Walgreen's Bragging: part the next

Walgreen's has two really good Register Reward items this week. One is a new product called Advil Maximum Strength, and the other is Advil PM. The Max Strength is on sale for $4, with a RR of $4, making it totally FREE. The PM is on sale for $3, with a RR of $1, making it only $2.

If you go to the Advil site, you can find a $1 off any Advil coupon. I also received a coupon for $2 off the PM formula from Advil in my email this week. There is also a $1 PM coupon in some Sunday coupon inserts this week.

I had my trip all planned, but unfortunately the store I went to ruined my lovely plan by not having the Max version in yet - it's a new product, and they didn't have it. (This is not the first time this store has done this, but it's the only one that I know for sure will take printed internet coupons!)

I bought:

• 1 Advil PM ($3)
• 1 gallon of milk (Barber's brand is on sale for $3.49!)
• 2 giant Hershey candy bars (2/$2)

Total was $8.49 plus 85 cents tax. Minus my $2 printed coupon on the Advil and a $5 RR from a previous week, and my final total was $2.34. But I got a $1 RR back for the Advil purchase, so my final out-of-pocket comes to $1.34!

UPDATE: You too can get some $2 coupons for Advil right HERE.

CVS bragging, part 2

Last Thursday or Friday, I received an email coupon from CVS for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more, good only for this past Saturday and Sunday. I had around $26 worth of ECBs sitting in my coupons, I figured that would make a good dent in $50, so off I went yesterday. My purchases:

**2 boxes of Wheat Thins, 2/$5 w/$2 in ECBs back

**4 cans of Progresso soup, BOGO @ $2.79 and $2.99 w/two $1/2 coupons printed from BettyCrocker.com

**2 tubs of CVS brand baby wipes, 2/$5 w/a $4 off any baby care coupon printed on a previous CVS receipt (I figure these will be good for spot clean-ups during the move.)

**4 twelve-packs of Coke product, 4/$12 w/$3 in ECBs back (set aside for ourselves and our friends the day of the move)

**2 newspapers with coupons, $3

**New mop, $15.99

**8 pack of Duracell batteries, $5.49

My final total that I paid yesterday? $11.34! BUT - I got back $5 in ECBs for future purchases! Plus you can also count the value of any coupons I use in the future as a return on my investment.

With the exception of the newspapers and the batteries, all of this stuff is going to be set aside for the move.

Works For Me & Frugal Friday: In-store coupons

Some stores love to put out in-store coupons; these are coupons that are only good in their particular store. Target and Publix do it on a continual basis, and I love their coupons because both of them allow you to use their store coupon *in conjuntion with* regular manufacturer's coupons. This greatly increases your savings, and sometimes even results in GETTING PAID to take home the item! Also, a store coupon counts as a discount, so you do not pay tax on that amount, as you would with a regular manufacturer's coupon. A few of my savings from Publix yesterday:

Tylenol 24 ct. boxes - some were on sale for $2.49 each. One of the coupon flyers has a $2 coupon in it. I had $1 coupons. I bought 3 boxes (all they had left). After the discounts and the tax, this means I was actually PAID 46 cents per box!

Eat Smart vegetable bags - were on BOGO for $1.99. One of the coupon flyers has 55 cent coupons. I bought 4 bags, so I only paid $1.78 plus tax for 4 good sized bags of pre-cut fresh vegetables.

Mott's Apple Juice - the 4-count of individual boxes is only $1.09, regular price. One of the coupon flyers has a $1 off coupon for several items from the same company, and they are good on any purchase of at least $1. This means I paid 36 cents plus tax for 16 individual boxes. We need these for the upcoming move, they'll be a good way of having some juice on hand.

Revlon tools - I bought 7 pairs of nail clippers ($1.49 each) and one set of emery boards ($1.69). One of the flyers has a $2 coupon. Normally, this would take off the full $2, but my cashier overrode the $2 amount and only let me have the coupons at the value of the items. I don't know if this is a new store policy, or just the cashier taking it upon herself to do this. At any rate, since it's a store discount, I paid zero tax on them, so they were totally free. These can go in a yard sale, or straight to Goodwill.

My total before coupons yesterday was $58-something. My total after coupons (and I bought other stuff besides the above - fruit, meat, and other items that I only had regular coupons for) was only $25.25. That definitely Works For Me and is full of Frugal Goodness!

