Walgreens 4 Day Sale 12/1 thru 12/4 (MM!)

Wags has a 4 day sale starting tomorrow.  There's one item that will be worth heading to the store for.  The Natrol Melatonin is on sale for $3 each with a $3 Jingle Ca$h RR in return.  I saved a .pdf coupon for $3 off any Natrol product, which turns this into a $3 MM!  Send me a note if you want me to forward you the .pdf coupon, it prints 3 to a page. 

**UPDATE: here's a direct link to that coupon!** (Thanks, CW)

I am not sure how this will play out at the register if you go tomorrow and use the Wags Friends and Family coupon also.  Only time will tell!

New Wal-mart Blog

I just wanted to point out that I found a Wal-mart blog today and added it to the list on the sidebar.  This one is called iheartthemart.com and it looks like this is going to be a good one to follow.  Happy Saving!

Walgreens 11/28 thru 12/4

There's only a couple goodies at Wags this week worth stopping for. 

First, the M&M deal has returned this week.  Purchase 4 bags priced at 4/$10 and use TWO $1.00 off 2 coupons from the 11/14 RP.  This brings your price down to 4/$8 and then you get back a $5 Jingle Ca$h RR making them $3.00 or .75 for each bag.  All varieties of holiday M & M's are included.  If you were lucky enough to print the $1.00 off 1 pretzel M & M's coupon from Facebook you have yourself a better deal. 

Next, 2 pack trial size Breath Right Advanced are .49 with the in-ad coupon.  There's a $1.50 off Breath Right (12 ct. or smaller) coupon in the 10/17 RP.  Stacking these two coupons will get you FREE Breath Right strips and possibly some overage.  The regular price of these trial size packs are .99 so the coupon beeps at the register.  If you have a cashier that is paying attention they will reduce the coupon to .99.  When you stack the in-ad coupon you should get .50 overage for each one you "buy".  Remember to hand over manny Q's first.  I located these trial sized packs by the front register. 

Salonpas pain relief patches are on sale for $5.99 with a $6 Jingle Ca$h RR in return.  No coupons available, but a good way to roll some RR's so you can extend the expiration date.

Scotch packing tape is on sale 2/$3.  Use two of  the .50 off coupons I mentioned here to lower the price on these to 2/$2.  Not a bad price if you need it right now.

If you are looking for a good "filler" item to roll some Jingle Ca$h from the Black Friday sale, the Butterball Chicken Broth is on sale 2/$1 with the in-ad coupon.  Not a spectacular price but if you need something useful for filler it's a good way to go. 

Remember there's a one day only Friends and Family event on Wednesday and you can get the coupon here.  There's also a 4 day sale starting Wednesday that you can read more about here.

Lastly, I located this WT at my local Wags store on Yellow Tail wine:

You might want to keep your eyes open for this one!

Scotch Brand Printables

Just in time for holiday wrapping and shipping here's some coupons for Scotch brand products. 

.50 off one roll Scotch packing tape
$1.00 off TWO Scotch pop up tape dispensers or refills
$1.00 off any Scotch brand cutter

These are all in .pdf format so save them incase they disappear. 

Reminder: End of Month - Printables

Today is the day to check out Coupons.com, Redplum.com and Smartsource.com for any coupons that you have been meaning to print.  Since it's the end of the month, new printables will be available tomorrow and some that have been available this month will be gone.

Walgreens Friends and Family Sale

Click here to print your Walgreens coupon for the Friends and Family employee discount event on Wednesday, December 1st.  This coupon will get you 15% off all general merchandise and 20% off all Walgreens W brand merchandise.

Frugal Holiday Storage Tip

If you are a household with kids, there's no doubt that you receive at least one holiday tin of popcorn each season.  You probably also get a few new Christmas ornaments each year as well.  It's always a challenge to figure out how to stow away new ornaments added to your collection. 

Since those popcorn tins are so large and decorative, I have a hard time putting them in the recycle bin.  I repurpose them for storing fragile Christmas ornaments or delicate holiday decorations.  The sturdy sides keep the breakables from getting crushed and I always know what's in them since they have holiday scenes on them.  I also reuse some tissue paper from gifts to tuck around all the glass ornaments and breakables in the tins.  They stack nicely and are easy to fit in just about anywhere.

This handy storage tip not only saves you from having to buy plastic tubs to put your ornaments or decorations in, it also helps the environment by reusing and repurposing something that would otherwise be discarded.

Walgreens 11/21 thru 11/27

I know it seems as if there's nothing going on at Wags this week, but I have a SWEET surprise for you!  There is a HUGE MM deal going on right now that you can work through 11/30 - no sale prices necessary!

These lancet devices by OneTouch are $19.99 each (regular price).  There's a coupon to get these for FREE in the 10/31 SS insert (exp. 11/30).  The coupon covers up to $19.99 off your purchase.  FREE lancing devices are a good thing if you are diabetic, or know someone who is.  If you are not diabetic here's where you can still benefit from this deal.  There's a $10.00 Wags store coupon off these lancing devices in the Diabetes and You Winter magazine.  This is a Wags magazine and is always kept in the pharmacy area.  Here's a shot of it so you know what to look for:  (I know, bad pic, but you get the hint!)

