Walgreens' $5 off $20 pruchase--TODAY only

GO here to get yours. There are some good deals this week that you can use this for.

Babies R us pamper's deal

This sale is for friday August 1st and I'd bet you could use coupons with it. I dont' use pampers but I do have coupons for them. I got mine from Procter and Gamble website and from the sunday paper.

BIG SALE!!

Have you heard the big news? TODAY ONLY you can get an incredible ebook package from MoneySavingMom.com--over $100 worth of money-saving ebooks, homemaking helps, and encouragement for only $5.97! I can't believe she's offering such a great price and I'd highly recommend you run over here and check it out. What makes this deal so good is that this ebook package includes the ecourse Supermarket Savings 101--this course alone is worth much more than $5.97 and will teach you how to drastically reduce your grocery bill. If high fuel and food costs are discouraging you and leaving you strapped for cash, you definitely need to buy this ecourse. You'll learn how to cut your grocery bill by up to 50% or more and have fun saving money at the same time!Go here to read more about this huge sale! Hurry, though, the price goes up tomorrow--get this money-saving ebook package at a ridiculously low price while you can!

Click Here!

Reminder: tomorrow is national Cheesecake day!

Tomorrow only--at the Cheesecake Factory you can get a slice of any flavor cheesecake for $1.50 (normally around $7). Yummy!!!

Update on Target and more freebies!

I pulled a few great deals at Target today! It was the first time I tried using coupons from Target online and manufacturer's coupons. The best deals were on the granola bars (on sale 2/$--use 2 .50/1 TC and $1/2). Our Target had the larger boxes on sale which made it even better. Also the BIG bags of Chex mix were on Clearance for $2 (use .50/1 TC and .50 MC). I totally stocked up and will be printing more coupons to go back b/c that's great for school snack and food storage. Now, I was totally bummed that the Skippy peanut putter wasn't on sale as I had previously heard. That must vary by location.

go here for printable Target coupons

Now a few freebies!
Free scrapbook idea book
free "starters kit-tampons,pads etc"
free Geotrax dvd
Free box of Cheerio's and $6 in coupons
Free Kotex

Target, Michaels, Kroger for the week of July 27

Target has several items of interest. Also, go to their website or here and get coupons that you can stack with the manufacturer's coupons and save a bundle.

Some stores have Skippy peanut butter on sale for .89-use $1/1 coupon--FREE
Elmer's glue sticks 6 pk -$1
composition books .50
27x52 bath towel $2.50
sterilite hampers $1.99
Chewy granola bars on sale 2/$4 use 2 .50TC, $1/2 mc-get 2 for 2 for $2!
Colgate total advance toothpaste-3.33-use $1/1 tc and $1/1 mc
Pringles- use .30/3 mc and 3 .50/1 tc-get 3 for about 1.50 (prices may vary by store)
scrubbing bubbles shower kit- $3 tc and $5 mc

Michaels
1 in foam brushes 15/$1
ribbon 4/$1
acrylic paint 2/$1
and use 20% off total purchase coupon from paper

Kroger is running the sale deal as last week. Buy any 10 participating items and get $5 off at checkout. They also have b1g1 perdue chicken this week.

Happy shopping!

Office Max, Staples, Office Depot deals for the week of July 27

Lots of school supplies this week. Let's start with office max.

24 pack of crayons .01
ruler .01
sharpie mini highlighters .05
assorted eraser pack .25
jr 5 in. scissors .25
post it's-bogo .01
all crayola markers, crayons, pencils, paint b2g1 .01
expo and uni ball pens b2g1 .01
all Bic pens, pencils, correction tape and markers b2g1 .01
photo paper b1g1 .01

Staples
FREE pentel energel pens-(after $3 IR and $2.99 ER)
slider pencil case .01
plastic report cover .20
mini stapler .25
Bic highlighters/Atlantis pens .99
FREE electric stapler (after 4.99 IR and $10 ER)

Office Depot
FREE Ticonderoga dry erase markers ($3.99 MIR)
OD glue .01
ruler .05
OD composition books .30
Crayola colored pencils .50
assorted backpacks 2.99

Don't forget TAX FREE days are Aug 1-3

Free Saturday fun!

Lowe's and Home Depot offer free workshops for kids on Saturdays. Lowe's does one about every other week from 10-11am and Home Depot does theirs the first Saturday of the month from 9am-12pm. Check with your local store to find out what you're building that week. The kids get a free apron and a certificate/pin .Go here and here for more info. Our Lowe's is doing toolboxes today and a school locker and truck in August. Home Depot is doing a flag holder in August. Have fun!!

Tons of free samples!

SO many I don't know where to begin. Let's see...

Oatmeal crisp cereal
Hannah Montana wake-up call-cute
bag dispenser (for dogs but I'm using it for diapers)
tye dye shirt
microfiber dairy towel
kids corner pencil
Huggies baby wipes 64 count
Glad force flex trash bag
Enfamil formula
Country Bob's sauce
Free cheeseburger or appetizer from Chammps
Free vinegar from White House
Charmin toilet paper extender
Reach floss pack

this is when the autofill feature is great!

