CVS 2/16

This was a quick trip yesterday; I plan on going back today. I just wanted to get the paper towels because they are on my list of charity donation items. I have decided to keep up my blog to show how much you can get to donate with very little out of pocket. I'll also try to be better about sharing some non-shopping related tips, recipes, etc.

I had spent all my ECBs, so this was starting with ZERO of those!

Scott 8 pack paper towels (2 day sale) 4.99
Colgate Advance toothpaste 2.99
Always Infinity 18 count 5.99
Hershey Kisses (markdown) 1.49
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$3 off 15 CVS coupon
$2 Always Infinity CVS coupon
Scott $1 MC
Colgate $1 MC
Always Infinity free 18 count MC (5.99)
Hersheys Dark $1 MC
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Total After Coupons: $1.42
Earned 2.99 ECBs

You can join CouponMom.com to get an easy resource to find coupon matchups! Here is a YouTube video about the site.

Charity Work

I'm trying to work on collecting items to donate to Ronald McDonald House. If you are interested in helping out, watch for sales and pick up some of the following. I would also appreciate any coupons that would help me get these at a better price. :)

Batteries
Laundry Detergent (liquid)
Xerox Paper
Scotch Tape
Postage Stamps
Disposable Gloves
Ice Tea Makers
Paper Products - towels, napkins, plates, cups, utensils
Travel Size Toiletries- shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, shaving cream, deodorant
Fruit - Fresh or individual servings
Popcorn (bag)Pudding - Individual servings
Ramen noodlesTuna/Salmon - Individual servings
Breakfast Items - Danishes, muffins, POP Tarts, granola/breakfast bars, oatmeal (individual wrapped)
Snacks - cheese/peanut butter crackers, cookies (individually wrapped)
Baking Mixes (cookies, muffins, brownies, cakes)
Gift Cards - H-E-B, Kroger, Target, Wal-Mart

Free Samples

Here are a few freebies I found out today. I have been getting quite a few in my mailbox and I love it! Free products, plus extra coupons! If you have certain brands and products that you need or can't live without, check their websites. Many times there are sample offers or at least a coupon offer on the websites; if not, email them and let them know you love their products. I have gotten a few coupons in the mail that way too!

AquaFresh is offering a sample of their Extreme Clean toothpaste.

If you are a fan of hot tea, Yogi Tea is offering a sample pack of their blends.

Total is offering a sample of their new Cranberry Crunch cereal. I can't wait for this one; I love anything cranberry!

Hylands is offering two different samples, one for leg cramps and another for their sleep aid.

Enjoy!

Kroger 2/5

Kroger has another deal this week that if you buy 10 of the select items, you get $3 off. The number of participating products aren't nearly as good as the Mega Sale, so I did one set of these and will stop at that. I marked my participating items with an *.

Multi-Grain Cheerios (6 boxes) 1.67 each
Yo-Plus Yogurt 2.00
Pepperidge Farm Garlic Bread (2 pkgs) 1.47 each
Pepperidge Farm Cheese Bread 1.87
Ball Park Turkey Franks (4 pkgs) 2.50 each
Ground Chuck (1lb) 2.69
93% Lean Ground Beef (1.16lbs) 3.61
80% Lean Ground Beef (1.01lbs) 2.63
*Pillsbury Honey Wheat Grands biscuits (3 cans) 1.27 each
*Ragu Pasta Sauce (4 jars) 1.53 each
*Betty Crocker Cinnamon Swirl Muffin Mix 1.99
Ocean Spray Cran-grape juice 1.99
*Gatorade G2 drinks (2 bottles) .89 each
5lb bag potatoes 1.99
Health Ones Honey Ham (4 pkgs) markdown 1.19 each
Lysol Wipes 2pk markdown 2.74
Clorox Wipes (105 count) markdown 3.49
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Total OOP 38.89 saved 52.06, 57%

Randalls 2/5

I did some serious shopping yesterday in order to get some meat while it was on sale. Jason and I are getting ready to start Weight Watchers back again soon, so I will be spending a bit more on produce and meat than we were before.