Stack the Wags store coupon with the manufacturer coupon and get yourself $10 in overage for each one of these babies that you "buy".  You can do multiples of this in one transaction since there's no RR's involved with this one, the Wags coupon takes off $10 for each one it sees on your receipt. 

A couple words to the wise on this deal: 

1. The manny Q beeps so don't be alarmed.  It beeps for the cashier to put in the amount of the item. 

2.  In this case, the order of which the coupons are scanned does not seem to make a difference because that manny Q is going to beep no matter what. 

3.  I have been reading that the Wags Q is actually acting like a manny Q for the purpose of # of items, so please make sure that you have enough in your cart to cover the overage and enough items in your cart to cover the # of Q's.  That's going to be item for item you are going to have to match.  Even though you are scanning the Wags coupon once, it's going to count as a Q for each of the lancing devices you purchased. 

4.  This deal is not for the weak of heart, if you don't feel comfortable with it, please don't do it - do not draw attention to the fact that you are getting $10 overage with each one.  If the cashier catches it, just go with it. 

5.  Lastly, if you can't get your hands on the Diabetes and You Winter magazine the Wags store coupon # is 5915.  Some stores and cashiers will allow you just to give them the # of the coupon without seeing the coupon.  They can input it manually and the $ will come off. 

Not much else going on for sales this week.  There's one RR deal for Colgate Pro-Clinical toothpaste and you can register for a $1 coupon here making these FREE after RR & coupon.  Use up that overage on things you need for the holiday, or things you never find on a deal on.  I was able to get my hubby some much needed new socks today!

I did read that the new "Jingle Ca$h" RR's are not printing just right.  There is a delay with the printing so make sure that the cashier gives you all your RR's before starting to ring the next customer.  Once they start to ring the next transaction, the RR (aka Jingle Ca$h) is voided out and will not print at all.   

Cheap Folgers @ Hilander

I stopped by Hilander this morning to take advantage of the great battery deal that Renea pointed out here and found another super deal to work into my transaction.  If you scored any of the $4.00 off coffee WT's I mentioned here you can get some CHEAP coffee right now.  Hilander has the containers of Folgers coffee on sale for $5.99 each (270 cups).  If you use these WT's you can grab these for $1.99 each.  I think the sale ends TODAY, so hurry and get these while you can - this is pretty low for coffee and definitely a stock up price indeed. 

FREE Marzetti Dressing @ Woodmans

Now thru 12/7 Marzetti salad dressings are on sale for .99 at Woodmans.  Bring along your $1.00 off coupons from the 8/8 SS, 9/12 SS, or 11/14 SS to get these FREE with .01 in overage.  For those of you that are new to couponing, this deal comes around pretty often at Woodmans. 

New Olay Rebate

We have ANOTHER new Olay rebate, and this one includes other P & G products as well.  This may work out great with some of the Black Friday products at Wags.  Here's a link to the rebate.  This is a $20 rebate wyb $50 in Olay, Venus, Covergirl, Secret, Pantene, Herbal Essences or Clariol between 11/23 & 12/31.   Have fun with this one!

$5 off $5 PetSmart Coupon

If you have a PetSmart PetPerks card here's a $5 off any $5.00 purchase printable store coupon.  Another reason to {heart} PetSmart!! :)  There's a $5 minimum purchase required and it expires on 11/28/10 so you will have to hurry with this one.  This coupon is in .pdf format so you might want to save it to your computer in case you need to print more later.  If you can't get it to open, send me a note and I will e-mail it to you.  This link goes right into a download and if your computer doesn't allow it, you may have problems opening the link. 

Mailbox Goodies

The past few days of mail have had some nice surprises!

Here's a pair of athletic footies that No nonsense sent me for signing up on Facebook.  These also came with a $1.00 off manufacturer coupon for my next purchase.   I can't wait to try these, they have cushioned bottoms that feel soooo soft.

Here's a cute little mini box of Kleenex that came too.  This one was sent with lightening speed because I just signed up for this on the 11th, here. 

Did you get anything good in the mail recently?  If you signed up for either of these freebies, watch your mail box because they should be arriving any day.  It's nice to find something other than bills or political ads in the mail!  :)  It's worth the little bit of time it takes to sign up for these freebies. 

CVS deals 11/21-11/24

It's been fairly slow at CVS, but there are 2 deals that I went for today.

Dean's gallon milk is on sale for $2.79 with a $1 ECB, making it $1.79 after ECB. Limit of 2 per card.

Another deal is on Nexxus products. They have a deal that if you spend $20, you get a $10 ECB. We love the Nexxus Humectress Conditioner for the winter to help with static hair. It is on sale for $14.99. I found a small tube of conditioner for $5.24 that was included in the deal to get my total to $20. I did have a coupon for $3 off, but I'm not sure where I got it (think it was from a sample package that I got in the mail). Even without a coupon, this is a great deal for Nexxus! Limit of 1 per card.

Duracell battery deal

Hilander has a deal in this week's ad (through Wed) for Duracell batteries---4 pack of AA or AAA, 2 pack of C or D, or a single 9V. They are on sale for $1.98, which isn't a bad price..but here's a way to get them for even lower. If you spend $15 (purchase 8 packs), you will get a $3 OYNO catalina. Make the deal sweeter by using coupons. There is a $1.50/1 coupon in the 11/14 RP and there are also $.75/1 in the 10/10 P&G. If you happen to have gotten the P&G at home mailer, there was also a coupon for $1.50/1 in there.

