Meijer Trip 4-16. Lost without my Camera. :( And lots of :P :P :P

I really needed to do a major grocery trip this week. I just couldn't get it to happen, so I had to settle with taking my wee one with me. I like shopping with him almost always, but when it comes to a big trip, it's just not usually fun. I have a big stash of coupons, he has the patience of a 21 month old. And we pull into the parking lot and I realize I only have one biscuit cookie for him to gnaw on. Bad planning. So we tried. I could have saved about $5 more dollars, at least, I'm estimating if I was alone. A couple things rang up wrong and a couple coupons didn't come off. It's just close to impossible to catch that kind of stuff with a cranky wee one with you. Oh, well. We did pretty good regardless.

Another bummer for this post is I don't have pictures. (left my camera at my parents on Easter--hope to get it this weekend.) I did snap some with my camera phone. BUT I don't really know how to get them from my phone to here, so we'll see. Maybe I'll figure it out. But I'm pretty sure I'd have to pay for sending them. And that's not thrifty, so we may just go without.

Meijer had a 10 for $10 sale this week. Not a ton of stuff to choose from, but with coupons I like the 10/10 sales. I also did several deals with manufacturer's coupons plus Meijer Mealbox coupons. You can only use 1 MMB coupon per item, but you can use a manu. coupon with a MMB coupon. It states "cannot be combined with another Meijer manufacturer coupon" and so I wasn't doing that, and they worked. I do not really like how they work, because when they ring up, it says "Promotion" or something like that and say "$0.00" which always confuses me. But on the receipt, the savings comes off underneath each particular item and not at the end like the manufacturer coupons. Here's what I got for $31.39.

**9 jars of Nature's Goodness baby food (apricots)--clearanced to $0.22 each, charged for 10, though. :P
**4 Mint Zone bars 4 x $1.15, minus 3 free with coupon, total $1.15
**2 8 oz Daisy sour creams $1.18, minus 2 $0.50 coupons, doubled--only one was taken off. :P again.
**1 Kraft Dressing $1.98, used $1.50 coupon
**1 Green Giant Frozen broccoli Steamer that rang up $2.19, but was in the 10/10 section. :P again!!! Used $0.50 off coupon, doubled.
**1 McCormick minced garlic $2.49, used MMB $1 off coupon
**1 Liquid plumber $4.35. Had a "Free or your money back sticker" which I'm going to send in for, cause I still have a clog. :P :P
**2 Oscar Mayer Deli Creation sandwichs, 2 for $5, used $1 off coupon. I have some more of these coupons, but probably will wait to see if they go 2 for $4. They aren't that big, but my husband liked them.
**2 Dole bags of salad. Supposed to be in the 10/10 sale, but rang up $0.98. So that put me off with the Buy 10/10, get 1 free. :P
**2 Green Giant boxed veggies $1 each, used $0.50/2, doubled, $0.50 each
**2 Green Giant Steamers $1, used 2 $0.50/1 coupons, doubled. Free.
**2 Softsoap pumps, $1 each (not in the 10/10 sale, why?) used 2 $0.50/1 coupons, doubled. Free
**2 containers of organic fresh mushrooms. Yum, in salads! $1 each.
**2 Motts jars of applesauce. $1.69 each, used 2 $0.55/1 coupons, doubled. Plus $1 off 2 MMB coupons. $0.19 each.
**1 Arnolds wheat bread. $1.69, used $1 off MMB coupon. $0.69.
**1 Minute Rice, price cut $2.15, used $0.50/1 coupon, doubled. $1.15. I've been buying the bagged rice cause it's cheaper, but it comes out so sticky. Hopefully I'll have better luck with this. **3 boxes of Kleenex with lotion 3/$4. Used $0.50/3 coupon, doubled. $1 each.
**3 cans of Hormel chicken breast (never tried it?) 3/$6. $1 off MMB coupon. 3/$5.
**2 Snuggle Creme liquid fabric softeners. 2/$7, used 2 $2 off coupons. 2/$3
**1 Oncor Salisbury Steak dinner $2
**6 Smart Ones, Buy 6/$12, get $2 off instantly, plus $1/5 coupon. 6/$9
Used a $5 off a $50 purchase coupon on the back of a ticket stub.

It was like $65 something. I gave the cashier my coupons and she said "Let's see if we can get it down to $50." :) She was nice. But I though, Oh yeah, lady, it's getting under $50!

