Ah, a good CVS day again!
I had $4.99 in ECBs.
I bought:
Dove shampoo: $4.49
Newspaper: $2 [not the double paper]
2 rolls of CVS-brand toilet paper - 2/$1
I used the $4.99 in ECBs, $1.50 off Dove coupon, and the $1-off-any-CVS-paper-product CRT from the scanner. My cashier made sure I got the full $1 off (she rules, but I don't know what she did/how she did it/if she did anything unusual - she just pointed out she'd make it happen), so the two rolls of TP were free. And the $1.50 overage from the Dove coupon went toward my newspaper. My pre-tax total was zero and so I paid 38 cents in tax OOP (ah, I miss the good old days when the ECBs took care of the tax!) and got back the $4.49 from the Dove. Plus I got $2.50 for quarterly spending (since I stopped doing tons of deals, we've spent a LOT at CVS, eep). I have not been able to print the Dial coupon at all, so I'm skipping that one this week - I have enough body wash to fill a bathtub anyway.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
A quick money-saving tip about travel
This may seem obvious, but if you're traveling to another city, even if just for the day, check out its tourism site. There may be valuable money-saving offers, deals, and coupons available! My family likes to go to Chattanooga, TN, for the day, and the Chattanooga Board of Tourism's website (chattanoogafun.com) has coupons for discounts on everything from the children's museum and aquarium to ice cream to books! Even a dollar or two here and there can really add up!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
I love tea! (A not-really-thrifty post featuring Teavana)
[Hello to whoever from Teavana seems to have found this post...]
This past weekend I ventured into Teavana in the mall. I'd never really gone in before, just tasted their sample teas in the front and once or twice looked quickly at the teapots. This time I decided I wanted to try their loose teas, mostly because I'd scored a pricey ceramic Rishi teacup/tea steeper for a great deal thanks to one of the half-off local coupon sites.
I will tell you this - I was very surprised at the hard sell I was given. The girl who helped me was very sweet, but she was pushy and definitely into the upsell. She talked fast and she kept it up nonstop. First, I asked for one tea (which cost about $5 for 2 ounces) and she immediately said "You'll like this one better" and brought out a tea that cost almost $11. Her reasoning was that the expensive tea was better and SHE liked it better, but I still felt uncomfortable - why offer the less-expensive tea at all if it's supposedly lower quality? But then she tempted me with the offer of 10% off if I bought a pound of tea...and I caved. I caved! I got the expensive tea AND the less-expensive tea and 6 others! AND I got rather talked into buying tea canisters as well, which are definitely useful, nice, and reusable, but I probably didn't need 8 of them either. They were $6 each, but I found slightly smaller ones on the website (not offered to me) for $4.50. They do make my pantry look really nice...
So this post is going to be a review of these teas - and I am going to update it with how many cups I got out of each as well. I am following the directions given - how much tea to use, how long to steep - and I am on occasion reusing the tea for a second cup.
The eight teas I got:
Youthberry - This flavored white tea is pricey but it is honestly delicious. There are giant pieces of fruit and berries in the blend and they smell fresh and enticing. The tea was a light reddish color and both smelled and tasted fruity and sweet. No sugar needed. I would buy this again as a splurge. I'll let you know if makes me look or feel any younger. ETA: This tea is very hard to scoop in such a way to get a balance of fruit and tea. I seem to wind up with a lot of fruit (which is yum) and not enough tea. I know I know, buy the fancy scoop from Teavana, right? Ha. [Now am wondering if I can eat the fruit bits after I steep the tea. Is that weird?]
Current cup count: 6
Tiramisu Treviso - A flavored rooibos tea (as most of the teas I bought were). Not too expensive. DELICIOUS, especially with a splash of milk and sugar in it, but it would be OK on its own as well. Very sweet and yummy.
Current cup count: 4
[Cup count includes the 1.5 tsp I gave to a friend to try - I'll assume she'll make a single cup with it.]
Thai Tea - A flavored black tea that I'd absolutely get again. Almondy, sugary, and wonderful. Milk and sugar turn this into the Thai tea I have had at restaurants for sure - I can't wait to make this iced. Yum.
Current cup count: 4 [and reusing the tea leaves worked very well for a second cup]
White Ayurvedic Chai - The original upsell. This tea is expensive - and it's not very exciting, flavor wise, or at least not as "wow" as I'd hoped. BUT it did make me feel warm and tingly after I drank a cup, and the flavor did seem more pronounced as I went along. Still, I don't know if I'd go for this again.
