Sunday, August 30, 2009

Moneymaker at CVS

The Fragrance Collection by Glade - Soy Based Candle, Currants & Acai - 10 oz

This week at CVS, The Fragrance Collection by Glade 3-wick candles and reed diffusers (great stocking stuffers!) are 6.99 and earn back the full 6.99 in ECBs. Go here to sign up and print a coupon for 2.00 off. You'll pay 4.99 + tax and earn back 6.99 in ECBs, which you can use on just about anything in the store. Or, if you have 6.99 in ECBs, purchase another $2 item and pay with the 6.99 ECB. You'll end up just paying tax for two items. 

I bought a pack of Pampers (on sale for 9.99, used a 1.00/1) and a candle. I used a 3.00/1 from All You magazine, paid with a random assortment of ECBs and ended up paying around 1.04 I think out of pocket. Plus I got that 6.99 back.

Also, don't forget to scan your CVS card at the little coupon machines if your store has them. I got some really great coupons today, and remember that CVS permits you to use one CVS coupon AND one manufacturer's coupon per item for even greater savings.

Monday, August 17, 2009

The Grocery Game. And Whole Foods, friends.

Laziness has gotten the best of me and I've been Grocery Gaming for a little while now. I'm finding that it's well worth the money for me (Under $1.90 a week total for Kroger and Whole Foods lists). Right now you can do a four-week Grocery Game trial for FREE. If you decide to give it a try and want to put a referral I'd be cool with you using me. You know. If you must. (cassiebrabbs at hotmail dot com)

Now on to what will probably be my only shopping trip for the week, minus tomorrow's produce delivery which I'll get to momentarily.



(2) Wolfgang Puck pizzas @ 4.00 each
(2) Envirokids bars @ 3.00, used 1.50/2 Whole Deal
(1) 365 tortilla chips @ 2.69
(2) Annie's cheddar bunnies 12 oz @ 3.00 each
(3) Annie's graham bunnies 7.5 oz @ 2.00 each
1.47 lb. organic grapes @ 1.99/lb = 2.93
1.73 lb. organic local zucchini @ 1.49/lb. = 2.58
(1) organic grapefruit @ 1.71
(1) organic tomato @ .66
3 lbs. organic yellow onions @ 2.49
(1) Mother's rice cakes @ 1.99
(1) Stonyfield Farm organic smoothie 4 ct. @ 3.00
(4) Annie's mac and cheese @ 1.25, used .75/2 from Whole Deal
16 oz. organic lentils @ 2.39
(1) organic lasagna noodles @ 3.00
(1) Organic Valley milk @ 3.79, used 1.00/1 printable
(1) Wholesome Valley organic cheese slices @ 3.69
(1) Mrs. Meyer's dryer sheets (Geranium... I want to live in them.) @ 7.39, used 2.00/1 Whole Deal
(1) Maranatha creamy almond butter @ 5.99, used 1.00/1 Whole Deal
(1) Seventh Generation dishwasher soap @ 3.99, used 1.00/1 printable

Also got a .30 bag refund.

Total Spent: 72.60 

My Door-to-Door Organics delivery tomorrow should consist of:
Bananas
Red Grapes
Pink Lady Apples
Valencia Oranges
Broccoli
English Cucumbers
Grape Tomatoes
Romaine Lettuce
Yellow Squash

Total: 23.00

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Probably not worth $10, but FREE is FREE--Schwan's Deal

Schwan's is doing a promo for $10 off any order. If you pick an item under $10 there's no delivery fee. no tip. no taxes.  totally free--and, i figured, no worse for the environment since the truck is always in my neighborhood anyway.  I haven't tried this yet, but it was free since the cost of the item was under $10--new customers only and there's lots to choose from.  If you don't want to subscribe to their service just ask them to add you to their "will call" list.  My delivery man was totally nice--and I've always heard wonderful things about their treat/desserts (which is why i chose a frozen veggie dish--I have no willpower if goodies are in my house).
Here's the link.  enjoy.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Walgreens Wipes...

