CVS'ing in Florida

While in Florida I am without Harris Teeter (bummer) but I do get to pick up a few things from Publix. My parents already bought most of the groceries so I haven't had to do much in the way of buying actual groceries but I just can't not go to CVS :)

And this week has been a good one at CVS. In case you haven't already started there maybe this will help you along!

This is what I picked up this week for $25.59:



My total saved was: $66.72!
Plus I still have $10 in ECB's for next week.
Oh, and I have to add that $3.92 was on tax (sorry, FL tax is higher than VA tax so I just have to add that in :) ).

So, after ECB's and tax I got it all for just over $10!! Seriously, you can't beat that. I mean did you see all that I got?!

How did I do it? I did in 4 transactions (and I might add that if you want less out of pocket you could do more transactions but I did a few "larger" ones where I paid a little more out of pocket at once allowing me to do a larger transaction the next time around - I think it all evens out in the wash but I'm just saying you could do more transactions if you wanted):

Transaction #1:

2 Boxes of Cheez-Its:
- regular price: $3.29/each
- sale price 2/$4.00
- earn back: $1.00 in ECB's

2 Canisters of Peanuts (Canisters? I don't know):
- regular price: $3.79/each
- sale price: 2/$5.00
- earn back: $2.00 in ECB's

La Looks Sport Gel:
- regular price: $3.99
- sale price: $2.99
- earn back: $2.00 in ECB's

I had no coupons on this transaction but I did have $9.00 in ECB's from last week

Total OOP: $3.20
Total Saved: $15.16
And earned: $5.00 in ECB's

Transaction #2:

2 Revlon Nail Polish:
- regular price: $5.89
- sale price: $4.99
- earn back: $3.00 in ECB's
- used 2 $1.00 off coupons from SS 4/10

Irish Spring Deodorant:
- regular price: $3.89
- sale price: $2.99
- earn back: $2.00 in ECB's

PowerBar Protein Bites:
- regular price: $2.99
- sale price: $2.49
- earn back: $2.49 in ECB's (free)
- used B1G1 free coupon from SS 5/1 (note that the max value is not equal to the product price so I actually spent about $0.50 on 2 bags)

Total OOP: $9.87
Total saved: $12.69
And earned: $10.49 in ECB's (this was a small splurge - if I had rolled each nail polish into a different transaction it would have been cheaper but my girls were having fun picking out colors and seriously how many transactions can I do??!)

Transaction #3:

Crest Pro Health Kids Toothpaste:
- regular price: $3.39
- sale price: none
- used 2 $1.00/1 coupons from PG 6/5

1 OB Kids Pro Health Toothbrush:
- regular price: $5.49
- sale price: none
- used $1.00/1 coupon from PG 6/5
- this was in combo with above and earned me back $5.00 in ECB's - also seems like I can do this deal again and since my total was over $10 I have already earned $2.27 towards another reward if I go back and do it again this week

Colgate Max Toothpaste:
- regular price: $2.99
- sale price: $2.79
- used $0.75/1 coupon from S 6/5
- earn back: $2.00 in ECB's

Bliss Chocolate:
- regular price: $5.99
- sale price: none
- used $1.00/1 coupon from S 5/1
- earn back: $5.99 in ECB's (free plus profit)

Total OOP: $7.28
Total saved: $15.44
And earned: $12.99 in ECB's plus another $1.00 for using my Green Tag on my CVS bag for a total of $13.99

Transaction #4:

Windex/Fantastik Spray (2 different bottles):
- regular price: $4.89/each
- sale price: 2/$6.00

Shout Liquid
- regular price: $3.89
- sale price: 2/$6.00
- used 2 $0.55/1 coupon from S 5/15

2 Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Kit
- regular price: $4.89
- sale price: $4.00
- used 1 $1.00/1 printable coupon

Total OOP: $5.24
Total saved: $23.43
And earned: $10 in ECB's

Do remember that I am using the ECB's in the previous transaction to lower my OOP cost in the next transaction in case you didn't figure that out :)

Most match-ups courtesty of Southern Savers (the Crest deal was my own - it's not even advertised in their ad - weird - I just saw it on the shelf and knew I had coupons and knew Kaitlyn could use the toothpaste because she's beyond the baby toothpaste but doesn't quite like mine yet :) ).

It's a lot of shopping but these quick trips are really worth it and again they could all be done on the same day if you plan carefully and bring all your coupons. I had to do it over a few days partly because of coupons and partly because they were out of the Hershey's chocolate on Sunday!! And didn't get any more in till today - that's okay, it worked out.

Shopping Off Season At Gymboree

I'll be the first to admit that I hate shopping off season for clothes. I know it's the best way to get a lot of clothes at the best price but I still don't like to do it. There's just something not fun about buying clothes that my kids won't wear for months but when the budget is tight this is just what I do.

Because I have the "luxury" of living in the north and visiting the south every summer I find it to be the perfect time to head in to Gymboree for some winter clothes. Since Florida never gets as cold as Virginia I have less competition for the thick jeans and sweaters.