Happy Anniversary, Saving Money: 101!!

Today, November 21st, marks the 1 year anniversary of this blog!  When I began posting money saving tips and couponing info here I never imagined that a full year later I would still be going strong. 

I started this blog solely to help my friends and family save money.  I had so many of you ask me to teach you my frugal ways that I just couldn't keep up so I had the idea to put all my info in one place that you could come to on a regular basis to find what you need.  I never imagined a year later that there would be about 500 entries and over 6800 visits to this blog!  WHEW!

This blog is purely a hobby for me, I do it because I believe in passing along these deals and helping others.   I also believe in "paying it forward" so why not share some of this info with your friends and family.  That's how I got my start (Thanks, Beth!), and that's how many of you got your start.  Pass along this blog address to anyone who wants to learn.  After all, isn't that what it's all about - helping and teaching others to make the best with what they have?  Whether you are a single individual or a family of 6, it makes smart sense to use your money wisely, especially in these turbulent economic times. 

I love to see all of you saving money and slashing your shopping budget.  I love running into you in the stores and see the cart full of deals you are pushing to the check out line.  I love hearing from you, the deals you find and the $ you have saved.  I have even learned a few frugal lessons myself from some of you!  I think it is great that you all take the initiative to work hard to keep your money in your pocket.  It makes me happy to see you save money for things that are important to you and your family.

The past year has been so much fun blogging and sharing deals and tips - I hope that one year from now this blog will still be here and going strong.  Keep up the great work and continue saving and cutting costs where ever you can.  Remember to send me a note from time to time because I love hearing from all of you - share a great deal, tell me how well you have done, keep in touch.

And, while speaking of "paying it forward" I would like to remind you that with the holiday season right around the corner, there are many that are less fortunate.  Why not consider using your coupon powers for good and make a donation from your stockpile to a local charity, put together a care package for an elderly neighbor or a friend who has lost their job?

Cellfire Cinderella Giveaway

Cellfire is at it again. All you have to do this time is log into your acccount once sometime between now and tomorrow at 1 PM. You can win one of 10,000 cellfire coupons worth $1, $5, or $10 off your grocery purchase. You may only login once and coupons will be awarded randomly - I found a $1 coupon to load to my card. You must load what you find by Nov 19th and it expires Nov 28th. Good luck! (Thanks, Nichole for the heads up on this one!)

Frugal Holiday Wrapping Tip

With the holidays quickly approaching, I wanted to share this fun tip for gift giving.  Instead of using the standard gift bags for wrapping up your gifts, consider using a re-useable shopping bag to present your packages.  These are a "green" alternative to the regular gift bags, and it adds to the present because it's something that the recipient can use again and again - if they shop at Target they can even use it to save money!  You can't ever have too many re-useable shopping bags.  The great thing about these is that you can usually find them cheaper than their paper counterpart so these save you "green" too!  Last year around this time I found WT's that were for $1 off any re-useable shopping bag, and since a lot of stores price these right around $1 each they were FREE!  Many stores have their own re-useable shopping bags with cute designs on them, and they come in many, many sizes. 

Do you have a useful holiday tip you want to share?  Send me a note and I will post any great holiday tips you care to share!

Wags "Stay Jolly" Instant Win game

Walgreens is running a fun instant win game that you can play once a day (per computer/e-mail address) thru December 10th.  After the initial sign up, you just enter your e-mail address each day and choose a stocking hung on the mantel for prizes.  Go here to play.  I didn't win anything today...but there's always tomorrow.  Leave a comment if you win and let us know what the prize is!

Black Friday Ads

I am not a big "Black Friday" shopper, I just can't stand the crowds and the lines.  To me, it's just not worth it to get up before the rooster crows to save a buck.  My sleep is way too precious to me!  Sometimes I will stop by one or two stores on Black Friday but it's never at the moment that the doors open.   

If you are interested, my frugal friend Dawn sent me this link to all the Black Friday ads in one place.  Go here to click on the stores of your choice to see their sale ad for the big day. 

If you are a Black Friday shopper - I wish you luck!  I am only planning to stop at Walgreens to take advantage of some of the freebies after RR's there and since their sale starts on the 25th I may even stop by there on Thursday.

NOTE: My frugal friend Melissa left a comment that I think you should check out, she has a great strategy for shopping on Black Friday!  Thanks for your tip, Melissa!  Do you have a tip you think everyone would benefit from?  Leave a comment with your Black Friday shopping advice! 

UPDATE - $1 Cellfire Customer Appreciation Coupon

If you loaded your 10 new coupons as I mentioned here, you will want to visit Cellfire again as soon as possible. There are new coupons to load to your card as well as the $1 off anything coupon (good on any purchase over $1). YOU MUST LOAD THIS ONE ON TO YOUR CARD!!! My coupon was there today with the other new coupons available and is loaded ready for my next shopping trip.

Note: You must load this coupon before 11/21 and it also expires 11/21!

Walgreens 11/14 thru 11/20

Wags is a little bit of a disappointment this week, no big MM's.  Here's what I picked up today:

These boxes of 20 VapoDrops are priced at 2/$1.79 or .99 each.  Use either of the $1.50 off any Vicks product coupons from the 10/10 RP or the P&G Year of Savings coupon booklet to get these FREE.  There's also a $1 off coupon in the 10/31 PG insert.  I found these boxes up by the front register at my store.  It will be hit or miss with overage on this one - Wags cashiers are pretty good at catching the coupons that are for a higher value than the item.  This one beeps at the register. 

