Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Scotch 3M Command Hooks

I went to CVS for the Scotch 3M Command Metal Hooks. I couldn't find them anywhere (4 stores) so finally I had them write me a raincheck. On the raincheck I noticed that they can write in how many extra bucks you should get so I had them write that too.
6 3M Command hooks=$15
6 $2.50 off coupons=$0 plus tax!
5 Extra Bucks Back
I did buy 3 Easter Baskets though for 90% off. I am going to take them apart and use them for the treasure chest at Sterling's party. Regular price $7.99, my price $.79.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Lunch and Dinner at El Pollo Loco

I am about chickened out with KFC yesterday and El Pollo Loco today. I took Sterling for lunch and everyone for dinner. Did you get to go get your free meal?

Wonder Where I get my Info?

Check out http://moneysavingmom.com . She is fantastic and always has a new freebie going on. I also use http://grocerysmarts.com for all the grocery items. I like this because I print out a list of all the best deals so it makes my grocery shopping smoother.

Carried Away



I think I have gotten a little carried away with this whole deal shopping thing. Between Vons and Walgreens I have bought $439.07 worth of goods for $64.62. (Only a partial picture). In addition to that I have:


  • a $20 rebate coming back from Unilever for my holiday ham. (Pictured)



  • -a $10 coupon from Vons for rolling over once a day



  • -$26 in Register Rewards from Walgreens

I don't know what I am going to spend it on now. I am thinking diapers since Soren went through SO MANY when he was sick.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Trip #3 to Vons!


This deal is too good to pass up. This time I bought:
8 Caprisun Sunrises 8 @ $1.99=15.92
2 Electrasols 2 @ 3.99=7.98
2 YoPlus Yogurts 2 @ 2.50=5.00
1 Bright Green Bleach $1.49 (Forgot to put in picture)
Total=30.39
Coupons= 8 $1 off Caprisuns, 2 $2.50 Electrasol, 2 $1.50 off Yogurts, 1 $1 off Bright Green Bleach $10 off rolling coupon
Total Out of Pocket= $5.05 Plus $10 coupon for next time! I even forgot the .50 cents off in-store coupon for the Caprisun.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Vons Trip=25 Items for $31.96 and $10 for next time


My Vons trip was all in all a success. I had to go to the counter to recieve a $10 gift certificate for my second transaction but they were nice enough about it. I did this in 2 trips to Vons because of the 1 transaction per household per day rule but the second trip was fast- I knew where everything was.
Transaction #1
4 Bertoli Sauce Pouches $8
2 French Honey Dijon Mustard $7.58
2 Arrowhead Waters $3.94
5 Velveeta Shells and Cheese $12.50
Total= 32.02

Coupons Used For Transaction#1 4 Bertolli $1 off-$4 , 2 French $1 off-$2,
Transaction Total= $ 26.02
Coupons Back $4 for Velveeta Cheese Deal, $10 Reward deal

Transaction #2
1 Bertolli Sauce Pouch $2
4 Orowheat Breads (Oatnut) $11.96
2 Special K Cereal $5.98
2 Trop 50 Orange Juice $5
1 Del Monte Beans $1
2 Dreamfield Pastas $5
Total= $30.94
Coupons Used: $1 off Bertolli, 4 $1 off Orowheat Bread, 2 $1 off Special K, 2 $1 off Trop 50, 2 $1 off Dreamfield Pasta, $4 off from Trans #1, $10 off From Trans #1
Total Out of Pocket: $5.94
Plus I got $10 back for next time!

Living Well at Vons

I tried the living well promotion at Vons but ran into some difficulty. I got my first purchase OK but the second time I tried I didn't get my $10 off coupon. It was late so there wasn't a manager that could help me and I just returned everything. One of the checkers helping me read the fine print and said that you can only do one transaction per day per household. I guess I will be borrowing my husband's Vons card. I am not convinced that this promo is the best deal- Vons seems to be so expensive.

Free Golden Spoon Tomorrow!

Are you going to Golden Spoon tomorrow (Saturday)? I am right after my son's baseball game as a special treat to the family. Only this is a treat I won't have to pay for because they are handing out free ice cream all day until 8 pm. The ad says it is the small size too, not the mini size. Yum.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Free at El Pollo Loco April 28th

I didn't let you know early for Ben and Jerry's, but to make up for that, I will post this freebie WAY early! El Pollo Loco will have a free dinner for anyone who goes in their store on April 28th. You will get "2 pieces of flame-grilled chicken with 2 tortillas and fresh salsa" for FREE until 8:00 PM. You can't beat free dinner for the family that you don't even have to make.

Ben and Jerry's- Did you Get your FREE Ice Cream?

We slipped into line at 7:30 tonight to get our free scoop. Soren was asleep so I got "his" ice cream too. It was a fun family activity for everyone and as a bonus, everyone was asleep when we got home!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Employees know nothing about Kmart Double Coupons

Well, I went to Kmart prepared with all the double coupons I was going to use but decided to verify with the store before I went shopping that they were running the double coupon special. Boy, was I glad I did. They knew nothing about it! I showed the manager the email from the customer service department saying they WERE participating but the managers said NO.

I did learn a tidbit of info though. The reason why they are not participating is because they are converting from a Super K (grocery) to a Big K (non-grocery) next week. Apparently, all grocery will be 30% off initially. I was tempted to keep this to myself but since my readership is in its infant stage, I figure no harm done- I can still beat you there!