With just coupons, it was like $43. Not bad. But then I whipped out the AWESOME $25 Meijer giftcard that my DAD gave me...He said he just doesn't shop there and so I could have it. What? I think he was just being super nice and helpful, like usual. But THANK YOU! It came out to $18.48 after the gift card. WOW, that's great! Total savings: (not including gift card) $48.28! Nice.

So you can see with all the :P's, I could have done better, but that's that. I don't know if it's worth it to return the couple things that didn't come out right? I'll have to think about it. BUT I did get home and realize I didn't buy the 10 for $10 Ground Turkey they had on sale, that we needed! So today, when I was out on my own (to hit up a couple garage sales), I stopped at Meijer for the Ground Turkey. I also got the following:

**7 lbs Ground Turkey $1/lb. $7 total
**4 bags Aunt Millies hot dog buns/hamburger buns $1
**1 box Kleenex $1.33, minus $0.40 coupon**, doubled. $0.53.
**1 6 pack Danimals yogurt $2, minus $1 coupon, minus $1 MMB coupon. Free. (forgot to get this last night, even though I handed the lady the coupons for it. I hate when that happens.)
**2 packs of Bar S franks $1 each
**1 Cascade dish detergent $3.09, minus $3 off coupon**, $0.09.

**Here's the funny thing, at my garage sales, I didn't hit any great finds, BUT the best garage sale deal I got: At one of the garage sales, the seller gave me a little baggy of coupons. She said she picked a bunch up at her Day Care and so she handed me one. Yum... coupons. I was thrilled. I opened it up (I managed to wait til I got to the car) there were a bunch of coupons!!! Kleenex coupons, (plus samples), Kimberly Clark product coupon booklet (hence the Cascade coupon). It rocked! It made the relatively dismal garage sale finds ALL worth it. :)

But anyways, the total was $12.91, after the coupons and the $1 item off for the 10/$10 get 1 free sale. Total Savings of $20.79! Awesome again!!!

Total spent: $31.39
Total Savings: $69.07
That's about 70%! Nice work. Even without pictures and a bunch of :P's.

Easter Basket goodies

I wanted to share my Easter basket deals that I have put together. Cooper's not old enough to get Easter candy yet, but I've managed to pick up a nice assortment of Easter gifts for his basket this year--well, actually last year. You see, I am a big fan of stocking up for holidays, after the holidays. It sounds weird, but if you have the room (even just one plastic storage tub) you can grab wonderful holiday deals (75-90% off) after the holidays and save them for the following year, and even years to come. Here's Cooper's basket. I didn't even have to buy him an Easter basket, actually! For a shower gift, before he was born, someone gave me a beautiful basket, filled with diapers. I seriously think it may have been an Easter basket and they used it for a shower gift--what a great idea! So if you are needing a shower gift anytime soon, definitely scout out some cute Easter baskets that you see and grab them up after Easter when they go on clearance. I saw a super cute round sturdy one at CVS that I am hoping will still be there when it hits 75% off. I may consider 50% off , but probably not. I just usually think 50% off is that great a deal. I know, I'm crazy.

For the fillers, I picked up cute things throughout the year--mainly on 75% off--and store them down in the basement. Then when a holiday comes around, I have a selection of toys to choose from. Easter is a good holiday for little gifts (things that will fit in a basket, of course) so I found the Pluto stuffed toy ($1.48--Target after Christmas clearance), this Tonka Truck no-spill bubble cup (Kmart, 75% off summer clearance $1.25), and a set of cute Mickey Mouse Clubhouse race cars (Kroger, 75% off toy clearance--Kroger has really great toy clearances randomly. This was $2.49.)


