Sunday, July 24, 2011

Trying some new couponing tools, "savingstar" e coupons and couponsthingsbydede !!

I'm all about new ways to save and this week I have tried two new things!  So I've been into this coupon thing now for well over a year, not EXTREME couponing just a little better than your average beginning couponer.  NO I don't have a stockpile of 500 deodorants and 250 salad dressings. However I do have a few extra condiments, toiletry items and cereal stashed in cupboards to last over a month. 
Like any new hobby it wavers with enthusiasm.  Sometimes I get annoyed with it.  Sometimes it feels like too much work. Sometimes it takes too much time to do in addition to running a house with two kids.  But sometimes I am really on my game.  Today I did very well at CVS!!!  I bought two 12 packs of Pepsi, Herbal Essences conditioner, shampoo, hairspray and hair gel, two softsoap hand soaps, one soft soap body wash and a box of Uby Kotex.  All for only 9.00!!!!!!!  I used 8 coupons! and a total of $6 in xtra care bucks to do it!  Yay!  At least it doesn't take a lot of money to make me happy! : )
So back to my point, Lately I have discovered two new couponing tactics to try that have sparked my renewed energy in couponing.  Don't get me wrong I have been using coupons through my recent lull of interest but now I am re energized with these two new ways of obtaining coupon savings.

The first is www.savingstar.com You may have already heard of this and I have been seeing it around in my favorite blogs and such but now that I have a smartphone and have added the app. I am totally into it.  Anyway this is a program that you can use on your phone or online to load your rewards cards such as CVS, Giant Eagle, Weis etc.  Then you go through and activate your available coupons and when you shop at your stores and scan your rewards card it will not take money off of your total but put in into your savingstar account to be redeemed later for money in gift cards or paypal. 

The second new thing is www.couonthingsbydede.com I have also heard of this coupon clipping service and have been skeptical to use it because it feels too EXTREME.  But there are limits to how many coupons you can order. And I only want a few at a time so, as suggested by a new friend, I tried it out and bought about 50 coupons this week for only $5.00.  This was great because when you buy a paper for $2.00 you may like only a few of the coupons in the inserts, on couponthingsbydede.com you can pick and order the exact coupons you like and know you will and can use!!   The best thing about this is that I am waiting for when I am going to combine these two new great savings strategies with a new sale!!!
For example I buy purina cat food for my cat.  I ordered $1.00 off coupons for it from the clipping service and on www.savingstar.com I activated a coupon to give me $2.00 back when I buy one! So I will get a total of $3.00 off and If I am lucky I will find it on sale for around $4.00!  And if I am even more lucky CVS will have it on sale with reward bucks on it to make it an even sweeter deal! We'll see. LOL  So I hope any of this may help anyone else currently in a "coupon slump" or just trying to vamp up their couponing style. Good Luck!!!

Monday, June 13, 2011

LOVE Charlotte Russe!!

I signed up to for the newsletter for Charlotte Russe and sometimes I get great coupons like these! 3 charlotte russe coupons here!!  One is for $5.00 off any $25.00 purchase, one is for $5.00 off a dress and last $5.00 off a pair of shoes!!  So print it out, print more than one to share with a friend or to possibly go back in to use a different one of the three options!!  And Shop, shop shop!!

Walmart and Target savings!

So we were out of just a few things today that I had to get a "coupon game plan" together and head out.  This time no more school for miss. Emma so I had both a 2 and 5 year old in tow.  I guess I should get use to it, we have a long summer ahead!  So anyway we went to target first and I did fabulous of course cause you can stack Target coupons with manufacturers coupons! yay!  So here are a few of the things I found.  (The target coupons can be found on http://www.target.com/ .)
-Beach Tote only $8.99 - Target coupon $2.00off
-Market Pantry golden squares cereal on sale $1.88. - Target coupon for $1.00/2
-Quaker granola bars $2.48ea - Target coupon $1.00/2
-Kelloggs Cereal $2.50ea - $1/3 Manufacturers coupon and $1/3 Target Coupon makes them Only $1.84ea!! PLUS there was a peelie on the fruit loops for a free CARS2 die cast car!!!  worth $3.99!! we went straight to the toys to pick that one out!! lol
-Neutrogena Men's Shave gel $3.48 - $2.00/1 Internet coupon And $1/1 Target coupon ONLY .48cents!!
-Neutrogena Men's aftershave lotion $4.19-  $2.00/1 Internet coupon And $1/1 Target coupon Only $1.19!!
-Kandoo Wipes $1.49ea I bought two with two $1.00/1 Manufacturer's coupons (www.kandoo.com) making them .49ea!
-Men's Sure Deoderant $1.97ea I bought two with two $1.00/1 Manufacturers coupns from an insert in May, making them only .97cents ea!!
Total was only $27.85!!  (I also let my kids each pick one thing from the "dollar spot" to make them happy enough to sit and chill in the cart while I did my deal hunting! : )