French's Fried Onions are .99 each with the in-ad coupon.  Stack that with either of the .40 or .50 off coupons from 11/17 SS, here or here.  That makes these .49-.59 a can.  This is the only time of the year I have seen these cheap so now is the time to stock up on these. 

Ziploc bags (15 & 25 freezer and storage or 100 sandwich) are $1.99 each with the in-ad coupon.  My store had bonus boxes of the sandwich bags with 120 bags in each box.  Stack this store coupon with the $1.00/2 coupon from 10/10 SS or 11/14 SS to make these $1.49 a box.  I have been waiting for a deal on baggies and this is the best I have seen in a while.  Not the greatest deal but if you need them it's a decent price.  

Ecotrin 45 ct. are on sale for $1.99 each with the in-ad coupon.  Stack this with the $2.00 off any Ecotrin product from 10/10 RP to make these FREE.  

Kids-Eeze Cough and Cold is $4.99 with a $5 RR in return - FREE!  I didn't find any coupons to make this one a MM but FREE is still good.

Comet Cleanser is 2/$1 with the in-ad store coupon.  Stack the .35 off coupon from 10/10 SS to make these .15 each.  A good price indeed!

Milk is $1.99 a gallon this week.  If you aren't going to pick up your milk at Walgreens, you can bring along the Wags ad to Wal-mart and price match milk there. 

Also, if you can find them, Sinex is a MM this week again.  See my post here for the details.  This is a month long deal.  The problem is that the warehouse that serves our region ran out of these and has not been able to ship any to the local stores.  Good Luck finding them!

Lastly, my frugal friend Nicole has talked me into going back to Wags later this week to get some M&M's.  They are on sale 4/$10 with a $5 RR in return.  If you pick up 4 bags and use TWO of the $1.00/2 coupon from 11/14 RP you will get these 4 bags for $3.00 after coupons and RR.  That's .75 a bag and a pretty good price for holiday candies. 

New Printable Coupons for 11/15

Coupons.com has come out with some new coupons this week!  Here's a link to find some of these:

- California Pizza Kitchen - $1.50 off 1
- Crisco No-stick Cooking Spray - $0.75 off 1
- Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - $0.50 off 2
- Pillsbury Savorings Products - $1.00 off 1
- Welches Sparkling Juices - $2.00 off 2
- Land O' Lakes Spreadable Butter - $0.50 off 1
- Wisk Laundry Detergent - $1.00 off 1
- Del Monte Fruit Naturals Cups - $1.00 off 3
- Hellman's Mayonnaise - $0.75 off 1
- McCann's Irish Oatmeal - $1.00 off 1
- Enfamil Premium - $5.00 off 1
- Purina Dog Chow - $2.00 off 1
- Glade Scented Oil Candles - $1.50 off 2
- EXPO Washable Markers - $2.00 off 1
- Jet Dry Rinse Agent - $1.00 off 1

Sunday 11/14 Coupons

I want to point out a few things about the newspapers today so that you don't miss out on some good coupons. 

First, it was being reported that there was going to be 3 coupon inserts this week, but all my newspapers had 4!  YAY!  It's great when you get more than expected.  There's 2 RP, 1 SS and 1 GM - a good week to grab an extra paper if you can.  Don't accidentally recycle your GM since you weren't expecting it.  There's a lot of Unilever coupons in one of the RP which will pay off big time if Jewel gives us a Unilever Catalina promo sometime soon (we are due for one is what I am trying to say!). 

If your paper has the USA Weekend magazine, on the back cover you will find a manufacturer coupon for 2 FREE 5x7 HP photo greeting cards.  Just in time for the holidays. 

If your paper has the Parade magazine, inside there's coupons there too.  There are two manufacturer coupons for Theraflu products.  These are sometimes a MM at Wags or other stores so clip these and hang onto them - unless you actually NEED Theraflu now (I hope you don't!). 

Lastly, page 9 of the Chicago Tribune has some Jewel store coupons that you are going to want to check out.  Last year, right around this time we saw crazy deals on turkey and ham that are unheard of.  I think I remember picking up a whole turkey and a whole spiral cut ham for about $6 OOP.  YES!  So just clip these out and hang onto them, we may see some similar deals like that come around again.  (I certainly hope we do!)  You might want to consider playing "freezer tetris" to get ready for a nice big turkey or ham just in case. 

I just have one more item to point out in what was included in our Sunday paper today.  It's not a coupon, just an observation with a commentary.  I had a good laugh this morning at the Wal-mart propaganda ad showing a 19% savings over Jewel.  Really Wal-mart?!?!?  If you didn't see it, the ad compares TWO identical grocery carts with a cost of $108.65 @ Jewel and $87.57 @ Wal-mart.  Sorry, Wal-mart, the proof is in the pudding - you can't fool me!!  :)

I Heart PetSmart!

Dear PetSmart - I luv you! 

PetSmart has been the easiest store EVER to shop at with coupons and as long as they continue to be nice to couponers I will shop there.  :) 

TOTAL: $3.02 OOP for:  

4 small trial bags of Purina Pro Plan cat food

41 3-oz. cans Purina Pro Plan cat food

1 20-lb. container of Tidy Cats scoopable cat litter

(tax was $2.73!)

