Coupon Class - January 2011

In conjunction with another mom, I will be giving a lesson on couponing (sure it's a word!) to the MOMS Club in January. I am really excited to be able to share one way that Stay at Home Moms can contribute to the families finances - because a penny saved is a penny earned!

Today at Walmart I found a few baskets of Halloween clothing on sale for 90% off. So, I dug through and found 3 petticoat skirts that rang up at $.50 each. The girls were so excited to have new dress-up clothes. They would have made great Christmas gifts had the girls not been with me while I shopped. But since they saw them, and since they were such a steal, I let them have them and they spent the rest of the day wearing them pretending they were princesses.

Speaking of deals, have you seen the last page of the Shaws Flyer for this week? There are some serious deals on right now so if you haven't been yet, you have until Thursday to get in on the action!

Julie & Julia

I just watched the movie Julie & Julia which was a movie that I thought I would like but it wasn't something I thought I would love. Boy was I wrong!! That movie ranks right up there with other movies that I love to watch over and over including Pretty Woman. I am not sure what part of the movie I loved the most. I really loved watching the relationships between Julie and her husband versus Julia and hers. I was in tears when Julia got the letter from her sister saying that her sister was pregnant. Was Julia Child really as fabulous as this movie portrays her?

When I was a child, my Grandma Cardwell always had the cooking shows on the television on weekends and I loved watching Julia with her. Cooking is always something that I have enjoyed but I can't say I'm even very good at it but for a few of my favorite recipes. At first this movie inspired me to try all kinds of new recipe's. Unfortunately that feeling melted away quickly when I realized that it took me more than 3 hours to watch a 2 hour movie because of all of the interruptions from children needing potty help, snacks and what have you. So instead I decided to go with the other inspiration which is to resume blogging.

Still, I wonder if I can find that yummy beef stew (boof borgois is how she said it LOL) recipe??

Ocean State Job Lot

There is a great sale going on right now at Ocean State Job Lot for greeting cards... they are all 60% off! I went this morning and stocked up on children's birthday cards at just $0.60 a piece. That's a great bargain. I also picked up some herbs at just $0.59 with an expiration date of 2012 so if your pantry is running low on herbs and spices check it out, they had a huge selection.

Sign Up to Save at Payless Shoesource

I just got another 20% coupon for Payless Shoesource and was so excited! I had no idea that Payless Shoes had a mailing list, though I should have. Before the wedding, I was buying shoes for the girls and the cashier suggested I proved my e-mail address. I've gotten 2 coupons since then (so I'm guessing it's once a month!). Just go here and enter your e-mail address at the bottom and you should start receiving those coupons.

Battery Deals - STOCK UP FOR CHRISTMAS!

Jacque from the MOMS Club sent me this regarding CVS:

Sara, just wanted to let you know that CVS has an awesome sale on Duracell batteries this week. Buy $20 get $15 Extra Bucks. You can do this 3 times. If you use coupons with this deal it is even better! I did it 3 times (and got 4 bottles of Revlon nail polish) and a spent less then $5 out of pocket. I also have $15 Extra Bucks to use on my next purchase.

Also, I was looking at the Rite Aid deals this week and they too have a battery deal. If you purchase $20 worth of Copper Top Duracell batteries, you get a $10 rebate (LIMIT 1). They have the same deal if you buy rechargeable batteries, so in total are 2 rebates available. Not as good as CVS, but if you have a lot of coupons to use, you can get a lot of batteries for cheap! Plus, if you spend the following between November 16 and December 24 at Rite Aid you get:

Spend $25.00-$50.00 for a $5.00 Rite Aid Gift Certificate OR
Spend $50.01-$100.00 for a $10.00 Rite Aid Gift Certificate OR
Spend $100.01 or more for a $20.00 Rite Aid Gift Certificate

CVS Week of October 12, 2008

I scored a great deal this week! I have been in the market for a rechargeable power toothbrush for sometime. I bought a crest one a few months ago but the batteries die quickly and it is bulky. This week at CVS, the Oral-B Pulsonic toothbrush (retailing at over $70) is on sale for $59.99 with $20 ECB bringing it to $39.99. There was a $5 coupon in one of the P&G coupon booklets and this week there is a mail-in rebate for $15 so the final total comes to $20! Since I have been looking for quite some time, I snagged this deal up!