Walmart went great as well, I bought a whole bunch more so I will just list some of the best scores!
-A great watermelon for only $2.50!!!
And after coupons I scored 2 packs of kids yogurt for .97cents, and two more for only $1.00ea
Also Ronzoni Spaghetti, 4 boxes for $1.00ea, Capri Sun's for $1.50ea AND 2 Bryers ice cream blasts for only $2.23ea!!
Just to name a few.
This is why I love coupons!

Friday, June 10, 2011

Great Savings Strategy at JCPenney!!!


JC Penney For You Gift CardThere is a great coupon in this weeks JCPenney ad. You can find the ad in the store at each entrance or in today's paper!  Also there is a  Printable Version  you can take with you in case you can't find the ad in the store.  It is only good for today and tomorrow.  I was able to score some great savings today.  So many things are on sale and when you add a coupon of $10.00 off a $25.00 or more purchase you score big! Great for Fathers day and graduations!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Great Target Coupons!!

Iconic Puppy GiftCard - $50Once again I must say how I love Target.  This is the only store that has a great variety of generic/store brand item coupons!!   That is putting a coupon to an already low price.  Right now my favorites are out to print and you can go back and print a second if you like them as much as I do!!  $1.00 off 60ct or larger up & up diapers, $1.50 off of two frozen chicken items (you can buy nuggets or frozen chicken breast tenders etc.!) , $1.00 off two market pantry refrigerated orange juice (we go through orange juice as quickly as milk and cereal around here!).  Also another great one for this time of year is the $1.00 off three greeting cards, with mother's day, birthday's and Easter this is a good one to print twice and take advantage of some great savings cause those cards can add up quickly.  The last two that I really like right now is the .50/1 toilet paper or paper towel pack and the $1.00 off 20ct or larger up & up trash bags.  Both of which are hard to find on sale plus coupon to make it cheaper than generic.  Plus even though these are store brand  I think they are of great quality, better than some of the name brands I have used in the past. 
We browsed Target today just for the fun of it, and made a small purchase of a few odds and ends and I received a FREE reusable Tote!!  Yay!  I will also be making a trip to CVS where they have their bag tags on sale for .99cents with .99cents xtra bucks back so its like FREE.  If you are not familiar with the bag tag it is a tag you put on your reusable bag, and every time you shop you have the cashier scan it, (it has a little bar code) just like your cvs extracare card.  This "bag tag" will will earn you one buck every fourth visit.  So if you shop at CVS on a weekly basis like me you will quickly earn bucks just for shopping!!   woohoo!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Some great savings today!!

So I was super excited to find some great deals at some of my favorite stores!!  I pulled off 2 free packs of yo crunch yogurt by pairing 2 manf. coupons with one store coupon, 1 free gallon of milk, large jar of smuckers for only 50cents! and some other random good finds.  Love getting what I need for super cheap!    One thing I learned today, when checking out the smuckers fruit spread/jam/jelly prices, was that the bottom shelf with the bigger jar was on sale for cheaper than the smaller item at eye level.  So definitly compare those prices! 
On another couponing note, that extreme couponing show on tlc is tonight.  I missed it last week so I plan on watching last weeks and tonights.  I did see online that there was a big controversy over one of the ladies last week using coupons in a fraudulant manner.  Supposedly she uses coupons on items that are not included or even related to the products listed on the coupon!!!!  First of all how do you live with yourself cause that is stealing, and second how does this even happen??  Sometimes I have trouble with a coupon being redeemed at the register when it is clearly for the item I am buying?!  How can she pull this off. I am still confused but I definetly have to tune in to figure that out.  Any way, I love coupons, I love to use them correctly and i hope there arent others like her out there going to ruin all of us "good couponers's" fun! lol

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Huggies Coupons! and other diaper "cheapies"! + Kellogg's cereal freebies!

