CVS Trip--8/30

I made a run to CVS today. I went to one across town because I haven't been there lately, and they usually have Beauty Book coupons sitting out for anyone to take. Bummer, they didn't today, but I did hit some 75% off summer clearance. I don't usually go crazy with it until it's 90% off, so I just got a couple things I really wanted. Here it is:

** Glade Fragrance Collection reed difuser thing $6.99, minus $3 off coupon. $3.99, get back 6.99 in ECBs.
** 2 Bounce dryer bars $3.99 each, minus 2 $1.50 coupons. $2.49 each, get back 1ECB each.
** 2 "Beverage Totes" (will use to hold books in my son's room) Reg. $3.99 each, 75% off. $1.49 each.
** 1 Nemo kite (we're decorating my son's room in Nemo, so this will be cool hanging in the corner, I think.) Reg. $3.99, 75% off. $0.99.
** 2 Ice Packs (for the cooler, etc.) Reg. $1.99, 75% off. $0.49 each.
** 1 tub of Huggies wipes $3.49, minus $2 off CRT, $1 off coupon. $0.49.
** 1 $0.33 caramel to get my total over $25

Total was a little over $25, plus tax (stupid ECBs don't work on tax now.) :(
Used my last $5/$25 purchase (from quiz) plus other coupons.
New total $11 something, plus tax.
Used about $11 in ECBs, plus $1 something out of pocket (I need a new gift card!)
Got back 6.99 ECBs for Glade, 2 ECBs for Bounce.

Loss of 2 ECBs and $1 something out of pocket. But I'm excited to use the Bounce bars and see if they work. Plus, I'm really happy with my clearance items. The "beverage totes" match my son's room really well and I think he'll like Nemo in the corner. Good luck with your CVS deals this week!

A good Kmart trip--Doubles!

I actually had a positive experience for Kmart Double coupons this week. I put off going until Friday. I wasn't even sure if I'd go, but Friday morning I rounded up some coupons and was excited to go. We really needed toilet paper, so that was my top priority. Here's what I got:

**12 pack of Charmin Basic toilet paper $6.50, minus $1 off coupon, doubled. $4.50.
**4 pack of Scott natural toilet paper $3.99, minus $1 off coupon, doubled. $1.99.
**2 jars of Welch's grape jelly 2/$4, minus 2 $0.75 off coupons, doubled. 2/$1.
**2 Irish Spring men's bodywash $3.99 each, minus 2 $2 off coupons, doubled. Free.
**2 boxes of Hartz dog biscuits $3.59 each, minus 2 $2 off coupons, doubled. Free.
**1 pack of Mott's singles applesauce $2.50, minus $1 off coupon, doubled. $0.50.
**2 roll pack of Bounty paper towel $2.79, minus $1 off coupon, doubled. $0.79.

Total before coupons was about $35.
After doubled coupons: $10.05!

I had a $5/$50 coupon, but I just didn't want to spend that much money, especially since I was only allowed 10 coupons total. (I hate that.) But for what I got, I was happy with the $10. I really like Scott toilet paper (one roll last forever!) and I thought I had another coupon for it, but oh well. I was very happy with my cashier. He was nice and took his time. (It helped that they had more than one lane open--which they don't always do.) I hope you had a good Kmart experience too! Happy shopping!

CVS Trip 8/16

Cooper and I had to get out first thing Sunday to get to CVS to get some deals. Mainly, because I have a $23.97 ECB that expired today (8/16) and I REALLY needed to roll it before it was too late. That would be devastating to lose almost $24 in ECBs! I do know of a CVS that takes expired ones, if that would have happened, but I was glad I could get out today.

I wanted to get the 3-day sale items and be one of the first ones there to get them, so they 'd actually be there! I was the first ECBer that I noticed, but at least 2 more rolled it after me, not long after 10am when they opened.

First stop, I scanned my card at the coupon machine. Low and behold, a 10 ECB popped out! I forget that I took a CVS Advisory Panel survey (yay me!) and was awarded 10 ECBs for taking it! So that printed out today. Along with that I got one of the strangest $/$$ off coupons ever--$7 off a $49 or more purchase! Just weird. But I'll take it and see if I can make it work for me. :) So here's what I got:

** 2 PaperMate packs of black pens $0.99 each x 2, both gave back $0.99 each in ECBs.
** 2 packs of CVS filler paper $0.99 each x 2, both gave back $0.99 each in ECBs.
** 2 recycled plastic pencil boxes (? weird to me) $1.99 each, got back in $1.99 each in ECBs.
(couldn't find the mini-compositioin books, darn)
** 1 Phillips headphones $6.99, get back 6.99 in ECBs.
** 1 L'Oreal 24 hours, something or other, wrinkle/eye cream. $14.99, minus $5 off coupon. $9.99.
** 1 L'Oreal pore minimizing cleanser $5.99 minus $1 coupon. Got back $10 ECBs for buying the 2 L'Oreal items.
** 2 Johnson & Johnson First Aid kits, travel size. $0.99 each, got back 2ECBs for buying 2.

