Woodman's: Wine Tags and Organic Lollipops

On Tuesday, my frugal friend Dawn let me try some Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops that she picked up.  These are delicious!  Of course, one just wasn't enough so I went in search of them today while I was out and about.  Dawn had found them at Woodman's, so I decided to start there.  My Woodman's store (Rockford, IL) had just got them in their stock and put them out, they were so new that they weren't even in the register system with pricing yet.  They charged me $6.99 for this container of lollipops, which has about 125 suckers in it. 

That makes them about .05 each.  I didn't have any coupons, and I don't think there are any.  At .05 each, that's not a bad deal.  I am sure they are right around the same price as DumDums, and they are much better for you.  I highly recommend giving these a try, the flavors are great!  Wet-face Watermelon, Tooberry Blueberry, Sour Apple Tart, Pomegranate Pucker (my fave!), Mango Tango, Strawberry Smash, Very Very Cherry and Googly Grape.  These are certified organic and a serving size is 3 lollipops so when the kids ask for seconds and thirds, you can approve!  In three pops there's only 70 calories, and 17g sugars which is 6% of the DV.  No chemical dyes, real fruit extracts, no corn syrup - only the good stuff!  I found them on an end cap at the end of the organic aisle.  Wouldn't these be great Easter basket stuffers?!?  This brand also has organic gummy bears that Woodman's also had, those are pretty tasty too!

While I was at Woodman's I went in search of wine tags (not familiar with wine tags? start here).  Last time I was in my store, the liquor department was in the midst of a remodel so everything was a-miss and there were NO WT's.  Today I struck gold!  Here's the tags that I scoped out:

These are all general WT's such as $1.00 off your next grocery purchase of $5 or more, $1.00 off produce of $2 or more, $1.00 off chicken, $1.00 off pork or ice, and $1.00 off seafood.  Some of them worked out nicely for me to use right away today.  These were at the Rockford, IL store, so if you are in another area it could be hit or miss. 

New Info about eCoupons @ Hilander/Kroger

While I was at Hilander this morning I learned something new from my cashier.  Kroger's registers were re-programmed around the 15th of the month to no longer allow the combination of an eCoupon and a manufacturer coupon on the same product, in the same transaction.  Of course, we all knew that this was part of their policy, but I had never had it enforced before. 

I learned this the hard way this morning, trying to stack multiple discounts.  The register kept beeping and the cashier at first couldn't figure out why, until she read the message on her screen, "coupon already used for this item".  I had to remove a couple items from my transactions, but then when I got out to my van, I realized that one had slipped by the register and gave me both the electronic discount and the manufacturer paper coupon.  All the coupons that wouldn't go through were P&G coupons that I was stacking, the one that got by the register was on French's spicy mustard.  Hmm, I wonder if this is a manufacturer restriction just on P&G products, or if it's across the board?  If it's ALL manufacturers, then why did this one slip through?!?  Report back here with a comment if you try to stack eCoupons and manny Q's with what worked and what didn't, and lets see if we can find the trend.

Hilander/Kroger 3/24 thru 3/30

Tara's list of Hilander/Kroger deals for the Mega Event last week is current and running again this week.  You can see her original post here.  If you have any new deals to add please leave a comment to share with others. 

I wanted to add a superb water deal that my frugal friend Nicole alerted me to.  The 24 pack cases of Nestle Pure Life water (our favorite) are on sale with the Mega Event for $2.79 (when buying 10 participating items).  There's a way to bring down your OOP even more though!  I searched high and low and there are no current manufacturer coupons available to use on this, but right now there is a national  Catalina promo running on Nestle Pure Life.  If you buy 4 cases of water in one transaction you will receive a $5 OYNO Catalina.  That brings down your OOP for each case to $1.54.  That's a steal for Nestle Pure Life, and the cheapest I have ever seen it.  The cheapest I have gotten this for with coupons is $2.38 a case at Walmart.  With summer right around the corner you can bet your bottom dollar that I am stocking up on these!  I rolled this deal once today, and I am thinking about going back for more.  This national Catalina runs thru 4/3/11 so if you can't get to a Kroger store, keep your eyes out for a great sale until 4/3. 