Time to stock up on baby wipes.  There are Walgreen's back to school books at their store with a store coupon for $2 off any Huggies Wipes (>64ct.)--use this with a manufacturer's coupon for a great deal.
Also, a few of their toothbrushes are clearanced out making them super cheap and if you do the Register Rewards program (which I do not...yet anyway) this could be a MM--you are supposed to get $6RR with 3 reach toothbrushes.

My transaction today is a total mystery.  I don't know what happened at all, but I think it all worked out in the end....here's what happened.
FIVE packs Huggies Wipes @ 2.79 each--gave FIVE $0.50 mfr Qs and used the $2 off Walgreens Q
TWO Medium Reach toothbrushes clearanced to $1.09 each--used TWO $0.50 any Reach mfr Q
ONE Reach twinpack clearanced to $1.59--used $1.00 any Reach toothbrush mfr Q

I lost my receipt, so don't know the original total, but after the Reach Qs were deducted and the Walgreen's Huggies Q (you only need one Q for any number of packs)--the total was $1.52.  wth?  He gave me back all my Huggies mannies saying they wouldn't scan--probably b/c I was only paying the tax on these items at this point, but I don't know.  I've never done Walgreen's bargain shopping before, and looking back I'm sure it was an error, but I can thank my 3 year old for making me very rushed and basically running out of the store as soon as possible--otherwise, I probably would've realized the error.  the RRs never printed for the toothbrushes, but that's OK b/c I got 4 toothbrushes and 5 packs of wipes for $1.52 and I have no idea why.   I'll use Cassie's "good coupon karma" as an explanation.....but I'm going to do this again anyway b/c it's a good deal, even without the error--technically, the packs of wipes should be $0.29 each after store Q and manny, so I'll pay better attention next time ;)  so, run out and stock up if you need some wipes--my store still had a bunch left....oh, and the coupons say $1 off on one side and $2 off on the other, but they do, indeed, take $2 off.  happy wiping!
edited to add: the walgreen's Qs expire 8-31-09 according to various website.  thanks to babycheapskate for the headsup on the deal.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Starting the week with a bang.

I haven't been posting my shopping trips as much here lately and I'm sorry for sucking in that department. Honestly, I haven't found too many great deals worth sharing. So I've just been plugging away, grabbing the deals when I see 'em but mostly just buying fresh produce. I did a bit of Whole Foods shopping last week, and when I was checking out I ran into an Envirosavings reader. (Hi, Shannon!) Well, actually she's my husband's co-worker but she said she reads here so I pretended I was cool for a second.

Moving on.

Thanks to Jessica's earlier post, I was able to do very well at CVS this morning:


(2) Huggies @ 9.00 each, used (2) 1.50/1, earned 4 ECBs
(1) Revlon makeup @ 9.99, used 1.00/1, earned 9.99 ECBs
(1) Bic Soleil cartridge @ 6.99, used 3.00/1, earned 3 ECBs (I still have a bazillion of these razors when they were giving them away last summer and fall.)
(1) CVS batteries- FREE with August coupon
(2) Snickers bars @ 1.00, used 1.00/2
(1) Contour meter @ 14.99, used 14.99 coupon, earned 5 ECBs (Thanks, Jill!)
(1) paper @ 1.75

I used the $5/$25 that Jess mentioned, and paid with just under 17 ECBs. Paid 10.50 oop and got back 21.99 in ECBs. That's like paying 5.25 per pack of diapers and getting everything else for free. Total score.

Then, Kroger:



(4) pints blueberries @ 1.00 each
(1) Horizon organic processed cheese product (nassssty, but for some reason processed cheese product is the only kind my kids will eat on grilled cheese.) @ 4.59 (!)
(6) Santa Cruz organic beverages @ 1.50, used .75/1 coupons
(3) Tide free @ 5.88, used 1.00/1 coupons
(1) Cascade @ 3.99, used 1.00/1

$4 came off my total for the Buy 4, Get $4 off P&G promo, which made the Tide 3.88 each and the Cascade 1.99.

