Walgreens was good to me last night. When you’re good to mama, mama is good to you. Sorry, I thought I would sprinkle my blog with a little Broadway pizzaz.

Here’s what I did in 2 transactions to maximize my savings (you’ve got to be bold to be a coupon lady):

2 Boxes of Rice Crisipies 2/$5.00

1 Schick Hydro Razor $7.99

Purina One 60 oz Dog Food $1.99

Airwick Mini $4.99

Used:

-$1/2 Boxes of Rice Crispies

-$5/1 Hydro Razor

-Free bag of dog food coupon

-$4/1 Airwick mini

Total: $7.98 (before tax) Got back $4 in Register Rewards

2nd Transaction:

2 Pampers Jumbo Packs

2 Pampers Wipes

Plus 2 filler items: Peanut M&Ms for my loyal co-shopper, Josiah.

Used:

-$3/1 Pampers (from a mailer), $1.50/1 Pampers

-2 Free wipes when you purchase any Pampers diapers

-$4 in Register Rewards from first transaction

Total: $10.48 before tax! Got $3 in Register Rewards back

If I had walked into Walgreens to purchase all of this without coupons & sales, my total would have been: $59.52!!!

Instead I paid $18.46 and got back $3!

Couponing is very, very worth it.

Here’s another bit of pizzaz, Broadway style!

(well, not really, I think this was in England, but still… it’s Ewan McGregor and Jane Krakowski!)

A few good scores this week while shopping:

At Vons on Saturday, I stocked up on meat. I got  $50 worth of meat for $17.21!!

I got 3 free boxes of Crystal Light at Target with my Vocal Point coupons. They were on price cut for $1.97, the coupons were $2/1

2 Gallons of milk at CVS using ECBs & Real California Milk Coupons for $1.48

Frozen Veggies at Henry’s from Cascadian Farms for .50¢ each with coupons.

Healthy Choice Frozen Meals for .95¢ each at Target!

Armor All Tire Shine & Clean Wipes at Target for .49¢ each! They are normally $5.00 each.

Johnson’s & Johnson’s Baby oil for .33¢ at Target

I even hit up the Kmart doubler event at my local store. I’m not a big fan of Kmart, they seem to be rather mamby pamby with their coupon policies and their employees are not terribly informed about events and policies. I braved my store and walked out with free Advil PM, Gilette Body wash for .49¢ each and Secret Deodorant for .79¢. The cashier that helped me was very sweet, but knew nothing of the event until she talked to a manager. I can’t say so much for the gathering of other employees at the customer service desk… I just can’t stand professionalism. They were standing around chatting about personal things that weren’t appropriate for work. I went online to fill out a survey from my receipt and let Kmart know, and their customer service actually called and apologized for the experience I had! That shocked me! I’m really glad they did, it gives me more confidence in the corporation.

Oh- tomorrow the kids and I are hitting up Chick-fil-A for their cow appreciation day. If you dress like a cow, you get a free meal! If you “accessorize” with cow items, you get a free entree. If you need a little help, they have a “cow kit” online for you to print out. Have fun!

I love, love, love my mailbox.

I got a mailer from Kraft First Taste. It has 6 coupons and they were all for a free product:

-Kool-Aid Fizz

- Homestyle Mac & Cheese Dinner

- Digiorno Pizza

-Kraft Cheese 100 calorie packs

-Deli Fresh Meat

-Ritz Crackerfuls

Sign up for Kraft First Taste Team. I’ve been blown away by the fantastic coupons they’ve sent.

My husband got my blog back up. He’s a computer magician & through the miracle of internet/Tron, I have my blog back. I did have a little “in the mean time” blog at Wordpress.

To celebrate my return from whence I came (it’s from Arrested Development), I thought I would post a little shopping trip I did last night at Target.

I had a $20 gift card and wanted to see how far I could stretch it. Here’s what I did:

That’s $43.00 worth of groceries that I got for $19.53 ($16.95 before tax).  These are all items that we need or will need in the future. Here’s what I paid for everything

-Johnson & Johnson baby lotion for .54¢

-Aveeno Baby lotion for $2.47

-Women’s One a Day vitamins for .99¢

-Palmolive Pure & Clear Dish Soap for .74¢

-Satin Gel Shaving Gel for .44¢

-Ziploc storage containers for $1.02/each

-Revlon Emery boards for $1.19 (I realized she didn’t take the other coupon to make it .19 cents. I’ll take these back I think.)

