coupons that are no more than 1 month old, so as not to frustrate my newbies -- but I'm going to mention one or two that are a tiny bit older today (newbies, just ignore anything that pre-dates your coupon collecting start date)

FREE STUFF
  • Crest Toothpaste $3.19 1/1 coupon (8/3 P&G) Plus there is a SCR of $3.19= Overage aftercoupon & SCR. You make money on this purchase!
  • L'Oreal Vive Pro Shampoo or Conditioner B1G1FUse B1G1F Use theL’Oreal Vive Pro Hydra Gloss (7/13 SS)= Free after coupon
  • St. Ives B1G1FUse B1G1F coupon (8/10 RP)= Free after coupon

Rite Aid has a ton of BOGO and Buy this, get that deals this week. Remember a BOGO isn't a good deal on its own. It's simply a sales device for the store. You want to match it with a coupon or a rebate to make it a good deal. Remember on all of these, you can use two coupons -- one for each item. That's the beauty of the BOGO sale paired with coupons. So here goes:

  • Almay TLC foundation, and get Almay TLC lip color -- $1/1 (8/3 SS)
  • Arm & Hammer Age Defying or Advance White Toothpaste (go the website and you can print two coupons for $1 off)
  • Bayer Asprin $4.99 Use $2 coupon (7/27 RP)Combine w/ $2 SCR= $.99 after SCR & coupon
  • Citre Shine Hair Care $1/1 (8/17 SS)
  • Coppertone Sun Products - there have been tear pads of $1/1 coupons all over the Rite Aid and CVS around here. Look for them, they can make this a really good deal.
  • L'Oreal Color Spa Moisture Actif Hair Color $2/1 (7/20 SS)
  • L'Oreal Hip cosmetics $2/1 (8/03 RP)
  • L'Oreal Lip color $2/1 (8/17 RP)
  • L'Oreal Moisturizer, and get a L'Oreal cleanser $1/1 (8/10 RP)
  • Maybelline volume seduction lip gloos, and get Maybelline Salon nail enamel*
  • Nivea skin care, and get 1 oz tin of Nivea cream $1/1 (7/27 RP)
  • Olay Body Wash, get Olay quench lotion (PG 8/03)
  • Post Cereals $1 (7/27 SS)
  • Revlon, cosmetics and grooming Implements $2.00 (7/20 SS)

Frugal Millionaires

I went to check my email this morning and an MSN story just popped out at me. They actually did a piece on frugal millionaires -- young people with a ton of money (okay, that's not me!) who choose to live simple, frugal lifestyles. Now -- frugal for me and frugal for them --- clearly different animals. One of them keeps a private jet.
But -- the article and the millionaires interviewed in it made some excellent points. Like: "What's the point of spending money when you can think of so many better ways to use it?" and "it's much better to earn interest for themselves than to pay interest to someone else"
The article included a link to another terrific article about creative donations to charity (also well worth the three minutes it takes to read) which led them up to my favorite quote of all: "Your own financial security depends far more than you may think on the financial, physical and spiritual health of others in your community, our nation, our world. When you share your good fortune by donating your money, time and talent to charity, you help create a stronger economy and a healthier, safer world."
You can read the entire article here. Think about it.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

