Super Couponing - Tuesday 8/30

I did some super couponing today.  If you've read my blog before, you probably know I'm not an extreme couponer.  I just want to save some money to help make ends meet.  As a stay-at-home mom, it's just one of the ways that I do my part in my family to keep our expenses down, especially when we are in a season of limited finances.  I'm really glad that I got started on this.  It does take a little bit of preparation and organization, and I can spend up to 3 hours or more sometimes, shopping to get the deals that I get.  But I am seeing my expenses for groceries and household items decrease, and it's a good feeling. 

My husband actually went shopping with me last week.  I wanted to go to Menards, and there were things there that I wanted his input on, plus we were going to browse a little as well.  Since the kids were in school and he didn't have any work that day, it was a good day to do it.  Andy has a new respect for what I do when it comes to coupon shopping.  I think he's had faith that what I've been doing is a big help to our finances, but he got to see it play out in real life.

Moving on... today wasn't my best day of deals, but I did get some good ones.

First stop:  Walgreen's.  It was a quick stop with a small amount of purchases.

My deals today for Walgreens:

• Kleenex - 100ct. - 99¢ a box.  Used a 50¢-off-3 coupon for 82¢ each.
• Carmex Vanilla on sale for $1.50.  Received $1.50 in Register Rewards, making it FREE!
• I had a $4 Register Reward from last week, bringing my total down to 34¢.  PLUS, I got $1.50 in Register Rewards for the Carmex.  I made money on this trip.

 My second stop was at Jewel.  I am usually pretty happy if I can save 50% on groceries.  I am not yet at the point that I can save much more than that.  My deals for today:

• I had a catalina for a Free box of Bakery Cookies when I used my Preferred Card, up to $3.50.  I made sure I got the cookies that were $3.49 so I could get my full value and not go over.  Score.
• Ken's Salad Dressing (16oz.) - I bought 2.  They were on sale for $1 each.  I had 2 $1 coupons, so I got both bottles FREE!
• Velveeta Cheesy Skillets - They were on sale for $1.67.  I had a coupon for $1 off, so I got it for 67¢, plus I got a Catalina for $1 off meat on my next shopping trip.
• Duncan Hines cake and brownie mixes - these were on sale for $1.25 each.  I had two coupons for "Buy 2, get 1 cake mix free".  I bought 4 boxes of brownies and 2 boxes of cake mix.  With kids, they make great snacks, especially if I make them in mini muffin tins!  My 7 year old gets to bring snacks to school every day, and this is an easy thing to make for him for once in a while.  So, I paid $5 for 4 of the boxes, and got 2 of them free, which comes out to 83¢ each.  Nice!
• Blue Bonnet Margarine Quarters - I bought 4 at $1 each and got a $1 Catalina making them 75¢ each.  Not the best deal, but butter prices are getting so high, that at least for baking, I may use half margarine and half butter.  I hate to do that, but sometimes you just have to make adjustments.
• Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta - They were $1 each, and buy 4 and get a $1 Catalina.  I had a 50¢ off 2 coupon and another 50¢ off 3 coupon, so I had to buy 5, but after the Catalina, they ended up being 60¢ each.
• Gulden's Mustard & Hunts Ketchup - These were $1 each, and I had to buy a combination of 4 of these and Hunt's Ketchup.  I had two 35¢ off coupons for the mustard, so after the coupons and the Catalina, the ketchup and mustard were 58¢ each.
• Hunts Snack Pack Pudding - nice and easy snack for when the kids get home from Awanas.  These were Buy 4 and get a $1 Catalina.  I had a coupon for 50¢ off two and 45¢ off 3, so I had to get 5, but those ended up being 61¢ each.
• Hunts Tomatoes - $1 each, I didn't have any coupons, but there was a $1 Catalina if I bought 4, so I did, making them 75¢ each.
• Manwich Sauce - $1 each.  Again, no coupons, but there was a $1 Catalina if I bought 4, so if I did, making them 75¢ each.  I know that's cheaper than the Aldi brand.
• Peter Pan Peanut Butter - $2.29 each, but Buy 2 and get a $1 Catalina.  I had two 50¢ off coupons, so after the coupons and Catalina, they are $1.29 each.
• Pringles Super Stacks - My kids love these!  I only buy them on sale.  They are not even this cheap at Aldi.  They were Buy 4, get a $1 Catalina.  I had a nice combination of coupons.  I had two coupons for $1 off 2 Reduced Fat Pringles, so I was able to buy 4 cans with those two coupons.  Then I had two coupons for $1-off-4 of any other flavor, so I was able to buy 8 cans with those two coupons.  I ended up getting 12 cans at 91¢ each!  Nice!  It should take us a while to go through that many cans!!!
• No Coupons Needed - I bought 2 64-ounce containers of Minute Maid Lemonade for $1 each.  I don't normally buy that kind of stuff, but $1 is not a bad price, and sometimes I like to get a little treat for my family.  They love lemonade.
• And last, but not least - Beer, Brats, Buns & Soda.  LOL.  They had Miller Light 24-packs of beer (bottles or cans, I decided to get bottles) for $12.99, and for 1¢ more, you can get a package of Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage, a package of S. Rosen hot dog buns, and a 2-liter bottle of 7-Up, Squirt, or Canada Dry.  
• According to my receipt, I saved 49%.  But I also got $10 in Catalinas and another $1 off any meat purchase on my next trip.  Doesn't come close to the $39 I had in Catalina's a week or two ago, but it's still nice.