My total was $40+, I don't quite remember. I used my $5 off a $25 purchase from taking the www.cvs.com survey! And I used a $4 off a $20 facial care coupon, since I bought over $20 of the L'Oreal stuff. Minus the other coupons. The cashier adjusted my 23.97 ECB to 23.74 (I think) and I paid $0.42 total!!! Yay! Plus I got back $26.93 in ECBs--and this time they are a bunch of small ones and not one huge one! So it was a good trip. A small rise in ECBs, but if you include the 10 ECBs I got for the survey, it was an AWESOME gain! I love boosts in ECBs like that. I hope they ask if I'll take some more surveys, cuase that rocks! Hope you have a good CVS week too! Happy Shopping!

My Poetry Won a COUPON!!! To Old Navy!

Last week, I was visiting www.swaggrabber.com (this is the site I use for deals, of course, but also I like to hang out in the chat room during Old Navy coupon nights). Well, I stopped by last week, and saw there was a contest to win a $50 off a $100 Old Navy coupon. You had to submit a poem to win, so I got my creative juices flowing. I seriously just typed in up in a matter of a minute or two (I am a notorious silly poem writer, from way back in my high school days). Here's what I came up with...

Oh Old Navy,
The one we love to hate.
We just want coupons,
But you make us wait.
3am, 4am, 5am and more.
Even when I’m there on time,
I don’t ever score
The coveted $70 off coupon.
To me it’s just a dream.
Old Navy you are so evil,
You make me want to scream.

Well, low and behold, I won one of the coupons! It turned out I was out of town visiting a friend (a fellow Old Navy fan.) We had gone out to dinner, while our husbands generously watched the kids. We ran in Old Navy and I thought "Hey, let me check and see if I won that coupon and then we could use it!" She has email on her phone and there it was. My "You Won" email! So we went in Old Navy. Quickly decided, yeah, let's go home and print it off, cause there will not be a problem finding things we need!

Because I have dial-up, I have never gotten any of the good coupons on my own. Earlier this summer (maybe early June?) I was trying for the coupon, couldn't get it, and a gal in the chat room sent me a $50/$100 that she wasn't going to use. So I had already bought myself some nice summer clothes that I desperately needed. So I was really hoping my friend would get some good use out of it. She is the best friend in the world, and anything I can do to help her, I would love to do. So, I was happy that she wanted to use the coupon. She used the majority of it and got lots of stuff for her two little girls for back to school clothes. Jeans, dresses, shirts, etc, etc. Cute stuff. She spent about $44 of the $56 we spent in total.

I got 8 pairs of Old Navy size 2T/3T socks for my little boy. They were 8 pair for $10. I really like their socks with the skid-free soles. I also found a great deal of a pair of nice cargo pants for my hubby. They were on clearance for $7.99. I wanted to get a pair of swim trunks for my son for next year, but there wasn't much in his size. My friend talked me into getting the one pair I did find. I wasn't in love with them, (like I was with the white pair with the fish on them) but they were $4.99 and with the half off coupon, it'd be like $2.50, so she talked me into them. I think I could probably find some cheaper at Target once all their summer stuff goes on clearance. (And who am I kidding, I'll probably get more than one pair anyways, cause I'm just like that when I find things for $1-2.) But I paid about $12 for the 8 pair of socks, 1 pair of Men's Cargo shorts, and 1 pair of 3T swim trunks. The socks themselves were on sale, so I probably would have spent $10 on them anyways, since I needed them. So it's kind of like I got the cargo shorts and swim trunks for $1 each.

So I was happy with my finds. And even more happy to be able to share some savings with a dear friend. :) Thanks again Swaggrabber for the coupon!

A Great Deal Day

Today, somehow, I'm not sure, but today I hit 3 stores and got some great deals.

First stop was Kroger. I wanted to get some snack food for a mini-trip we are going on to visit friends. I had a wonderful cashier that was so nice and talked about how she loves internet coupons too. I will definitely keep my eyes open for her whenever I'm at that Kroger. Cooper was with me and enjoyed the racecar cart. That's about the only way to get through Kroger. Hopefully the excitement lasts awhile. Here's what I got:

** 3 packs of Oscar Mayer beef hotdogs 2/$5. I have a Kroger mailer for a free pack! Plus 2 $1 off coupons. The 3 packs were $3 total. I thought that was great.
** Buy 4/$10 get two gallons of milk deal: I got Cheeze-Its, Rice Krispies, and 2 packs of Keebler cookies. I have coupons for each, so it brought the total down to $6, plus the 2 gallons of milk for free.
** 4 cups of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese. $1 each, minus 2 coupons doubled for $1 off. So 4 cups for $2. Nice for traveling.
** 3 boxes of Weight Watchers Fudge pops. Yum. They are on sale for 2/$6 til mid-August. I've picked up a couple $0.55/1 coupons at Weight Watchers, so I got the 3 boxes for $2 each.
** 1 box of Cinnamon breakfast bars--I can't recall the actual brand. (Cinnabon?) Something new. $1.99, minus $1 off coupon. $0.99. For breakfast away from home.
** 1 bag of marshmellows. $1. (to go with the Rice Krispies for RK treats)
** 2 multi-pack bags of Ramen noodles. $0.99 each. My hubby eats these up like mad. I don't know why.