In the Garden





I made a sidetrip to White Flower Farm yesterday. How gorgeous -- did you know you can wander through the grounds and enjoy the gardens for FREE?? All they ask, is no picnicking and no pets. Wow!
The gardens were beautiful this time of year, so much is in bloom and looking wonderful. And the helpful staff was amazing. There was so much FREE gardening help and advice walking around that place!! And they went out of their way to be helpful -- they asked questions, chatted about all things gardening and not -- and offered suggestions of plants, methods, solutions etc. And they never tried to sell me anything. Really!! I walked away after about 2 hours having purchased NOTHING.
Having said that: they really have a couple of deals that simply cannot be beat and I wanted to show them to you here.
1. Naturalizing Daffodils click here to see the link for these. They are beautiful. You get 100 daffodil bulbs (don't be put off because it says narcissus -- daffodils ARE narcissus -- and they spread like mad. By the end of about 2 years, you'll have double what you planted. This is a fabulous spring garden for very little money. I know, I know, you can sometimes buy daffodil bulbs at Walmart or some other place for less money than this --- Did you ever notice?? They rarely spread or naturalize? And you're lucky if they keep coming back more than about 4 years. White Flower Farm isn't selling you those cheap expendable bulbs... these beauties will last and last --- and come up every spring. Can't beat that.... They also offer a "professionals mix" which is bulbs that are a little smaller than the ones above, but still bloom beautifully and naturalize wonderfully quickly... I happen to think they're a better bargain -- but then again, I'm cheap.
2. The Shade Garden -- oh my is this beautiful -- especially if your yard is like mine and you have tons and tons of shade. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the shady yard in terms of the cooling effect on the house and the pleasant places to sit in the hot summer afternoon. But the shade isn't much for the gardening side of me. In fact, most of the gardening quizzing that I did with the staff at WFF was around the deep shade portion of my yard. The lady at WFF explained that this plan is a 3 season shade garden that starts with the daffodils I showed you up above. (the catalog doesn't show that) Then the perennials emerge and hide the dying daffodil leaves -- and give you a gorgeous shady garden for the summer. How beautiful. Check out the plan here Its kind of expensive, but I'm looking at the plants involved and thinking that everyone I know is dividing and giving away hostas this fall (I picked up 5 or 6 on the side of the road earlier this summer that someone had dug up and was discarding) and the bleeding heart is easy to find someone who will give you a piece when they divide -- so that will take care of about half of the plants I'll need. I'm happy to give WFF my business for the rest.

Did I mention that WFF has a moneyback guarantee?? They really and truly honor it -- even if it was beginner gardener stupidity that caused the plant to die (that was the voice of experience, right there) And if you sign up for their catalog and refer friends, they start you out with a free $5 toward your first purchase (and for your friends too!) Gift certificates get you a 10% discount -- and there isn't a reason in the world that you can't do a gift certificate for your husband or wife and get the savings.... How much better can it get???

Finally, let me say that one of the reasons that I so like using White Flower Farm is that the plants were "born and raised" somewhat locally. The farm is about an hour away from us -- so the climate, soil etc are fairly similar. Plants that come to New England from southern climates often go into shock at the barren soil of our region, the frosty winters, and the wild temperature fluctuations of the late summer and early fall. I've lost so many lovely plants because of that. Plants that are born and raised here just don't know any better. They tough it out like good Yankees.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Been A'Viking!!

I met my sister at her work today to trade a few coupons and some items we had each picked up for each other (she a about a million Q-tips, which the Humane Society here loves, loves, loves). While we were accomplishing this, one of her colleagues referred to our shopping as "going a'Viking" and likened it to pillaging a village. The thought caught my fancy -- its a pretty funny image, wandering around CVS in a Viking hat putting together the coupons and deals --
Anyway -- here's my haul for today

Transaction 1
1 Roc Cleanser 7.99
1 Playschool Wipe 1.99
1 CVS travel size Qtips .50
Total 10.48 before tax
Minus
2.00 coupon from Richmond Parents
1.00 coupon for Playskool Wipes
2.00 coupon off any CVS skincare
5.00 coupon from Roc
end total oop .50

Transaction 2
Exactly the same as above

Transaction 3
Exactly the same as transaction 1 and 2

Transaction 4
Exactly the same as transactions 1,2,and 3 BUT --
now having spent 2.00 oop the register prints out 10.00 ECB for buying the Roc SWEET.

Transaction 5 (yup, I kept going)
2 bags of Dove dark almond candy at 2/6.00
1 bag of Hershey Bliss dark chocolate 4.29
total 10.29
minus
2.00 from Richmond Parents
3.00 from buy one get one Dove coupon
2.00 Hershey Bliss coupon
new total 3.29
paid with 3.00 ECB from last week
oop .29
and got 5.00 ECB from the chocolate

Transaction 6
4 bottles of CVS sunscreen 2.19 each but part of the sale for 2.00 each one, so really .19 each
1 bag of Werthers candy 1.50
total 2.26
minus 2.00 CVS skincare coupon
oop .26

Transaction 7
Alavert 5.99
2 tubes of Colgate BOGO at 2.79
1 bag of Hershey's miniatures at 2.50
1 travel size Qtip at .50
total 11.78
minus
2.00 Richmond Parents coupon
3.00 2x 1.50 Colgate coupons
2.00 CVS skincare coupon
4.00 Alavert Coupon from the company website
oop .78 AND got ECB for 3.00 for the Alavert

Which means that all in all I spent 4.11 oop and came home with ALL THAT STUFF!!! Plus I came home with 15.00 ECB that I didn't have when I started. WOO HOO. and I'm building toward another 5.00 ECB for the chocolate (the Werthers and the Hersheys count toward it again ---)

So --- how did you do???