-Seventh Generation Cleaner for .99¢

-Starbucks Via Readybrew for $1.50

-Meow Mix for $1.94

-BIC Pens for .02¢

-Tidy Cats for .77¢

-Light bulbs (I grabbed the wrong ones, they should been free, but they rang up for $1.99)

- Cat Treats for .33¢/each

-Reynolds Foil for $1.75

-Mustard pack for .97¢

I haven’t posted a coupon/savings blog in awhile. So, I thought I would post one today about my “FREE SHOPPING SPREE”.

I went to 3 stores (I went to Vons to get eggs, but that doesn’t count- I did pay only .59¢ for them, though): Target, CVS & Wal-Mart. They are all on the same street so I used hardly any gas.

Wal-Mart was easy, I grabbed 6 cans of Mighty Dog food for .57¢/each. I had a save $3.00/5 coupon plus a free can coupon. I also grabbed a little nail sticker kit which I think will be cute for a birthday present for a girl. It was $1.87, I had a $2.00/1 Kiss Nail Product. My subtotal was -.28¢, but I live in Sunny California and pay for it, so with tax my total was .18¢. The cashier was impressed and asked how I knew how to shop like that. I of course let her know about Hip2Save!

Target was a bit more because it was a lot of adjusting down the prices. The manager that came over to help was a bit of a booger, but when I let her know that I knew what I was doing, she finished the transaction. I think she was looking for a reason not to take my coupons, first she tried to tell me the coupons were one per purchase, I explained that a purchase was an item, not the whole transaction. She was a bit surprised my erudite couponing.. Then she tried to tell me she couldn’t have the total be $0 because it wasn’t allowed. I said “Don’t worry. I’ll get taxed for the whole transaction before coupons.” She looked at me suspiciously, she was probably thinking “WHO IS THIS GREAT COUPON GURU WHO STANDS BEFORE ME?” She tried to argue with me, but when she did the transaction, I was right. I owed them $1.45 in tax. I thanked her when it was all over, keeping my calm and sweet demeanor. I told her- “You should try coupon shopping. It’s worth it!” I walk out of the Target triumphant with my bag of free goodies. Here’s what I got:

-8 Tide 2x detergent from the Trial size section. I had lots of Tide $1.00 coupons and they are .97 each. I’ve used these for vacations or for the manna ministry at church.

-1 Johnson’s Buddies soap bar, .97¢, I had a $1.00/1 Johnson’s Product

-4 Arm & Hammer Toothpaste, .97¢ each, I had  2 $2.50/2 Arm & Hammer Toothpaste coupons.

-Clean & Clear Morning burst, .97¢, I had a $1/1 Clean & Clear product.

- Motrin PM, $3.99, I had a $3.00 Manufacturers coupon & a $1 Target coupon. FREE DRUGS!!

CVS was quick and painless, I got 2 NYC Nail polishes that were BOGO Free and I had a BOGO free coupon. Two free nail colors for birthday presents or something.

All in all I paid $1.72 in tax. Not bad for presents & useful items. Can I just say I love shopping for free??

Mae needed clothes for warmer weather. Her cute shorts and dresses from last year were not going to cut it. I had a $5 off a purchase of $30 or more Circo or Cherokee kid’s clothes at Target. I also was going to get a $5 gift card from Target for buying a Windex cleaner. All of the Circo Girl’s clothes were marked down. I got $4 items on sale for $3. Cha-ching!

I picked up the following:

3 tank tops

3 skirts

3 shorts

1 onsie

Total without sale and coupons:

$40.00

With sales, coupon and gift card:

$20.00!

Woot!

She is stocked up for the summer. The kid’s clothing coupon was on Target.com in the Kid’s Spring Savings. I used another one earlier in the week for their Easter outfits. The Windex outdoor window cleaner deal was as follows:
coupon from the SS this past weekend: $5 gift card when you buy a Windex outdoor cleaner. I also found a coupon for $2.50/1 Windex cleaner. I opened the box today and there were 3 coupons inside for $2.50/1 Windex cleaner. WOOHOO!

When I got to the car with all the clothes, she held onto them like a stuffed animal. I think Mae is a shopper…

I went to Walgreens today. I was pretty excited for the Vick’s plug in vaporizer. I have a very “snotty” and congested little girl who often needs such things. Here’s what I got and what coupons I used:

All of these savings ideas came from Hip2Save.com:

Buy 2 or more participating Sudafed, Benadryl, or Tylenol products = $5RR
Buy 2 Benadryl products on sale for $4.99 each
Total = $9.98
Use the $4/2 coupon from here
Pay $5.98
Get back a $5RR
Final cost ONLY $0.49 each!