Randalls:
(I don't usually shop at Randalls, but they had some good deals this week. If you love making Frito Pie, Fritos are 1.00 a bag this week)
Cheetos Puffs 1.00
Fritos Twists BBQ 1.00
Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice 1.99
Kelloggs Raisin Bran (2 boxes) 1.99 each
Kelloggs Pop Tarts (8 boxes) 1.00 each
Nature's Own 7 Grain bread 2.59
Nature's Own White Wheat Hot Dog buns 2.00
93% Lean Ground Beef 1.19 lbs (3 packages) 3.56 each
Sanderson Farms Chicken Breast Tenders (2.99/lb) 6.43
Green Grapes 2.38lbs (.88/lb) 2.09
Fuji Apples 3.53lbs (1.00/lb) 3.53
Baby Carrots 1lb pk (2 pkgs) 1.00 each
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Total OOP 38.89 Saved 42.27, 52%

CVS 1/31

I combined a few deals from this week with some new ones for next week. I love Saturday nights! I wanted my ECBs from the Almay and I wanted to use the Electrasol 2.50 coupons before they expire tomorrow.

Almay eye shadow 7.49
3 Electrasol Gel tabs 2.99 each
Butterfinger Valentines heart .50
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3/15 CVS coupon
8.50 in MCs
5 ECB
.49 OOP (on gift card)
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Received 5 ECBs for Almay, 3/15 coupon

If you have last weeks Walgreens and CVS ads, be sure to keep those prescription coupons! I used the CVS one at CVS this week to get my $25 gift card when I filled my prescription. My store accepts their own coupons, so I still have one more of those, plus my two Walgreens to use!

CVS 1/26

I spent a little more than usual on this trip but we were sick and needed some cold medicines, plus they had marked down some of the Tylenol Allergy Medicines to half price so I used my coupons to get those at a good price. I learned something new on this trip though... Clearanced make-up doesn't count towards the amount needed to earn ECBs!

Almay Pure Minerals Powder 6.65 (clearance)
3 Advil Cold & Sinus 5.00 each
2 Gillette for Men Shampoo 4.99 each
2 Tylenol Allergy & Sinus 3.65 each (clearance)
Almay 1 Coat Mascara 3.99
Kleenex bonus back 3.69
Alka-Seltzer Plus Day/Night cold medicine 6.59
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Used 10/50 CVS coupon
14.50 in MC
1.00 CVS Kleenex coupon
19.98 EBCs
8.72 OOP (on Gift Card)
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Received 5 ECBs for Advil, 6.98 ECBs for Gillette, 1 ECB for Kleenex
(I was trying to get the 5 ECBs for the Almay but didn't know clearance didn't count)

Savings Information

Several people have inquired about the ECBs and other coupon terms, so I wanted to use today to try to answer some of those questions. Instead of trying to type out information that is on so many other websites, I'm just going to provide links to those sites so you can read the information as you have time.

ECB Information
CVS Shopping for Newbies
Walgreens Shopping

To find all of the deals for the week for most stores, including drug stores and grocery stores, check out this pretty comprehensive list. If you don't want to spend the time tracking down all the information on blogs, you might want to consider going the Grocery Game or using Coupon Mom to find everything already put together for you. A few other tips along with stores can also be found here.

For me, I buy 2-3 newspapers a week so that I have more than one set of coupons to work with. You will still save in the beginning, but the real savings come once you get a good stockpile. Once you have most of the items you use already on hand, you can wait for them to go on sale again to maximize your savings. I try to buy meat when it is on sale too and stock my freezer up as much as I can. If you don't have a stand alone freezer, I would really recommend getting one. It will save you so much money in the long run. If not, you'll be running out and buying meat at the non-sales price to make that recipe you just have to have that week. Same goes for frozen veggies and other snacks. My freezer is full right now thanks to the current Mega Deals at Kroger! I also bought an extra turkey at Thanksgiving while they were cheap and got a ham after Christmas at a great discount! If I didn't have my freezer, I couldn't have done that.

