Posted by Crabby Housewife on Jul 14, 2010 in
Uncategorized
Okay, Neutrogena has a rebate going on for their anti-aging products. I ordered through Walgreen’s online, going through (you guessed it!) eBates.com. Here is the deal I got:
Regular price: 42.99
Item on sale: 34.99
Discount code made it: 27.99
Free Shipping: 27.99
I will send off for a rebate and actually get back 34.99 on this purchase, PLUS
I got a $5 coupon to use in store and a $10 credit on a future purchase at Walgreens online. I actually made money on this deal, although I will have to wait on my refund. Still, a great purchase. This actually isn’t something I will use for a gift, though. I’m going to use it myself. However, I will apply the $5 and $10 to gift giving, so I just made $15 to use toward gifts or gift wrap, etc. If I can combine those with other coupons, even better. I love deals like these.
Posted by Crabby Housewife on Jul 11, 2010 in
Uncategorized 
If you haven’t already heard about the Entertainment Book, you can save money on restaurants, entertainment and a myriad of other things. There are typically a few coupons for some of my daughters’ favorite stores as well, such as Deb’s. That coupon alone will save me enough to more than pay for this book.
Since holidays also mean meeting friends for dinners, I figure any other savings is a bonus. There is a really sweet deal on the Entertainment Book 2010 right now. The year is half over, but I promise that if you even eat out one time a week, you will quickly get your money back and begin to save with this book.
This week (so hurry!), you can get the Entertainment Book for $7.99 with $1.99 shipping. New, at beginning of year, the book is about $34.99. But, don’t just go straight to their site. Instead, go through Ebates first. Here is how the deal works out:
- Go to Ebates.com. If you don’t already have an account, sign up using this link and then e-mail me and let me know you signed up under me. I will send you a free e-book titled What’s For Dinner? 14 Day Menu Rotation Plan as a thank you. It will help you save money on your groceries.
- Once you are at Ebates and signed in, search for Entertainment Book. Several choices will pop up. You want the one that says Entertainment.com and 25% back.
- Go through that link and order your $7.99 2010 book. Do NOT sign up for automatic renewal, even though it saves you $5 now. You can almost always get the book cheaper than the rate they will charge you of $34.99, even when the book is first out. The longer you wait, the more you’ll save on the book.
- You should get $2 credited to your Ebates within a few days, making the book only $5.99 plus $1.99 shipping. This is less than $8. You will save that VERY quickly.
This one is a really good deal. Have fun with it.
Posted by Crabby Housewife on Jul 11, 2010 in
Uncategorized 
New jeans!
Deal # 1 was completed a few days back, but I’ve just had time to post about it. I’m really gearing up for back to school shopping. I have one daughter who loves Aeropostale. In fact, it is about all she’ll wear. Her favorite jeans from there are almost always around $45.00, so I typically wait for a sale. The shirts are much easier to find on sale, of course.
When I heard Aeropostale online was having a clearance sale, I got really excited. I went over and found her jeans for $9.99 a pair and in her size. I snagged three pair. They also had shirts that she likes for about $7 each, although only a couple left in her size. I snagged several of those. My total with shipping (no free shipping this time, darnit, but still cheaper than I could get them in store even with the shipping included) was just over $54.00 for three pair of jeans and two shirts. A GREAT deal.
I didn’t finalize the order just then, though, because I remember my new experiment. Instead, I popped over to Ebates to see if Aeropostale was on their list. Yes! They were. I will also get an additional $1.65 back through Ebates. Now, is that amount of fortune? Of course not. It is a paltry sum. However, I believe when I start adding to it throughout my shopping season over the next six months that it is going to really add up to a decent amount of money. It took me two seconds to go through Ebates and earn that. Aeropostale is a fairly low percentage earner at Ebates. Some other places you can earn much more of a percentage and cash back.
Happy shopping!
Posted by Crabby Housewife on Jul 11, 2010 in
Uncategorized 
Shopping Fiend
Part of me loves to shop. There is nothing more satisfying than finding that perfect bargain on that perfect blouse that will go with anything. Part of me hates to shop, especially at peak times, like weekends and holidays.