I filled the basket with CVS free after Extra Buck Easter grass, from this year, and some Easter themed gifts that I grabbed up last year after Easter. Either 75-90% off. Cute stuffed Easter bunny, and two little hop-around Easter toys, which Cooper can play with for a couple weeks, and then I'll put them back in the Easter bin for next year. A perfect little basket!
Also, as the year goes on, I gather books up with bunny/Easter themes. My mom is a big book giver, which I love, and some of the books are from her from last year. I don't have them out all year, just for the holiday. That way they seem new every year. And they actually stay new-looking, too. I did get these out about a week prior to Easter, so Cooper could look at them longer. As soon as I plopped them down in his book pile, he picked the new ones out and looked and looked at them.
As far as Easter eggs, I have several bags of different Easter eggs that I picked up either on clearance (some at Big Lots, CVS, Walmart, etc.) and a bag or two at a garage sale. All either 75-90% off, or garage sale priced at around $0.50. If you find some ones you really like keep a mental note of it and then check back a couple days to a week after Easter. I thought the little carrot ones were adorable so I waited to get them on clearance at Big Lots last year and I also got a pack of the glow in the dark ones after Easter, that Cooper will probably be into for next year--that will be fun!) More than likely, you'll find some that you really like, that your kids will love, even if it is next year, or down the road. I found the large eggs at a garage sale--perfect for 1 year old hands to pick up. I also found a bag of dinosaur Easter eggs at a garage sale. When he hits the dino stage, which I'm assuming most boys do, he'll love them.

So, I hope I inspired you to save a little money on Easter. It just takes a little planning and a place to store some extra goodies. I think my Easter basket is so much better than those pre-packaged ones with cheap toys and loads of candy that I see all over the place. But I am a little biased to my own good deals. :) But really, I like the personal feel and the fact that I put it all together myself, all while saving some money. You don't have to sacrifice quality even when you are on a budget.

$15 off of a $75 purchase CRT! Whoa Nelly!

Sunday I went into CVS with the intentions of getting my 3 packs of Huggies, use my 3 $5 off coupons, and a $4 off of $20 coupon that I hadn't use yet, but when I scanned my card at the coupon machine, it spit out a $15 off a $75 purchase. Now, I know $4/$20 and $15/$75 still equals 20% off. I get that. But there's something about that $15 off that I COULDN'T resist. So I saved my coupons, browsed the store a little bit (there's lots of things being marked down, some that I have my eye on) and then left.

Later that night, after everyone was in bed asleep, I opened up my CVS ads and grabbed my stacks of coupons and went to work. Now, I'm sure you know if you shop at CVS, you never can count on them having everything you want to buy, especially if it's on sale with Extra Bucks. So I had a long list of things I really wanted and then some extras that would work.

Here's what I came up with:

**3 packs of Huggies $10 each, minus 3 $5 coupons, get 10 ECBs back = $5

**2 Easter baskets, $1.99, get 1.99 back each (free)

**2 Easter bags of Easter grasss, $0.79 each, get 0.79 ECBs back each (free)

**1 Skintimate Shave Gel, $3.49, get 3.49 ECBs back (free)

**1 Stayfree pads, $3.99, minus $2 off CRT coupon, get 2 ECB back (free)

**2 Carefree liners $4.19, minus 2 $1.50 coupons, get 2 ECBs back each = $0.69 each

**1 Colgate MaxWhite toothpaste $2.99, minus $1 coupon, get 2 ECBs back (free)

**2 Glade Air fresheners $0.99 each, BOGO coupon, $1 off CRT (free)

**2 Excedrin Migraine $1.99 each, 2 $2 off coupons (free)

**1 Dawn dish liquid $0.99, minus $1 coupon (free)

**1 Gerber Graduates snack $3.29, minus $3 coupon = $0.29

**2 cans of Pringles $0.88 each, minus $1/2 coupon = $0.76

**2 Nature Made vitamins $5.99 each, BOGO sale, minus $2 CRT, minus 2 $1 coupons = $1.99/2

Total before coupons: around $76, with tax it was around $82

Minus $15/75, Total after coupons: around $24

Used $20.49 in ECBs, Subtotal: $0.95, plus tax for grand total of $2.84. (from my gift card)

Received around $27 in ECBs.

I wish I could have grown my ECBs more, but I used all that I had. :( I would have done the Natural Dentist mouthwash, but I just didn't have enough ECBs to buy it and I really didn't want to use up more of my gift card balance. But I'm happy with it. Hopefully there will be some moneymaker deals coming up that will help me out. :) The moral of the story: It helps to PLAN. And for some reason, I really enjoy plotting out my next great deal. It's like searching for treasure! :)

A Couple More Finds: CVS & Garage Sales

I am really exciting for garage sale season. I seriously am up to my ears in clothes for this summer (thanks to previous garage sales, clearance racks, a friend who passes down her son's clothes, etc.) But I still love to go, and especially since I'm not in a panic to get stuff for now, I can go, shop, find great prices and really be kind of picky about what I get.