Don't forget to enter my advice contest - I need some help with moving! you have until tomorrow to get in your advice and chance to win a $5 Amazon GC!

Technorati Tags: Works+For+Me+Wednesday, Frgual+Friday, coupons, frugality,

Thursday Thirteen: Frugality

Thirteen Ways To Be Frugal! Get freebies from companies from online forms! However, you need to be frugal with your TIME, as well - limit yourself to a certain amount of time per day or week. All those tiny little freebies aren't worth it if you spend an hour a day looking for them. Also limit yourself to items that you know you will use, or that you have a particular person in mind that you can give it to - clutter isn't frugal, either. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!" Don't take a shopping partner with you unless they are just as committed to frugality are you are. It's hard to say no to your spouse when they want something, and friends can influence you to make unwise decisions even if they don't mean to. Try a little before committing to a lot - when you find a new product, try a small version of it first, even if the cost-per-unit is on the high side. Getting stuck with a gallon of something isn't frugal if it turns out that it's totally unusable because it makes someone sick, or you just hate it so badly that you literally can't stand to use it and have to get rid of it. Use online shopping comparison tools like Froogle or Shopping.com. Use cash only. Hit the clearance spots and stock up when you find a really good deal. Buy birthday and holiday gifts throughout the year as you find good deals. However, be sure to limit yourself to only buying with a particular person in mind, not just a "oh, SOMEBODY will just love this!" kind of purchase. The exception would be perhaps 2-3 "anybody" gifts to have on hand for unexpected guest, new friends that your children make, etc. Check out deals boards like on MyCoupons, SlickDeals, Families.com, DealOfDay, etc., read consistently for a few weeks, and learn from the masters. Get coupon inserts from friends and family members so that you don't have to buy lots of papers. Barring that, get coupons from online trading (many of the above-mentioned boards also have trading sections) or from clipping services that charge a small amount per coupon for their time and effort. It still comes out cheaper than buy whole papers, you only get what you need, and you don't have the clutter of all those extra newspapers! Carry a calculator in your purse or with your shopping stuff so that you can figure up prices if needed. Join your local Freecycle group and ask around for items to be given instead of purchased. Be nice, don't just be a taker - be a giver in the group, too!


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CVS bragging

Monday was a good day for shopping! One of my trips was to CVS, where I had a $20 Extra Bucks coupon due to expire this week, as well as a $4/$20 coupon that was good only for the Labor Day weekend. So off I went! I got:

Two 2-packs of 16 qt. Sterilite plastic storage boxes, $5.99 each
2 new Nestle candy bars, .69 each (DH wanted to try them)
4 boxes of Post cereal, $1.77 each
2 cans of Heart Healthy Planters Nuts, $3.50 each
1 2-liter Coke, $1.34

Subtracting the $4 coupon and the $20 Extra Buck, my final total came to $5.26. BUT, I also got back a $2 Extra Buck for the nuts. I also got back a $10 ECB that came from doing a survey for CVS a few weeks ago, plus a few coupons that are good on certain products that I may or may not use.

Obviously, I would have done even better if DH had not been with me. He was feeling tired and headachy and needed a caffeinated drink, so that's the reason for the Coke purchase. He spotted the candy bars and wanted to try them, when I probably wouldn't have bought them if I were on my own. (Well, no "probably" to it - I don't spend 69 cents on ONE candy bar!)

Technorati Tags: frugality, CVS

Walgreen's Bragging

Went shopping at Walgreen's yesterday to get my newspapers and use up a $10 "Register Rewards" coupon that was due to expire very soon. I got:

3 sticks of Degree deodorant
2 jars of Skippy peanut butter
1 jar of Hellman's mayo
4 local newspapers

My pre-coupon total was almost $22, but I had three $1 coupons on the deodorant, two 40 cent coupons on the peanut butter and one 50 cent coupon on the mayo (all from the papers sitting in my buggy). Then take off the $10 Register Reward coupon, and my out of pocket cost was only $7.96. BUT, I also got another $5 Register Reward coupon, because the deodorants, peanut butter and mayo were all part of a Unilever promotion - buy $15 worth of their products in the ad and get $5 back. So, I am really only paying $2.96 for all of that, PLUS I've got 4 papers' worth of good coupons, so I will make all of that back as well, in the future!

I love frugal shopping!