I have two big shopping events coming up in the next six months. Event # 1 is back to school shopping for children’s clothes (teens). The other event is Christmas shopping, which may seem like it is a long ways away, but actually isn’t all that far.
Since I love to save money and I love to shop and I love the Internet, I have decided to conduct a Crabby Housewife Experiment this year and see how much I can save by combining my three loves. After doing a bit of research, I will use some reward sites, combined with sales and sites that offer free shipping in an attempt to meet all my holiday gift giving needs as well as much of our back to school shopping.
If you would like to join me in this journey, you can sign up for some or all of these same sites. I will get a referral credit, if you do, which will help me out as I pay the hosting fees on this site. Here are the various sites I plan to utilize:
Ebates will allow me to earn cash back for any purchases I make online. Since money is my favorite savings, Ebates is going to be my “go to” site where I always start my shopping. However, there are a few sites that do not offer E-rebates through this site, but whom I really want to order things from for a variety of reasons. Because of this, I will use Swagbucks and MyPoints as my two backup systems. Although the earnings aren’t as great as what I can earn through Ebates, I do still get points.
Since joining Swagbucks just a short time ago, I have already redeemed enough points to earn $25 in Amazon gift cards. I am actually banking these for Christmas present purchases. I’d love to bank a couple hundred dollars by December. When I do go to Amazon to use those gift cards, I will go through Ebates or MyPoints to earn even more.
Come with me on this journey to save money through these online sites and make this Christmas SEEM like I spent a fortune, when I really didn’t. And y’all know how much I love to save money.
P.S. If you sign up under one of the above sites using my referrer link, drop me an e-mail and let me know. I’ll thank you by sending you a free e-book called WHAT’S FOR DINNER? 14 Day Menu Rotation Plan. I promise that this plan will save you money and time. You’ll never have to worry about what to cook for dinner again. It is the system I often use for my own family and it works like a charm.
Posted by Crabby Housewife on Jul 8, 2010 in
Uncategorized 
Barkeeper's Friend
I decided to actually clean house today. My bathrooms needed some attention. Just a quick wipe-down doesn’t always take off the buildup from styling products and makeup. I started to scrub and scrub with not much luck. The counter LOOKED clean, but it didn’t feel clean.
Then, I remembered a little trick I read online somewhere. There is a product called Barkeeper’s Friend. I use this wonderful product so much, that I decided to see what it would cost to buy it by the case. It is much, much cheaper to buy a case at Amazon and if you add a single can as well, shipping is free. This will last me all year, hopefully.
I already use this nifty product to clean my ceramic stove top and for the stainless steel on my sinks and faucets. I’ve even used it to clean the wheels on my car, which tend to get a lot of brake dust on them. So, I thought why not use on the counter top. It is fairly non abrasive but has enough grit to get things clean. I was able to get off a hair dye stain that I thought was there forever and it took the build up right off. My counters are now sparkly clean.
I then moved on to the toilet and sprinkled some in there with similar results. Other things you could potentially use this cleaner on include:
- Bathtub grime
- Grout
- Polish silverware
- Cleaning Stainless Steel cookware
- Golf clubs
- Shower curtain liner
- Soap dish
- Copper bottom pots (never use these on a ceramic cooktop stove)
- Removing rust from almost anything
Liquid BK Friend
If you know of other uses, please post in the comments area. Although I don’t use it as much, Barkeeper’s Friend also has a liquid version.
This just goes to show that there are still inexpensive cleaning products out there that do a great job on multiple things. Another option, if you want to stay natural is to use a simple concoction of white vinegar and baking soda. When you add the vinegar to the baking soda, it will bubble and help loosen tough stains. You’ll need to scrub a little more with this method, but it can still be effective.
Your crabby house wife is a little less crabby today because her bathroom is very clean with little effort.
Posted by Crabby Housewife on May 25, 2010 in
Uncategorized Wooohooo! I just ordered my first gift card from Swag Bucks. It will be for Amazon. I have had my eye on quite a few books, so I’m excited about using this one. It only took two or three weeks to earn my first gift card for just browsing like normal. I’m really excited. It seems like places like MyPoints take forever and ever for points to accumulate. Also, someone had e-mailed me that you will get bombarded with spam. I haven’t received any spam from either SwagBucks or MyPoints. However, if you are concerned about this issue, you can always get a free account through Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail and use that exclusively for point offers and coupon sites. I do use my Gmail e-mail for entering contests or other places where I don’t really want them to have my main e-mail account.
