Cheap Pantene & toothpaste

My most recent couponing adventure took place at Price Chopper and CVS. Price Chopper has a great deal on Pantene shampoo and conditioner this week. Normally that brand is too expensive for my small budget, but when I saw this sale I knew I had to jump on it. Yes, I already have plenty of shampoo and conditioner in my closet, but still, I had to have it. So at Price Chopper this week Pantene products are on sale 2/$7. There is an in-ad coupon for $3 off 2, and a P&G coupon in this week's newspaper for $3 off 2 as well. Since you can combine one manufacturer and one store coupon, I was able to snag 2 bottles for $1! That's $.50 each, or pretty much as cheap as it's gonna get! I plan to go back later this week to snag more, but the trick is that you need to have a different Advantedge Card, since the offer is only valid once.

At CVS select toothpastes are on sale for $2.79, and when you purchase it you receive a $2 ECB coupon on your receipt. I had two $1 off coupons for these toothpastes. Therefore, I paid $1.79 each and got $4 back. I literally just MADE $.42!

Other great deals this week seem a little scarce but I'll keep you posted if I find any :-)

Another day of free stuff!

Went to Price Chopper again today as they had some great deals on Cheerios and Pierogies advertised, only to find that they were out of every single variety of both. SO I asked for a raincheck. It was the first time I've ever done that; turns out rainchecks can be used at any time even after the promotion ends. Now I'll do it every time since it was extremely easy.

While I was there I scoped out other items that I could purchase using some PC Catalinas I had saved up. I had two $2.50 off any size laundry detergent, one $1.50 off any shampoo or conditioner, and two $2.00 off any bathroom tissue catalinas. Here's what I bought:

2 Xtra detergents @ $3.29 each
2 4pk Price Chopper Bathroom tissue @ $1.00 each
1 Shampoo & 1 Conditioner (no name) @ $0.50 each (on sale 2 for $1)
Total before coupons: $9.58

- (2) $2.50 off laundry detergents
- (2) $2.00 off bathroom tissue
- (1) $1.5o off any shampoo or conditioner
Total after coupons: - $0.92!!! That's almost $1 in my pocket that I was able to use towards another item (I bought a lean cuisine frozen dinner @ $2.00, minus the $.92 and minus a $1 off frozen dinner PC Catalina = $0.08 for this entire order! I saved 83% today and paid just a few cents!

My Walgreens Trip

Today at Walgreens I picked up a few things and also had my first bad couponing experience. In all, I made three transactions. This is because certain items print Register Rewards - coupons that can be used on your next purchase, so I separated my orders. On my last order the cashier was having trouble scanning my Register Rewards coupon since she had already scanned a coupon that was for $1 off two cereals. She tried telling me that the coupon was acting as TWO separate coupons, and you can only have one coupon per item. First of all this is not true in any store I've been to; you can have one manufacturer and one store coupon per item. Second of all the coupon does not function as taking $1 off of each item but rather the total of the two items. She called her manager over and the manager rudely explained this again. I asked the cashier to simply scan the coupons again, only this time to scan the Register Rewards coupon first. That time, it worked. WIN!

Here's what I did today:

Transaction #1
Gillette Fusion Proglide Razor Kit $9.89
- $4 manufacturer coupon
Paid $6.68 Out of pocket, received $5 Register Rewards

Transaction #2
Bic Soleil Razor 4-pack $5.99
Reach toothbrush 2-pack $2.50
2 Rimmel Lip Glosses $0.99 each
- (2) $1 off any Rimmel product coupon
- $3 Bic soleil coupon
- $5 Register Rewards from Transaction #1
Paid $1.31 out of pocket, received $2 Register Rewards

Transaction #3
(2) Kellogg's Special K Cereals: 2/$5
- $1 off any two boxes of Special K (kelloggs.com)
- $2 Register Rewards from Transaction #2
Paid $2 out of pocket, or $1 per cereal!

As you see in transaction #2 I did not have a coupon for the toothbrushes. Well, I did, but it turns out I couldn't use it because I had accidentally picked up the wrong kind. However, I purchased them anyway because without them, I wouldn't have been able to use the $5 register rewards coupon since it would be more than my pre-tax total. Without the toothbrushes and the $5 coupon I would have spent ~$3.50 on this order, but buy using the toothbrushes as a "filler" item I was able to actually pay less!!

My total today was $9.99. Without coupons, I would have paid $25.36, or a savings of about 60%. Not bad!

It's coupon Sunday!

Hey ya'll! It's my new favorite day of the week - Sunday! When all the newspapers put out flyers and new sales start for the week. It's also the day I clip and organize my coupons in my coupon binder, as well as clear out any expired ones. Finally, I make a list of the coupon "matchup" deals (store sales + manufacturer and/or store coupons) before I head to the stores! Today is extra special because it's the first Sunday of the month, and so in addition to the usual Red Plum and Smart Source coupon inserts, we also got a P&G Brand Saver. I made sure to get three copies of each insert in order to be prepared to get some amazing steals!

So today I was too excited to do all the organizing because I had found out about some of the sales ahead of time and wanted to jump on them. So I stopped briefly at three stores just to grab what I already knew I wanted, and ended up with a surprise deal, too!