So right now, I've been shopping for 2T, 3T and maybe some 4T if I find them. My little guy is 21 months old, so this summer he'll be on the verge of 24 month clothes and 2T clothes. And the nice thing is that with shorts, you don't have to worry so much about the length.

It feels early to be out at garage sales, but I did find a nice one this week. Before Cooper was born, I found a FABULOUS garage sale in Union, where the mom was just trying to get rid of her stuff. Stride Rite shoes for $0.50, I think it was. Clothes for $0.50. Socks, towels, etc for like $0.05! I walked away with 6 bags I think. And I still have shoes from her that I'm using! So I saw the ad, and it was the same street, about the same location, so I was HOPING it would be the same lady. I didn't see her, and it wasn't the same house (although it seemed to be about 4-5 moms putting the sale on), but there were great prices. Just not much of the sizes I was looking for. I found a couple 4T things at good prices, so I bought them up.

The 1st outfit is winter fleece pj's with polar bears and penguins. Cute. And $0.50. The 2nd outfit says Nike Football. It was a little more expensive than I usually go, but it was name brand so I splurged and spend $1.50. The 3rd outfit is also pj's, Cherokee brand, soft flannel with cars on the shirt and pin-striped pj pants. $0.50. So $2.50 for the 3 outfits. And good quality outfits.

My husband just a day or two earlier said "If you see some tennis shoes on sale for a good price, I need some." He was referring to the store, but I found some at the garage sale. :) $0.50!

They are Asics and they are in good condition. He has a couple pair of tennis shoes, but he needed some more comfortable ones to play basketball. So far so good. Until I find some more for 50 cents. :)



My last find was a splurge at CVS. Some things are going on clearance (it seems like of like extra Christmas type presents maybe) and I noticed one of the managers telling someone about some of the toys that were marked down. So I looked around. Nothing was really marked more than 25% or 50% off, but I thought I'd price check some things. Low and behold, I found a cute light up fish aquarium (not marked on clearance at all, but up on the top shelf where the rest of the clearance things were) so I price checked it. I bought Cooper one of these last year for $1 at a garage sale, but sadly it didn't light up, like the one at the Children's Hospital does, that was always make a special trip to go see. He loves it.



Anyways, the regular price was $9.99. Not bad. But it did ring up 75% off! $2.49! It was something special that I had been wanting to get, so I used some Extra Bucks to splurge and get it. He loves it. It lights up and has some Nemo fish on it. Cute cute cute. So worth it. :)



So those are my hot buys for the week. :) I'm excited for the coming week and getting some Huggies at CVS with my $5 coupons and Extra Bucks! And the Easter freebies too.

A great Walgreens trip---I don't know if I've ever said that!

Today we were out and about and I'm so happy for the wonderful weather--the grass is GREEN! Really green! Yay! We stopped at CVS and Walgreens to celebrate. :)

At CVS I picked up:
* 2 Sally Hensen nail polishes (BOGO) and use by $3/2 CVS coupon, to make them free
* 2 Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubbers. They were $2.99, and I had 2 $2.75 off coupons, so they were about $0.50 for the two--and definitely something I'll use.
* 1 AccuCheck meter (9.99, get 9.99) --to donate
* 2 of the PAAS Easter egg coloring kits (1.99, get 1.99).
* 1 bag of Jelly Beans (not pictured, on sale for $0.50--I thought I needed a filler, but am not sure if I really did. The jelly beans were not good--I tried them. And I'm not particularly picky on my sweets.)




All in all, I used $13.99 ECBs, plus $0.75 out of pocket (off of gift card) and got back $13.97 in ECBs. (3.98 for the 2 Paas, 9.99 for Accu-Check)


The BIG STORY is that we hit Walgreens afterwards. Cooper was nearing the end of his tolerance for shopping at this point, but I armed him with a biscuit to gnaw on (and an emergency sucker in my pocket) and he was good to go. We picked up:


* 2 rolls of Reynolds Wrap foil ($0.89 with in-ad Q, plus $1 off manufacturer coupon=free plus $0.22 overage)
*2 Glade Fragrance Collection Soy Candles ($5.99 each, minus $4 off with Wags coupon, minus 2 4 off manu. coupon= free) These will be nice Mother's Day gift additions.
*2 Cherry Cokes and 2 Hershey bars (BOGO Walgreens coupon from Coke Rewards, plus 2 free
Hershey bars from buying the Cokes=1.19 after coupons)
*2 bags of Halls cough drops (used Wags in-ad Q for the $1.39 price, BOGO coupon found at
Kmart took off $2.29, $1 off manu. Q made $0.51 overage)
*3 Easter mini-sticker book (used 3/$1 in-ad coupon because I needed more items to match my
number of coupons.)