If you want to sign up for SwagBucks, here is my referral link: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/LoriSoard
Posted by Crabby Housewife on May 22, 2010 in
Uncategorized Shopping time! I love the game of saving money. People really enjoyed my run-down last week, so I promised to share again.
Stop # 1: Rite Aid
At Rite Aid I purchased some items I might not normally buy there, for a couple of reasons. First, I had a Wellness $5 off $25 and second, I had money left on my gift card. So, I purchased:
- 2 boxes Honey Nut Cheerios B1G1F minus coupons for about 1.75 each. Actually not a great deal, but again I had the gift card and other coupon’
- 2 boxes Frosted Flakes B1G1F minus coupons for about 1.75 each.
- 1 Always 16 Count liners on sale for 2.99 and I had a 2.00 off coupon so .99 (my girls like this brand)
- Tampax 20 count on sale 2.99 and 2.00 off coupon too (another item our household uses)
- Some various candies to round it out to $25
My total was initially over 30.00
After B1G1F and coupons, it came down to: $12.06 and I had $11.00 left on my free gift card from transferring prescription last time., so $1.06 for all those items.
Stop # 2: Walgreen’s
Have I mentioned how much I love Walgreen’s? I feel that this is the store where I get the best deals with Meijer coming in second for the majority of my groceries. I mean I MADE money at Walgreen’s today. Here is what I did… First, I split my order into two orders, because I was getting an item that would print out a Register Reward (RR) and be free and you can only do that once on each order. I wasn’t obnoxious about it. I only had two orders.
Order # 1
- Gillette Body wash $4.49 (get back $4.50 RR)
- No Nonsense Knee Highs .59 (had coupon for buy 2 and get $1 off – they raised the price on these, but .09 for knee highs is still not bad)
- Ivory Soap .99 with Walgreen’s in-store coupon plus I had a coupon for $1 off Ivory so got a 3-pack for free. We use this too and regularly.
- 4 Reach Toothbrushes (in-store add to get them for .99 each plus I had four coupons – 2 for B1G1F and 2 for 1.00 off) Now normally the register will adjust to .99 if that is the sale price, but it didn’t, so I made .02 on this deal. I know that sounds paltry, but it all adds up over time.
- 4 Kraft Velveeta Cheese Cups. They were on sale for 1.00 plus I had a coupon for buy two for $1 off (if I had 2 coupons, I could have really gotten a great deal.) Plus if you bought 4, an RR for 1.50 printed. I essentially, after RR paid about .30 a cup. My youngest loves these, so good deal.
- 2 bags Werther Candies. Werthers was on sale for B1G1F plus I had a $1 off coupon
My initial total: $28.92
After Walgreen’s discounts, coupons and Register Rewards from previous deals…
My total: $3.97
Register printed a RR for 4.50 and another for 1.50 so I made $2.03
Order # 2
- Old Spice Body Wash 4.49 plus will print register reward for $4.50
- 6 knee highs (.09 each after coupons)
- 3 Scotch Tapes (on sale for .99 each plus I had manu coupon for 1.50 off making all three only 1.50 or about .50 each)
- 1 Cherry Jello for .19 (filler item so I could use my register rewards without any trouble)
My total at first: $12.45
After coupons, wags discounts, RR: $5.45
An RR for 4.50 printed, so I paid about 1.00 for all of that. Actually, I think I was overcharged on something, but I’m still trying to figure it out. I think my RR was not taken off at the end. Darnit, because she kept it. It is so hard to watch what they are doing. I like the places I can self-scan better. But STILL, great, great deals. Although my family won’t use the Old Spice Body Wash, it was free, so I got it and will give away or sell in a garage sale.
Next Stop: Petsmart
My Blue Buffalo Wilderness formula cat food is still on sale for $6.99 and is normally $9.99. You can hardly ever find a coupon for this stuff, so I am stocking up while I can. $3 off per bag is a great savings.