This was one transaction that I was not prepared for when I got up to the register - it's the first time I ever had to run back and grab MORE to use up all my overage!!  And it wasn't just one or two more cans - I ended up having to add in 14 more cans to get me into positive (by .29) on the register.  The cashier was a little perplexed by my whole transaction so by the end I couldn't even figure out how it played out. 

I did use the $5.00 off ANY Purina Pro Plan food and the B1G1F canned Purina Pro Plan printable manufacturer coupons from Coupons.com to make this transaction work.  The small trial packets are priced at .99, so for each of the $5 coupons I printed, I had $4.01 in overage to spend.  With 4 coupons that's 16.04!   The one thing that threw me for a loop is that when the cashier took off the $ for the "free" can of food, she took off the full .99 & .83 shelf price before my PetPerks card savings.  The PetPerks price on these is .50 a can, so I had an extra .44 or .33 per can to use up that I was not accounting for. 

I also just realized that I think she scanned my $1 off Tidy Cat coupon from the 9/12 RP twice.  There's one $1.00 off coupon on my receipt that I can't account for so I am guessing since she was a little confused she may have inadvertently scanned that one twice. 

Now, I purchased cat food because my barn cats eat this food, but you could work out a similar deal using the dog food packets of Pro Plan and canned dog food. 

I looked high a low in the store for the Purina One pouches so I could throw in some of the .99 cat food pouches and use up my $2.00 off ANY coupons from the 10/17 SS but they were all out.  :(  That would have made this an even better deal!  They did have the Purina One dog food pouches for .99 (10/17 SS) but, darn it all, I used those up at Walgreens already. 

The best part about this deal is that I paid with a $5 bill that I found in the Kohl's parking lot right before I went to PetSmart so really this transaction cost me nothing OOP! 

$1.00 Kraft Shredded Cheese Coupon

Here's a link for $1.00 off any ONE package of New Kraft Natural Shredded Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia.  This is a high value coupon for shredded cheese that we don't see too often.  The coupon expires one month after printing.  Look under the "coupons" tab for the actual coupon. 

Has anyone seen this in the stores yet?  Sounds de-lish!

(Thanks to Freebies4Mom for the link!)

$3 Zantac Printable Coupon

Here's a link for a $3 off manufacturer coupon for Zantac (8 ct. or higher).  This is a high value coupon that doesn't come around too often.  Last year, right around this time, we saw a $5 printable coupon that made the small boxes FREE at Wal-mart.  This coupon won't make these FREE but you will see significant savings if you or someone you know uses this product.

Share FREE Kleenex

Show your frugal pals that you are thinking of them.  Go here to send someone a FREE pack of Kleenex brand tissues.  Just in time for cold and flu season!  I hope these come with some great coupons - we don't see many good coupons for tissues.  I hope someone sends me one! :)

Update:  Frugal Tara had a great idea - she and her husband sent each other a pack!  Also,  if you have two e-mail addresses you can send yourself one! 

Cellfire Member Appreciation - $1 Gift

November is member appreciation month at Cellfire. This promotion is for all Kroger affiliate stores which includes Hilander. To say thank you, they are giving you a $1 off anything coupon credit loaded to your card. All you have to do is save 10 coupons to your card between now and November 15th. The $1 credit will be applied to your card on Tuesday November 16th, after the promotion has ended. You will also be entered in a contest to win 1 of 5 Thanksgiving Turkeys. For more information, check out the ad here.

Who Wants to Win a FREE Subway Gift Card?

Each month, Nu-Way Systems Carpet Dyeing & Cleaning mails out a newsletter and has a trivia challenge to win something FREE. If you are one of the first 10 to call with the correct answer you win. The answer to the trivia challenge is usually in the newsletter.

The newsletter arrived in yesterday's mail. If you want a shot at the Subway Gift Card, call 815-765-0005 and tell them the answer to the trivia challenge is answer A - "Will Rogers". The question is: Who was known as Oklahoma's favorite son? Why not sign up to receive the newsletter while you have them on the phone? If they ask how you heard about it, just tell them you heard about the newsletter from a friend. This company cleans carpets all over Northern IL so if you live in the general area you should have a shot at this.

Over the summer, I called and won a gift card to AMC theaters. The best thing is the gift card was for $25. That $25 gift card got two adults and a very happy child in to see Toy Story 3, and there was enough left over to buy a large popcorn! Our OOP for the movie that day was .75!

Hurry, what are you waiting for?

By the way, we had our carpets cleaned by Nu-Way about 3 years ago and they did a great job! :)  And, if you decide to use them for carpet cleaning - tell them I referred you.  If you do, I will get a gift card for a movie and snacks!  Thanks!

Walgreens 11/7 thru 11/13

I am a little late with posting my Wags list this week....here's what I picked up.

Neuragen nerve pain relief is on sale for $19.99 with a $19.99 MIR.  Use the $10 off coupon from the 10/24 RP or the $5 off printable at Smartsource.com to turn this into a $5 or $10 MM after MIR.  Make sure you only ring one in each transaction so you get a MIR form for each one you purchase.  (I only have 3 addresses to send rebates to so if you need one of the $10 coupons I have TWO extras to share with the first frugal friends to leave me messages).