Borders $5 off $5 purchase!!

Shop online and use this coupon code BR41925. Have it shipped to your local store--free! There are lots of $5 or less items. Go here and search for something fun!

Target deals!

I went to Target today and found a few good deals.

Bic pens on sale .75--buy 2 and use $1/2 --get 2 bags for .50!
Electrasal 20 tablets/gel packs 2.75--use $2.25/1 (from paper) get 1 for .50!!

They also had several multi packs of deodorant, Lysol wipes, shampoo. Each pack had 3 or 4 items and was marked down to about $3-4. There have been lots of coupons for secret and Lysol in the paper that you can stack onto the clearance price. Check in the school/college supplies area in your local store. I didn't have my coupons with me but I figured that the deodorant was a steal b/c you get a 4 pack for about $2.

Staples Teacher Appreciation Day 2008

Check to see when your local store is participating. Teacher's can shop from 9am-1pm and will receive a special gift bag (while supplies last).

Walmart's coupon policy

My Walmart won't take my printed coupons anymore but today I found their official coupon policy and I am armed with it and try to score some deals there. I don't usually shop there anymore but sometimes there are prices that you can't beat. SO print this off and take it with you if you shop at walmart. It specifically states that they accept internet coupons...as long as they are ledgible and the scan.

Waffle cone Wednesdays!!

Get a waffle cone for .99!! Contact your local store to make sure they are participating. Go here for details. Too bad we don't have one near us!

Cheesecake Factory and more freebies!

In honor of National Cheesecake day, you can get a slice of cheesecake for $1.50 on JULY 30th! Limit 1 per person. Go here for more details.

Some more free samples.

Free Schick titanium razor go here. You need to vote to get the sample.

Free 64 count Huggies wipes go here.
Free Planet Hero's DVD go here.

Free potty training DVD go here.

Free kids recipe book from Ragu go here.

Free kids vitamins go here.

FREE samples!

A few good freebies...

for a Tide sample go here

for Multi-grain Cheerio's go here--these are yummy!

for Biore go here

for Glad trash bags go here

most of them say allow 4-6 weeks but we usually get ours in 1-2 weeks or less.

Walgreen's --july 20-26

Now, I am not a fan of Walgreen's simply b/c my local store will not accept coupons if that item is also on sale. YUCK! However, this week there are some good sales that you can use their coupons for.

.05 --2 pocket folder
--mini composition book
--5 pack mechanical pencils
-- penway highlighters
.29--150 sheet pack of paper
3/$1 scotch tape
.19 --rulers, 10 pack #2 pencils, paper clips, erasers
bogo book covers 2/.99
.39--Bic highlighters
FREE-after Mail in rebate--Crayola markers ($2)
2/$1 clear school box
3/$1 legal pads
1.99--4pk expo dry erase markers
.99 --Elmer's large glue stick

CVS

CVS can be a goldmine for savings if you know how to work the program. Getting an extra care card is essential. Scan it every time you go, even for prescriptions. Coupons and ECB's (earned cash back) print on the bottom and they are key to great savings.

You get ecb's when you purchase certain items. Check the sales flyer and get the monthly ecb flyer, which is found in stores (it's red). I then carefully look it over and decide what I need or could use and I pay special attention to what generates an ecb.

For example: a few weeks ago this was the deal--buy huggies wash 3.49 and get 3.49 in ecb's. There were also a few coupons available.

3.49
-1.50 coupon
-.50 coupon
-------------
1.49 out of pocket
3.49 ecb

then you can take your 3.49 ecb and purchase another wash --paying nothing out of pocket (and use coupons if you have more) and get more ecb's.

The idea is to build up your ecb stash and use them with a $3/15 coupon and pay little to nothing out of pocket. It's complicated at first but really fun when you get the hang of it. I have been doing this for almost 2 months now and bought over $160 worth of products but only paid about $15 out of pocket. Check out www.moneysavingmom.com for a great cvs 101 lesson. That's were I started out.

Now for this week. I didn't see a lot of ecb deals this week that were of interest to me.

ECB deals:
trident gum--buy 2 get $1 ecb--use bogo coupon (where available) or .50/1 and get 2 packs for $1 this week and $1ecb.
Clean and clear-buy $15 get $5 ecb--use multiple $2/1 coupons from www.coupons.com

Non ecb deals:
bogo Revlon lip/nail--$2 coupon in paper
bogo Maybelline mascara
***bogo L'oreal shampoo/conditioner--use bogo coupon in paper in get 2 free!
bogo Colgate toothpaste--use with 1.50 coupon and get 2 for .50!
glade flameless candle 7.99--use $5/1 from www.coupons.com and $3/1 from paper--FREE!
Right Guard deodorant-1.99 use $1/1 only pay .99!

Kroger, Staples, Target, Office Depot, Kmart for the week of July 20-26

There are so many good deals this week. Several stores have the same sale so I'm listing them in case one store is closer than the other to you. That brings me to another tip...