Next Stop: GFS
Okay, maybe I’m getting a little crazy with finding the best prices and deals. Hailey and I love cheddar cheese balls. Everywhere else they cost 3.99 and up. GFS has them for 3.49. They used to be 2.99. Since coupons are not typical (I’ve seen them out once or twice) on these, I ran in and got a cheese ball. Yes that is all I bought. Yes, I did it to save .50 and yes I am crazy. But I have .50 more than you do. Pffffffffffffffffffffffft!
Next Stop: Target
The deals at Target always sound better than they wind up being for some reason. My store either doesn’t have the items or they aren’t on clearance. It’s a little disappointing. In fact, I don’t notice many clearance items at all at the Clarksville, Indiana Target store. Anyway, I did get a few good deals, but I don’t have exact totals, because I was also finishing up my SC Johnson Scrubbing Bubbles rebate and I already put my receipt in the envelope. I’ll get $5 back on that, which I’ll roll into something else that is cheap, free or has a rebate.
- I got 4 packages of Oscar Meyer Lunch Meat. It was 3.04 a container (about normal price around here). Plus, I had $1 off 2 coupons, so that brought it to about $2.50 container. Then, Target had a buy 3 and get 1 free coupon (you can stack Target and manufacturer coupons), so the total price was about $2.30 each. Not one of my better deals, but still cheaper than I could buy elsewhere and my kids like the Roast Beef and Turkey.
- Dove body mist spray was on sale for 2.99, I had a 1.50 off 1 coupon plus Target had a 1.00 off coupon. .50 for body mist spray (kind of like perfume). I got it for one of my daughters who likes this type of thing.
- Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Gel was about 2.49 plus I had a 1.00 off coupon and it finished out my SC Johnson rebate, so I’ll get $5 back
All in all? Target was not really worth my time stopping there. I am not very impressed. The checkout girl was really nice about the coupons, though, unlike that gal the week before.
Next Stop: Walmart
What shopping trip would be complete without Walmart? I’m not a huge Walmart fan. Sure, some things are cheap, but they are “cheap” if you know what I mean. I really think they should just be called Chinamart. However, there were some very good deals to be had this week. Now, Walmart does take coupons, but they do not double. This is a good place to use those high value coupons for $1.00 and up, because you often will get the best price around (or they will price match ads from competitors) plus the high value off. Here is what I bought:
- 1 bag Tidy Cat litter 1.77 minus 1.00 coupon means it was .77 (this is the small bag. It is cheaper to buy two or three of those and use the 1.00 off 1 coupons)
- 1 small package of Carefree panty liners (.94 had coupon for 1.00 off so FREE)
- Finesse conditioner 2.64 minus 1.00 coupon plus a rebate. So I made $1 once the rebate comes)
- Flip Flops on clearance for 1.75. My daughter had just phoned me to say she broke her Aeropostale ones again. I will not be buying anymore Aeropostale flip flops. I thought $1.75 was a good deal. Old Navy is having a $1 flip flop sale tomorrow, but I’ll be gone on a women’s trip and will miss it. If you have one near you, go stock up
- I also bought a beach towel that was on clearance for $4.00. We have a pool and kids never bring towels with them, so I try to keep some on hand.
- Strawberries were $1.50 and my kids love berries, so I bought a quart.
My total was around $10.00 after coupons
Next Stop: Pretzel Time
I had gotten my card punched and had a free pretzel, so got this for lunch.
Then…
Taco Bell
I had printed out a coupon to try their new Limeade drink for free. So, I now had my pretzel and my drink. No cost at all. There is such a thing as a free lunch.
Final Stop: Meijer
Meijer is my grocery store of choice. They double coupons up to .50 and I find their prices to be pretty comparable to Walmart. Also, their aisles are wider and it is never as busy as Walmart. Some things are higher, like shoes, but quality is also higher. I also love their pharmacy coupon deals, but I had already filled all my prescriptions. HOWEVER, Meijer mailed me coupons last week and one of them is $8.00 of purchase of $80.00 or more and there are four coupons, one for each week. Whooooohooooooooo! What a fabulous deal this is for me.