Buy 1 Vicks Plug-in Waterless Vaporizer $5
Buy 3 Vicks Plug-in Refills $5 each = $15
Buy 2 Puffs Tissue products–biggest size (FREE with coupons below)
Total = $20
Use 4 $1.50/1 coupons from the 2/21 PG
Plus, use 2 coupons for FREE Puffs when you buy 2 Vicks Products from the 2/7 PG
Pay $14
Get back a $10 Register Reward (for buying $20 worth of Vicks products)
Final cost ONLY $1 per Vicks product + 2 FREE Puffs tissues!

Buy 2 bags of Planters Trail Mix on sale for $1.99
Total = $3.98
Use 2 $1.50/1 Planters coupons from here
Use the $1/2 Walgreens coupon from the March coupon booklet
Final cost 2 bags of Planters Trail Mix for FREE!

Buy 3 Revlon Matte Eye Shadows for $2.99 each (40% off sale price)
Buy 1 Revlon Slant Tip Tweezer for $1.79 (40% off sale price)
Total = $10.76
Use 3 $2/1 Revlon cosmetic coupons from the 2/21 SS
Use 1 $1/1 Revlon Beauty tool coupon from the 2/21 or 3/7 SS
Pay $3.76
Get back a $5 Register Reward to use on more Revlon Products!

Reese’s Dark Peanut Butter Cups 1.5 oz $0.49 with in ad coupon
Use the $0.55/1 coupon from the 3/14 SS
Final cost FREE + $0.06 in overage!

(I bought three of these because dark chocolate & Reeses are two of my Mom’s favorite things!)

Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Easy Fries $0.99
Use the $1.50/2 coupon from here
Final cost only $0.24!
**These are actually quite tasty!

I got these “Endangered Species Chocolate Bars”. They were marked down to .82¢ from $3.79!! I stocked up. Cheap chocolate is always in my budget.

My total before coupons:

$90.24

After:

$38.70

I got back $10 in Register Rewards and a $5 Register Reward for Revlon Make Up.

I also got a 20% off any purchase coupon for Payless Shoes.

Good day at Walgreens!!

This is by far my best purchase. I left the store on a high and hit the gym! Well, first I called my Jedi Master of Coupons, Nichole and told her what just went down. Here’s what went down:

I did two transactions like a good crazy coupon lady would.

#1:

John Frieda Shampoo (on clearance): $3.49 used $3/1 John Frieda product= .49¢

John Frieda Conditioner (on clearance): $3.49 used $3/1 John Frieda product= .49¢

They didn’t have any other clearance items, so I got the Root Awakening:

Root Awakening by John Frieda: $5.00 used $3/1 John Frieda product= $2.00

Root Awakening by John Frieda: $5.00 used $3/1 John Frieda product= $2.00

I also used 2 Rite Aid coupons: $3/$15 & $1/1 John Frieda Root Awakening (a Video Values coupon)

These products usually retail for $6.99 each.

My total before tax:

.98¢

after tax:

$2.20- tax was more than my purchase! Thanks California!

If I had not used coupons & sales, the total would have been:

$27.96 + tax

Transaction #2:

2 Biore Strips: On sale for $5.00 each (usually $6.99)= $10.00

2  Biore cleansers: On sale for $5.00 each (usually $6.99), I used the coupon from the SS (I think!) for Buy 1 Biore Strip and Get 1 Cleanser Free.=FREE

8 Cover Girl Foundations: On sale BOGO FREE ($6.99 each), I used 4 BOGO FREE coupons from the 2/7 P&G= FREE

I used 2 Rite Aid coupons: $5/$25 purchase & $1/1 Biore Product (a video values coupon)

My total before tax:

$4.00

After tax:

$7.76

If I had not used coupons & sales:

$88.00+ tax

I will also be getting a few Single Check Rebates from Rite Aid for these transactions:

$5.00 for the John Frieda

$5.00 for the Biore

My total savings tonight before my rebates:

$110.98!!!

After I get my SCRs:

$120.98!!

That would be my entire transaction for free!!!

Let me know if you have any questions about where or how I got my coupons. This is not a secret that I want to keep!! I had two gals at Target (including an employee) ask me how I saved money!  I want to help you out. Let me know!!

