Walgreens Deals

*waves*

So its been awhile since my last post but I'm hoping to get back into sharing great tips for living well, without breaking the budget.  and I've got a great post to get back into the swing of things.

Yesterday I went to Walgreens and managed to get everything you see below for a whopping 1.94 including tax (and two packages of cookies even managed to not make it into the photo!)

I got:

• 5 bags of chex mix
• 1 bottle of Purex Laundrey Detergent
• 1 bottle of Herbal Essence Shampoo
• 1 bottle of Herbal Essence Conditioner
• 1 box of Biore blackhead strips
• 1 bottle of Biore face clearing scrub
• 1 box of Puff tissues
• 2 individual packages of madelline cookies (not pictures)

Check Mix was 3/$3 but if you bought 5 you got a $3 Catalina back.  I also had 5 coupons for .50 cents off each bag so I paid 2.50 and got 3.00 back!

The Purex was on sale 1.99 plus I had a coupon for 1.00 off so I paid .99

The Herbal Essence shampoo and condition was on sale for 2/$6 and you got 2$ Register Regwards when you bought two.  i had two free product coupons from facebook so I paid 0.00 and got 2.00 back!

The Biore strips and facial scrub were on sale for 5.99 each and you got a 5.00 register reward when you bought two.  I had a buy one box of strips get a cleanser free coupon so I paid 5.99 and got 5.00 back.

The box of puffs was on sale for 1.00 and I had .75 off one box so it was .25 cents.

The cookies were not pictures and were on clearance for .25 cents each and I used them as a filler so that I could do mulptiple transactions.  By doing multiple transactions I was able to roll over my register rewards and in the end I spent 4.94 cents but I have a $3 Register Reward left so everything above cost me just 1.94 cents out of pocket!  Score!

Shopping Trips

I wanted to share a few of my shopping trips from yesterday.

First I went to Target.

Uncle Ben's Microwave Brown Rice Cups-

• Price 1.02 minus TWO coupons for 1.00 off any Uncle Ben's Brown Rice (no size restriction on coupon).  Made each cup of rice just .02 cents!

Revlon Lash Liner -

• These were clearanced down to 2.30 cents each.  I had a manufacturers coupon for 5.00 off when when you buy any two Revlon beauty items.  Making both of these FREE. 

Aleve 200 count -

• Priced at 13.99 minus a free product coupon made this FREE

Method Laundry Detergent (8 load bottles)-

• Pried at 2.99 each, then on clearance for 2.54 each.  I had two coupons for 2.00 off any method laundry (from their facebook page, no size restriction on coupon).  Made each bottle just .54 cents!

I also snagged this Liz Lange maternity shirt on clearance for 2.98  I then used a coupon on my Shopkick app for 3.00 off any Liz Lange maternity item at target making this shirt FREE! 

Later I went to Vons.



Three 2-liters of soda -

• Regular price 1.99....sale price .99....price if you're a member of their new just for u program just .59 cents each!  (limit of 3 per transaction valid until May 8th)  This is a great price for soda if you drink it, and it is my weakness.

Two Cans of Starbucks Refreshers Energy Drink -

• Priced at 1.99....sale price 1.49...I had two manufactuerers coupons for one free can so both of these were FREE

Two Open Nature Plain Greek Yogurt -

• On sale for 1.00 each minus two coupons each good for 1.00 off any open nature product made both of these FREE

One Mango -

• On sale for just .25 cents!

Large Bag of Spinach -

• Regular price 2.99...on sale for 2.00

Later when I got home I finished putting away all my stuff and went to check the mail and found this full size bottle of Asprin in my mail.  I love getting full size products for free in the mail!

Overall, a great day for coupons!  I even got a high five from the cashier at Target when I paid (which sort of made me laugh and feel like I was on extreme couponers).  sure not every day has such great scores, but this is a perfect example of why I love coupons.  Using them for certain things (especially toiletriesand cleaners) frees up more money for things there aren't coupons fo like fresh produce.