I also discovered they had Super Pretzels on sale for 1/2 off or $1.38 a box. My girls love these things and I have been holding onto some .50 off coupons (remember .50 and under doubles). The catch? You can only use 2 like coupons per transaction and have them double. After that, they only come off at face value. Do you think that stopped me? No way. I just rang up a bunch of separate orders through the self check line. Yep, I’m that person you hate to be behind.
Order # 1
I was experimenting here to see how many times the .50 coupon would double , so my total was $1.58 for three boxes.
Order # 2
2 boxes super pretzels .76
I did this multiple times. Luckily there was no one behind me and the register helpers didn’t seem to mind.
My Big Order:
Now, remember that I needed to get to $80.00 to get that $8.00 off. I did buy a few things might not otherwise have bought, but here are my rules. It does have to be something I will use (unless it is free after coupon, in which case I can always give it away) or something I want to try and I have to have a coupon for it.
- Rimmel Lip Liner $5.49 ($2.00 off coupon)
- Another Beach Towel on Clearance for $5.00
- Large Eggs .88 (best price I could find this week)
- Milk $2 gallon (it was actually cheaper at Walmart but I forgot my insulated bags and was scared it would get too hot)
- Lettuce .99 a bag
- Sobe Water (Meijer Coupon for B1G1F – I drink vitamin waters anyway)
- Betty Crocker Cake Mix and Frosting (Meijer coupon for .75 off cake mix plus I had .50 off when you buy mix and frosting and it doubled). Got both for just over $1.00. We won’t really eat this, but I can make it for our next church pitch in.)
- Capri Sun on sale for $1.97 and had a $1 off coupon. I wouldn’t normally buy this, but my girls will drink it and it was a good deal. They were actually quite excited to see it, go figure. Teenagers!
- Green Giant Frozen Veggies $1.37 (I had .50 off one coupons, so after doubling .37 each. Pretty cheap)
- Mrs. Dash 2.99 minus .50 off one doubled, so 1.99 (I was out of the steak seasoning) Plus, I had a coupon for $1.00 off beef when you buy Mrs. Dash. Since meat coupons are very hard to come by, I will probably do this deal again next week. Essentially, it makes Mrs. Dash .99, which is a good deal. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t use it anyway, though.
- Wheat Thins were $3.00 plus I had a $1 off coupon on each plus Meijer’s had a $1.00 off 2 coupon, so they were 1.50 a box. We do eat these and this was cheaper than even buying the generic.
- The blackberries were on sale for only $1 each, but they were from Mexico. I don’t buy Mexican produce. Yuck. I won’t go into the reasons why because it will gross you out. Instead, I went ahead and splurged and paid $3.99 for blueberries. Sometimes the best deal is getting something healthy for your family that they love.
- 1 loaf bread (free, because of coupon Meijer sent me last week for free bread)
- Kix Cereal 2.29 minus 1.00 coupon so 1.29. My kids love Kix.
- Crystal Light Singles were on sale for $2.00 each. I had a $1.00 off coupon and Meijer had a $1.00 off 2 coupon. So .50 each. GREAT deal and we love these too.
- Murray Sugar free cookies for $2.59 minus 1.00 off 1 coupons made them 1.59 each. This is a good deal on these cookies. I buy these for me and crumble them into desserts and SF ice cream. Yum. Another thing I normally buy.
There were a few other things I bought that I didn’t have coupons for, such as Pepperoni that was on sale for 1.89 and pizza sauce. I make homemade pizza some Fridays, so these were a necessity. I also bought butter and had a 1.00 off coupon (Meijer catalina), so it was .99 and bought some grapes, a head of lettuce, etc.
My grand total was around $97.00 and then as the coupons began to come off, the $8 off $80 first, my total came down to $68.33. I saved around $30 using coupons on items I buy for the most part anyway.
Total Savings for the Day with free items and coupons: $159.83 give or take Plus I will be getting $8 in rebates and I have $10.50 in RR to use next week on more free items. I love couponing…
Posted by Crabby Housewife on May 21, 2010 in
Uncategorized Okay, so I’m usually pretty skeptical about things that are a little new age in flavor. But, when Mary came to talk to our church ladies group about the essential oils and also talked about the use of oils in the Bible, I did sit up and listen a little more carefully. This woman could hardly be described as older, although she is about 20 years older than I. She is so bubbly, vivacious and full of life that she seemed more like a 20 year old. I liked her instantly.