Current cup count: 2 [tried reusing the tea and got a much weaker brew, but will always try to stretch this one]
Rooibos Peach Bloom - A nice, basic peachy tea. The peach wasn't as pronounced as I'd hoped it would be, but it made a nice cup. [With second cup, I added a bit of sugar - it brought out the peach nicely!]
Current cup count: 2
Haute Chocolate: Alas, my awesome teacup just isn't dealing well with Rooibos teas - I get mouthfuls of the Rooibos. Bleh. So this tea...not chocolatey enough for me, but then I guess that means I prefer hot chocolate, while this is a tea. With some milk and sugar, it's fine, but I probably should stop chasing chocolate teas (this isn't the first I've tried) and start accepting that they're not my thing. [Note: By the end of the first cup I liked it a bit better - getting a mouthful of the tea put me off, but the flavor did wind up being very nice.]
Current cup count: 5
Rooibos Chai (the tea I originally wanted to buy): So now I know - I should have just pushed back, bought 2 ounces of this, and left happy. While I do like everything I've gotten so far, at least somewhat, this really is just what I wanted and is delicious. Once I fix the tea steeping issue (again, mouthful of tea leaves), I think this will become a favorite. Nice sweet cinnamon/cardamom-y flavor. I added some sugar to it and it brought out the rest of the chai taste. Lovely.
Current cup count: 1
Tahitian Limeade: Absolutely lovely as an iced tea - I made it double strength, poured it over ice, and voila. A light, fruity tea. I want to make tons of this this summer.
Current cup count: 1
PS I really want this:
This past weekend I ventured into Teavana in the mall. I'd never really gone in before, just tasted their sample teas in the front and once or twice looked quickly at the teapots. This time I decided I wanted to try their loose teas, mostly because I'd scored a pricey ceramic Rishi teacup/tea steeper for a great deal thanks to one of the half-off local coupon sites.
I will tell you this - I was very surprised at the hard sell I was given. The girl who helped me was very sweet, but she was pushy and definitely into the upsell. She talked fast and she kept it up nonstop. First, I asked for one tea (which cost about $5 for 2 ounces) and she immediately said "You'll like this one better" and brought out a tea that cost almost $11. Her reasoning was that the expensive tea was better and SHE liked it better, but I still felt uncomfortable - why offer the less-expensive tea at all if it's supposedly lower quality? But then she tempted me with the offer of 10% off if I bought a pound of tea...and I caved. I caved! I got the expensive tea AND the less-expensive tea and 6 others! AND I got rather talked into buying tea canisters as well, which are definitely useful, nice, and reusable, but I probably didn't need 8 of them either. They were $6 each, but I found slightly smaller ones on the website (not offered to me) for $4.50. They do make my pantry look really nice...
So this post is going to be a review of these teas - and I am going to update it with how many cups I got out of each as well. I am following the directions given - how much tea to use, how long to steep - and I am on occasion reusing the tea for a second cup.
The eight teas I got:
Youthberry - This flavored white tea is pricey but it is honestly delicious. There are giant pieces of fruit and berries in the blend and they smell fresh and enticing. The tea was a light reddish color and both smelled and tasted fruity and sweet. No sugar needed. I would buy this again as a splurge. I'll let you know if makes me look or feel any younger. ETA: This tea is very hard to scoop in such a way to get a balance of fruit and tea. I seem to wind up with a lot of fruit (which is yum) and not enough tea. I know I know, buy the fancy scoop from Teavana, right? Ha. [Now am wondering if I can eat the fruit bits after I steep the tea. Is that weird?]
Current cup count: 6
Tiramisu Treviso - A flavored rooibos tea (as most of the teas I bought were). Not too expensive. DELICIOUS, especially with a splash of milk and sugar in it, but it would be OK on its own as well. Very sweet and yummy.
Current cup count: 4
[Cup count includes the 1.5 tsp I gave to a friend to try - I'll assume she'll make a single cup with it.]
Thai Tea - A flavored black tea that I'd absolutely get again. Almondy, sugary, and wonderful. Milk and sugar turn this into the Thai tea I have had at restaurants for sure - I can't wait to make this iced. Yum.