Another great way to save that I have discovered lately is Kroger closeouts. I bought some razors just today that were normally 4.99, but were on closeout for 2.09. I had $2 coupons for them, so they were only .09 each. I also got some good deals on cleaning products the same way. I went early this morning and made my way down each aisle looking for markdowns and closeouts that I had coupon matches for. It took a little time, but I enjoy saving so it was fun for me.

A great way to keep up with deals and sales is to sign up for Google Reader and subscribe to several money saving blogs. You can then go read any new posts on a daily basis and find any special sales as well as the weekly store sales. I follow around 8 or 10 of them myself and put together all the information to do my deals each week.

As far as other terms and abbreviations I use on the blog, there is a list over on the sidebar that you can use as a reference.

Wednesday Recipe

Instead of a dinner recipe, I thought I'd share a great recipe I made this week. I wanted something sweet, so I looked through what I had on hand and what was on sale and decided on this recipe. I have an abundance of oatmeal right now, so I wanted to use some of that up. The only thing I did not have on hand was fresh blueberries; they were on sale for .99 last week, so I didn't mind buying those. I did not have raspberry preserves, but I substituted strawberry, which I did have already.

Looking over what you already have and then finding recipes will save much more than finding a recipe and then seeing what you need to make it.

I'll just post the link instead of typing it all out. I thought it was good; let me know if you try it and what you think!

Very Berry Breakfast Cake

Tuesday Freebies!

If you are like me, you would love to try some of the whitening strips but hate to pay so much for something you aren't sure about. Wal-Mart is currently offering a free sample of Crest Whitestrips, so go take advantage of the opportunity to try these out for free!

Attention Smokers: Quitting smoking is tough but it doesn't have to be brutal. Instead of going cold turkey, NicoDerm CQ helps you quit successfully through a balanced approach. Along with the sample you will also receive a $7 coupon on your next purchase. Answer some questions and fill out the form to get your free sample. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.Click Here

Nature's Bounty is giving away a free sample of their Fish Oil supplements. Jason takes these on a daily basis so I'm happy the sample comes with a coupon too!

Kroger 1/25

Yeah, I know.... 3 trips, but this one was more to hang out with a friend. I just took my coupon binder along and got a few more deals too.

Fiber One Granola Bars (2 boxes) 2.69 each
Cheerios Snack mix 2.19
Hormel Bone-In Spiral Ham (markdown) 8.19
Hormel Turkey Chili (2 cans) 1.00
Yo Plus Yogurt 4 pk 2.59
Sargento Cheese Sticks (2 pkgs) 3.99 each
Blueberries 1 pnt .99
Nature Valley granola bars (2 boxes) 2.69 each
Kroger Sour Cream 8 oz .99
Nabisco Wheat Thins (2 boxes) 2.39
Nestle TollHouse Brownies 2.50
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23.88 OOP, saved 27.06 or 52%
13.90 in MC savings

Kroger 1/24

I tend to hit the mega deal sale several times, so here was my second visit. I bought a few items on special or markdown in addition to the mega deal items.
Prices are before the $5 off:

Captain Crunch Cereal (3 boxes) 2.49 each
2 pk GE Energy Smart light bulbs (8 packages) 4.70 each
Glade Aerosol Spray (6 bottles) .96 each
Orville Redenbacher Natural Popcorn (3 boxes) 2.19 each
Kraft Cheese (5 packages) 1.99 each
Pace Picante Sauce/Salsa (2 bottles) 1.76 each
Kens Salad Dressing (2 bottles) 1.99 each
French's Mustard (1 bottle) 1.49
Nature's Bounty Melatonin 9.09
Nature's Bounty Biotin FREE (B1G1)
Quaker Simple Harvest Oatmeal (2 boxes) 2.69 each
Tostino's Pizza Rolls 40 ct (2 bags) 2.99 each
Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers (4 bags) 1.49 each
Loreal Men's Facial Cleanser (markdown) 3.49
Quaker Mini Rice Cakes (2 bags) 1.00 each
Pork Chops (managers special) 3.61
Dove Shampoo (markdown) 2.45
Coffeemate Peppermint Mocha creamer 1.00
Starbucks dark chocolate grahams (2 packs) .65 each
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Total OOP 66.03 saved 96.31 0r 59%
I had $38.00 in MC savings!