I'm way over the transaction limit (technically -- but I'm happy, so who cares, really) but I added this to the $5 CVS challenge over at Keeping the Kingdom First

Monday, August 11, 2008

the 1930's Wife Test

okay, this is hysterical ---- and you've GOT to try it. Its basically a 100 statement list. You check those statements which are true about yourself --- and VOILA!! it tells you how you stack up as a 1930's wife --- funny, charming, dated ---- a lot of fun.... Try it out here:

106

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

All You Magazine

This is the magazine that is the Walmart special -- Walmart produces it, and only Walmart sells it. Its at the registers (not on the magazine rack out in the store) and it runs $1.97. You really, really, really want to get a copy of it every month (subscriptions are quite cheap, the card is inside the magazine) This month, you really, really, really want to get several copies of it. (I already have 2 and will be stopping by to pick up another copy (or two) before I'm done.
This magazine ALWAYS pays for itself in coupons (its loaded)!! But this month, it really outdoes itself. The coupons in ONE copy will pay for about 8-10 copies.

Here's how it works:
The items below alone MORE than pay for the effort and cost of getting the magazines.

You need only buy 3 packages of koolaid to get free:
  • Kraft Salad dressing
  • Mayer Hot Dogs
  • Crystal Light
  • Wheat Thins
  • Kraft Singles Cheese

You'll be getting about $15.00 worth of free food for buying 15 pack of .20 koolaid (3 packs per free item) or $3.00.

But wait, there's more!! You'll also get a whole bunch of coupons besides that:

Some that I think might interest you (this is NOT a comprehensive list, my dears) for a complete list, see the CherryPicker's blog

  • Jiff to go
  • $1.00 Kotex product.
  • $1.00 Ban product 1.5 fl oz or larger.
  • $1.00 Orville Redenbackers Popcorn Cakes
  • $1.00 Peter Pan Peanut Butter
  • .75 Dole Fruit Parfaits.
  • $1.00 Kellogs Mini Wheats Blberry Cereal
  • .55/2 SunnyD Chilled Products
  • $1.00/2 Del Monte Fruit Chillers
  • $1.00/4 Boston Market frozen entrees.
  • $1.00/2 Ore-Ida frozen potatoes
  • $2.50 BIZ product.
  • $1.00 Spot Shot Carpet Stain eliminator
  • $1.00 Glade Odor eliminator.
  • $1.00 2000 Flushes Toilet Bowl Cleaners
  • 22oz Zout Laundry Stain Remover
  • One day pass to Sam's Club

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Shopping List Tool

This looks incredibly cool. Colette at WayMore4WayLess has developed a spreadsheet that keeps track of what's the deal at what store. I know that I'm always reading the blogs and the list at Coupon Mom and The Grocery Game and then when I get all done, I can't remember what I'm supposed to be buying and where I'm supposed to be buying it.
Keeping track of all of the coupons, advertised and unadvertised deals, rebates etc can be tricky, tricky, tricky. Colette has graciously put this spreadsheet on her blog for free downloading!! Way to go Colette!! Just click here and you can download the thing ---- try it (I'm going to!!) and then lets compare notes. (Don't forget to send Colette your feedback on this tool too. Just leave a comment on her blog.)
Yay to Denise Sawyer for spreading the word about this......

Introduction to CVS

I'm not going to sit and write out a guide to CVSing when this guide is sooooooo good.
Head on over to:

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/cvs-need-hand-were-here-help/28157-cvs-rookies-101-a.html

and read your little brains out on how to understand and work the CVS system......