I went to CVS at around 10:30 last night. I had to. I had coupons that were about to expire on me! Last time I shopped at CVS I got 2 awesome ECB coupons:

$4/1 Box of Huggies Diapers

$2/1 Box of Huggies Wipes (64 count & up)

They were expiring, so I had to go. I paired those with 2 manufacturer’s coupons from coupons.com:

$2.00/1 Huggies Diaper

.75¢/1 Huggies wipes

When I got tot the store, I scanned my ECB card at the little machine (which until last night had produced sort of lame coupons) and to my surprise it was a coupon for :

$4 off when you buy Huggies Diapers & Wipes.

It didn’t specify sizes, so I got the smallest and paired them with the $2/1 Huggies and .75/1 Wipes. (I bought newborn size for the Corona Life Services)

I used my ECBS from my previous transaction ($13.99) and paid:

$17.23!

I saved $29.49.

Not bad!! That’s less than the box of Huggies would have been by itself. Woohoo!

Moral of the story: Scan your card at the front of CVS. You never know what’s going to happen.

Oh man. I’m done. We’re supposed to be leaving for Mammoth in the morning, but I had to do some shopping today. I hit up Rite Aid, Target, Vons and Albertsons. Here’s a few of my favorite deals:

Rite Aid:

-5 Free Packs of Kotex Panty Liners on sale for .99¢, I had five $1.00/1 any Kotex product. Those will be donated to church for the Manna Ministry.

-BOGO 1/2 Almay Eye Make Up Remover:  $5.50 & $2.75, had 2 $2/1 any Almay product. I submitted for my Single Check Rebate of $5.00, so that’s going to be a .75¢ money maker!

-BOGO FREE Skittles, I put them away for Easter Baskets.

Target

-Seventh Generation Anti-Bacterial Wipes: $2.99

Target coupon: $1.00/1, Manufacturer’s coupon: $1.00/1= .99¢!!

-Reveal Light Bulbs: on sale $2.00 (down from $2.64)

Target Coupon: 2 $1.50/1, Manufacturer’s Coupon $1.00/2= 2 packs for FREE!

-Excedrin: on Sale for $2.54, Coupon for $2.00/1= .54¢!!

-Starburst: BOGO FREE COUPON= .64 for 2 Starburst, these too have gone into the Easter basket stash.

I also got Free travel sized Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo & 2 Travel sized Right Guard Deodorant. These will also be donated to Manna Ministry.

I also scored an Easter goodie for Siah Man: a whole Clone Trooper costume for $4.98!

Albertsons:

I had the best cashier! He saw the transaction I was making for the Catalina coupon and asked if I wanted to do two transactions! Woohoo! He told me he liked to see people save money & if someone does all the work to clip coupons and save that the least he can do is help out at the check out stand. MY KIND OF CASHIER! Now if they were all like that!

I got 6 boxes of Fruit Snacks for $1.00 each used (3)  .50¢/2 Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks = $4.50 + a $3.50 catalina coupon!! 6 boxes of Fruit Roll ups usually would go for about $14.50 at Albertsons…

I had some awesome savings on my second purchase:

-Kraft All natural cheese, on sale for $1.79 (down from $4.89- question: who would pay that much for a thing of shredded cheese???), they had blinkie coupons $1.50/2, so I got 4 packs and used 2 coupons= $4.16, less than the price of one package normally!

-Swiffer Sweepers were on sale for $10.99, I had a Buy one Sweeper, get one refill for free coupon from The Home Made Simple Coupon booklet. The refills themselves are usually $10.49 and I figured it couldn’t hurt to have a back up Swiffer (or a house warming or wedding gift!) and got both for $10.99

-Purex 3-n-1 was on sale for $4.99, I used a BOGO FREE. So I got 2 for $4.99, you normally pay $7.49 for 1.

Vons

Vons has a frozen foods deal going on right now, buy $25.00 worth of participating products and get a $10.00 catalina coupon on your next purchase.

I did two purchases, and got $20.00 worth of catalinas. Nothing too spectacular here, but my freezer is so full that I couldn’t put anything else in it!

I think that’s about it, but I did want to go over what I got for free today:

-5 Kotex Liners: $5.00

-1 Pack of Skittles: .50¢

-1 Johnson’s Baby shampoo: $1.00

-2 Right guard deodorants: $2.00

-2 4-packs of Reveal lightbulbs: $5.28

-1 Pack of Starburst: .64¢

-Purex 3-n-1: $7.49

-Swiffer Refills: $10.49

That’s $29.18 that I didn’t pay for!!

Well, now I’m off to finish packing and preparing for this fun weekend in Mammoth.