Know when to pass up a deal or sale. Sometimes it not in your best interest to make the trip, for example, is it worth the gas to go? I don't partake of all the deals I list. I am lucky to be close to all the stores I need. I try to focus on Kroger and CVS because they work best for me and they are both within a mile from my house. However, this time of year I do go to other stores for school supplies.

Also, when I say BOGO, that means buy one get one free or B2G1 buy two get one free etc.

Kroger- this week they are have a but 10 participating items and get $5 back. This is a great sale b/c you can stack your manufacturer's coupons and get a lot of items for less than $1
ex/ daisy sour cream, Kroger juice, lender's bagels, brawny, Palmolive, ken's, Heinz and tons more. Check your local ad.

Staples-
.05--12 pack of eraser caps/2 pack of pink eraser
2 pocket folders
protractors
.25--1 or 1/2 inch poly binders
.99--5 pack pentel pens

Target-
.88--crayola color pencils
.20--ruler
2 pack Elmer's glue stick
2 pack eraser
pencil sharpener

Office Depot--limited supplies!
.01--2 pocket poly folder
.15-- filler paper-150 sheets
.50--1 inch vinyl binder

Kmart-
.09--one subject notebook
5/$1--Elmer's glue/sticks
L'oreal shampoo bogo--use bogo coupon from paper and get 2 free!

More tips

I learned this the hard way. Take advantage of your toolbars' autofill. It will save you tons of time registering for freebies and coupons. It should be in the top right hand corner of the page (if you have a google search engine toolbar). It's so worth it!

Beginner's tips

For those who are new to the coupon game, here's a few tips:

1. get a Sunday newspaper!! (some libraries will give you the coupons for free). I subscribe when I can get a deal-usually from one of those guys in front of a store.
2. Sign up for online coupon sites. They will email you coupons weekly so all you have to do it click and print!

When I first started the coupon game I was overwhelmed by the amount of coupons in my stash. It was very easy to accumulate a big stash. I tried several different ways of organizing them until I found something that was quick and easy for me to use in stores. It's very important to organize your coupons so you can make the best deal when you shop. I had to change my whole routine around to get the most of it. I used to shop on Monday's and now I shop on Friday's and/or Saturday's. No kids allowed!! That works best for me anyways. That way I can concentrate on prices. I'll elaborate on my organization system in another post. Here's how I start:

Sunday- read ads and clip coupons
Monday-organize them and scout ads
Thursday-make shopping list and review coupons
Friday/Saturday- let the games begin!!

This is what I found to work for me. Some ads come later in the week thru the mail, so I wait til the end of the week to make sure I get the best one. I can do my shopping in basically 2 stores-Kroger and CVS. Occasionally I slip over to Walmart or Target if they have a great deal for the week. Our Walmart will not accept printed coupons anymore and sometimes Target won't either (I think it depends on the cashier). Kroger and CVS will take anything, at least it seems that way. Kroger will load coupons directly to your Kroger card via pgesaver.com and shortcuts.com. Use those with your printed coupons and you can save a bundle.

This can seem complicated at first, but once you do it 1 time, everything falls into place. I think I should teach a class or something! Ha!!

Restaurant tip

Sign up online for emails from that restaurant and they will most likely send you coupons! A few good ones are Red Robin, Coldstone, Lone Star, Baskin Robbins. Definitely sign up for birthday clubs b/c you get free food on your birthday!!

Target and Walmart

This week at target you can basically rob the store legally. Here's how it works.

They have a $5 coupon when you purchase any 3 items from Johnson's, Neosporin, Stayfree, Carefree and Bandaid. Notice I say ANY 3 items. Here's what I did..

2 Stayfree pads 2.84=5.68
1 large Bandaid 1.77
travel bandaid .99 (got 2 Bandaid products b/c David needs some for school & I had 2 coupons)
TOTAL 8.44 use 5.00 target coupon
2.84 bogo Stayfree coupon from paper
$1/1 bandaid coupon
$.75 bandaid coupon
and that leaves an overage of $1.15 that you can spend on something else -like the crayola markers (2/$5)

There is also a $2/1 coupon for and Schick disposable razor. Walmart has a 10 pack of razors for 1.97. So go get your free razors!

Welcome!!

Welcome friends!!! I have finally decided to split blogs and use this one to focus on all of my fabulous deals!! This is where I will list my fantastic finds and where you can add yours! Within the last month I have come upon some truly fantastic finds and now I want to share my secrets. I have been able to cut our weekly budget in half with my new knowledge, and with everything that is going on with the economy these days, it was about time I found a way to make our money last.

Now, each week I have fun at the grocery store-I know, you don't believe me right?-but, it's like a game trying to find the best deal and it's always fun to watch the cashier's face when they're finished with my coupons. I am now able to get 2-3 times more and spend hardly anything. With this blog I hope to spread the money saving word and make all your shopping trips deal-icious! Enjoy!!!