So all in all I paid $1.28 before tax, making a total of $2.66 with tax. The cashier, Krystal, was SO nice and SO helpful. She didn't say anything rude, which has sadly been typical Wags behavior. She didn't throw any of my coupons back at me and say "I'm not taking this". She was just NICE. And if a coupon wouldn't have worked, that would have been fine, but I just appreciated her willingness to do her job and have great customer service. Very refreshing. I will definitely fill out my survey on the receipt and leave high marks for her, and even send an additional nice email to walgreens.com about her. Thank you Krystal, you made my day. And all the loot for $2.66 helped. :)

Meijer: March 27th, 3 free milks!!!

We hit up Meijer today, because I wanted to do the Kellogg's deal. Buy 3 Kellogg's cereals, get 1 free milk, Buy 5, get 2 free gallons, Buy 7, get 3 free gallons. I had 2 $0.70/1 coupons, so I was going to use them on the 5/$10 Kellogg's cereals that were on sale, making them just $1 each. I had kind of wished in my head that someone would leave some extra coupons behind by the cereals--you know how nice people do that, when they know they won't use them. I love that. Well, praise the Lord, someone left 3, 3!!! extra $0.70/1 coupons there! So that gave me 5 total, so that I could be 5 boxes for $5 total, and then get the coupons for two free milks!!! How awesome! I'm going to try and do that (leave extra coupons) more often, because it really made my day.

I also grabbed a loaf of $1.29 wheat bread and decided to do the Nabisco deal, where you buy 2 Nabisco products listed (most were 2 for $4) and get a gallon of milk free instantly. Milk is only $1.77 this week, but still, I'll take it for free. We needed milk (my main reason for going to Meijer) and so this would let me get the milk now, and not have to turn around and go get the milk to use my coupons--cause you are supposed to use the coupons on your next order. So I paid around $10 for 5 boxes of cereals, 2 boxes of Nabisco crackers, 1 loaf of break and 1 gallon of milk. I thought that was good. AND I got two coupons for 2 more free milks to use later!

For all the great Meijer deals, I like to check out Bargain Briana and Cincinnati Cents. Check them out!

CVS: March 27th

A couple days ago, while browsing CVS, and picking up some Crest $3.49, get $3.49 toothpaste, I scanned my card at the coupon/price checker machine. To my disbelief, a $5 off $30 purchase printed off. That rarely happens to me, so I was excited! So I went home and plotted my $30 purchase, in hopes of gaining ECBs. Well, it didn't totally work out with much of a gain, but I did pretty good. Everything did not quite make it to the picture, but I'll list it out.

First, for half my total of $30, I got the Bayer Contour Meter, which I had a coupon for. It was $14.99, and the coupon is good up to $30, so it took off all $14.99. I bought the Diet Pepsi 3/$11, with the Buy 2 Get 1 free coupon, so it took $3.67 off, and I got 2 ECBs back for that. I got my 2nd Crest toothpaste (limit was changed to 2), with a $0.50 off coupon, and got the $3.49 ECBs back. I got the Schick Intuition razor (my personal favorite razor ever! You'll even shave every day through the winter with this razor ladies!) It was $8.99, minus a $4 coupon, and I got 3 ECBs back for it. I had a coupon for a free Diet Dr. Pepper ($1.49-$1.49= free), a coupon scanner coupon for $2 off any Ambi product--the bar soaps are only $1.99, so free again. And a scanner coupon for $1 off 2 Gold Emblem snacks. The chocolate covered raisens were $0.99 a bag--I got two, so it was $0.98 for two bags. They are yummy. With all of that, my total was around $34. Which let me be able to use my $5 off coupon! Yay!

So after coupons, I basically paid for two 12 packs ($7.34), the Crest ($3.49-$0.50 coupon=$2.99), and the $0.98 raisens. I used $12 in Extra Bucks, $0.54 in change and got $8.49 back in Extra Bucks. A loss in ECBs but I am a big diet pop drinker and I love the razors, so it was worth it.