Total spent: 27.17
Total saved: 35.98

Saturday, August 8, 2009

cvs scenarios...(starting tomorrow)

These ideas include the 5/25 you can find here.  This coupon says "one per customer. one time use only" so make it count!  I bought an awful lot of $1/2 snickers Qs when I heard about the candy deal this week (sale for $1 for 2, buy $15 worth and get $5 ECBs, so with my Qs it's a $5 MM--the Qs were awfully expensive, but we will get reimbursed for the snickers as they are a fundraiser item for my husband's school group, so don't think I'm going to eat so many 150 snickers)

My scenario:
2 huggies @ $18 for 2 packs
30 snickers @ $1 for 2 = $15--total = $33 plus tax.
pay with 5/25, 15 x $1/2 snickers Q, 2 X $1.50/1 huggies Q = $ 10 OOP (will pay with ECBs, get back $9 in ECBs---$5 from the candy and $4 from the huggies) --not too early to start getting ready for halloween either!

Other options to combine with the huggies and the 5/25 include the contour meter if you have a Q to get another MM, Revlon Colorstay mineral Mousse makeup ($1MM after insert Q and ECBs)--thanks to iheartcvs for the headsup on the ad!

Update: great CVS run for me today! I started out with only $21 in ECBs.  I bought:
2 packs huggies = $18
1 bic soliel refill packs = $6.99
1 Neutrogena makeup = $9.99
1 Revlon colorstay = $9.99
120 candy bars, variety = $60
broke into 4 transactions.  paid with a 5/25, 4/20, 4/20 and $3 soliel Q from today's paper, $3 neutrogena Q, $3 worth of huggies mannys, $2 Huggies CVS Q, $1 Revlon Qs, $60 in candy Qs and tons of ECBs.  Paid $3.50 OOP total for all 4 transactions (on a gift card actually) and have more ECBs than when I started ($28).  The candy is in a box taped closed and hidden by my husband and the receipts are with them, so I can't get into the specifics, but the OOP was just over $3 for sure.    They are designated for fundraising for his school. To be honest, I paid $20 for the candy coupons, so even adding that in, it's a great deal, but I would never have any need for 120 candy bars, but they sure made the $/$$ Qs useful today.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Cheap diapers at CVS

I had big plans to begin potty-learning with my youngest. She's started telling me when she needs to go poopy so I figured I'd put the little potty in the living room and keep asking. So far she sits on the potty without incident. She makes a grunting noise, asks for her diaper back on and promptly poops in it.

So we aren't quite there.

Thankfully, CVS is running a great ECB deal on Pampers this week, especially if you have $/$$ coupons. (Check your email if you're signed up; if not, go here to sign up and start getting coupons emailed to you. Make sure you click the box that says "Yes, please flood my inbox." They really won't though.)

Pampers are 2/$20 and when you buy 2 you'll earn back 5 ECBs. Use 1.00/1 coupons from today's P&G insert. Some areas had this same coupon insert in their weekly Red Plum mailer also.

Additionally, Blink eye drops are 7.99 and earning back 7.99 in ECBs, making them free. There is a 3.00/1 coupon in today's paper which will give you $3 overage.

According to various sources, if you stop in at the pharmacy and ask about their Ready Fill program you should receive a booklet with coupons, including a $4/$20. So do that and then do this transaction:

(2) Pampers @ 10.00 each
(1) Blink tears @ 7.99
Use: $4/$20, 1.00/1 Pampers, 3.00/1 Blink
Also use 13 ECBs if you've got 'em.

You'll spend 5.99 + tax and earn back 12.99 ECBs. That's just $3 per jumbo pack of diapers!

Also be on the lookout for CVS Baby Club coupons all over CVS. When you enroll in CVS's baby club you'll earn 10 ECBs for every $100 you spend on diapers and wipes.

Here's what I did this morning:


(2) Pampers @ 10.00 each
(1) Blink @ 7.99
(2) CVS glue sticks @ .99 each
(2) Caliber notebooks @ .99 each

Used $5/$30
(2) 1.00/1 Pampers
3.00/1 Blink
18.79 in ECBs

Paid 4.66 oop, earned back 16.95 ECBs