Even though I liked her and I think that many herbs and such probably do have some benefits, I still wasn’t buying the stories about how great these oils were. I planned to order a little something at my friends’ party the next night just to help her out. There were a couple of things that happened that have me completely convinced that these essential oils are actually very beneficial.
- A woman in our group was in the middle of a hot flash. Mary rubbed some type of oil (don’t ask me what, I have no idea) on the woman’s ankles and her hot flash stopped immediately.
- I hurt my back a few days after the meeting and my friend rubbed some oils on my back. It felt better immediately and by the next morning did not hurt at all.
I’m experimenting and will keep everyone posted on how things go with my new found interest.
Posted by Crabby Housewife on May 14, 2010 in
Uncategorized I really look forward to Fridays. Saving money is a game to me and it’s great fun to make a list of known deals, match coupons, see where I can get free items, cheap items and then find a few surprises along the way. I got some fairly good deals today, although not the best ones I’ve ever gotten. Rebates and such are now few and far between. Below outlines my shopping schedule to show you how I save money. I also always make a loop, so I’m not driving more than necessary and wasting gas. I take insulated shopping bags or a cooler for any items that need refrigeration.
FIRST STOP: Arby’s
Free breakfast! Cha Ching!
Never go shopping on an empty stomach. Although I planned to spend about $3 on a breakfast sandwich and soda, I actually wound up getting it for free. The girl rang up my order wrong and overcharged me by $3. When she fixed it, she just refunded the entire order and told me the meal was on her. Yay! Free breakfast. This shopping day was starting out great.
Next Stop: Rite Aid
I haven’t shopped at Rite Aid a lot lately, but Michele over at Refund Cents compiles a list every week of deals and they’ve been looking pretty good lately. Last month I had moved my Rite Aid prescription over to Meijer because they offered me $20 incentive to do so. Rite Aid had mailed me a letter and a coupon to get a $25 gift card to move it back, so you can bet I did. My insurances pays all but $5 on prescriptions, so that was an easy $20.00 profit. Here is what I bought at Rite Aid:
Prescription Filled $5.00
2 U Kotex $7.00
Mouse Pad $9.99
Cover Girl Eye Shadow $3.39 x 4
1 10 oz. Candle $7.99
————————————–
Total before coupons $43.54
Coupons Used
$5 off $25 non presc. -$5.00
1 free mouse pad coupon -$12.99
$1/1 U Kotex -$1.00
$1/1 U Kotex -$1.00
4 $2/1 Covergirl -$8.00
Total in Coupons: $ 27.99
Total Bill: $15.55
Gift Card: $25.00
Appx. $10 Profit Whoot!
——————————————
NEXT STOP: JAY C FOODS (owned by Kroger)
Not a lot of great deals, but right across from Rite Aid, so worth stopping. Here is what I purchased:
Strawberries $2 (will only buy if not grown in Mexico)
Lettuce .98 a head
Tomatoes 1.48/lb.
3 RC products for $8
I really didn’t have any coupons at this stop, but the sodas were a great deal and hubby takes them to work, so I stocked up on those.
Next Stop: Walgreen’s
I LOVE Walgreen’s and the deals they have. They now give you what is called Register Rewards, which is an instant rebate you can use on a different item on your next visit. These are great, because you don’t have to mail anything in. They are basically catalinas. They expire pretty quickly and don’t lose them. They spend like cash. Michele Easter has a run-down at her member site on how to use these and other coupons. It can be a little involved, but that is half the fun at Walgreen’s. I do VERY well there. Sometimes you can transfer scripts and get a free gift card, but they limit how often you can do that.
I divided my order in two so I could use the most coupons and RR I had from my last visit. I usually go to the health and beauty department to ring out. They seem more coupon friendly.