Couponing - Deals at Target and Chick Fil A

So couponing hasn't been its most profitiable lately but I made a tiny score at Target yesterday.  Not my best ever but definitely a great deal.

• The Peak tea were each on sale for 1.02 and I had two coupons for 1.00 off each making each one just .02 cents plus CRV.
• The Blink Card game (which will go in my hubbys game themed stocking this year) was 6.29 on markdown for 5.24 and I had 5.00 off any Hasbro card game so it was only .24 cents.  A steal!
• The Swiss Miss Diet Cocoa was 2.29 on sale for 1.75 each and I had a Target printable coupon for .50 cents off two making them 3.00 for both.
• The NYC nail polish was .97 cents and I had a Target printable coupon for 1.00 off any NYC product so I actually got paid .03 cents to take the nail polish.  I love those kinds of deals!
• The Ortega green sauce was 1.84 on clearance for 1.25 and I had 1.00 off any Ortega item so it was only .25 cents.

Now you add in the fact that I paid with my Target Red Card which gets me an additional 5% off everything I buy there and my grand total for everything with tax was only 3.82...what a deal!


And now on to my next coupon deal alert.  For those of you with a Chick-Fil-A near by you absolutely MUST pick up the new 2012 Cow Calendar.

The calendar includes the following coupons…

January: FREE Chick-fil-A Nuggets (8-count)
February: FREE Small bowl of Hearty breast of chicken soup
March: FREE Simply Orange Juice or Dasani Bottled Water
April: FREE Large Diet Coke
May: FREE Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit or Large Waffle Potato Fries
June: FREE Large Coca-Cola Zero
July: FREE Small hand-spun milk
August: FREE Spicy chicken sandwich
September: FREE Large Coca-Cola
October: FREE Chargrilled chicken sandwich
November: FREE Chick-n-Minis (3-count) or Yogurt Parfait
December: FREE Large Sprite

The calendar cost only 6.00 but includes over 35.00 in free food coupons.  It more than pays for itself and the calendar is pretty cute too.  Definitely something you don't want to miss because in years past thy have sold out of calendars before the new year.

Coupon Savings - Ralphs Grocery Store

 

I bought:

• Horizon Organic Individual Milk - Regular 1.25 each (on markdown for .49 each plus 3 coupons for $1 off two milks) - paid 0.00 because I actually got .03 cents in overage
• Skinny Cow Chocolate Clusters x 4 - Regular .99 each (on sale for .69 each plus a .75 off two which doubled up to 1.00) paid .80 cents for all 4
• Luna Bars x 2 - Regular 1.49 each (on sale for .99 each plus a .50 off each bar coupon)  paid 1.00
• Quaker Rice Cakes x 2 - Regular price 1.99 (on sale for .99 each, plus a .55 of two coupon which doubled up to 1.00)  paid 1.00 for both
• Monster Coffee Energy Drinks x 2 - regular price 2.49 (I had two free coupons so they were both free)  paid 0.00
• Boursin Cheese - regular price 3.99 (on markdown for 1.99 plus there was a 1.00 off coupon on the package) paid .99 cents

Total before store savings and coupons would have been - 26.50 plus crv and tax

I paid - 2.80 cents plus crv and tax

Tips from this shopping trip:

1. pay attention to products while shopping, they often have coupons attached to them
2. do NOT be afraid of markdown, just be selective...Ralphs is known for marking down food close to the expiration date...the cheese for example is good until the 27th but since I plan on using it immediately thats more than fine.  The milk is actually good until Oct. 20th so they most likely just had an over stock.  Mark down food is NOT bad...but you do need to always check expiration dates first
3. dont be afraid to pay twice....I needed my skinny cow chocolate coupons to both double to maximize savings so I paid in two different transactions

Target - Coupon Savings

I cannot lie, Target is my favorite store ever.  I'm definitely a Target-aholic.  I frequent several different Targets in my area because they always clearance items at different times.  Yesterday, combing sales, clearance and coupons allowed me to get an absolute bargain....all of this for just over 5 dollars!