$1 Dole Strawberries @ Walmart

Today at my Walmart (Belvidere, IL), there were large packages of Dole strawberries on a rack by the door for $1 each - that's a steal this time of the year! There were lots of packages there, so stock up! Strawberries freeze nicely, especially for smoothies and desserts. If you shop at a different Walmart and find these, leave a comment which store you found them at.


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House Update - Renovations and Treasures

My life has been extremely busy these past couple of weeks, as I am sure you can tell with my lack of deal and shopping posts!  I have still been shopping - I have to!  I just haven't had much extra time to sit down at the computer and type up my trips...

As many of you know we had the arrival of our daughter, Jade Marie, just under 7 weeks ago.  To make things a little more exciting, we decided it was time to hire someone to start renovations on our "frugal adventure".  You can see my original post about that adventure here, and a little bit of the progress here.  We had originally intended on doing a lot of the work ourselves, but with Jade's arrival that changed our plans.  My husband has been able to take some days off of work to take care of some demolition to help save costs on that. 

Things are moving along at a really nice pace right now, and we have plans to have it done and rented by June, 2011.  The man that we hired has had some great ideas and has really made a lot of headway already.  Here's some photos of how it's looking now:

Upstairs bathroom getting ready for tile. 

Master bedroom, ripping down the wallpaper.

Upstairs bedroom.

Small upstairs bedroom. 

Kitchen, gutted and ready for the new tile, cabinetry and fixtures. 

We decided to do more work than we had originally anticipated.  Since there's only one bathroom in this house, and it's upstairs, we are adding another full bath off the kitchen (along with a walk-in pantry).  We had to remove the wood burning stove to make this work. 

Even though this is going to be a rental home, I am replacing things with nice quality and design - things the way I would want them if I were going to be living there.  The ceramic tiles in the kitchen will be 20 x 20 and there will be expanded maple cabinetry with a new pantry too.  I am leaning toward stainless steel appliances for the kitchen.  The wood floors in the living room and dining room areas will be replaced with red oak flooring. 

So, as you can see, my time has been consumed with picking out lots of things for the renovations, and I have spent way more time in Menards lately than I have at Walgreens or Jewel!  :)

I also wanted to show you some of the beautiful treasures we found in the house.  I am a big fan of antiques so as you can see, this is all right up my alley!  I am going to have a hard time parting with some of these things....and some are already a permanent part of our home. 

This entire set of dishes was boxed up in the basement, wrapped up in newspapers from 1952.  It has obviously never been used.  I am guessing it was someone's wedding gifts that were packed up and stowed away to be forgotten about.  There were about 4 sets of dishes that were packed away like this.  Did I mention to you how much I like dishes?!?  Yeah, my husband wasn't too happy about his find!! 

So, as soon as things settle down around here I promise I will post more of my shopping trips and deals.  I would much rather spend my time in Wags than Menards, but then again, maybe next time I should bring my coupon binder along and see what kinds of deals I could muster up there! :)

Hilander/Kroger March to Savings Sweepstakes

From now until March 30th you can play the "March to Savings" sweepstakes game daily to win lots of fun things!  Go here to sign in and enter.  There's up to 30,000 instant win prizes so you are sure to win something!  If you win, the prize is automatically loaded to your shopper card so you can redeem it the next time you shop.  Good Luck!

Walmart Coupon Policy Revised

Walmart revised their coupon policy AGAIN to specifically exclude OYNO Catalina coupons as of 3/16. I guess that puts the speculation as to if they should be taking them to rest. Everything else is pretty much the same, no other major changes. You can get the Walmart coupon policy to clicking on the link on the side bar under "Store Policies". There is a regular version and a print friendly . pdf version.


