Donation Time!

Last night I packed up my stash boxes! It is truly amazing how much you can get for free (or very very cheap) in just a few months. All of these items will go either to Mom's free medical clinic or to Dad's institutional ministry.

Please keep in mind that all this was accumulated over the past four months, and at no time did I do "shelf clearing." My total out of pocket (pre-tax) was around $5 for all of this:

1 - Nova Max Reader
1 - Bayer Contour Meter
1 - Tena Sample
2 - Tums Dual Action
9 - Thera Flu
8 - Comtrex
3 - Bengay
6 - Zantac
5 - Neosporin
2 - Children's Claritin
2 - Cankermelts
7 - Triaminic Thin Strips
7 - Triaminic Syrup
11 - SpongeBob Bandaids
14 - Barbie / Dora Bandaids
1 - Blink Tears
3 - Visine AC
1 - Visine Dry Eyes
11 - Ducolax Balance
3 - Stayfree Maxi Pads
8 - Complete Contact Solution
1 - Renu Contact Solution Twin Pack
3 - Men's Touch of Gray Hair Dye
9 - Clean & Clear Cleanser (travel size)
1 - Stimudent Plaque Removers
1 - Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mousse Makeup
2 - Cover Girl Clean Makeup
2 - Almay Pure Blends
2 - Carefree Pantiliners
2 - Zooth Toothbrushes
6 - Oral-B Stages toothbrushes
1 - Super Poligrip
2 - AccuCheck Avia
4 - Gas-X Chewables
4 - Maalox Advanced 12 oz
2 - Breathe Right Strips (samples)
1 - Duracell Hearing Aid Batteries (6 count)
15 - Ecotrin 81mg
1 - Soft N Beautiful Hair Relaxer
3 - Aquafresh Toothpaste
3 - Diaper Samples
2 - Pert for Men Shampoo
2 - Walgreen's Children's Activity Books
2 - Herbal Essences Fixatif Hairspray
2 - Dickinson's Witch Hazel
2 - Nexxus Mousse
1 - Goody Hairband
1 - Conair Dual Pack Brushes
15 - Lubriderm Lotion
6 - Dove Deodorant
2 - Dry Idea Roll On Deodorant
1 - Dry Idea Powder Fresh Clear Gel
1 - Right Guard Sport
1 - Speed Stick
1 - Degree Ultra
1 - Secret Invisible Solid
1 - Old Spice Deodorant

I still have a number of Ecotrin coupons ($10 off 3 and $7 off 2) that expire on 12/31. If I can find a Walgreen's that has the 45 count bottles in stock, I will have more Ecotrin to add.

Merry Christmas!!

Full Circle Once Again...

After a few good trips to Walgreens, I had another bad one today.

The healthy savings Walgreens coupons that came out earlier this year - for whatever reason - are programmed in the Walgreens computer system as manufacturer coupons, rather than Walgreens coupons. This threw off my item to coupon ratio, which in turn caused the line behind me to get impatient.

How can they call something a manufacturer coupon and not have that clearly labeled on the coupon? If anyone has an answer, I'm all ears.

Win a Gift Card!

I know, I know...the couponing posts have been few and far between lately. Hopefully I can get back on track soon. In the mean time...

Mercedes at Common Sense with Money has a great contest going on. Enter here to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.

Anyone else have last minute Christmas shopping to finish??

Another Great Contest!

Leslie Loves Veggies is doing another fab give-away - RAWMinerals. Go check it out and enter to win!

http://leslielovesveggies.blogspot.com/2009/12/raw-natural-beauty-rawminerals-7-piece.html

I Won!

Remember the post I did about Mom Saves Money giving away clipped coupons? Well, I won!!! I love getting coupons from others since we have such lousy coupons in the Quad Cities.

I better find some time to pull all the expired coupons out of my binder to make room for the new ones.

Isn't it nice when little things in life make you so happy? =)

Black Friday Shopping

Last Friday, Hubs and I did the 4am shopping thing. Neither of us had ever done this, and did we have fun!

First of all, let me say that I don't think I'll ever be one of those that camps out for hours waiting to get in. There were people literally camping in front of Best Buy starting Wednesday. The line had started in front of Target by 5pm on Thursday. No way. While my patience is usually pretty good, I don't think I could handle hours waiting in line.