I have been super busy lately with kids, house and the everyday figure out dinner and lunch that I have not had much time to put into my little blog.  Hopefully this summer I can get into a better routine!  We'll see.  What I did notice are some great coupons at http://www.coupons.com/ for Huggies diapers one for $3.00 off and another for $2.00 off.  And if you were able to print the huggies target coupon on their website before it was pulled you would be able to stack another $2.50 off of that!!  The best part is you can print them twice!!!! Lately I have not had to buy the store brand diapers because of all the great deals with coupons and sale matchups, it has always come out cheaper to buy the name brand.  I am lucky with my little man, his bottom does not have a preference so that means I can buy the brand on sale for the best price.  Unlike my daughter who got a rash with every diaper but Huggies!  Don't know why, just did.  When I do buy store brand I usually get Target's diapers because they are decent quality and if you regularly visit http://www.target.com/ and browse their coupons they will frequently run a $1.50 off coupon for their diapers.  Remember always go back and print a second or even a third if it lets you!!  Hold on to these for when the name brands are not on sale or have no good coupons to match.  Sometimes Target will also hold a gift card deal when you buy so many boxes of a certain brand you will get a $5 or $10 gift card.  With this I will "roll" my purchase.  i.e.  Purchase the diapers in your first transaction, receive gift card and use that to put towards paying for your second transaction.  I always make sure to ask the cashier if I can make two purchases first. Explaining what I am trying to do.  None of them have ever given me a problem.

As far as this Kellogg's cereal deal I have seen at numerous grocery stores you should be able to earn yourself a free gallon of milk And a reusable grocery bag!!  I was able to do this at Weis this week and I have seen it in numerous other grocery store ads as well.  They do not advertise the reusable grocery bag.  It is on a cardboard stand in the cereal isle and states that if you buy two boxes of participating Kellogg's cereal you get the tote FREE!  Well I was already buying 3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal for $6 to earn my Free gallon of milk and on top of that I had a $1.00 off wyb3 Kellogg's coupon!! so for $5.00 I scored 3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal, 1 reusable grocery bag AND a FREE Gallon of MILK!!!   That is only $1.00 per item!  I was pretty proud of myself.  There have been tons of deals like this in my weis flyer.  So check your fav. grocery stores out and see what you can earn free!  And then look for the coupons on the items you actually have to buy to make your total " out of pocket"  even cheaper!   Not sure where to find the coupon you are looking for??  Head over to http://www.coupondivas.com/ and click on Kitty's deal dashboard where it says coupon database and this will expand your coupon accessibility for sure!!!! 

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Heads up on Some Great Target Coupons!!

I did my weekly weekend browse this morning of the main coupon sites to see what deals I can put together for future savings and http://www.target.com/ had some great coupons.  The main being apparel items.  Some for infant/toddler, some for men's wear, women's dresses and especially women's swimwear.  It is a 2.00 off coupon per one swimwear item. I printed out two since they usually sell the tops and bottoms separate it will be a total of 4.00 of your suit.  Also if you like Powerade I have found that Target usually sells them cheaper than average on a regular basis, but right now they should be on sale for 4.99 and with the target web coupon for 1.00 off that makes it wwwaaaaaaayyy cheaper than anywhere else fo sho!  And I always like to end my Target scores with a fountain drink or coffee in the cafe section.  So they have a .50/1 target cafe purchase making your treat super cheap.  You can also print two of these!! 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Free Jeans at Target!!!!!!!