Order # 1:
4 Pepsi 12-pack Products $12.00 (stocking up for hubby still)
Aleve 50 ct. $4.99
No Nonsense Knee Highs $.50 each (bought 4 on this order will explain why in a minute)
Tuf Towels $.59 (with Walgreen’s in-ad coupon)
Total before manufacturer coupons and RR: $19.58
Coupons Used
No Nonsense $1/2 (made the knee highs free)
$3 Register Rebate
$3 Register Rebate
Final price after coupons and tax: $12.38
Plus, I received a RR for $3 for the Pepsi and another for $2 for the Aleve essentially making my total $7.38 for all those items. Not bad, especially for soda.
Order # 2
This one was my favorite. I actually made a profit.
Schick Hydro 3 Razor $7.99
2 Tuf Towels $ .59 (with in-store ad coupon)
6 No nonsense knee hi $3.00 (.50 each)
Total Before coupons: $12.17
Coupons Used:
3 $1/2 No Nonsense -$3.00
1 $5/1 Schick Hydro – $5.00
$2.00 RR – $2.00
Total Coupons: $10.00
Total After Coupons and Tax: $3.02
Now, here is the great part. I also received a $5 RR for the Schick Hydro Razor. I made a $2.00 profit on this deal.
A couple of quick things. You can’t do more than one RR on one ticket and you can’t use the same RR to buy the same item. So, I cannot use the $5 RR above to buy another razor. I can however, use the two RRs from the previous order as long as I have a filler item. I must have the same number of items as I have coupons. The Tuf Towels were my fillers, because Walgreen’s coupons don’t count toward your coupon total. This is pretty confusing, so if you are really serious about Walgreen’s, I really do recommend you sign up for the electronic version of Refund Cents. It is well worth the cost. You’ll save a ton.
————
My day was just beginning…. Next Stop: Petsmart
Deals on pet food, especially if you buy high quality are hard to come by. Recently, I was able to get my hands on 5 of the $5/1 coupons for Nature’s Recipe, which is the brand my dogs eat. Also, I have my cat on Blue Wilderness, which is normally $10+ a bag. It has been on sale for $6.99, so I’ve been stocking up all month while it is. I don’t want to stock too far ahead. So, with coupon and sale, I saved about $14.00 today. Sometimes Petsmart will print out a survey coupon worth $3 on next order. Make sure you do the survey to get the code and take advantage of these!
Next Stop: Target
This is another store I haven’t been frequenting much, but I found some deals in their paper this week and thought I’d give it a try. I was pretty happy. I also bought two items toward a $5 rebate I’m working on, so that will be a little extra money. I still need to find one filler item I would normally use for the rebate. I have several months to work on it as they don’t have to be on the same receipt.
I bought:
Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Get $3.94
Scrubbing Bubbles Starter $6.29
Post Raisin Bran $2.54
6 Vitamin Waters $6.00
Band Aid 20 count $1.82
Nexcare 20 count $1.79
Total: $21.88
Coupons Used:
3 $1/2 Vitamin Water Coupons -$3.00
$1/1 Nexcare Manufacturer -$1.00
$.50/1 Nexcare (Target Coupon) -$ .50
$.50/1 Band Aids -$.50
$.75/1 Band Aid (target coupon) -$ .75
$2/1 Post Cereal -$2.00
Buy Toilet Gel get Starter Free -$6.29
Total Coupon Savings: $15.04
Total After Coupons & Taxes: $9.64
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Next Stop: Walmart
Walmart is another store I often avoid. It is crowded and dirty and they don’t double coupons. But, I had a couple of good deals today. Not sure if it was worth the trip or not yet. I’m going to summarize a little more quickly from this point on. Also, I should mention that I try not to buy items I don’t normally purchase anyway unless they are free or make me a profit, then I will try them out.
