Thursday, April 30, 2009

CVS - Nothing Exciting

I was going to completely skip CVS this week as I'm on vacation and didn't need any of the free stuff (I have plenty of shampoo!). But we needed to pick up Hyland's Teething Tablets and I wound up with a ton of coupons from a family member so we went by. Alas, although I did find a Zooth toothbrush coupon in my pack, the store we went to was out of the Hello Kitty brushes. So...

1 Hyland's - $6.29
Used $1 ECB (the bonus one from the Softsoap deal), paid $5.55. (26 cents tax) Got back nothing, but I think I've hit the threshold to get some quarterly ECBs now.

I may go to CVS next week, I'm not sure. The deals have been pretty unexciting lately and the May "clipless coupon" book makes me sad. Is this the end of my CVSing? (Doubtful...)

Total OOP: $16.82 ($6.63 tax)
Total merchandise: 10 double Sunday papers, 3 single Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 4 bottles Dawn, 3 travel packs of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 Gillette shampoo+conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 4 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 10 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 2 bags of Halls cough drops, 2 Energy Shots 2 pack, 4 Colgate toothpastes, 1 small box Breathe Right strips, 3 bottles Suave body wash, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 1 Snickers heart candy, 2 bottles Mylanta Mint, 1 Fruitopia shampoo, 2 Venus Spa Breeze razors, 1 Renuzit Tri-Scent starter kit, 1 box 10-count Carnation Instant Breakfast, 2 single-serving Pringles, 1 bottle Vaseline lotion, 1 tube Crest toothpaste, 1 bottle Irish Spring body wash, 3 Dry Idea roll on deodorants, 1 Colgate Max White, 1 Crest Pro-Health Enamel, 2 Hylands teething tablets, 2 Skintimate shave gels, 1 pack Juicyfruit gum, 1 Softsoap coconut scrub, 2 Colgate sensitive toothpastes.

Current ECB status: $6.88

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Kroger - Free toilet paper + spices

2 4-packs of Angel Soft toilet paper
1 McCormick Grill Mates

8 cents. I love Kroger!

CVS - Free Edge shaving gel

A quick trip that went fine:

1 Edge shaving tel - $2.89
1 Sunday paper - $2.50

Used ECB that was labeled $4.49 from the Softsoap. It rang up as $4.99. I paid 40 cents OOP. Got back $2.89. Also got $1 ECB from the scanner for calling CVS last week, as well as a $10/$50 that I don't think I'll be able to spend.

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There are tons of freebies at Kroger this week - check it out!

Total OOP: $11.27 ($6.37 tax)
Total merchandise: 10 double Sunday papers, 3 single Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 4 bottles Dawn, 3 travel packs of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 Gillette shampoo+conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 4 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 10 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 2 bags of Halls cough drops, 2 Energy Shots 2 pack, 4 Colgate toothpastes, 1 small box Breathe Right strips, 3 bottles Suave body wash, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 1 Snickers heart candy, 2 bottles Mylanta Mint, 1 Fruitopia shampoo, 2 Venus Spa Breeze razors, 1 Renuzit Tri-Scent starter kit, 1 box 10-count Carnation Instant Breakfast, 2 single-serving Pringles, 1 bottle Vaseline lotion, 1 tube Crest toothpaste, 1 bottle Irish Spring body wash, 3 Dry Idea roll on deodorants, 1 Colgate Max White, 1 Crest Pro-Health Enamel, 1 Hylands teething tablets, 2 Skintimate shave gels, 1 pack Juicyfruit gum, 1 Softsoap coconut scrub, 2 Colgate sensitive toothpastes.

Current ECB status: $7.88

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Kroger - 100% savings

After a delightful day hitting many, many yard sales (several local neighborhoods had their sale days), I swung by Kroger and got the following for entirely free, nothing OOP:
1 box of Piccolini pasta
1 Suave deodorant
1 bag of Mahatma rice (white rice)

I did in fact get 25 cents overage on the Piccolini pasta coupon - those coupons expire on 4/30 and I'm going out of town so can't order/buy/whatever any more, but what a great deal that could be! Anyway, the rice ate up some of the overage, but I still had some, which confused (slightly) the cashier at the self checkout machines, but she waved me off with my receipt and zero OOP. Wish I'd gotten one more bag of rice (it would've been free too) but my husband pointed out we don't really eat white rice (well, I eat white sticky short grain rice, but otherwise it's always brown rice, he's right) (but I could've donated it) (but anyway...if I go back to Kroger it still will only be 9 cents if I really want it).