Current cup count: 4 [and reusing the tea leaves worked very well for a second cup]
White Ayurvedic Chai - The original upsell. This tea is expensive - and it's not very exciting, flavor wise, or at least not as "wow" as I'd hoped. BUT it did make me feel warm and tingly after I drank a cup, and the flavor did seem more pronounced as I went along. Still, I don't know if I'd go for this again.
Current cup count: 2 [tried reusing the tea and got a much weaker brew, but will always try to stretch this one]
Rooibos Peach Bloom - A nice, basic peachy tea. The peach wasn't as pronounced as I'd hoped it would be, but it made a nice cup. [With second cup, I added a bit of sugar - it brought out the peach nicely!]
Current cup count: 2
Haute Chocolate: Alas, my awesome teacup just isn't dealing well with Rooibos teas - I get mouthfuls of the Rooibos. Bleh. So this tea...not chocolatey enough for me, but then I guess that means I prefer hot chocolate, while this is a tea. With some milk and sugar, it's fine, but I probably should stop chasing chocolate teas (this isn't the first I've tried) and start accepting that they're not my thing. [Note: By the end of the first cup I liked it a bit better - getting a mouthful of the tea put me off, but the flavor did wind up being very nice.]
Current cup count: 5
Rooibos Chai (the tea I originally wanted to buy): So now I know - I should have just pushed back, bought 2 ounces of this, and left happy. While I do like everything I've gotten so far, at least somewhat, this really is just what I wanted and is delicious. Once I fix the tea steeping issue (again, mouthful of tea leaves), I think this will become a favorite. Nice sweet cinnamon/cardamom-y flavor. I added some sugar to it and it brought out the rest of the chai taste. Lovely.
Current cup count: 1
Tahitian Limeade: Absolutely lovely as an iced tea - I made it double strength, poured it over ice, and voila. A light, fruity tea. I want to make tons of this this summer.
Current cup count: 1
PS I really want this:
Friday, March 19, 2010
Combining my hobbies - CVS + etsy?
Well, not EXACTLY, but today I went to CVS with $2.99 in ECBs, and I spent them (plus 21 cents tax - remember the good old days a few months ago when the ECBs took care of the tax? Sigh.) on a pack of black ouchless ponytail holders. Why? Because I'm going to be adding ponytail holders with cute designs to my etsy store in about a week or so (or whenever I get around to ordering the hardware) and I thought this would be a great way to get my supplies inexpensively.
So now I have zero ECBs again - but this weekend is a monitor deal ($5) and when I get one more scan of my Green Bag Tag I'll have another dollar, so then I'll be back up to $6. Which I'll probably turn around on more ponytail holders, or maybe a hairbrush. The deals just haven't been fun in 2010, which is disappointing, so I'm actually using my ECBs for things I...NEED.
PS Next week, would you take five minutes to brighten a little girl's day? Satori is going to be having major MAJOR spinal surgery (she has SMA) and her mom is organizing a postcard drive. All you have to do is send a postcard - details are at the blog http://postcardsforsatori.blogspot.com. Come on, do it! Repost this too - everywhere you can! Brighten this amazing kid's day!
So now I have zero ECBs again - but this weekend is a monitor deal ($5) and when I get one more scan of my Green Bag Tag I'll have another dollar, so then I'll be back up to $6. Which I'll probably turn around on more ponytail holders, or maybe a hairbrush. The deals just haven't been fun in 2010, which is disappointing, so I'm actually using my ECBs for things I...NEED.
PS Next week, would you take five minutes to brighten a little girl's day? Satori is going to be having major MAJOR spinal surgery (she has SMA) and her mom is organizing a postcard drive. All you have to do is send a postcard - details are at the blog http://postcardsforsatori.blogspot.com. Come on, do it! Repost this too - everywhere you can! Brighten this amazing kid's day!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Half-price coupons? Sign me up!
I've been enamored lately with all of the half-price-deal sites that have been popping up.
I wrote a roundup of them for Examiner.com - check it out - but I had to rave about my latest scores.
From Groupon.com, I got a half-price family membership to the High Museum of Art. This particular deal is over, but check out Groupon - they have a site for many major cities and each day they offer one really awesome deal.
On top of that, I got a half-price reloadable gift card to a favorite restaurant in Athens, GA. I paid $10 for a $25 gift certificate to a local pizza/pasta place that I like going to with my mom friends. I recently got a coupon for 60% off another favorite pizza place.