• Dr. Pepper x 2 (originally .99 each plus a .55 cent coupon off each bottle) Total paid - .90 cents
• Diet Root Beer = (on sale for 1.25 minus a .55 cent coupon) Total paid - .80 cents
• VitaTop Corn Muffins (originally 4.74 on clearance for 2.24 plus a 2.00 off coupon) Total paid - .24 cents
• Pirate Booty (originally 2.79 on sale for 2.00 plus a .75 off coupon) Total paid – 1.25 cents
• Revlon Nail File & Tweezers (originally 2.99 and 5.99 – combined a manufacturers coupon for 5.00 off two Revlon items with a Target 5.00 off two Revlon coupon) Total paid – 0.00…actually made 1.02 overage on this coupon
• Oral B Flossers (originally 2.49 on clearance for 1.24 plus 1.00 coupon) Total paid - .24 cents
• Crest Toothpaste with bonus toothpaste x 2 (Originally 2.99 each on clearance for 2.49..had 1.00 manufacturers coupon off each one combined with a Target coupon for 1.50 off two) Total paid - .49 cents for both
• Colgate Toothpaste with Bonus Toothbrush (originally 2.49 on clearance for 2.24…combined a manufacturers coupon for 1.00 off colgate with a Target coupon for 1.00 off colgate) Total paid - .24 cents
• Oral B Dental Floss (originally .97 cents plus a 1.00 off oral B floss coupon) Total paid – 0.00…made .03 cents overage on this coupon
• Market Pantry Low Carb Tortillas (originally 2.79….free with Target coupon good for any free tortilla that I actually found on the shelves while shopping yesterday) Total paid – 0.00
• Market Pantry Individual Trail Mixes (originally 1.19 and 1.29 each, used a Target coupon for 1.50 off two market pantry snacks) Total Paid - .99 cents

My total before tax, sale and clearance was 35 dollars….I paid 5.38 cents with tax!

Eating Well On A Budget = Coupons!

I figured a great way to start my blog was with saving money.  Aside from wanting to learn to cook to feed my little family delicious and nutritious food, I always want and need to do it on a budget.

So I thought I’d share a little mini grocery trip I made this afternoon to Ralphs where I got the following….

My original total before Ralphs club card and coupons was $ 24.27

Today was not a totally typical trip, just a few odds and ends but I wanted to share how beneficial even minor coupon shopping can be.

• My Pepsi max was on sale for .99 – I had a .25 cent coupon that doubled so I paid .49 cents for it
• The whole wheat bread was on sale for 2.50 – I had a .75 cent non-doubling coupon so I paid 1.75 for it
•  My hamburger helper was on sale for 2.00 and I did not have a coupon (normally this wouldn’t have been a purchase for me especially without a coupon but I needed a very easy fix dinner tonight and wanted to try the new whole grain version is free of MSG and artificial flavors and colors)
• The Smart Water was on sale for 1.00 and I had a.75 cent coupon which doubled up to 1.00 making that free
•  I bought 3 Luna Bars.  Each bar was on sale for 1.00 and I had a .50 cent coupon for each one (all 3 of which doubled) which made all 3 bars free.
•  The Oscar Mayer Sandwich meat combo was on sale for 3.99 and I had a free coupon for it so I paid nothing.
• The Oscar Mayer healthy lunchable was on sale for 3.99 and I also had a free item coupon for that so I paid nothing.

In the end I paid a whopping $ 4.50 for everything, making my total savings today $ 19.77.

The free item coupons were ones I'd gotten from a website (super simple to sign up you just have to watch out for them online) and the others were either from coupon machines in store or in the paper.  It can be time consuming in the beginning but once you get started and used to thinking about and using coupons you would be amazed how it becomes second nature- and by how much you can save!