Anyway, the Barilla coupons were in the 3/29 Smartsource flyer - you can get free whole grain pasta AND free Piccolini pasta with those. Of course 3/29 was the week I got a single paper, not a double paper...figures...

Have you checked out the Atlanta Budget Grocery Examiner yet? I plan on posting really great deals like the above over there...!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Kroger - 91% savings

Granted, I didn't get anything of particular nutritional value....I got 3 free bags of Quaker rice cakes (the snack-size ones - I got apple cinnamon and kettle corn), a bottle of Softsoap hand soap for 30 cents (I can't resist this sale, but I really should - I have quite a stockpile of hand soap now!), and a package of cat treats for 50 cents. After tax, total was $1.01. Nice!

The Kroger I went to is small, so I may go out later to a larger one to try to find the free-after-coupon Barilla pasta, the cheap-after-coupon Mahatma rice, and the free-after-coupon hot sauce. :)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

CVS - Free Softsoap, Colgate

Hey, don't forget to check out my articles at the Atlanta Budget Grocery Examiner page at Examiner.com! Thanks!

Today was an easy one - my store had tons of the freebies in stock on an endcap (though oddly the endcaps were marked full price).

1 Softsoap - $4.99
1 Colgate - $3.99
-$1/Softsoap, $1/Colgate, $6.48 in ECBs. Got back $4.49 for the Softsoap and didn't notice until I got home, even though I'd read about it online. BOO. And $3.99 for Colgate. I'll have to call CVS on Monday. Paid 68 cents OOP (18 cents tax).

ETA: I called CVS on Tuesday and was told that a $1 ECB will be printing for me sometime after Wednesday afternoon. Yay! And then I read that the $4.49 ECB will scan for $4.99...interesting.

Second transaction:
1 Colgate - $3.99
1 travel pack baby wipes - 99 cents
Used $1/Colgate (handed first), $3.99. Paid 6 cents tax, got back $3.99.

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Total OOP: $10.87 ($6.37 tax)
Total merchandise: 9 double Sunday papers, 3 single Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 4 bottles Dawn, 3 travel packs of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 Gillette shampoo+conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 4 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 10 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 2 bags of Halls cough drops, 2 Energy Shots 2 pack, 4 Colgate toothpastes, 1 small box Breathe Right strips, 3 bottles Suave body wash, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 1 Snickers heart candy, 2 bottles Mylanta Mint, 1 Fruitopia shampoo, 2 Venus Spa Breeze razors, 1 Renuzit Tri-Scent starter kit, 1 box 10-count Carnation Instant Breakfast, 2 single-serving Pringles, 1 bottle Vaseline lotion, 1 tube Crest toothpaste, 1 bottle Irish Spring body wash, 3 Dry Idea roll on deodorants, 1 Colgate Max White, 1 Crest Pro-Health Enamel, 1 Hylands teething tablets, 2 Skintimate shave gels, 1 pack Juicyfruit gum, 1 Softsoap coconut scrub, 2 Colgate sensitive toothpastes.

Current ECB status: $8.48 [hopefully will be 8.98 if I call on Monday]

Saturday, April 11, 2009

CVS - Scenario for 4/12/09

I'm kicking myself for not getting the Reinventing Beauty magazines in one of my recent transactions, because it has a coupon in it for $1.50 off the Softsoap that is on sale this week - and if I had it, well, you'll see...

My plan:

1 Softsoap - $4.99
1 Colgate - $3.99
-$1/Softsoap, -$1/Colgate
$6.98, use $6.48 ECBs and 50 cents+ tax cash (see? if I'd had the $1.50 coupon I would've had zero oop/just tax. Oh well.)
Get back $8.98. Small gain which will go back down the following week when the paper has coupons in it again.

I may then use another $1/Colgate coupon (I have two) and get a travel pack of baby wipes + more Colgate, since the limit is 2. We'll see.

There are NO coupons in the paper this week as far as I know.

Check out my newest venture - I'm the Atlanta Budget Grocery Examiner! I'll be covering local and national ways to save money at the grocery store - and at CVS!

Friday, April 10, 2009

CVS - One more Skintimate

I went to my favorite CVS and got one more Skintimate shave gel. Used $3.49 ECB, paid zero, got back $3.49, impressed the cashier.

I also got my other card down to zero - used the $3.49 on that one for some Infant Advil. I don't like juggling two cards and will probably leave that one alone for a while until I can either get bucks for free (like on a survey).