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Walmart Saga Continued (& Hopefully Over)

Yesterday I went to my Walmart (Belviere, IL) and was told I wasn't allowed to use any RR as they were OYNO coupons. I paid and then asked to talk to the manager. I spoke with the front end manager who told me it was the 'managers descretion' part of the policy to no longer take them. They had a meeting that morning with all the cashiers and they won't take them. I asked her to show me that part, but she couldn't (obviously because it isn't there). I left and called 1-800-walmart to voice my problem and got into more into the issue than planned.

The receptionist at 1-800-Walmart gave me the number for the manager of the mananger at my Walmart to call, so I did. He was surprised at the policy change especially the part about 'managers discretion'. He also had no idea what a catalina was and told me he'd look into it and call me back.

Today I received a call from Monty, the manager at my Walmart. We discussed the issue again and he was also surprised by the 'managers discretion' since it wasn't from him. He also didn't know what a catalina was so asked if next time I was at Walmart to talk with him and show him.

So of course this afternoon I went to Walmart, bought a few things, tried to pay with RR, got the same story, and asked to see him. He was a wonderful person to talk with and truly had no clue about catalinas, but was willing to listen. I showed him RR, Hilander cats, Target cats, and Target store catalinas. He even asked to keep a few to make copies for his cashiers.

So .... MY WALMART WILL NOW TAKE ALL CATALINAS, EVEN OYNO ONES SUCH AS RR. They will follow all the guidelines of their new policy. The one thing you will have to watch is that you have one item per coupon as stated on the catalinas (similar to how Wags works). If you run into any trouble at my Walmart, please ask to speak with Monty or Theresa, his assistant manager who I also spoke with.

Hopefully this is the last we'll have to worry about this issue, but it's Walmart, so if you run into any other coupon issues or successes (especially at my Belvidere Walmart), please leave a message here. Now that I am on a first name basis with this manager, I hopefully can resolve or at least get an answer quickly.

Hilander Week of 3/17-3/23

There is finally another fun week at Hilander. They are running a mega event where if you buy 10 items you get $5 off your order. These work great for couponers because of overage. There are tons of items included and coupon matchups. Here are some of my favorites - prices listed are after the discount:

Ronzoni Pasta - all varieties (as if we don't already have enough, but it's FREE) .49 - $1/1 Garden Delight, $1/2 Smart Taste, $1/2 Healthy Harvest - All free with overage

Dannon Yogurt 1.49 - $1/1 from 2/27 SS and recent catalinas

Rice A Roni/Pasta Roni .89 - B3RiceG1PastaFree $1/2 RP (mine actually deducted $2, but you should at least get the pre-discount price of 1.39)

Kraft Miracle Whip 2.79 - $1/1 from their facebook page & .75/1 Ecoupon from Hilander.net

Nabisco Crakers (Ritz, Wheat Thins, etc) 1.99 - $1/2 from 1/30 SS, $1/1 Ritz Munchables here, $1/1 Wheat Thins & $1/1 Wheat Thins Crunch Sticks from their facebook page

Cocoa or Fruity Pebbles Treats 1.99 - .75/1 from 3/13 SS

Kraft Singles 1.02 - .55/1 from 2/13 SS

Phili Cooking Cream 1.99 - $1.50/1 from 3/6 SS and Kraft First Taste

Annies Organic Mac N Cheese .49

French's Spciy Brown Mustard 1.19 - .50/1 Ecoupon from Hilander.net, .75/1 from 1/23 SS

Country Crock 1.49 - check your recent catalinas

Capri Sun 1.43

Post Cereal 1.99 (includes family size Honey Bunches of Oats, Cocoa Pebbles, Fruity Pebbles and NOT HBO with Raisins) - check recent catalinas for $1/1 HBO --- also a catalina promo for buy 3 get $2, buy 4 get $3, and buy 5 get $4 on your next order

Other good sales this week include:
Lays Chips 1.99 - .55/1 from 3/13 SS
Hormel Pepperoni 1.00 - $1/2 from 1/23 SS
Maruchan Yakisoba 1.09 - .50/1 from 3/13 SS
Old Spice Deoderant 1.99 - $1/1 Ecoupon on Hilander.net, $1/1 from P&G booklet, B1 deoderant G1 bodywash Free from 2/27 PG - Both FREE
Kroger Eggs 1.00
Pork Chops 1.99/lb

Check out the ad at Hilander.net for more sales this week. Remember Hilander doubles two like coupons in one shopping trip up to .55, so you may need to split up your trips.