Store Number Three.  Target.  I ended up spending over twice as much as I expected to.  Ooops!  But for good reason!  I ended up picking up some Christmas/Birthday Gifts.

• I bought two DS games.   Shhhhhh.  Zane is getting a DS Lite for his birthday and Ryan is getting one for Christmas (can't make him wait for his birthday to have one, since it's a month after Christmas, and he's going to be bummed that Zane has a DS and he doesn't).  So, I found two games on clearance.  One was $7.48 and one was $9.98.  One of them was an Indiana Jones Game.  I found out when I got home that it's rated T, so I will have to check into it.  It might be going back.  The other one was E or E10+, and it's football or baseball or something like that, so I will definitely hang onto that one.  So there's one area that I went over, but still got a good deal on something I was planning for anyway.
• Orbit Gum - Three packs were on sale for $2, and I had 3 or 4 $1 off coupons, so they were either $1 each or $1.50, depending on which coupon I used.  Either way, that's a good price for gum.  I usually pick up 3-packs of gum for $1.50, and have always felt that was a great sale.
• Axe Body Wash - I normally don't buy this stuff, because it's usually expensive, but they are on sale for $3.49 each, and I had a coupon for buy 1 Axe Body Wash, get one free.   That makes it $1.75 each.
• Axe Deodorant - Same deal.  $3.49 each, and a coupon for Buy 1 Axe Deodorant, get one free making it $1.75 each.
• Nivea Body Wash.  This was not really on sale.  It was $3.99, although some of the stores in the places I get my info from have it at $2.99.  So, I had a $2 off Target coupon and a $1 off Manufacturer's coupon, making these 99¢ each.  Since I had two of each sets of coupons, I got two of them for 99¢ each.
• Nabisco Oreo Cookies Snack Sacks - These were on sale for $1.50 each.  I had a coupon for Buy 3, Get 1 Free.  And I had another one that was 75¢-off-two.  So, I ended up getting 5, and they were about 90¢ each.
• Febreze- Target is having a big Febreze sale.  Several of their items were on sale for $2.50, and they had a promotion where if you buy 5, you get a $5 Target Gift Card for a future purchase.  I had lots of coupons.  So I got 1 Febreze Set & Refresh for $2.50, and I had a $1-off coupon, making it $1.50.  Then I got 3 cans of Febreze Air Effects at $2.50 each, and I had three $1-off coupons making each of those $1.50 each.  And I also bought a Febreze Candle, which was $5, but I had a $2-off coupon for that making it $3.  All these are in their new Pumpkin Harvest, and something that I think is called Falling Leaves or something like that.  So, once I purchased all 5, used $6 worth of coupons and got a $5 gift card, I ended up paying about 80¢ each!
• Finally, the other thing that caused me to go over on my spending - Clearance.  Oh no!  They had their children's scissors on sale for 35¢ each.  I picked up 4.  It seems like I keep buying these each year, because when the kids get out of school around Memorial Day each year, they use their scissors, but then they aren't really in a condition to take to school for another year.  If I'm wrong, then I have scissors to donate for a small amount. Or I save 65¢ or more for next year.  I also got some drawing paper.  I got 3 packs of regular size manilla drawing paper for 48¢ each and 2 packs of larger manilla drawing paper for 74¢ each.   Delaney LOVES to draw.  Tonight while I was reading to the kids, she opened up a package and drew a picture.  She is really creative.  I was glad that she busied herself with that while I read.  And the price was right.  I also ended up getting a pad of lined paper for beginning writers.  Delaney could definitely use that to practice her letters.  And I found a really cute Hello Kitty note pad for $1.75.  I also got some stacker organization bins (big surprise there!), but they were half off and only $2.50.  But it all adds up.  But that's a pretty good stash of stuff for the amount I spent.