We arrived at Kohl's at 3:50am. There were probably 150-200 people in line ahead of us, but everyone was very nice. When the doors opened at 4am, there wasn't any pushing - most people followed along in line. We were able to score everything on our list in about 25 minutes. However, by then, the checkout line was all the way down the depth of the store, and about a quarter way the length. From the time we got in line to the time we walked out to the car was 45 minutes.

After Kohl's, we grabbed some breakfast through a drive-thru, and headed to Staples. There was waited in line about 20 minutes, and there were maybe 75 people ahead of us. Doors opened at 6am, and once inside, we hit the jackpot. We were able to get everything that was on our list. Having learned a lesson at Kohl's, we got in the checkout line within 15 minutes, and then took turns waiting while the other continued to shop. That system worked really well and will be used again! The one bad thing about Staples was that there were line jumpers. People who weren't in line just walked in. I wish the store would have done a better job letting the line in first.

After Staples, our final stop was going to be Menards. They also opened at 6am, so we knew our chances were slim to find the things on our list. We drove by at 6:45am, and there wasn't a single parking spot available. Cars were waiting in line to park! We decided to call it a day there and just skip Menards all together, as we were very happy with all our purchases.

After being home for a few hours, I headed back out - this time to Walgreens and CVS. I had Lubriderm coupons and wanted to use them up before the monthly Register Reward ended on Saturday. I think I shopped at five different Walgreens, doing fairly well. Still had a little of the cashier attitude (had my most unfavorite cashier at one location - you know the type, the one to avoid like the plague, but NO one else was around so I had to go to her lane) but overall it was good. I was able to score lots of things for the mom & dad stash box. In fact, box number 2 was started! I can't wait to deliver the goodies to them.

Win Coupons!

Mom Saves Money is giving away 200 clipped coupons. Stop by her site and enter!

http://www.momsavesmoney.net/2009/11/giveaway-600-clipped-coupons-3-winners.html

Pantry Organization

Since I started couponing earlier this year, our pantry has slowly but surely developed. I think I can declare it "official" as hubs and I spent this morning organizing it. The best part was not only did we do the pantry, we also did the kitchen cupboards.

Hubs was amazed with everything we have in stock. Hopefully now that we both have had a visual reminder of what we own, we will be able to better meal plan.

What a Nice Surprise

So, I vent about Walgreens. And what happens? I have a great trip tonight. No beeps. No cashier attitude. No coupon problems. It was wonderful!!

The best part? My pre-tax subtotal was 3 cents.

2 Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice @ 2/$5 minus $4 (2 x $2/1 coupons) = $1.00
2 Skippy Peanut Butters @ 2/$3 minus $1 coupon = $2.00
1 Ricola Mixed Berry Drops @ $1 = $1.00
1 Snuggle Liquid Softener @$3.50 minus $3 coupon = $.50
1 Aussie Hair Conditioner @ $2.99 minus $1 coupon = $1.99
2 Theraflu Liquids @ 2/$10 minus $4 (2x$2/1 coupons) minus $4 (Walgreens coupon) = $2.00
1 Votive Candle @17 cents (filler item) = $.17
2 cans tuna (needed dog food) @ $1.19 = $2.38
1 Tums Dual Action @ $7.99 minus $3 coupon = $4.99

I paid with $16 register rewards, and had a remaining balance of $.03 (plus tax = $.77). I received $9 register rewards back. Overall - I'm a happy Walgreens customer tonight.

Walgreens...UGH!

I wish I could walk away. I wish I could let the deals go right on by. But I can't.

So I continue to shop at Walgreens, hating every moment of it. I always walk into the store hoping that my favorite cosmetics cashiers are working, but they rarely are. A majority of the cashiers are just rude and don't like couponers (or, at least, me). They make mistakes, but blame me. I try to be nice, but yet stand my ground. Last night however, I lost it.

After filling my cart, I found an empty aisle, broke out my calculator, and made sure that my order would not produce a pre-tax total of zero or less. I triple checked my items to coupons ratio and everything was in line. During checkout, the register wouldn't take my $4 register reward coupon. Standing my ground, the manager finally just "cashed out" my receipt, and my subtotal was $3.97 which is why the register reward wouldn't go through.