Hurry over the the Target web page and click on their coupons cart.  Then look through the few apparel coupons and print the $5 off any pair of jeans coupon.  (Hopefully they are still there when you get there!! fingers crossed, cause this is a hot freebie right now)  Then run over to Target to browse their ladies clearance jeans. They have loads at my target for 75% off. Which made all of them $4.98!!! And with your $5 off coupon this makes them FREE. Trust me I did this yesterday and scored some free jeans!!! woohoo.  Even if you don't have the coupon, you can't beat jeans for $4.98!!!! (unless you can get them free ; )  )
Just want to thank some of my fav. bloggers for giving their readers a heads up on this fab find.
www.totallytarget.com and www.mommysavers.com , and facebook's Target Savers

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Budget Meals Page

So I don't know if I am posting my "extra Pages" Correctly yet, but Ill give it a good try.  I'm putting up my favorite budget meals and I will try to post one per week.  To share and to challenge myself to find even more.  Hope it helps anyone who may be interested in reading them!  (My budget meals Page is listed at the on right side of my blog)

Cheap Chicken

Iconic Puppy GiftCard - $50So as always I'm in search of the best deal.  And I decided to use the $1.50 off when you buy two bags of market pantry frozen chicken at Target.  You may think, chicken? at Target?? Yeah I thought that too.  But it is worth giving it a try right? Of course, especially at such a great deal.  Sometimes they have their chicken nuggets on sale for $4 a bag and when you buy two with $1.50 off it is only $3.25 per bag.  I have also found that sometimes they run a $3.00 off coupon when you buy two making them only $2.50 a bag when you buy two.  In addition to the chicken nuggets they also sell frozen chicken breast and breast tenders. I have bought all three and cooked them multiple ways and every time they come out juicy and tender and just the way you love you chicken! LOL that sounds funny to say but oh so true.  So to get these great coupons head on over to http://www.target.com/ and scroll through.  You can usually print all of their coupons up to two times.  So you can get in on this deal more than once. **quick tip** whenever you print out a coupon you are excited to use, check to see if it lets you print again by hitting the back button twice or just revisiting the site, or re registering another one of your e mail addresses. I have two for these situations.  Cause I just love a deal!!!  
Want an idea for all that chicken?? click here!!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Best CVS trip EVER!!!!! All this for $1.42!!!

How to Shop for Free: Shopping Secrets for Smart Women Who Love to Get Something for NothingSo yesterday added up to the best shopping trip to CVS ever! : )   
Here is what I got!

-two packs of huggies diapers on sale for 2/17.98 + receive 4.00 extra bucks when you buy two
I had a 1.50off coupon for one pack and a 2.00off coupon for another that was from http://www.coupons.com/

- two Colgate total toothpaste 3.79 + 3.79 back in xtra bucks!! = FREE Limit 2
I had two 1.00off coupons so I actually made 2.00 on this one

-two Herbal essences products 2/5.97 + 2.00 xtra bucks back when you buy two
I had a 1.00off when you buy two coupon

So the total came to 32.00
I handed over my manufactures coupons that I listed above AND I also had $5.00 xtra bucks earned from a previous trip, 5.00 off 30.00 purchase printed out from the "cvs coupon center" And 3.00 off any purchase birthday coupon I received in my e mail inbox. 
Then I paid 15.00 cash
and received back $13.58 in extra Bucks!!!!!!!!  Which means I got all that above for $1.42!!!!

Next of course I did a second transaction to use up some of my bucks, so I picked up 3 Xtra detergents for 1.88ea and 2 boxes of puffs for .88 cents ea. and i still have 6.00 xtra bucks left over to put towards next weeks adventure! If I can challenge my self just enough, Im gonna attempt to roll these left over bucks so that I never have to spend another penny out of pocket.  That is a Hefty challenge.  We'll see ; )   After reading Kathy Spencer's book "How to shop for Free"  I definitely will give it a good try.

Friday, February 4, 2011

My newest Sassy Savings Finds that you can score too!!

So there have been a few random Freebies, Savings Strategies etc. that I have cashed in on lately that I wanted to share.  The first of which is free rental codes for blockbuster and redbox.  I usually find mine from http://www.hunt4freebies.com/ .  They also have some other great fab finds there as well to get in on.