My first stop was the Dollar General. This is a great place to use manufacturer's coupons since the prices are already so low. Though they don't usually offer their own coupons, you can still end up with some pretty amazing deals. Today I stopped in and checked out the travel size items and saw that they had a travel size Old Spice deodorant. I knew I had a coupon for Old Spice in my coupon binder for "Buy 1 deodorant, get one Body Wash FREE" and since the coupon didn't specify the size that the deodorant needed to be, I snatched it and grabbed the biggest body wash bottle I could find! Here's the breakdown:

P&G Coupon: Buy 1 Old Spice Deodorant, get 1 Old Spice Body Wash FREE!
(1) Deodorant: $1.00
(1) Body wash: $3.85
Total: $4.84
- coupon = $1.00 plus tax, $1.08 spent or $0.54 for each item!
My next stop was Price Chopper, where I knew that Garnier Fructis was on sale 2 for $6. Now even though CVS had the same product on sale 2 for $5, I got a much better deal because I had two Price Chopper catalinas for $2 off any shampoo or conditioner purchase. Additionally I had printed off 2 coupons from www.coupons.com for $1 off Garnier Fructis shampoo or conditioner. Here's what I did:

Price Chopper deal: Buy 2 Garnier Fructis products for $6
- (2) PC catalinas for $2 each
- (2) Coupons for $1 off garnier
Total paid: $0.16 (tax) or $0.08 each!

Finally I stopped at CVS just to see what coupons would print from their Extra Care Machine (make sure to scan your Extra Care Card at this machine every week to get exclusive CVS coupons!) I got a coupon for $3 any $10 beauty purchase, which I will definitely use at another time. Plus, someone else had left the same coupon laying next to the machine, so I snatched that one up too!

As I walked along the aisles I reminded myself to check out the clearance shelf to see if there were any extreme markdowns that I could take advantage of. I found Loreal Haircolor on clearance for $2.50, and I had two coupons for this exact same kind for $2 off. Therefore:

(2) Loreal Haircolor kits: $5 total
-(2) Loreal Haircolor coupons for $2 off each
Total: Paid $1.40 (again, tax) or $0.70 each!

So therefore today I could have spent $15.85 on all of these items, but after coupons I spent a total of $2.64, a savings of 83%!!! I'm so pumped!!

Quick Walmart Trip

So I had a few coupons that I'd been wanting to use, and since tonight I had nothing better to do I decided to take a trip for Walmart. Here's what I got:
1
(1) Package Nexcare Bandages: $1.00
- (1) $1.00 off Nexcare Bandages coupon = FREE!

(1) Package Nescafe Instant Coffee: $1.18
-(1) $1.00 off Nescafe product coupon = $0.18!

(1) Kikkoman's Soy Sauce: $1.42
-(1) $1.00 off Kikkoman's product coupon = 0.42!

(2) Old El Paso Tortilla stuffers: $2.98
-(2) $1.00 off Tortilla stuffers coupons: $1.98 each!

(1) Wilkinson Sword Razors 4pack: $0.97
-(1) $1.00 off Wilkinson Sword Razors: = 0.03 money maker!

Without coupons, I would have spent a total of $10.53. After coupons, my total came to $4.53, or a savings of 43%! This is not my best ever, but it's still very satisfying :-) I'm especially happy whenever I get a "money maker" - meaning the coupon was worth more than the price of the item. Some stores actually give you the cash back (if your total is already $0) but in my case, 3 cents was applied to the rest of my total. It doesn't seem like much, but for the people out there who stockpile, this money maker could potentially have paid for the rest of the items!

Wanchai Ferry

You've seen the commercials, right? Silly computerized Panda Bear chastising a young couple for waiting on their crappy Chinese Food to arrive? I did too, but I wasn't convinced until I found this coupon: http://bit.ly/m4NwtV

Most stores sell the frozen meals for between $5-8, and with the coupon you could pay as little as $3.50 for a meal! That's two dinners for less than the price of 1 with Chinese take out.

After trying Wanchai Ferry once, I am hooked! It's sooo much better than take out, and fast and easy to make. Best of all there's minimal cleanup as you only need one frying pan for most meals. There is a large variety of flavors and options, so even the pickiest eater can find something enjoyable. I've completely replaced Chinese take out with Wanchai Ferry. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Bounty $5 Friday

Every Friday in June, Bounty will give away $5 off coupons on their Facebook page. This could make for some seriously cheap paper towels, maybe even free!

Giveaway starts at 11am, but act quickly because these won't last!

More Cheap Cereal

Rite Aid has select cereals on sale for $1.88 this week when you use your Wellness+ card. Pair this deal with coupons from kelloggs.com to get some great savings!

Scenario 1:
Raisin Bran $1.88
- Coupon: $.70 off Raisin Bran
Total: $1.18

Scenario 2:
Frosted Flakes $1.88
-Coupon: $1 off 2 boxes of Frosted Flakes
Total: $2.76

Grand total: $3.94, or $1.31 per box!

National Donut Day

Today is National Donut Day, which means you can get away with speeding on the roads because policemen everywhere are camped out at the local Dunkin' Donuts.

If you want in on the secret, here's two places you can get a free donut:

1. Dunkin' Donuts: Free donut with any beverage purchase
2. Price Chopper: Free donut with coupon from their Facebook page

Happy Eatin'!

Cheap Cereal

If you're like me, then you're disgusted by the prices of cereal these days. Whether you go for the "healthy" kind or not, it's hard to get around paying a least $3 a box. That's why when I saw that Price Chopper had some cereals on sale for $2 this week, I had to jump on it. Check out this sweet deal:

Price Chopper
Select cereals $2/box: x3 = $6
- coupon: $1 off any 3 General Mills Cereals (choose from those listed on coupon)
- coupon: $1.50 any cereal purchase (Price Chopper coupon)
Total: $3.50, or $1.17 a box!!! That's definitely a Win!