Rolling my eyes, I went and grabbed one more 12-cent item to bring my total up. During the re-check out process, now my subtotal was more than this one additional item. I asked the clerk if I could compare to the first receipt to see the difference. She told me she didn't know where it was. The manager stopped back and told her where it was and to let me see if. The cashier still wouldn't give it to me. I was in a time crunch, so I left.

After I got home, I refigured everything and discovered what happened. The cashier failed to charge me for one of my items the first time around. I was right and she was wrong. But yet, I'm the one standing there trying to hold my ground, as other customers are getting mad at me. In the end, I'm the bad customer and I have to fix the problem - even though the problem was never mine to begin with.

Man, I hate Walgreens.

Leslie has a Another Great Giveaway

Leslie Loves Veggies has another great give away - Cupcakes in a Jar. Check it out!

http://leslielovesveggies.blogspot.com/2009/11/cupcakes-in-jars-2-pack-yummy-giveaway.html

Soda Maker Giveaway

Leslie Loves Veggies is giving away a SodaStream soda maker. Go check it out!!

http://leslielovesveggies.blogspot.com/2009/10/sodastream-fountain-jet-soda-lovers.html

Stash Box Overflowing

I guess all it took was for me to "complain" about Walgreens a few weeks back. Since then, the sales have been amazing. After last week, the mom & dad stash box is overflowing.

First, my disclaimer: I shopped on multiple days at multiple stores. At no time did I do "shelf clearing" shopping or multiple transactions back to back buying the same product.

For $12.42 oop and $64 in Register Rewards (and obviously a lot of coupons), I was able to get:
6 Triaminic medicines
4 Zantac
6 ThermaFlu
1 Airwick i-motion
1 Quilted Northern Toilet Paper (9 rolls)
2 Glade Soy Candles (2oz)
9 Bumble Bee Tuna
2 Reese Peanut Butter Cups
10 Pencils (filler items)
2 Pert Plus shampoos
8 packages Trident Layers Gum
2 Sure Deodorant
4 Almay Eye Shadows
4 Ester C - 90 count
3 Vaseline Lotion
4 Frappucinos
1 Powerade

And, I have $67 Register Rewards remaining.

I could kick myself - on one transaction, I forgot to give the cashier the Walgreen's ThermFlu coupon. That move cost me $6. But, I couldn't bring myself to go back to the store to resolve the problem.

I haven't looked at this week's sales yet, but I'm hoping I can find some more good - no, great - deals.

Walgreens Round-up

Yes, I'm nuts. I know that. Tonight proves it.

I didn't hit just one Walgreens. Or two. Or even three. I went to six different Walgreens this evening. Why? Because of the Band-aid coupon.

Between the six different store fronts, I purchased:
14 boxes of Band-aids
5 bags of Halls Refresh
4 Emergen-C Booster shots
3 Chap-Sticks
1 Sweetest Day card for my honey! =)

The only coupons I used were the $2 coloring book coupon and the $1.99 coupon in this week's flyer. I used $13 previously earned Register Rewards, spent a little over $15 oop (including tax) and received $25 Register Rewards back. Basically, everything was free except for the card (and hubs is definitely worth it!).

All of the Band-aids, and most of the other things are going into the stash box for mom & dad. Even though I have been couponing now for almost a year, it is still amazing how much you can get for free.

Walgreens Again

I did another Walgreens run tonight...and plan to do a couple more tomorrow.

Making use of the $1.99 Bandaid coupon in the weekly Walgreens flyer, partnered with the $2 off coupon found in the children's activity book, I am able to get Barbie & Sponge Bob Bandaids for free. I picked up three boxes night, and plan to hit another store or two tomorrow.

All these Bandaids are going into Mom's stash box. I know her free medical clinic will make good use of these!

Had To Do It

I went back to Walgreens tonight. I found two Bengay Catalina coupons for $2.50 off each. With the current Register Rewards deal going on, I couldn't pass it up.

Two 4oz Bengay @ $5 each = $10
Eight Halloween Pencils @ 4/$1 = $2
Two $2.50/1 Bengay coupons = minus $5
Wags coupon 8 pencils/$1 = minus $1
Old Register Rewards = minus $6
Subtotal = $0

All I paid was $.17 tax. And, I got a $5 Register Reward.