[no picture, you know what this looks like at this point]

Total OOP: $10.13 ($6.13 tax)
Total merchandise: 9 double Sunday papers, 3 single Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 4 bottles Dawn, 3 travel packs of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 Gillette shampoo+conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 4 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 10 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 2 bags of Halls cough drops, 2 Energy Shots 2 pack, 4 Colgate toothpastes, 1 small box Breathe Right strips, 3 bottles Suave body wash, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 1 Snickers heart candy, 2 bottles Mylanta Mint, 1 Fruitopia shampoo, 2 Venus Spa Breeze razors, 1 Renuzit Tri-Scent starter kit, 1 box 10-count Carnation Instant Breakfast, 2 single-serving Pringles, 1 bottle Vaseline lotion, 1 tube Crest toothpaste, 1 bottle Irish Spring body wash, 3 Dry Idea roll on deodorants, 1 Colgate Max White, 1 Crest Pro-Health Enamel, 1 Hylands teething tablets, 2 Skintimate shave gels, 1 pack Juicyfruit gum.

Current ECB status: $6.48

Thursday, April 9, 2009

CVS - Free Skintimate shave gel limit increased

Heads up - the limit for the Skintimate is now two!

I got a second on my other card and may try for one on my regular card before the end of the week.

HAPPY PASSOVER!!!

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Sunday, April 5, 2009

My other card

I used $4.99 in ECBs to get the Skintimate shave gel + a tub of baby wipes. Paid 52 cents OOP. Got back $3.49.

CVS - Free shaving cream, gum, cough drops

Quick update: I'm now the Atlanta Budget Grocery Examiner! Click the link to check out my articles about how to save money on your groceries (and more). You might even want to subscribe as I plan on publishing multiple articles a week, some Atlanta-centric and some that are more general! I'm really really excited about this new opportunity. Thanks!

Now onto the CVS story....

Bleh. I wasn't at all happy with how today's trip went.

First, I went to pull my Schick Intuition $4 coupons (use 2, the Intuition is $9.99 and BOGO, so you'll get two for $1.99, and they have cute little bonus sets with sample sizes of Dove stuff that count). Well, that week for some reason (I may have written it here) one of my coupon inserts was missing a section - THAT section. So I only had one $4 coupon and I don't exactly need any razors right now...still, annoying.

Then, I get to my favorite store and...no double papers. But there are enough coupons in this week's paper that I decided to just spend the bucks and buy two. *sigh* I hope they're all in each paper - I tried to peek and it looked promising.

Finally, I totally forgot about my other card and didn't use my other bucks. My plan is to just spend those down and not use two cards anymore, it's too much of a pain. But in the meantime, I may wander down to the dramariffic CVS to see if I can use it.

All that to say...

2 Sunday papers - $4
1 Skintimate shave gel - $3.49
1 Halls 30-pack (strawberry) - $2.19
1 pack of Juicy Fruit - $1.29

Used free gum coupon, free Halls coupon, $6.99 in ECBs. Paid 52 cents (2 cents tax). Got back $3.49.

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Total OOP: $10.13 ($6.13 tax)
Total merchandise: 9 double Sunday papers, 3 single Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 4 bottles Dawn, 3 travel packs of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 Gillette shampoo+conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 4 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 10 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 2 bags of Halls cough drops, 2 Energy Shots 2 pack, 4 Colgate toothpastes, 1 small box Breathe Right strips, 3 bottles Suave body wash, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 1 Snickers heart candy, 2 bottles Mylanta Mint, 1 Fruitopia shampoo, 2 Venus Spa Breeze razors, 1 Renuzit Tri-Scent starter kit, 1 box 10-count Carnation Instant Breakfast, 2 single-serving Pringles, 1 bottle Vaseline lotion, 1 tube Crest toothpaste, 1 bottle Irish Spring body wash, 3 Dry Idea roll on deodorants, 1 Colgate Max White, 1 Crest Pro-Health Enamel, 1 Hylands teething tablets, 1 Skintimate shave gel, 1 pack Juicyfruit gum.

Current ECB status: $6.48

Saturday, April 4, 2009

CVS Scenario - 4/5/09

I'm not that excited for this week. Next week looks more fun (two moneymakers that are actually on useful things).

I'm going to buy:
1 double paper - $2.50
1 Easter basket (even though I do not celebrate Easter) - $1.99
1 Skintimate shave gel - $3.49
=$7.98
Use $4.99, $2.99. Get back $1.99, $3.49. Have less than $10 in ECBs for the first time in a while...

Or maybe skip the Easter basket and get the 99 cent Reinventing Beauty mag, since there's the $1.50 Softsoap coupon in there so I'll get the ECBs back next week...

My other card has a $4.99 ECB and I may use that for a shave gel plus either the Easter grass and a 50 cent filler or another basket.