Plus I use Scoutmob (which I believe is only in Atlanta) to get FREE discount coupons - again, there's a new deal every day, but with the iPod/iPhone app, you can access the deals for three months. I got 60% off at one awesome sandwich shop/gourmet shop, I got 40% off at a favorite brunch spot, and I'm planning to use another 60% deal at a local smoothie shop.
These sites are a great way to be frugal while still getting to go out, go shopping, and get some culture! LOVE IT.
I wrote a roundup of them for Examiner.com - check it out - but I had to rave about my latest scores.
From Groupon.com, I got a half-price family membership to the High Museum of Art. This particular deal is over, but check out Groupon - they have a site for many major cities and each day they offer one really awesome deal.
On top of that, I got a half-price reloadable gift card to a favorite restaurant in Athens, GA. I paid $10 for a $25 gift certificate to a local pizza/pasta place that I like going to with my mom friends. I recently got a coupon for 60% off another favorite pizza place.
Plus I use Scoutmob (which I believe is only in Atlanta) to get FREE discount coupons - again, there's a new deal every day, but with the iPod/iPhone app, you can access the deals for three months. I got 60% off at one awesome sandwich shop/gourmet shop, I got 40% off at a favorite brunch spot, and I'm planning to use another 60% deal at a local smoothie shop.
These sites are a great way to be frugal while still getting to go out, go shopping, and get some culture! LOVE IT.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
CVS - Free Nivea lip balm, Oral-B toothbrush
It was like the good old days at CVS this morning - well, except that the good old days included limits of 5 (or no limits, but I started too late for that!) and slightly better freebies.
I did exactly what I set out to do. I got two Nivea lip products - a cherry-flavored chapstick one and an age-defying one (or something) with SPF 4. With the BOGO coupon, both were $2.99 with $2.99 back. And the toothbrush was $4 minus the 75 cent coupon, get 75 cents back. I put the overage toward a birthday card.
Then I used the $4 from the toothbrush toward teething gel for my eternally teething toddler. CVS brand - so I should hopefully get a nice quarterly ECB bonus thanks to all the money I spent (sigh) and the double-buck promotion.
So I have $2.99 with which to play. That's a double paper for free or...something. No freebies next week (boo) so we'll see.
Also, if you are in the Atlanta area, today's SmartSource insert has a coupon for a free yogurt at Publix (Yoplait Greek yogurt, I believe). Nice!
I did exactly what I set out to do. I got two Nivea lip products - a cherry-flavored chapstick one and an age-defying one (or something) with SPF 4. With the BOGO coupon, both were $2.99 with $2.99 back. And the toothbrush was $4 minus the 75 cent coupon, get 75 cents back. I put the overage toward a birthday card.
Then I used the $4 from the toothbrush toward teething gel for my eternally teething toddler. CVS brand - so I should hopefully get a nice quarterly ECB bonus thanks to all the money I spent (sigh) and the double-buck promotion.
So I have $2.99 with which to play. That's a double paper for free or...something. No freebies next week (boo) so we'll see.
Also, if you are in the Atlanta area, today's SmartSource insert has a coupon for a free yogurt at Publix (Yoplait Greek yogurt, I believe). Nice!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
CVS plans for 3/7/10
I am planning at the moment to hit CVS tomorrow morning. I have $6.50 in ECBs.
Ideally I'll get:
2 Nivea lip products - $5.98
1 Oral B toothbrush - $4
Use BOGO Nivea (-$2.99), 75 cents off Oral B. I guess I'll need a 26 cent filler - the pocket tissues for 50 cents always work nicely for my needs...
Get back $6.99. ($4, $2.99)
And I need the double paper, which has gone up in price to $3 (used to be $2.50). Probably will do that second and use the $2.99 to get it free.
I also MAY do the Stayfree deal: get 2 Stayfree products (I think they're around $3.80 each? I can use the $4 and throw in a filler), use BOGO, get back $4. Maybe.
Ideally I'll get:
2 Nivea lip products - $5.98
1 Oral B toothbrush - $4
Use BOGO Nivea (-$2.99), 75 cents off Oral B. I guess I'll need a 26 cent filler - the pocket tissues for 50 cents always work nicely for my needs...
Get back $6.99. ($4, $2.99)
And I need the double paper, which has gone up in price to $3 (used to be $2.50). Probably will do that second and use the $2.99 to get it free.
I also MAY do the Stayfree deal: get 2 Stayfree products (I think they're around $3.80 each? I can use the $4 and throw in a filler), use BOGO, get back $4. Maybe.
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