The Bengay will go into the mom & dad stash box. I'm not sure whose workplace will get these, but I'm sure it will get used.

The Love-Hate Relationship with Walgreens

Last night I did my weekly trek between Walgreens, CVS, and the grocery store(s). While there weren't many great deals at the grocery store and CVS this week, my Walgreens list was once again fairly long.

After reading many other couponing blogs, in my opinion, the general consensus is that Walgreens is tough when it comes to couponing. The confusing rules are the main concern, but the fact there isn't a corporate coupon policy, and that every cashier chooses his/her own policy sure doesn't help.

But, you know what? I've gotten past the couponing rules. My current disappointment is that they cannot keep their sale items in stock. A week ago, I shopped early in the week, and three of the Register Reward items were gone. This week, same thing. What is so hard about having back stock on sale items? Maybe if Walgreens could figure out how to issue Register Rewards with rain checks, I wouldn't be so discouraged.

My other gripe are the cashiers. Most are just not friendly. They hate couponers. The deep sighs I receive when I hand over coupons are really starting to bother me. I have found a couple of cosmetics cashiers who are great to work with, but it seems lately that they haven't been working when I shop.

In all honesty, if I could get Walgreens deals somewhere else, I would avoid that store like the plague. But, I can't turn my back on the high number of free and low cost items. I do coupon for a cause (actually, multiple causes) and Walgreens provides great items for my "donate" stash.

Maybe its time I try a different store front.

Success!

This week's shopping has been outstanding! With matching up coupons to sales, I have done extremely well this week.

Yesterday, I shopped at Walgreens, CVS, and Kmart. By combining all three receipts, this is what I paid:
Regular Price: $269.75
Sale Price: $164.27
Coupons Used: $97.64
Store Money: $48.50 (Register Rewards at Wags & ECB at CVS)
Subtotal: $18.13
Tax: $7.24
Grand Total Out of Pocket: $25.37

Using the regular price as my starting point, that's savings of over 90%!

But, the best part...I got $30 worth of Register Rewards, $17 worth of ECB, and a $5 off coupon for any purchase at Kmart of at least $5. In other words, I got $52 back for next time I shop! Not bad.

Today I made another Kmart trip. I didn't do quite as well, but for $20 out of pocket, I purchased:
5 boxes of Special K cereal
6 boxes of Ziploc bags
6 medium-sized Twist-n-Lock Ziploc containers
6 small Twist-n-Lock Ziploc containers
2 Healthy Choice microwave meals
2 Tylenol Arthritis (20 count)
3 Starbuck Frappacinos
2 cans Pringles
1 Glade candle tin
1 Glade candle refill
1 Cottonelle Bathroom Tissue (12 rolls)

For as much as I have hated shopping my entire life, I'm really enjoying shopping as long as there are coupons involved!

Don't you hate it...

...when you have a coupon that you had every intention of using, only to get home realizing you still had it in your pretty little coupon binder???

I did the Keebler deal at Jewel tonight, buying lots of cookies to donate to church. I also had the "save $2 on Milk when you buy cookies" coupon and was going to use it. Somehow, I missed it. I have no idea how. It was on my list. The coupon was paper clipped with all the others. But somehow, I came home without milk.

Hubs told me twice to just let it go, but I can't. I'm hoping that venting here will help.

Where has September gone?

I can't believe September is almost over. Where did it go?

I spent today working on our book-keeping. I haven't done our "official" financial records since April, so it is going to take a while to catch up. However, I'm excited to see how our expenses changed over the course of the summer with my increase in coupon usage. I think back to December and January when we were spending $500-$600 per month on groceries and shake my head! I keep reminding myself that we didn't have appliances back them, so there was limited cooking and stockpiling choices. I'm so glad I started a new hobby that saves money.

I was hoping that next week would be double coupons at Kmart, but it sounds like it is only the P&G coupons. Depending on what coupons are included, I may still stop in and see what (if any) deals I can snag. Many blogs are posting about the deals at Walgreens and CVS this week, so I am looking forward to those.