And my last store was CVS.  I didn't get everything that I wanted here.  I might need to try to go back later this week.  We'll see.

• Puffs Plus - I bought 3 boxes for 99¢ each, plus I had a coupon for 25¢ off 3, bringing the total to $.91 each.  Not great, but better than Aldi's prices.  
• Cascade Action Plus Tabs - I love these things.  They are definitely worth paying a little more.  I'm trying to keep my cost under 18¢ a tab.  They were $3.99 for a 20ct. pouch.  I had two $1-off coupons for these, but they only had 1 on the shelf, so I was only able to get one.  But these were under 15¢ a pack.  Nice!
• Dawn Dish Detergent.  Not the best price in the world, but not really all that bad either.  It was 99¢ on sale, and I had a coupon for .50¢ off, making it 49¢ for a 10oz. bottle.
• Tampax.  On sale for $2.99 with two 50¢ off coupons, I was able to get them for $2.49 each.
• ALL Laundry Detergent.  This was on sale for $3.99, and I had a coupon for $1, so that was $2.99.  
• St. Josephs 81mg. Aspirin.  36ct. bottle was on sale for $2, I had a $1 off coupon, and I got back $2 in Extra Care Bucks, so I actually made a dollar on this.  I don't know if I will use it or donate it, but it won't go to waste.
• When I scanned my CVS card, I got a coupon for a free pack of Orbit-single pack gum, up to $1.  Most of the Orbit single pack's were about $1.57, but there was one on clearance for 78¢.  I asked if I had to buy one of the ones at regular price or if I can use the clearance one, and the cashier rang it through to check, and I ended up getting $1, even though the item only cost 78¢, so I made a few pennies off that one.
• My total savings this trip was 54%.  Nice!!  

There you have it. Today's savings.  Not to shabby.  I'm going to be making a lot of meals from my freezer and pantry this month! 

A Really Great Shopping Day

So, thanks to the rain (not to mention other lack of work recently) Andy was home for the day, so I dragged him along to go shopping with me.  Actually I didn't have to drag him.  He came willingly.  I had intended to hit up Walgreens and Jewel on my own and then take him with later, but he said he'd come if I just waited for him to grab a little bit of breakfast.

Our first stop was Walgreen's.  I had two coupons for $1.50/1 Colgate Sensitive Pro Relief Toothpaste.  It was on sale for $4.99, and you get $4.00 back in Register Rewards.  I had some Register Rewards from the previous week, so I gave Andy a $3 RR.  He had to add a candy bar to be able to use the full amount of the RR, so he ended up paying $1.65 for the toothpaste and candy bar (nice combination, right???  LOL) and he got a $4 Register Reward.  Total savings was $5.30, plus earned a $4 RR.

In the same trip, I bought a Reach Toothbrush.  It was on sale for $.99 and I had a coupon for $1 off.  Then I had a coupon for $1/2 10ct. sheet protectors.  That's a pretty good price, so I ended up getting 4 packages.  I also got a tube of the Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste and I had to add a candy bar to bring the cost up enough to use the Register Reward I had.  So, I ended up paying 89¢ for all the above, plus got a $4 Register Reward. 