Excedrin MM @ Wags

With all the headaches over at Walmart and their new coupon policy, I NEED this Excedrin deal!  :)

Excedrin is part of a Register Reward right now.  Spend $20 on Excedrin products get a $10 RR back.  Of course, coupons make this deal happen!

At my store I picked up TWO Excedrin PM 20 count for $5.49 each and TWO Excedrin PM 24 count for $4.99 each.  The 24 count are on sale B1G150% off, so the register will take off $2.50 for this one at the end.  Use FOUR of the $2.50 off Excedrin PM (20 count or larger) manufacturer coupons from the 12/5 SS.  You will pay $8.46 after coupons (before tax) and get back a $10 RR, netting you $1.54 profit and FREE Excedrin to help make your shopping at Walmart tolerable.  :)

Walmart Register Reward Update

While I was at Walgreens today I ran into my frugal friend, Natalie. She had some Walmart news that she wanted me to share with you. She had just come from Walmart (Belvidere, IL) where she tried to pay with Register Rewards (OYNO) and was denied. She was told that they are no longer allowing any OYNO Catalina coupons. The cashier told her that they were all (cashiers) forced to sign a form that stated that they understood that OYNO Catalina coupons were not allowed and that they would not take them. Apparently this store feels that they don't have to follow the new corporate policy that allows Catalina manufacturer coupons. So, the saga continues. If you shop at a Walmart store that does accept OYNO Catalina coupons please leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

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Walmart - UGH!

Oh, Walmart how you have let me down once again!  And here I thought we had kissed and made up for good.....

Sunday (yes, I am a little behind in getting this out to you!) I had to make an evening run to Walmart to pick up some essentials.  We were out of milk, bananas, bread, salad, etc.  After a busy weekend I was not happy about having to go, but I thought that I could just get in and out with no hassle...WRONG!

First, the store was out of lots of things, who runs out of 1% and whole milk?!?!  Produce was really picked over too, and so was the bread.  I was starting to think that there was some sort of natural disaster predicted that I didn't hear about and peeps were running to the stores to stock up. 

Once I had what I needed, I hit the check out line with four $3 Register Rewards that I had intended on paying with...DENIED!!  The cashiers would only allow ONE RR per transaction because they were interpreting the policy of "one per purchase" as meaning "one per transaction".  Didn't I just use $39 in RR's in ONE transaction here?  I stated my case a little bit, but I was so worn down from the the weekend that I didn't have much left in me to put up a good fight.  After the cashier called over a customer service supervisor, who also denied me, I gave up - I used ONE RR and went on my merry way. 

Now I need to sit down and draft an email to Walmart corporate regarding my experience and using Catalina coupons at their store.  This is not something I want to just let go because the potential for using RR's at Walmart is really beneficial to me and several of my frugal friends.  Just another thing to add to my ever growing list of things to do.

Lots & Lots of Coupons @ Woodmans!

I went to Woodmans yesterday to pick up some groceries and I couldn't believe how many coupons there were all over the store!  I was in a frenzy collecting them, I just kept shoving stacks of them in the diaper bag and once I got home I realized just how many I had grabbed.  I was collecting for myself and some of my couponing friends too. 

Most of these are manufacturer coupons so they can be used anywhere, but a few are "retailer" coupons with the Woodmans logo on them.  Remember, just because you pick up manufacturer coupons at Woodmans doesn't mean you have to redeem them there, the idea is to hold onto them to match with a sale to get the maximum benefit from them. 