My receipt says I saved: $34.67 (62%)
Total after coupons: $20.97.

Later in the evening, I got away from the house by myself. I HAD to hit up CVS and get the Huggies deal, especially since I got 2 CRT's for $2 off Huggies and $2 off Pull-ups, both I had manu. coupons for. I also got my free mouthwash (August free gift item--was hoping for the chocolate, though.) I got two packs of highlighters and 2 York Peppermint Patties, cause I had to get my total up to $4, cause that was the smallest amount of ECBs that I had.

My original total was about $25. Used a $4/$20 coupon from the pharmacy booklet. Total before ECBs was about 5! Used $4 ECBs and 1.18 OOP. Got back 4 ECBs. Not bad. My pre-tax total was $0.04!!! Nice. Receipt says "Total Savings of $34.69."

Last stop was Meijer. I found some of the Dannimals coupons, and wanted to get two of those, since there's also a Meijer Mealbox coupon to go with the manu. coupon to make them FREE! Picked up some lunchmeat (Healthy Ones?) $2, plus I had a $0.55 coupon, doubled to make it $1. The frozen pretzels are half off again and I had coupons from last time that I wanted to use, so they were $1.36, minus $1 each after the coupon doubled. My hubby also loves those. I got two boxes (I hate that Meijer only will double 2 of the same coupon, by the way. That makes me mad.) Then I walked past a Rice Krispie Treat display and all the boxes had $2/2 packs coupons. They were $1.88 on sale, plus if you bought $10 worth, you'd get $10 off a backpack.

Now, in my head, I was thinking "If I get a backpack that's less than $10, will it take the whole $10 off?" I was hopeful, but NO it doesn't work that way. I got a $5 one and it only took $5 off. I gave it a try. :) But 6 boxes of the RKT's were $11.28, minus 3 $2/2 coupons, made them $5.28 for 6 boxes, plus the free backpack. So it was alright. They will be good to take travelling and I love them. My Meijer total was $7.00, after coupons. My receipt says I saved "$29.17."

So for about $100 worth of stuff, I paid about $30. About 70% off. Not bad. Not awesome, but I'll take it. We have plenty of snacks for our mini-trip and to share with friends when we get there. The $0.04 diapers were the highlight of the day. :) (And I got another pharmacy coupon booklet from a different pharmacist tonight at CVS. I'm loving this! I won't take them all, I promise.) Happy Shopping!

A Couple CVS Things

Well, after over 7 months, I've finally used up my $50 gift card my hubby got me for Christmas last year. I was hoping to spread it out all year, but from 12-25-08 to 8-8-09 is pretty good! Plus I was managing 3 cards most of this year, so it was spread out pretty thin. I did decide to just stick to one card and I like it a lot better. I think I can get the maximum out of my deals with just one card and it's a lot less hassle. And now that my 2 year old despises CVS and even pulling in the parking lot, it's just as well. :)

Anyways, we were gone the first part of the week on vacation so I missed all the school supplies. (Which none of us are in school so I don't know exactly why I'm getting them, but it's just a CVS thing, you know.) But I went in yesterday just to take a look around and saw that Pampers were 2 for $20, with 5 ECBs back. Not the best deal, but I had some coupons and was able to snag a Readyfill prescription coupon booklet with the $4/$20 coupons in it! Yay!! So I thought I'd try it out. I like Pampers, and they never have good deals, so I thought I'd just have a loss in ECBs in order to get some Pampers. Here's how it went:

**2 Jumbo packs of Size 5 Pampers (still 30 count) 2/$20. Minus 1 $3 off coupon, minus 1 $2 off coupon. 2/$15. Get back $5 ECBs.
**1 Blink Tears eyedrops $7.99, minus $1.50 coupon. Get back $7.99 ECBs. (used the coupon profit to lower the diaper price.)

Total before coupons: $27.99.
Also used my $4 off a $20 purchase coupon.
Total after coupons: $17.49 plus tax.
Used $16.92 in ECBs, $1.05 off gift card and $0.32 out of my change purse.
Received: $12.99 in ECBs back. Loss of about 4 ECBs. But for 2 packs of diapers, that's fine with me. Especially now that there are some $/$$ off coupons to help, hopefully, build a little profit the next couple weeks.

I will definitely be doing the Huggies deal next week (2/$18, get 4ECBs) because I got 2 CRT's to use. $2 off Huggies and $2 off Pull-ups, along with my $4/$20 and my manufacturer's coupons, it should be pretty good. My son's not in Pulll-ups yet, but I imagine it will eventually happen, right. :)

Happy Shopping!