With 20% off coupon in hand I went to Gymboree and pick up 2 bag fulls of clothes for just over $75 - I also received a $25 Gymbuck which is redeemable in July (a perfect time to buy summer clothes if I'm buying off season).

This is what I picked up:



It's hard to tell what the full retail value is of the items but it's well over $300! That's not including the socks or underwear :) The average price of each piece (again, subtracting the socks and underwear) is just over $5.75 a piece!! I got great jeans for right around $5 and they are BRAND NEW! I found 2 matching dresses for the girls for next winter (I'll find the third on eBay in the coming months), 3 beautiful sweaters for them and a great dress for my oldest daughter that she actually likes :)

Their save over 70% sale is still going on so if you happen to have a current Family Fun magazine then you happen to have a 20% off coupon which you can use on your entire purchase. And don't forget you'll also be earning Gymbucks if you spend more than $50 in one transaction. Just another perk of my recent shopping trip!

Hope you get some great finds too!

Summer Kellogg's Deal

Seems like the time of year for Kellogg's to have another great deal. I'll admit I like last year's better but that's only because it was FREE movie tickets and since I love the movies and I love FREE - well, it only stands to reason that I'd love that. Because of Kellogg's I was able to take my family of 7 to see Tangled in the theaters in 3D for just about $30!! Without coupons that same trip would have been $80!!

As a triplet mom I have to multiply everything times 3 - add 2 more kids and it's times 5 - as you can imagine expenses add up very quickly - thus the reason I am constantly searching out deals.

But I'm still excited about this year's deal :)

Once again you can find Kellogg's codes on Kellogg's products such as cereal and eggo waffles.

Create an account at www.kelloggs.com/cars2

Enter your codes: the limit is 8 codes per day and 30 codes maximum for the program per person.

And then redeem for prizes. There are 6 prizes to choose but my favorite are the $5 gas card and the $5 concession cash both for just 4 points. I've already earned one reward by buying 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereals (for the price of 2 of course!) - I didn't mind spending $8 on 4 boxes when I knew I would be getting $5 of it back.

Also, if you sign up you may just get a free code in your e-mail to get you started if you haven't already.

So excited for another Kellogg's deal!

Where Do You Get Your Coupons? (Repost)

I'm currently on vacation so I thought I would re-post an old "how-to" posts to cover some basics again.

Originally posted April 2009

This is probably the #1 question I get asked. I often end up with multiple copies of the same coupon which of course, I love! But how do I do it?

1. I subscribe to the Washington Post - which is our major newspaper - for $12.00 every six months it's a bargain. I only get the paper on Sunday (the inserts come on Saturdays) so it doesn't clutter up my house with newspapers. It's worth the savings to subscribe to a major newspaper.

2. I subscribe to a local newspaper. This is kind of a fluke but I signed up for it on a whim at a grocery store (no longer under my budget!) but it has paid off in dividends - I get a second copy of the coupons on Sundays.

3. My local paper - I get a free paper every week and it has at least one of the coupons inserts in it (Smartsoucre and/or Red Plum).

4. Papers or flyers that come in the mail - I check them all and I often come up with another copy of the coupons.

5. Ask friends and family to save coupons they don't need. I have 2 friends and my mom save coupons for me so I have another copy of the good coupons.

6. Ebay. Weird, huh? Paying for coupons. Well, legally you are not paying for the coupons you are paying for the person's time to collect them and/or cut them out but I just ordered 6 copies of the Unilever insert that did not come in my paper for $3.00. Since my savings will far outweigh the small cost I find it a great deal. And I was a little annoyed that these great coupons were not in any of my papers.

7. Websites - here are the ones I use most frequently - for more go HERE.

www.coupons.com
www.RedPlum.com
www.SmartSource.com

8. Manufacturers sites. Check out manufacturers sites and see if they have any special offers. Generally by signing up you can get a coupon or two from them.

Let me know if you have other thoughts or get your coupons from other places.

SavingStar: A Fun, New Way To Coupon

I have recently found a fun, new way to coupon - or at least a way to save some additional money on the things I already buy.

The link has been on a few coupons on Southern Savers but I never paid much attention until a friend pointed it out to me and I thought I would check it out.

It's called SavingStar and here's how it works:

1. Create an Account and link all your loyalty cards to your account: CVS, Harris Teeter, Giant, etc.

2. Select the ecoupons you like and SavingStar will automatically link them to your loyalty cards.

3. Shop using your loyalty cards - the money will NOT come off at the checkout so don't ask the cashier about it - they will not know what you're talking about :)

4. Your money will automatically be added to your account - by automatically they don't mean immediately - it can take up to 30 days - when I first did it it took almost 2 weeks for what I had used to show up.

5. Once you've accumulated at least $5 you can turn that into an Amazon gift card or have the money deposited in your bank!

These "coupons" can be stacked with other coupons you use. For example if you have a $1.00 off coupon that you cut out of your paper insert you can use that and still get your $1.00 back from SavingStar - in combination it can make some items free. Hey if someone else wants to give me money for things I'm already going to buy that sounds good to me!

How cool is that? I highly recommend signing up today HERE because lots of new coupons were added and they do actually "sell out".