Similasan Kids Cough or Cold & Mucus Relief is on sale for $5.99 with a $5.99 MIR making these FREE.  There's a $1.00 off printable at the Similasan website here which turns this into a $1 MM (minus postage costs).  There's also a $1.00 off manufacturer coupon inside each package, so after your first purchase you can open it up and use that coupon for your second purchase. 

Schick disposable razors are $5.99 with a $3 RR.  Use the $3 off coupon from Smartsource.com to grab these for FREE after RR.

Reach 55 yd. floss and Crystal Clean toothbrushes are both .99 with the in-ad coupon from the flyer.  Use the $1.00 off coupons from here stacked with the store coupon to grab both floss and brushes for FREE (scan the manufacturer coupon first).  (Note: there's TWO coupons, one for floss and one for toothbrushes)

RevitaLens solution is on sale for $3.99 with a $4 RR making these FREE.  There's no current coupons that I could find to turn these into a MM, but I used this as a "filler" item to roll my RR's from last week.  Doing that gives you a FREE item and extends the expiration date of your RR a little longer. 

Trial size pouches of Purina One dog food are $1.99 each, use the $2.00 off ANY Purina One dog food coupon from the 10/17 SS to grab these with .01 overage.  These little pouches usually have coupons inside to make this deal even better!  This coupon expires 11/17 so you will want to use these soon.

Lastly, in the November ALL YOU magazine there's a coupon for $5 off ANY $10 Wet 'n Wild purchase (page 22).  Wags has Wet 'n Wild nail polish, lip balm and lip stick for .99 each.  Grab 11 of these in any combination and pay just $5.89.  These make great stocking stuffers.  There's a load of fun colors in the nail polish so you should be able to find something for every girly-girl on your shopping list! 

I am not so sure I like these new MIR's that Wags is doing.  I don't like having to remember to get it in the mail, put out money for postage and wait for my rebate.  I do, however, like the fact that I don't end up with tons of RR's that I have to figure out how to spend.  What do you think of them?

Current Wal-mart Deals

I have a few current Wal-mart deals to report for you today so grab your list...here we go!

First, we have more FREE razors, with overage of course!  Clip the $2.00 off ANY Bic razor from the November ALL YOU magazine and the 10/17 SS.  These cute little travel packs are .97 each so with the right cashier you will have $1.03 in overage to spend.  (I picked up an extra November ALL YOU with my overage and used the coupon from inside for some more FREE razors!)

While you are in the travel/trial area be sure to grab these packets of Tide for .97 each.  Use the $1.00 off ANY one Tide coupon from the 10/31 PG for another .03 in overage and a FREE load of laundry.  Much to my surprise (and my favorite cashier's surprise) this coupon DID NOT beep this time around!  :)  No beeps at the register is a good thing!

Now, here's  a really super deal that my frugal friend Nicole pointed out to me.  Grab the following products:
*2 (two) - PH Balance Secret deodorants for $1.74 each (I found them all the way on the bottom shelf)
*2 (two) - Olay body wash for $3.87 each
*1 (one) - Old Spice body spray for $3.97

You will need to bring along the following coupons from the 10/31 PG insert:  (none of these beeped at the register)
*2 (two) - $5.00 of body wash wyb Secret deodorant
*1 (one) - Buy 2 Secret deodorant and get Old Spice Spray FREE. 

Here's how the transaction will play out on the receipt:
$1.74 x 2 = $3.48 (deodorant)
$3.87 x 2 = $7.74 (body wash)
$3.97 x 1 = $3.97 (spray)
TOTAL = $15.19
then subtract your coupons:
-$10.00 for body wash coupons
-$3.97 for spray coupon
TOTAL = $13.97
TOTAL OOP = $1.22 for 5 items or .25 each. (not including tax).

Lastly, I used my $1.50 off Coffee-mate printable coupons (no longer available) to grab some of the large bottles of Original Coffee-mate for $1.03 each.  Not FREE but something that I use a lot of so this was a necessity since I see a lot of coffee in my future!   There is a .75 off printable at the Coffee-mate website under the "offers" tab if you didn't get those $1.50 off printables.

Anyone find any other great deals at Wal-mart lately?

*HOT* New Coffee WT!

If you are a coffee drinker you are going to want to watch for this one! 

This WT was around last year going into the holiday season and I was able to stock up on coffee for the WHOLE YEAR with it.  Yes, this is one of those deals that won't get much better so if you can get these WT's in your hot little hands grab as many as you need to stock up until next year at this time.  This WT will give you $4.00 off coffee or ice (min. purchase of $4.01 required).

This is an easy one to use because it states right on the front "no purchase of alcohol required".  It doesn't expire until 1/2011 so you have plenty of time to watch for a great sale to pair it with.  Make sure to scan the Baileys bottles at all the stores that you go to, you shouldn't have a hard time finding it because last year there were plenty to go around.  I found these at Woodmans today, but last year I remember finding them at Wal-mart and some small local "mom & pop" type grocery stores also.   

If you are new to couponing and aren't familiar with WT's check out my tutorial here.