Next we went to Jewel.  There was a deal where you buy 10 of a certain set of items and get $5 off instantly.  I ended up buying 2 jars of Ragu Spaghetti Sauce, which were $1.49 each before the discount and 99¢ afterwards.  Then I had a coupon for $1/2, so that brings them down to $.49 each.  Then I bought 1 bottle of Wish-Bone Salad Dressing.  Original price was $1.49 before the discount, 99¢ afterward and a coupon for $.50/1, bringing that down to $.49.  Then I bought 2 jars of Skippy Peanut Butter.  They were $1.99 before the discount, $1.49 afterwards and a coupon for $1/2, bringing them down to $.99 each.  That's a great deal for peanut butter!  In the same deal, I bought one 1.5L container of Breyer's Ice Cream.  $3.49 before the discount, $2.99 after and a coupon for 75¢, bringing it down to $2.24.  I also got a package of Heath Klondike Bars for $2.99 before the discount, $2.49 after, no coupons on this one.  And to cap off the deal, I had to get 3 more items, but I didn't have any coupons for anything else, so I chose the cheapest items on the list to purchase.  We don't normally get flavored or enhanced water, but they had Propel Fitness Water for $1 each before the discount and $.50 after the discount.  So my total after the $5 discount and all my coupons for those items was $9.68.  In the same trip, I ended up getting 4 containers of Old Orchard juice concentrate.  They were on sale for $1 each and I had a coupon for $1 off 4, making them $.75 each.  I also ended up getting 2 packages of sweet potato fries.  They were on sale $2.50 each, which doesn't seem great, but I am supposed to be getting a rebate of $1.  I don't know if that's for each or just for one, but I'll take either. And lastly, I ended up getting 2 packages of split chicken breasts and 2 packages of chicken leg quarters which were $.99 a pound.  I ended up getting almost 20lb. worth.  And I had to buy stamps, so I ended up buying them at Jewel while I was there, which cost $8.80. But here's the kicker - I had $39 in catalina's (money towards your next purchase) from my last Jewel shopping trip.  So, my total after everything was $8.31.  That's cheaper than the cost of the stamps!   So, basically I paid for all my food and even a stamp!!  Of course when we were done, it was torrentially raining.  I waited under the awning with the groceries while Andy went and got the car and drove it around.

After that, we went home and put stuff away because we had frozen items.  I put dates on the things that I buy doing my coupon shopping, because it helps me take the older things first and helps me keep track of how quickly I go through different things and what I can hold off on buying and wait for free or almost free, or what I have to find on sale and buy smaller amounts of until I can get the stock up prices.

Our next group of stores was another Walgreen's, Menards, Aldi, CVS and Office Depot.  I will skip Menards for now because I have a picture of that separate from everything else, and I paid more out of pocket, but will be getting rebates.

So, on to the second Walgreen's.  Andy stayed in the car and I picked up 2 tubes of Crest toothpaste.  It was on sale for $2.50 each, but then you buy 2 tubes and get $3 back in Register Rewards.  I had two coupons - one for $.75 and one for $.50 so, after coupons, that's $3.75 and getting $3 back in register rewards, it was like paying 38¢ a tube.  I had a $4 Register Reward from the purchases we made earlier in the day, so I had to get something else to bring the total up to $4 so I could use it, and they had pencils on sale for 39¢, so  I picked up one package of pencils and my total after using the $4 Register Reward was 58¢, and I got $3 back in Register Rewards.

Skipping over Menards, we stopped at Aldi so I could pick up the ingredients to make my Spicy Smoky Peach Salsa.  I picked up 2 cans of tomato paste, 2 tomatoes, a lime and a package of onions.  My total was less than $5, but other than Aldi just being inexpensive, I didn't get any great deals... but if you factor in that the price of making my peach salsa with the 39¢ each peaches that I bought last Friday and the fact that I had all the other ingredients on hand, the 4 quarts of the most incredible salsa I've ever had is a pretty good deal!  Probably about $10 for all of it. 

Randall Road going South has been closed since April, and it was finally open today.  It could have opened a day or two ago - who knows.  But we just noticed it today.  We didn't have to go out of our way to get to CVS.