Kmart Double Coupons

So all across the blogosphere, everyone is excited about Kmart's double coupon event. They said that if you had a double coupon on your ad in the newspaper then your area was participating. Well, I emailed Kmart corporate and got a response back that the HENDERSON, NV store was participating! I am going to try it out as soon as I have a babysitter. This site has the best list of coupons to use for the event

Friday, April 17, 2009

Getting My Spending Habits Under Control

There are a lot of spending rules that I used to have for myself that I don't anymore. Maybe it was extenuating circumstances, maybe it was laziness; it is hard to tell. Since I have been couponing and seeing that there ARE really areas that I can save, I have started thinking about what I have to change.
  1. Preplanning purchases and looking for deals. My son needed a baseball bat for his team. My son was giving me grief for not having one for him but instead of just taking him to Sports Authority or a specialized store where I knew a bat would be $40+, we ended up looking in the paper for any baseball sales and finding a sale at Kmart (%20 off) and using a coupon and the bat ended up being $14.99. I know that doing this consistently for both small and large purchases will make a difference.
  2. Organizing items and leaving a table of contents in the front. Recently I had the hives for some unknown reason. (I think it was a sample I ate at Costco) Now, I already have all our medicines in one place, but if I would have had a list of what was in that box, when my husband went looking for me, he would have seen that we already had Benedryl, Cortisone, and other anti-itch cremes. Instead, we ended up buying more at the store and not even on sale! Bad move. If I was more organized and had a list of the contents of the box, I don't think we would have had to go to the store.
  3. Planning food menus around what the sales are. When I started couponing, I started to notice what the meat specials were in particular. Planning my meals around what is on special has reduced the amount of money I spend on meat and reduced my grocery budget in total. We even have better meat since I tended to buy the same thing over and over again before. Now, we have more variety and lower prices.

These are just a few of the smaller changes that I am going to make. I am sure there are many more to come in my quest to completely remake our family finances. I'll let you know how it goes!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Shopping the Deals Apr 11-18th




I just wanted you to see the picture of my stuff
since other blogs post their booty too!
Total Spent= $11.41
-Target $7.63
-Walgreens $3.48
-CVS $.30
Register Rewards back (Walgreens)= $8
Extra Bucks back (CVS) $8
Rebate applied for $10
My Net gain was $14.59!

Hitting 3 stores in one afternoon is usually not my style but I knew exactly what I was going to buy and that made it fast enough to do all of it while my son was at kindergarten.

My Target Shopping Deals Apr 11th- 18th

I didn't do quite as well at Target. The checkout guy was nice but he didn't get all my coupons to work then he put them in a pile and I don't think I got credit for all of them. Anyway, I spent the most at Target this week. I bought:

Johnson and Johnson Baby Swabs $1.29
-Man. Coupon $1 (had Target one but guy didn't run it)
Johnson and Johnson Buddies Detangler $2.99
-Man. Coupon $1 off
2 Hershey Bliss (Easter) $1.69
-Man. Coupon 2 $1 off coupons
-Target Coupon 2 $1 off coupons
2 V8 Fusion $2.99
-Man. Coupon 2 $2 off coupons
Market Pantry Gallon Apple Juice (We just needed it)

Total Out of Pocket= $7.63

CVS Deal Week of April 11th -April 18th

I didn't really see anything I wanted in this weeks flyer. Also, I wasn't able to get the Natural Dentist mouthwash deal last week because they were all sold out so this week I decided to get those when I saw them in stock. I bought:

2 Natural Dentist Mouthwashes at $6.99 each
2 Kellogs Fruit Loop Cereals at 2 for $4.00

So the total was $17.98 before Tax.

My friend Elissa told me that if you scan your CVS card at the price reader, you get a $5 off $15 coupon.

I used that coupon first...
-Then I used 2 $2 off Natural Dentist coupons
and 2 $1 off Kellogs Cereal Coupons
-Then I used my extra bucks from last week...
-1 $3.49 coupon and
-1 $3.98 coupon.

The Lady told me that I was going to loose about .35 cents on the transaction so I added in a Kit Kat for .67 cents.

Total Out of Pocket for me= $.30!!!

Total Extra Bucks Back =$8

And I am going to send in for a rebate for $10 back when you buy 2 Natural Dentist Mouthwashes. How is that for making money while you shop!

My Walgreens Deal Week of Apr 11th - Apr 18th

Walgreens Deal Week of April 11th-April 18th

My Cashier wouldn't let me use every coupon I had but I did pretty well anyway.

Unilever Deal:
2 Degree Trial Size Deodorants $.99
-Used 2 .75 coupons for these
4 Vaseline Rescue Lotion on sale @$2.69
-Used 3 1.00 Coupons
-Used 1 1.25 Coupon (Only had one)

Other Products purchased:
2 Blue Diamond Almonds (Buy 1 $3.29 get one Free)
- $1 off coupon printable (this was the coupon the cashier wouldn't let me use)
Scunci Elastics 18 ct $2.00

I used 1 $3 Register Rewards Coupon
1 $3.50 Register Rewards Coupon
1 $2.50 Register Rewards Coupon
From Last Week....

My Total Out of Pocket= $3.48

PLUS I got a $6 Register Rewards Coupon Back for the Unilever Deal and
I got a $2 Register Rewards Coupon Back for the Scunci Elastics
I still have a $1 RR Coupon from last week that I couldn't use

I guess I am going back to Walgreens next week!