FREE Dog Treats @ Woodmans

If you are heading over to Woodmans here's one to add to your list:

These Chew-eez Purina dog snacks are regularly priced at .99 each.  If you use the $4.00 off 4 manufacturer coupon from the 9/12 RP insert you will get 4 FREE for each coupon that you have.  If you are lucky enough to get a cashier that lets it go, you will get .04 overage with each coupon you use. 

Don't have a dog?  Consider grabbing these for the animal shelter, a friend or as a cute holiday gift for a neighbor's pooch.  I always like to have little dog treats around so when my sister stops over with her fur-baby I have treats to spoil her with! :)

(Thanks to CW for this great tip!)

Free Ronzoni at Hilander

I just realized I'd left my favorite deal of the week at Hilander off my earlier post. I have so much spaghetti sauce from my garden tomatoes I was very excited about this one. As part of the buy 10 items, save $5 promotion going on through Wednesday, Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta is $.69. There is a $1/1 coupon in the 10/3 SS, a .75/1 printable here and here, and there are also .50/1 peelies on some boxes at the store (which may or may not double based on your cashier). These should all make for free, cheap, or MM pasta. All of the above coupons should work without beeping since the price is actually $1.19 before the discount. Make sure you have enough in your cart to cover it or watch your coupon deductions closely - I actually did go negative on this one and had to have them credit some coupons back to save for later :)

Coupon Search Engine/Database Tips

Many of my frugal friends have commented on some of the coupon search engines and using them to locate coupons for products.  Some of you seem to have better luck with certain search engines and prefer those over others.  I wanted to pass along a tip about using any of the search engines to locate coupons.  I have found that the easiest way to find coupons at any of the coupon databases is to use a very vague description rather than the brand name.  For example, if you are searching for a coupon for DiGiorno pizza, instead of typing in DiGiorno, try just typing in "pizza" - it works for me every time.  You may get more coupons that come up that you have to look through, but it seems to be easier to find coupons this way rather than by brand name. 

I don't know why this is.  Maybe the name might be entered into the coupon database just a little differently, maybe with a space, like Di Giorno, or maybe your spelling is different than the actual product spelling (I have done that many times!). 

There are two different coupon search engines/databases listed on the sidebar here under "coupon search".  Either of these are good places to find coupons quickly but if you have a specific one that you use that is not listed here, please send me a note with the link and I would be happy to add it.  I want to have all the tools you need right here in one place so all you have to do is point and click...and why not share what works for you with everyone else?

Attention Jewel Shoppers: Watch Your Mail!

If you have a Jewel preferred card you are going to want to watch your snail-mail for some coupons directly from Jewel.  Just today I received this lovely assortment of manufacturer and store coupons.  Make sure you don't throw this away thinking it's just "junk" mail. 

Here's what was included in mine: (all exp. 12/5/10)

$1.00 off ONE Ice Mountain
$1.50 off TWO Wesson Oils
$1.00 off TWO Welch's sparkling grape juice
$.70 off any ONE Jewel lunch meat
$1.00 off any 4 Campbell's gravies
$2.00 off any ONE Heineken or Amstel Light 12 pack
$1.00 off any ONE Nestle Toll House refrigerated dough

and 2 - $6 off any $60 purchase coupons (with staggered exp. dates thru 11/20/10)

 YAY -  Can't wait to work a great deal on these!

Also, when you shop at Jewel you are going to want to watch the Catalina machines closely.  It's being reported on CW that random Catalina's for FREE items are printing out.  Here's what I have seen so far:

Free 1lb Jewel Butter/Margarine (max $4)
Free 4-5lb Jewel Flour (max $2.50)
Free Dozen Jewel Eggs (max $2.40)

So, if you aren't expecting a Catalina still make sure to check the machine - you never know what you might end up with!

Hilander Deals 11/4-11/10

This is looking to be a good week at Hilander. They are running another buy 10 products and get $5 off instantly promotion - and this time the coupon match ups are good! The deals and prices listed below are assuming you buy 10 items and get the $5 ($.50 per item) discount.

Propel Fitness Water $.49 - buy 2 and use a B1G1 printable to get 2 free (should take off the .99 price)

Colgate Toothbrushes $1.00 - use the $1/1 from coolsavings.com to get this for free too.

Campbells Cream of Chicken or Mushroom Soup $.49 - buy 3 and use the $1.50/3 coupon from campbellskitchen.com to get these free.

And while we are not lacking in soup in our house, additional varieties for free are always nice so ...
Campbells Chunky Soup $.99 - use the .50/1 coupon from campbellskitchen.com to get a free can of soup AND
buy 2 and load a $1/2 onto your card from the Hilander site and pair it with a $1/2 from campbellskitchen.com or a .50/2 from the 10/10 SS (which will double) to get 2 more cans free.

Campbells Healthy Request Soups $.99 - load a $1/2 coupon to your card and pair it with the $1/2 from campbellskitchen.com to get 2 more cans free.

And finally Annie's Organic Macaroni and Cheese is $.49 - there are no mainstream coupons out for this, but this is great mac n' cheese and this is definitely a stock up price since it usually runs around $1.79 per box.

Olay Products on Sale at Target

Deb mentioned the get $20 when you buy $50 worth of Olay rebate here. Here's how to make this one into a money maker .... This week Olay products are on sale at Target and you also get a $5 gift card for every 2 you buy, so ... buy 8 Foaming Facewashes ($3.50) and 8 Refreshing Toners ($2.84) which will equal $50.72. You will get back $40 in gift cards for buying 16 products and when you submit for the $20 MIR, it will be a $9.28 MM. Other types are also on sale, so check the isle for other products you might use as well.