When we got in CVS, we couldn't find the Bounty that was on sale for $9.99 or the Puffs with Lotion that were on sale for 2/$3.  They did have a deal to spend $25 in Charmin, Bounty and Puffs and get $10 in Extra Care Bucks.  Since they didn't have some of the things in stock, they price adjusted the Bounty and the Puffs so that we were given the advertised price, and the cashier had to manually produce the $10 ECB.  While we were trying to figure out if they had the out of stock items in the back, the cashier told me that I could scan my CVS card a second time, as CVS card holders can scan their card twice a week, so if I only come in once a week, it will let me scan it twice.  I did so and I got a coupon to buy 1 package of Skittles and get one free.  This was for the 14-16oz. size.  They were $3.59 each or $3 each if you buy 2 or more.  So, it gave me the $3 price.  Then gave me $3 off.  And I had recently printed two $1 off Skittles coupons, and since I had two bags of skittles, I was able to use one on each, even though the second was free.  So, I ended up paying $1 for two 14 oz. bags of Skittles!  I also got 2 20-count packages of Finish Dishwasher Powder Tabs for $2.99 and I had two 75¢ off coupons, so I actually got them for $2.24 each.  They also had a sale on Orbit gum, which was Buy 1 @ 1.37, get 1 free, but I had two $.50/2 coupons, so I got 4 packs of Orbit gum for 44¢ each.  And when the cashier had voided our original transaction when we were having problems getting the items for the first deal, a coupon came out for $3 off batteries, and batteries were on sale for Buy 1, get 1 free.  We ended up getting 2 10-packs of AAA batteries (actually, each pack contained a bonus 2 batteries, so 2 dozen) for $3.79.  Probably not the greatest deal, but not bad.  So, I asked the cashier if I could use the $10 ECV that I had just gotten.  I could have used it another time, but she let me use it today, but I was about $.25 short, so I had to buy a filler to be able to use the $10 ECB.  I ended up getting a lollipop, and my total for all those things was $0.96.

So, get this!  Everything shown in the picture below cost me a grand total of.......................... (sorry for the bad picture)............................................................................................................................

$24.52!!!!   Isn't that amazing?  Now, don't get me wrong.  This isn't extreme couponing.  I bought a lot of stuff last week and that's how I got some of my catalinas and register rewards and extra care bucks, and I don't always get savings like this, but I am getting to the point that I can get a lot of things for practically free.  It's really pretty cool!

Okay, I'll include what I got at Menards.  I did spend $86, and I'll be getting back $26 in rebates, so I did spend $60.  But I am stocked up on some things that I won't have to buy for a while, and some things that were just good deals. Pictured below - I got 6 bottles of Dawn Dishwashing Detergent for $1.88 each.  Aldi's is about $1.69 for their same size, but I feel like I have to use more of it to clean the same way that Dawn does.  I did have one $.50 off one coupon for Dawn, so that brings the average down to $1.80.  I know I'll get to a point that I can get even Dawn larger sizes for less than $1, but I was willing to stock up on this, since I feel like I'm always using Dish Detergent.  I wash my pots and pans by hand so I do use quite a bit.  I also ended up buying 3 32ct. packages of Cascade Action Pack Dishwashing Tabs.  I have started using them, and have found them to work so much better than the powder or liquid dishwasher detergent.  At $5.98 I'm not sure that its the best deal, but with a $1/1 coupon and two $.50/1 coupons, I got $2 off the 3 packages, which ends up making this about 17¢ per load.  I've seen that 16¢ per load is a pretty good price, so I will take 17¢ for right now and now I have enough to hold me over until I can find things cheaper than that, and then start stocking up on that.  I also got one bottle of Lysol All Purpose Cleaner.  We just use it for the kitchen floor.  It was $1.99, no coupons or anything like that.  It was just a decent price.  I also got a hand soap and sanitizer caddy which was $6.99, but after a $5 mail-in-rebate it will be $1.99.   They had Chef Boyardee pasta on sale for 4/$3.  I had a coupon for 35¢ off 3, so 66¢ each isn't great, but not bad.  We also needed to get a level for our camper when we go camping.  They had a 9" magnetic level for $2.50, but free after a mail-in-rebate.  We got 2.  You never know when you'll lose one, or if we want one for home and one to leave in the camper.  You can't beat something that is free, so we might as well get 2.  They also had batteries on sale, and we got two 20-packs of "AA" and two 20-packs of "AAA" for $1.99 after a $4.00 mail-in-rebate.  That's a lot better of a deal than we got at CVS!  And there was a limit of 4, so we got the limit.  We will go through them, I'm sure!  Other than that, we ended up getting 2 packages of tarps at $2.99 each (we needed some for our camper, and the price was very good), two T-Shirts for Andy for work at $1.99 each, and we got 6 2-packs of decorative light bulbs for 39¢ each.  Again, not the same kind of sales that I've been seeing at CVS, Walgreens & Jewel, but we did get some good prices.  Here's a picture of what I got.  The most expensive thing was probably the Cascade Action Pack Dishwashing Detergent Tabs.