First Trip a Success

Last night was my first time shopping with the binder. It worked great! It's a tad on the large side, so it hangs off the edges of the shopping cart when open, but that was the only negative. It was great being able to flip through pages and see coupons, rather than having to pull them out of the box and finger through the entire stack. I need to spend some time this weekend refining a few things - section dividers, finishing filing, etc - but I hope to have the box fully retired by Monday.

Speaking of shopping - hubs and I did a Super Target run. Before coupons was $64, after was $29. I was expecting it to be a little lower than that, but we did pick up a few extras. On the way home, we stopped at Walgreens. Total oop was $3.02. We now have a three-wick Glade candle, another shower cleaner (being donated to church's garage sale), and some items for the Mom & Dad stash donation box.

Success all around last night!

Change in Tactics

I broke down. I just couldn't live with the box anymore. I bought a three-ring binder for my coupons. And, lots and lots and lots of baseball card holders. Spent way too much money, but I was bound and determined to fix my problem.

I think I'm going to go with a combination method. Since I get coupons from other sources (eBay, Coupon Clippers) I will always have clipped coupons. However, I am no longer going to cut the Sunday inserts and I going to use plastic page protectors to "file" them by date.

The neat thing (I think) is that I found a zippered binder that has two sets of rings. When the binder opens, there are 1.5" rings on each side, and they are off-set so the binder closes properly. My hope it that I can have my clipped coupons on one side, and the insert pages on the other side.

My one mistake was making the change mid-month. I should have waited until the 9/30 coupons expired, and then made the switch to the baseball card holders. I'm worried that while I need all the holders now, maybe I won't need that many once my process changes. But, I can live with that oops. Hopefully this system will be easier and I can stay on top of things.

Deal of the Week

My "Deal of the Week" happened at CVS. Renu contact solution was on sale for $7.99 with a $3.00 ECB, limit of two.

Purchased 2 @ $7.99 = $15.98
Used CVS ReadyFill $3 off $12 eyecare product coupon = minus $3
Used two IP coupons @ $2/1 = minus $4
Used one CVS register printout coupon @ $2/1 = minus $2

Total out of pocket: $6.98
Received $6 ECB
Net Result: $.98 for two or $.49 each!

That's a savings of 95% off the regular price of $8.99

Can't beat that! (unless, of course, you can get it for free!)

Way Behind...and Becoming Overwhelmed

Where have the last two weeks gone? I was doing so good, and then two weeks ago hit. What triggered it? I have no idea, but I need to find some time to catch up!!

My coupon box is a mess. I need to pull expired, plus file LOTS of newbies. I am beginning to wonder if I need to go to the baseball card holder system. It's so nice being able to find everything alphabetically in my box, but is all the time it takes worth it? I'm really torn on how to proceed, which doesn't help my procrastination in cleaning up my mess. I looked at zippered three-ring binders today, but I only found ones with 1.5" ring...that just doesn't seem big enough. I wish I knew what to do!

I'm also behind on my record keeping. Since we have such LOUSY coupons in the Quad Cities, I get coupons from so many other sources that I like to keep track of what I actually use. But, again, is it worth my time? I have never thought of "my time" with a price tag associated with it, but maybe it's time for me to start thinking that way. How much of my limited free time is needed to keep my couponing hobby - habit - lifestyle - going?

I did score some freebie's today. Hit the double coupons at Kmart and picked up a few things, including some toiletry items that will go into the "Dad Stash". Hubs and I also did a Walmart run tonight and I grabbed some P&G travel size items with expiring coupons (Tide, Head & Shoulders). I hit a bonus last night at CVS...they had Sunday sale prices already posted, so I grabbed the Glade reed diffuser a day early. Gotta love a $6.99 price tag, minus a $3 coupon, with $6.99 easy cash bucks back. You don't hit $3 money-makers on a single product that often!

Well...I guess it's time to try....

I have no idea where this is going to go, but I decided to start a blog.

Let me reword that -

Last night, "Couponing for a Cause" came to me. I am enjoying my "new" found hobby of couponing so much, and Mom & Dad's workplaces are going to be the beneficiaries of my exploding stash, that "Couponing for a Cause" was too perfect to ignore. So, here I go.

This site is UNDER CONSTRUCTION. I need to do some planning and see what develops. So, until next time, keep cutting those coupons, watching your ads, and remember to pick up something for your favorite charity.