If you are heading to Woodmans anytime soon you are going to want to watch for this new Woodmans coupon booklet:

There's "retailer" and manufacturer coupons in there as well.  I also found this GM coupon booklet and grabbed some of these as well. 

Now, if you are going to Woodmans to look for wine tags, that's another story.  My store has completely remodeled and changed around the liquor department so there's no wine tags on anything, with the exception of a few MIR's.  :(  Woodmans is usually my source for WT's so I hope those liquor reps get over there quick and load up all those bottles! 

Walgreens Clearance - Hanes

My Walgreens store has select women's Hanes panties on clearance.  Certain packages are marked $3.19, but the best part is that there are $1.00 off peelie manufacturer coupons right on the packages making them $2.19 each.  For a package of three that comes to .73 each pair.  This is a great price for ladies high quality panties.  If you can't find them on clearance, all the Hanes panties are on sale 2/$10 this week.  Even with two peelies this is a really good price at $1.33 a pair. 

If you don't see them hanging on the pegs by the other undergarments, take a look around.  I found more at my store in a Hanes display box, up on a shelf above the clothing/undergarments.  Some of these in the box were also the clearance panties. 

Walmart - New Coupon Policy Update

I stopped in over at Walmart today to try out the new coupon policy.  I was prepared for a "discussion" with a supervisor or manager in regards to my coupons but I was pleasantly surprised.  I had planned to use several Catalina coupons for $XX off items, Register Rewards and several coupons that would get overage. 

I scoped out my favorite, coupon friendly cashier and asked her if she had seen the new policy.  At first, she actually thought I was joking!  She had been off on Sunday and Monday and heard nothing about it.  I shared my copy with her and away we went. 

The register did not beep on any coupons above the value of the item so Walmart must have reset their registers for this, next the Catalina $XX off items coupons scanned perfectly and lastly, the $39 in Register Rewards I used worked perfectly.  The RR's are taken off as cash and they are not even scanned at the register.  I was able to spend RR's on things like milk, bananas and clothing.

To really test this out,  I had to do one more thing.  My last total was $1.01 so I handed her a $5 RR.  She put it in as a cash payment and gave me back $3.99 in change. 

Walmart, you have redeemed yourself and I take back all the negative things I have said/posted about you in the past (for now anyway!).  ;-)

CVS Deals 3/6-3/12

First--sorry for not having many CVS deals posted lately. There honestly hasn't been anything that has been exciting to me lately in their ads...until this weekend!

12 packs Pepsi products are on sale for 4/$13 with a $3 ECB, making them 4/$10. If you have the ad for Sullivan's or Pacemaker (Belvidere) for this past week, there is a coupon for $1 off when you purchase three 12 packs. This now brings your total to 4/$9. You will have to act pretty fast on this one if you wish to use the coupon from Sullivan's/Pacemaker as it expires 3/8. Limit of 1 per card.

Dean's Milk gallons are on sale for $2.99 with a $1 ECB, making them $1.99 a gallon. Limit of 2 per card.

If you are in need of detergent, Wisk is a pretty good deal this week. Wisk 32 loads is on sale for 2/$10 with a $2 ECB, making them 2/$8. There were $2 coupons in the 3/6 RP, so with 2 coupons, this would make them 2/$4. Limit of 2 per card (meaning you can buy 4 of these).

If you are looking for Easter candy, there is a spend $10 on select candy and get $3 ECB. Crunch and Butterfinger eggs are on sale for 2/$5. There are coupons for $.55 off one bag and $1 off 2 bags on coupons.com. Purchase 4 bags and use 2 of the $.55 ones and one of the $1 off ones to bring your total down to 4 bags for $4.90 (after ECB), so about $1.25 a bag. Not free..but not a bad price.

Lastly, Revlon has a deal going. All Revlon nail is on sale for $3.99 with a $3 ECB, making these $.99. Select Revlon eye and lip are on sale for $6.49 with a $4 ECB, making these $2. There are $1 off any Revlon color cosmestic products in both the 2/13 SS and the 3/6 SS. Use these to get free nail polish or pretty cheap eye and lip product. Limit of 1 per card.