Note: The signs were not up indicating the Toner as part of the sale at my Target on E State, but I had them scan it at the register and it is included.

Also Note: There are coupons out for Olay Facial Cleanser or Moisturizer ($1/1 in the 10/10 PG and 10/31 PG), but they will only work if you understand how to avoid the register GLITCH (This is the best explanation I have found from Totally Target). The coupons will make this a bigger MM, so if you want to use them, I suggest taking your receipt and coupons directly to customer service after checking out and having them apply them as 'forgotten coupons' rather than dealing with the hastle of the registers.

Clearance @ Wal-mart

You might want to stop in over at Wal-mart and take a quick stroll by the clearance racks - you never know what you will find!  Yesterday I picked up some boys Ocean Pacific swim trunks for $1.00 each.  The men's swim trunks were $3.00 each.  There were a couple clearance racks out in the main aisle and that's where I found these.  Halloween merchandise is also on clearance for 50 % off.

New Month = New Coupons!

It's the first of the month and that means that there's new coupons at the printable coupon websites!  Check out Coupons.com for new printables like:

- Glade Automatic Spray Starter Kit - $4.00 off 1
- Huggies Little Snugglers - $2.00 off 1
- Danon Activia - $0.75 off 1
- Wisk Laundry Detergent - $1.00 off 1
- Pillsbury Savorings - $1.00 off 1
- Garnier Fructis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo - $1.00 off 1
- Minute Rice - $0.50 off 1
- Huggies Pure & Natural - $2.50 off 1
- Pillsbury No Fuss Frosting - $1.00 off 1
- Aleve - $2.00 off One 80 count
- Monistat - $3.00 off 1
- Florastor Probiotic - $7.00 off 1

You will also want to look around over at Smartsource.com and Redplum.com for any newbies! 

New Olay Rebate

Olay sure is generous with the rebates! Here's a link to a $20 rebate wyb $50 worth of Olay Facial Moisturizers, Facial Treatments and/or Facial Cleansers. All purchases must be made by 1/31/2011.

Keep your eyes open for a great sale and coupon match up to really make the best of this one!

Walgreens 10/31 thru 11/6

It's not that often that Walgreens can get me out shopping on a Sunday morning, but this week was an exception!  I started my shopping early this week because there's a couple good money makers that I wanted to be sure to get in on.  With an extremely busy week ahead of me I wanted to be sure to get a jump start in case I had to hit up a couple different Wags stores to get the stock that I have coupons for.  Here's what I got:

Zarbee's Cough Syrup is on sale for $5.99 with a $6 RR in return.  If you were lucky enough to grab some of the $3 printables before Zarbee's pulled them down, then this one turns into a $3 MM.  I was able to print them but they pulled them down so fast that I didn't even have time to get the link posted here before it was no longer available.  I think I just found the coupon link in the nick of time.  Zarbee's realized that the coupon would turn this into an awesome money maker and pulled the coupon off their site and Coupons.com until after there RR promo ends. 

The other really great MM this week is unadvertised.  Vick's products are on sale 2/$10 with a $5 RR in return for purchasing them.  The ad shows 20 ct. or 10 oz. NyQuill or DayQuill or 6 oz. Formula 44.  The MM with this promo is on the Vicks Sinex products.  Both daytime and nighttime formulas work for this, but it has to be the 20 ct. liquid caps.  So, grab TWO of the 20 ct. Sinex products (day or night) and use two of the $4.00 off one coupons from the 10/10 P&G insert.  You will pay $2.00 OOP and get back a $5 RR for a $3.00 MM on each set of two that you purchase.  That's the easy part - the hard part is finding this product in stock!  At 4 different Wags stores I have only been able to find these two in the photo.  Good Luck in your search!

Ricola Cough Drops are FREE again this week.  They are on sale for .99 each so grab TWO bags for every coupon that you have.  Stack the $1.00/2 from the 10/17 SS and the .50 off  Wags in-ad coupon (will take $1.00 off for TWO) to get these with .01 overage for each bag - make sure you hand over the manufacturer coupon first and then the in-ad coupon.

56 oz refill bottles of Softsoap are on sale this week, $7.99 each, B1G1F.  Since we use a ton of this soap and I needed a "filler" item to use up some RR's I thought this would be a good purchase.  Not free by any means, but still a good deal.   There's a .50 off coupon from the November ALL YOU magazine  and I stacked that with the .50 off TWO store coupon in the November monthly Wags store coupon booklet to get these for $6.99/2 or $3.50 each.  That comes to about .07 per ounce.  Not a bad price at all going into the winter season. 

Another good filler item to roll RR's is Campbell's soup this week.  Chicken Noodle (regular and low sodium) and Tomato soups are both on sale for .50 a can.  If you need something cheap to add an item to your transaction this is a good one to use. 

Halloween merchandise is on clearance @ 50% off starting today so you can always stock up on Halloween items for next year, and use them as fillers for rolling RR's. 

Lastly, 10/17 SS has a $2.00 off ANY size/variety Purina One dog food coupon.  Wags has the small, trial bags for $1.99 each hanging on a strip in the pet food aisle.  FREE dog food with .01 overage!