 Also Wendy's is selling a frosty key tag.  They only cost $1 and are good for one free jr. Frosty per item purchased!!!  So here is the deal, I have two kids, I have two key tags now and when I went through the drive through I bought two value fries and recieved 2 jr frosty's FREE!!!  Doesnt have to be a seperate transaction just as long as you buy one item per frosty key tag. (Thanks Linda!)  The money for the key tags goes to St. Judes Children's Hospital so it is a good cause as well.  The other great thing about this deal is that it is good until 12/31/11!!!!!  That is a lot of free frosty's.  And Im in trouble cause I am not far from a wendy's!! LOL
Another great thing I learned this week was about how to shop at rite aid.  Now this may seem silly , just go get your stuff and pay for it right? nah. They have a system similar to CVS xtra care bucks, but theirs are called UP rewards.  So you can make more than one transaction and have the rewards from the first pay for the second just like at CVS.  I LOVE THIS!!!!!   Add your coupons to those sales + rewards and sometimes it comes out free or you even make money.  Well this is stuff I already knew.  The new stuff I learned from the rite aid website was the adperks.  This is where basically you watch different commercials for products you would like coupons for and after you watch them you are eligable to print a rite aid coupon for that item.  Which you can pair with a manufacturers coupon to score even greater savings!!  I LOVE THIS TOO!!!  Go to http://www.riteaid.adperk.com/ .  I know I sound crazy but it really is a super fun, great challenge to get what my family needs for such a low price.  These days with my strategic shopping I rarely have to buy generic to save money.  Cause the sale + the coupon is always WAAAY cheaper.  You can do the research or go to my fav blogs, sites that do it for you.  such as http://www.coupondivas.com/ http://www.totallytarget.com/ http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com/  Good stuff!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Super cheap, awesome pasta, at walmart!!!

Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne Rigate 14.5 oz.Last weekends newspapers (1/23) had an insert with various Ronzoni Smart taste coupons.  There was one for $1.00/2.  They are only $1.08 @ walmart.  That makes them .58cents a piece when you buy 2.  Well fortunately I had four of these coupons in hand, from my free sunday paper coupons picked up on mon LOL.  So I got eight boxes of Ronzoni smart taste pasta for only .58 cents a piece. That is really healthy pasta noodles for way cheaper than generic brand.  WOWZA love it.  So I have a small stash of pasta in the cupboard now.  As a family of four , spaghetti is a weekly staple, just as cereal. So when a deal like this comes along I must get it!!!  I have also found that this week there is a great deal on Ragu at CVS , to go with all that great pasta ; )    Today's paper has Ragu coupons!!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Free Papers!! YAY

So you know how I said that local gas station was going to save me Sunday Papers to have for free on Mon. mornings!?  Well when I got in there someone else was working and didn't get the note to NOT throw them away!!!  Anyhoo they directed me to the grocery store next door.  Saying that they keep their Sunday papers around a lot longer.  So that is exactly what I did.  And they gave me what I wanted of what they had left.  So for the past two weeks I have scored Soo many free coupons I'm ecstatic!!  It's wonderful to have the multiple coupons to take advantage of a great deal x's ten or more!  For instance my kids love Yoplait GoGurts these days.  Well they have had some great coupons in the paper for .75cents off when you buy two.  The best thing of it is that if your store doubles coupons like my Grocery store that is $1.50 off!!!  So on my weekly browse, through my fav stores for what is super cheap with my coupon matchups I found my kids favorite Yogurt on sale 2/$4!!!!!  That made them only $2.50 after my coupon doubling which is then only $1.25 per pack!!  I can usually never get this yogurt that cheap so I stocked up my cart about eight packs!!  Knowing that I could stash half of them in my freezer until ready to be eaten.  SO GOOD!!!!  Another thing I learned, not all great deals are in the ad cause this one was not!    Target had some great matchups this week as well , make sure to browse their coupons every week and print the ones you know there could be a manf. coupon for as well.  When you stack these sometimes stuff comes our FREE, like my light bulbs this week.  I bought four packs for NOTHING!!  yeah, and it was the GE Reveal kind, so not cheap!!  So my experience this week with many of the same coupon, so cool and can't wait to see what deals lie ahead with all of my future Monday outings for FREE papers!!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Great savings at CVS

I scored at cvs today with a great deal.  Again I used many coupons, payed most attention to what earned me extra bucks back and used my first transaction to pay for my second.  Oh and your cashier will be annoyed with you from time to time for using so many coupons and making to transactions, but it's not against the rules so hold your head up high and pay attention that they don't miss any of your coupons!!!