Transaction #1:

Oral-B Pulsonic Toothbrush $59.99
Used $6 ECB and $5 coupon TOTAL: $52.77


Transaction #2:

Gatorade x 5 @ 5/$5
earns $3 ECB
Garelick Farms Gallon Milk x 2 @ $3.79 each
Palmolive Dish Soap x 2 @ $0.99 each
used $1/2 Q
Revlon lip gloss $7.99
used $2/1 Q
Revlon shadow FREE on BOGO sale
used $2/1 Q
Tic Tacs x 3 @ $0.99 each (to get total over $20)

TOTAL = $0.52 after paying the $20 ECB

I'll be mailing out my rebate form this afternoon!!

Coupon Booklet

If you use brands including Cascade, Dawn, Febreze, Mr. Clean and Swiffer, then don't miss this chance for $27 in savings! Click here to register to receive your coupon booklet in the mail in 6-8 weeks.

30 Items FREE After Rebate at Rite Aid this week

I'm not going to copy it all from Money Saving Mom's website, but go here to see the 30 FREE (after you get your rebate check) items from Rite Aid. You can use their checks to buy future items at Rite Aid or you can cash them. Awesome Deal!!

Pork Chops with Apples and Stuffing

With the canned apple pie mix I will buy at Shaw's this week and the pork chops I have saved in the freezer from a sale a few weeks ago, I will be making a recipe I know my family will eat - it's not glamorous but it's easy and yummy. I got the recipe from the Taste of Home magazine.

6 boneless pork loin chops
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pkg (6 oz) crushed stuffing mix (i.e. Stove Top)
1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling with cinnamon

In a skillet, brown pork chops in oil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, prepare stuffing according to package directions. Spread pie filling into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Place the pork chops on top; spoon stuffing over chops.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Yield: 6 servings

I'm Back! Deals for the Week of October 6, 2008

I am going to type below the items I plan to buy on sale this week - they may not be all of the best deals but they are the ones that caught my eye. I will be stocking up on some of my favorite canned items - I have a huge stockpile of tuna fish and black olives or I would buy those too.

SHAW'S

"Cantastic Deals"
5 Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta 10/$10
5 College Inn Chicken Broth 5/$3
2 Dinty Moore Beef Stew 10/$10
2 Del Monte Canned Fruit 2/$3
1 Shaw's Apple Pie Filling 2/$4
5 Campbells Condensed Soup 10/$10 Q $1/5
10 Campbells Tomato Soup 5/$3 $1/10
1 Green Giant 4-pack Corn $1.99
4 Progresso Classic Soup 10/$10 Q $1/4
TOTAL Cantastic Deals = $28.99

2 Skippy Peanut Butter 2/$4 Q $1/2
5 Lean Cuisine 5/$10
Whole Boneless Pork Loin $1.99/lb
Plumrose Bacon BOGO
Doritos BOGO
Chicken Drumsticks/Thighs $1/lb
English Muffins BOGO
Betty Crocker Mashed Potatoes 10/$10
Kellogs Cereal 3/$7 - Rice Krispies, Fruit Loops, Frosted Mini Wheats
Orville Redenbachers Mini-bags popcorn BOGO
Dial Soap $4.99/ 8 pack
Halloween candy 2/$5
Yoplait Yogurt 20/$10 Q Free cup WYB 6
Gorton's Seafood 2/$4

GM Deal (Q in flyer for $5 of any 10 General Mills Products)
2 Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls 2/$4 Q $1/2
2 Nature Valley Granola Bars 4/$10 Q $1/2
2 Pillsbury Ready-to-Bake Cookies 2/$5 Q $1/2
2 Chex Mix 4/$5 Q $1/2
3 Progresso Tradional Soup 2/$3 Q$1.10/3
TOTAL GM Deal = $10.90

FREE Kids Meals at The 99 if...

Melissa A. from the MOMS Club just sent out an e-mail that the 99 restaurant in Westerly is giving out free kids meals on the day after the Red Sox win! I believe I heard on the radio that you can get one free meal per adult meal purchased. I know we haven't been to the 99 yet, but for such a good deal I'm willing to give it a try sometime soon.

Go Red Sox!!!

FREE stuff at Staples

If you hadn't gotten a chance to look at the flyers this week, Staples has a few free offers this week:

Staples manual pencil sharpener (limit 3)
2-Pocket paper folder (limit 10)
Staples cap erasers 12/pack (limit 3)

They also have plastic binders for $0.25 (limit 8) and plastic pencil cases for $0.05 (limit 2).