New Walmart Coupon Policy!!

As Mickey Mouse would say Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!!!  You are going to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Wal-mart's new coupon policy!

Wal-mart just may be my new favorite store to coupon shop at! 

Here is a direct link to the *NEW* Wal-mart coupon policy, which specifically states that they WILL take Catalina coupons (which would include Register Rewards). 

The other AWESOME change is that the policy acknowledges overage on coupons that exceed the amount of the item.  Wal-mart will now KNOWINGLY give you overage toward the purchase of other items in your transaction!  This policy even states that they will give you change back on overage with your coupons - WOW!

Can you tell that I am thoroughly excited about these two little changes?!?!

Print this out and carry it with you because you are bound to run into problems until this filters its way through the stores and management.  Report back here with your sucesses and failures, please!

Wal-mart Clearance

I stopped over at Wal-mart today to pick up some photos and prescriptions so I wandered around the store a bit looking for some good finds.  I ran across many clearance items worth bragging about!  There's lots of kids clothing on clearance right now, so if you like to shop ahead and get next season's clothes cheap, now is the time to buy!

First, I found these cuddly footed jammies for boys and girls marked down to $1.75 - $3.00 a pair.  They had a wide range of sizes from 0-5T.  This is surely a stock up price!  I didn't venture into the bigger kids sizes, but I plan to stop back there tomorrow when I have a bit more time to check out other departments.

Next I found an array of shirts marked down to $1.00 - $3.00 each.  There were all sorts of shirts, not just long sleeve winter type shirts.  There were short sleeve summer shirts mixed in!  These two shirts were only $1 each. 

I pretty much only checked out the little kids department today, but there were loads of racks down the center aisles with clearance items on them, from winter coats to sweats and hats and gloves.  Why wait until next season when this stuff is full price - go grab what you need for next year now and save yourself about 70-90% off!  If you have lots of kids to buy gifts for through out the year this would be a good time to stockpile some gifts too!

Super Couponing 2: Saving on Everything

Just thought I would post this for anyone who has been thinking of attending Jill's class on Super Couponing 2.

Immanuel Lutheran is happy to announce that Jill will be here on Thursday, March 24th from 7-9pm to teach the next session of couponing. This workshop features advanced couponing techniques designed to save you even more money. You'll learn to combine multiple discounts, store promotions and coupons to maximize your grocery savings. Jill will also teach you how to apply Super-Couponing principles to clothing, toys, housewares and many other items, saving up to 90% off regular prices. It is suggested that you have attended Super Couponing 1 first. Cost will be $5. You can register by calling Immanuel Lutheran at 815-544-8058. Church is located at 1045 Belvidere Rd, Belvidere, IL. Please enter through door #4

A few FREEBIES @ Wags

(This is my first attempt blogging from my iPad so bear with me if things aren't quite right!)

If you are heading to Wags for all the craziness of FREE and MM's this week, I have a couple FREEBIES for you to add to your list.

Wags has small 3 count boxes of Cream of Wheat for $1.00 each. Take along your $1.00 off coupon from the 1/9 SS to get some nice hot cereal for FREE, if you need more coupons you can check out this link here for another $1.00 off coupon and here for $1.00 off Cinnabon flavor Cream of Wheat.  These cute little boxes were not by the regular cereals, so check around - look in other aisles too. 

I spotted small tubes of the new Dial NutriSkin lotion for .99 each at my store.  These were in the cosmetics counter in a small fish bowl type display.  Look low on the shelf on the far end of the counter - these were really hidden well!  Use the $2 off coupon from the 2/20 RP insert to get these FREE, with some possible overage. 

I will try to get my Wags shop posted this week, but I am having a hard time keeping up because the deals are so good this week, so I may not be able to in a timely manner.  :)  I will do what I can!

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