So, all-in-all, some pretty great deals.  I can't wait until the seminar on September 29th where I can learn some more tricks.  I have to say, it leaves me with a pretty good feeling when I can get such good deals for my family.  Although it does take me a little while to get everything organized and to go to the different stores, and to deal with the waiting when the stores don't have the products or ring things up the way they should, the savings are tremendous.  And it's a little bit of a thrill getting some of the savings I get! 

What kinds of savings did you get today?

Hello Kitty

Wednesday was the kids' first day of school.  Delaney went with her new backpack and her new Hello Kitty water bottle that she got for her birthday.  When we got there, Delaney did not want to go in.  I tried to extract my hand from hers, but she would not let go.  I borrowed her teacher's pen to try to draw a heart on Delaney's hand, but it didn't write on her skin very well.  I ended up having to walk with her into the school.

When we got to the door, and she still wouldn't go in.  She wanted me to go with her.  I tried to tell her that she was late and would be considered tardy, and that she wouldn't be able to play any media when she got home, and I tried a few other things to try to get her to go in on her own, but she wouldn't budge.  Finally a teacher's assistant came by, and asked if she wanted to go in.  She didn't.  But she ended up taking her hand and pulling her into the classroom with her.  I told Delaney I would peek in through the window, so I walked around and did just that.  I couldn't tell if she saw me, but she was seated at her table and was watching the teacher, so I left.

When I picked the kids up from school, I had the kids take everything out of their backpacks. I was pretty sure that Delaney had brought her water bottle home, but after a little while I couldn't find it.  I asked where it was and no one said anything about it.  Delaney said she definitely brought it home, but everywhere we looked, it couldn't be found.  I knew it had to be somewhere, so we used a different water bottle in the meantime.

On Thursday I asked again, and no one seemed to know where it was.  Delaney didn't, and we looked in her room, the boys rooms, downstairs, and even in our own bedroom.  We looked in the kitchen cupboards and in the refrigerator and it couldn't be found.

On Friday, I took Delaney to school and I went up to the teacher and talked to her about whether she had noticed it.  Her teacher said she remembered the water bottle on the first day, but hadn't seen it since.  She said she would take a look in the room to see if she had it. 

After school, the teacher motioned for me to come over so she could talk to me.  She said that after she looked all over, Delaney admitted that she had thrown the water bottle away.  I asked Delaney where she threw it away, and she shrugged her shoulders.  I looked at the teacher and said I would get to the bottom of it.  And we went home.

On the way home, I was talking to the kids and asking them again if anyone had seen the water bottle, because I didn't think that Delaney had thrown it away, and when I asked her again, she said that she didn't throw it away.  I don't know why she told the teacher that she did.  Finally, Ryan said, "Oh, I think that Zane hid it."  I asked where he might have hid it.  Apparently he hid it behind where we keep our cereal.  So, I asked Zane about it, and at first he didn't admit it, but then he did.

I told Zane that he would have water bottle duty for the rest of the month.  I decided to email the teacher and apologize to her for having to look all over for the water bottle.  I told her that Zane hid it on her, and that he did not tell me the truth about it until recently.  I then asked her if she would consider using him for some kind of task after school, and I could let the other two play on the playground while he helped her out with something.  I am hoping we can do it one day when Andy's not working and we can both be there, and one of us can be supervising Zane to make sure he does what he's supposed to do.  I really hope that she takes me up on that offer, because I would really like to see him have an appropriate consequence to that, and I think this would fit the bill perfectly.  Otherwise, I will have to come up with another appropriate consequence.