So here is what I bought....

first transaction:  (most lysol and airwick products spend 20.00 receive 10.00 back!)
1 disinfecting lysol spray 1.00 off coupon
2 airwick freshmatic refills BOGO coupon
1 airwick freshmatic ultra 4.00 off coupon
1 bottle of Listerine 2.00 off earns 1.00 extra buck
2 bags of M&M's earned .89 extra buck
I also had a 4.00 off coupon when you make a 20.00 purchase. (to get these sign up at www.cvs.com and register your card with their e mail and they will send them to you frequently!)
Paid out 15.00, received 11.89 total extracare bucks!!

second transaction:
1 rimmel eyeshadow on clearance 75% off! 1.00off any rimmel item coupon
1 rimmel foundation on clearance 75% off! 1.00 off any rimmel item coupon
triaminic children's decongestant 2.00 off any triaminic product
3pack kleenex tissues 3.00 ea
Used my xtra bucks to pay and have 1.89 left over to spend on my next trip!!

On another great coupon *note*, Have you gotten tired of buying your sunday paper for coupons? I know I do! so from reading other's blogs such as www.thecoupongoddess.com I found that you can ask your local gas station to save their left over sunday papers for you on mon. morning!!  That is exactly what I did this morning when buying my sunday papers!!  They agreed to save any for me for tomorrow!  SCORE!!!  That's free coupons fellow couponers and I can only say thank you to the "coupon goddess for that idea"
Another coupon extreme method to free coupons is as the www.thekrazycouponlady.com does, make a trip to your local recycling center and go through the paper bin to search for you coupons.  While I respect her determination, I think my husband would be mortified for me to try that! LOL  Anywho check those lady's out, they are some of a hand full of blogs that I visit frequently to score great savings ideas.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

"armed and dangerous"...with coupons that is! LOL

How to Shop for Free: Shopping Secrets for Smart Women Who Love to Get Something for Nothing
Will be buying this book soon to learn more shopping strategies!!
What can I say, it has been a great few days for couponing!!  Coupon heaven I'd say : ) 

So as I roll up to the Target cashier with about 14 coupons in hand, he says "wow", "you are armed and dangerous"   Oh yeah, that's right did my research and found lots of deals!!! 
two tubs of country crock  94cents  ea
two bags of halls cough drops 14 cents ea
one large tub of quick oatmeal 24 cents
two lunch ables 50 cents ea
jumbo pack of lever 2000 bar soap 3.74
two healthy choice soup bowls 1.04 ea

AND at Giant Eagle I found a great cereal deal!!!
They have large fam. boxes of gen. mill. cereal for 5.00 ea, and you get one free wyb2
which makes them 3/$10
I had one 55cent off coupon for honey nut cheerios
a 55cent coupon for cinn toast crunch
and a 75 cent coupon for mult. grain Cheerios
-all of which double at the checkout
This made my total only 6 dollars and some change!!!  for all that cereal!!
I have a new round of the same coupons today and will go back and do it again.  cant resist stocking up on cereal when we go through it soo quick!!

AND at CVS  another score!!
I had 7 dollars in cvs extra care cash from my last trip for paper towels, laundry detergent etc.  all of which I used coupons for and earned the 7 dollars back!!
So yesterdays trip ended up especially profitable! 
I made two separate transactions ...
I bought one Colgate whitening toothpaste for 2.99 with 1.00 off coupon from last week's paper and I earned one dollar back.  which is like getting it for 99 cents!!
Then I bought two Colgate 360 toothbrushes, 2.99 ea, both earned 1.00 back and I had a dollar off which was like a BOGO

My seven dollars extra cash and two coupons paid for all of that, then my 3.00 bucks in return were put towards my second transaction where I bought
1 gal of milk and 2 packs of toddler flushable wipes.  cvs brand wipes only 1.49 and B1G1 50% off
I only had to put 3.00 of my own cash towards this last transaction.

So in the end I bought
2 packs of flushable toddler wipes
1 gal of milk
2 Colgate 360 toothbrushes
1 Colgate whitening toothpaste

Not to shabby : )

Giant eagle and Target I figured out all on my own brain power but Target was easy because of http://www.totallytarget.com/  !!!

Keep On Couponing!

Keep On Couponing!