Start with Rite Aid this Week! More for the Newbies

Start with RiteAid this week -- there are some freebies and some moneymakers ----

The difference is: with RiteAid, you put out the money and get your refund at the end of the month ---- file the rebate online at the RiteAid site but don't request your check until the end of the month --- you can only request one rebate per month --- if you ask for your cheque, then you can't claim any additional rebates this month --- they'll accumulate the rebates for you and send you one cheque at the end of the month -- just save your recepits as back up data until you get the cheque

So --- here we goBuy any of the following you can use or give away (they all end up being free) Most are only good until 8/9 so go this week. Pick up a copy of the rebate book at the front of the store where the weekly flyers are.
  • Revlon nail polish 2.99 with a 2.99 rebate. (rebate #105) Limit 1. If you have the coupons from 2 weeks ago, you'll find a coupon for $1 off any Revlon. That will make this a moneymaker --- I think I saw one in this week's coupons too, but I'm not sure.
  • Charles Worthington Haircare 4.99 with 4.99 rebate (#90)
  • Gillette Men's Shampoo 4.49 less a 1.00 coupon in today's Proctor and Gamble insert and then a 3.49 rebate (#98)
  • Olay Total Effects Revitalizing Cleanser 7.99 less 1.00 coupon from today's Proctor and Gamble insert and then a 7.99 rebate --- you make 1.00 on this deal (rebate #6)
  • Gillette Fusion Razor 9.00 less 4.00 coupons from today's Proctor and Gamble insert and then a 5.00 rebate (#5)
  • Bausch and Lomb ReNu Multiplus Solution 8 oz twin pack -- 9.99 with a rebate of 9.99 (#51)
  • GE softwhite lightbulbs 2 pack 2.00 with a 2.00 rebate (#137)

If you guys eat cereal much --- the Rite Aid deal for Kelloggs cereal is pretty good this week too 1.99 each Raisin bran or other Kellogg's cereals --- less 1.00 off of 2 packages (kelloggs insert in today's paper) makes them 1.49 apiece --- pretty good. At the end of this you'll have carved up your Proctor and Gamble insert pretty badly --- keep holding on to it -- and hold onto additional ones if you can fish them out of the recycling bins -- the odds are that you'll get great deals at CVS later this month too.

Virgin CVS Trip for my Newbie Friends

You know who you are!! And I love all three of you dearly. Pretend I'm holding your hand with this. Ready?? Here we go

1. Go into CVS and ask the clerk for a CVS EXtraCare card --- they'll need a phone number and then you're good to go. When you get home, go to www.CVS.com and register your card. This will put you on the email list for periodic coupons etc.

BEFORE YOU GO TO THE STORE to shop!!
2. Go to http://www.richmondparents.com/RPM_PDFs.htm download the magazine and go to pg 30 to find the CVS coupon. Cut it (snapshot -- you know how) and copy it multiple times to a page and save it to your harddrive. You can print this out and use it as many different times as you want until it expires.

3. Get out the paper and get the coupons out (file the ones you don't use this week --- they'll be useful later on. Here's the free stuff for this week (there may be more coming as deals get put together)Do NOT just go and do these solo --- you want to combine them with the ECB (extra care buck) deals and the coupon I just had you print out to get the most out of the whole thing.... just go find your coupons first.

Deal #1 (Your Virgin Trip) Buy:
  • 2 Free Pert Shampoo:Pert Plus B1G1F @ $3.99Use (2) $2/1 MQ (8/3 P&G)= 2/Free!!
  • Dawn dish soap $.88Use $.50/1 MQ (8/3 P&G)= $.38
  • Crest toothpaste $2.49 and earn $1.49 ECB'sUse $.75/1 MQ (8/3 inserts)= $.25 after ECB & MQ
  • Colgate Total $2.99 and earn $2 ECB's Use the coupon It'll give you for 1.50 off= Free after ECB & MQ

Now do this in this order!!

1. Hand them your CVS card

2. Ring up the order (do not show or give your coupons until they total)

3. Give them the coupon your printed for 2.00 off your total

4. Give them your pile of remaining coupons5. Your out of pocket total (OOP) should be 1.61 plus tax

6. At the bottom of your receipt you will find some coupons Among them: ECB for 1.49 and ECB for 2.00. This is CVS money to use the next time we do this--- save all of the coupons on your receipt-- but guard these like cash.....

"Check your receipt for a free gift coupon when you use your ExtraCard card during your first visit in August."