Kroger 1/22

I love the Kroger Mega Events!
I'll try to list all that we tonight, as well as a website where you can get the coupon match-ups.

Transaction #1: (prices before the $5 off)
2 40 count bags Tostinos Pizza Rolls 2.99 each
1 Gordons Fish Fillets 2.99
1 Pace Picante Sauce 1.76
1 Kleenex w/ lotion 1.59
2 Glade Warmers 1.49 each
1 Glade gel refills 2.09
2 bags Farm Rich Mozz cheese sticks 4.99 each
12.21 OOP; saved 25.39 (67%)

Transaction #2:
1 Quilted Northern tissue pk 6.99
2 Kleenex w/ lotion 1.59 each
1 Fructis wax (closeout) 1.79
1 Cottonelle 4 pk 1.19
2 Bounty Basic paper towels (closeout) 1.03 each
2 Suave shampoos (closeout) .77 each
4 Juicy Juice 2.53 each
2 Betty Crocker boxed potatoes 1.67 each
2 Orville Redenbacher popcorn 2.19 each
1 French's Worcheschire sauce (closeout) .79
2 Ro*tel tomatoes .90 each
3 Fiber One granola bars 2.69 each
3 Nature Valley granola bars 2.69 each
2 Quaker Simple Harvest oatmeal 2.69 each
2 Powerade singles 1.00 each
2 Tropicana Orange Juice 2.69 each
1 Borden's FF organic milk 5.49
2 French's mustard 14oz 1.49 each
1 Kraft Miracle Whip Light 2.99
4 Kraft 2% Singles 1.99 each
1 Hillshire Farms lunchmeat (markdown) 2.09
2 Chex Mix snacks 2.19 each
2 Quaker Quakes 1.00 each
1 Nestle cookie dough 2.46
1 Horizon Chocolate milk single 1.00
Total OOP 46.85 saved 75.54 or 61%

There is an awesome printable list here if you need coupon match-ups! I love this sale!

Kroger 1/19

I didn't really have a good plan in mind for Kroger today. I had a few things on my list that we could use at home, plus I wanted to pick up some items for the local food pantry.

3 BC Hamburger Helper meals $1 each
2 Rice-a-Roni $1 each
2 Pasta Roni $1 each
1 Cottonelle bath tissue 4 pk $1.19
3 ACT II popcorn (3pk) $1 each
1 Horizon Organic Milk single $1
3 Dial bar soap 3pk $1 each

Coupons:
$1/3 Hamburger Helper IP
$1/4 Rice-a-Roni or Pasta Roni 1/4 RP
3 - .40 ACT II 3 pk or larger 12/14 SS
.50 Cottonelle 4-pk (not sure of insert)
.25 Horizon Organic milk single 1/11 SS
3 - .35 Dial 1/4 SS
$3 credit from P&G for ecoupon that didn't work a few months ago

Total OOP: 5.71 saved 18.87, or 77%

CVS 1/19

It took me a long time to get my thoughts straight to even try to go to shop today. I finally went just to get out of the house. It is so hard to deal with all that has happened over the past few weeks. Anyway, here was my deal:

4 12pks of Pepsi Products $12
3 bags Lays Chips $9
2 Excedrin Migraine $1.99 each
2 Puffs tissues .99 each
1 RS marshmallow heart .50

Coupons:
2 $2 Excedrin IP coupons
2 .25 Puffs MC 1/18 PG insert
22.50 ECB

.46 OOP, got back 10 ECB
will submit receipt for $15 Pepsi/Lays Superbowl Rebate