Items Purchased:
Bic Pens $1.00 each (coupons for $1/1 so free)
More Vitamin Waters $1.00 each (coupons for $1/2 so free)
Armoral Products (working for rebate will be free after coupons and rebate comes, $5 out of pocket now)
Star Kiss Tuna $.93 each (had a coupon for $1/2, so .43 each. Pretty good price)
Tidy Cat Litter 1.99 ($1/1 coupons – I chose the smaller bags, because the deal was better)
100 Calorie Snack Packs 2.38 each (coupons for Buy 1 Get 1 Free, so about 1.19 each)
Amount saved this trip: $14.00
Next Stop: Kroger
I debated about nixing this stop. I was starting to get tired, but I wanted more vitamin waters and I didn’t want to use too many coupons in one spot because places start getting snarky. I don’t really get it as they are reimbursed from the manufacturer for the coupons. Anyway these were my deals at Kroger:
6 more vitamin waters $1 each (coupons $1/2 making them .50 each)
2 liter sunkist (coupon for .50 plus .50 and under are doubled so $1.00 making it a .50 2-liter)
Kix Cereal ($1.00 manufacturer coupon and .55 Kroger coupon – loaded on Kroger card, making cereal $1.87 (my kids like this kind)
Bread (we use a certain brand/kind) but was on sale for 1.99 no coupons
Total saved Kroger discounts and coupons: 8.98
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Next Stop: Kroger Gas
Not only was this the cheapest gas in my area already at 1.76, but I got another 3 cents a gallon off for using my Kroger card.
Next Stop: Meijer
Meijer is definitely my favorite store. I love shopping here. The aisles are wide, the employees pleasant and their prices comparable to Walmart. They also double coupons and have Mealbox coupons you can use on top of your manufacturer coupons. Remember that $25 Rite Aid gift card? I had a coupon for $20 off your bill when you transfer a prescription. I transferred a different prescription, gaining $20.
Meijer’s catalinas are a lot like Walgreen’s in that you can stack some of the them and they print under certain conditions. They are a little harder to figure out but keep them and use them because they are like free money. This is good as there are always a few items my family uses which I have no coupons for and are not on special at the time I run out. The $15 helped cover this.
My Purchases:
$5 for the prescription but I got $20 off, so made $15 profit here
Clearasil Kit $1/1 coupon but had a Meijer catalina for $3.75 off when you spend $25 on health and beauty. I bought a few other essentials to get it up to $25 that we do use but I had no coupons for. Still, it was worth the savings as we will use them and there are rarely coupons on these items.
Pizza Rolls were 5/$5 and I had .60 off 3 Not bad. I bought 3 and still got sale price.
Freshlike Veggies 1.29 plus meijer coupon for $1/2
Hebrew National Franks were $3 each. My family LOVES these but they are pricey. No coupon but I bought a package anyway
Chicken Breast Tenderloins in the bag were $4.99 a bag. I bought two. Usually can get these for about 6.99 a bag
Canned Planters Peanuts were on sale for $1.99. I had a coupon for $1/2 and Meijer had a Mealbox coupon for $1/2, making them $.99 each. Good deal
I wanted some Angel Soft Bath Tissue for $4.99 for 12 doubles but they were sold out. I should have gotten a rain check, but was tired and wanted to get home
2 Kraft Cheese Slices $2.98 each had coupon (mealbox) for $1/2
2 Handi Snacks $1.99 each mealbox coupon $1/2
Overall, I saved a ton of money today. This was one of those weeks where I could focus on stockpiling because we are having meals at church every day during revival. It is nice when you have a week where you can do that, because you can really take advantage of some great deals with your budget and do some stockpiling. On weeks where I have to buy meat and stuff to make meals I may or may not do as well (depends on the deals and coupons)
http://mrg.bz/caVMbV
Posted by Crabby Housewife on May 5, 2010 in
Uncategorized 
One of the ways we can save more money and work from home is if we take advantage of little things like rewards programs. You should sign up for every store card you can and programs like MyPoints and SwagBucks. I actually just joined SwagBucks because a friend of mine joined and got a new microwave within about a week by getting Amazon gift cards and using them to purchase it. She was so excited that I thought I’d give it a try. I like it so far. I just use their little search tool instead of Google and I get points as I search. I’m close to getting my first prize. Haven’t decided yet if I will get an Amazon gift card or something else.
There are other sites out there like this, but I’ve found these to be the best. You can also check out UPromise.com and Ebates.com for more ideas on getting free stuff and saving money. In fact, I always check Ebates.com before I purchase anything and see if there are any cash back offers available.
I will post more ideas soon!