You have to love free :)

Walgreens Deals This Week

I just got an e-mail from Jacque (thanks!) about some deals going on this week at Walgreens:

Dove hair care B1G1F at $4.99. I have two $2 coupons so they end up being $0.49 and $0.50 total of 99 cents!

Sunsilk Hair Care $2.99 I have $1.50 coupon so it's $1.49

General Mills cereal $1.99 I have $1 coupon for Fiber One and $1 for Cheerios so for two boxes total $1.98

Hefty OneZip bags B1G1F at $2.79...I have two $1 off two coupons. Total for 4 is $3.58.

Dixie plates and bowl B1G1F at $3.79...I have $1 off two coupon makes it 2 for $2.79.

Stop & Shop Flyer Info

It happened again this week! The cover of Westerly Stop & Shop sales flyer showed that Skippy Peanut Butter is on sale for $0.99 but at the Richmond Stop & Shop, the sale was signed as 2/$4. So I asked at the register and she said that yes, they do sometimes have different flyers BUT if I bring my flyer in with me they will honor the sale from the other store. So I didn't buy the peanut butter today but I will be this week. I have a coupon for $1/2 (it is located in this week's RedPlum coupons sent in the mail) so they will be $0.50 each - GOOD DEAL!

Stop and Shop Barilla Pasta - Bring your flyer!

Okay, so I went to Stop and Shop in Richmond yesterday to pick up some ice cream and a few other sale items. One of those items was Barilla Pasta (my kids love the Picollini Wheels) and it was listed on the front page of the flyer I got through the mail as 3/$2 (limit 6). I rarely see it go so low so I wanted to buy some (plus I had a $1 coupon). But when I got there the signs said 4/$5. I bought it anyway hoping it would come up on sale but when I checked my receipt it was still not right so I went over to the service desk, grabbed a flyer and the Barilla deal was not in there!! The moral of the story is - bring your flyer from home because I guess the flyers can magically change (or maybe Westerly and Richmond have different sales)!

Hood Ice Cream at Stop and Shop

This week at Stop and Shop, Hood Ice Cream is on sale for $1.99 each (limit 3 per visit). There have been some recent $1/2 coupons in the newspaper inserts, so if you buy 2 and use 1 coupon, they come out to $1.50 each. It's worth it to make multiple trips! I personally really like the new one that is called something along the lines of Rhode Island Chocolate Lighthouse Coffee Ice Cream (it's coffee ice cream with lighthouse shaped chocolate/espresso chips). Yummy!

Thanks, Melissa, for this good deal out!

** I went and bought my ice cream yesterday and discovered that if you use the hand scanners, you get an additional $0.50 off per gallon, making them $1 each! A steal!

Shaw's Super Good Deal!

This week at Shaws Supermarkets, they are having a deal that quite a long list of Kellogs products are on sale for 10/$25. There is a $5 coupon in the Shaw’s flyer off of those 10 Kellogs products (you CAN use coupons for this deal making your total less than $25 which is different than the GM deal). You can use five of the many $1/2 coupons in a recent coupon insert. In addition, if you use your $10 rebate from that same coupon insert, then each box come out to $0.50! Now that’s a good grocery deal!

CVS July 11th

I should absolutely know better, but despite that, I decided to head to CVS after bringing the children to see Dave Marchetti at the library. We did our CVS trip then we had to go back in to CVS to exchange our batteries (my total seemed too high and sure enough I didn't get the sale batteries) and finally headed back home right around 4. On a nice hot Friday afternoon, do you know who else is headed North on Route 78 around that time??? LOTS of people coming from Misquamicut Beach, that's who! So we hit a bit of a traffic jam at the intersection of Routes 78 and 1 (where the CVS is). I'm making a mental note to do my CVS'ing early for the rest of the beach season.

Transaction #1:

Pert Plus 2 in 1 2/$5 - $2 coupon = $0.50 OOP
Pert Plus 2 in 1 2/$5 - $2 coupon = $0.50 OOP
Olay Body Wash ($5.99 x 4) - ($2 coupon x 4) - $10 ECB earned = $1.49 OOP each

My receipt also printed with a coupon for free CVS instant hand sanitizer pen and a few other coupons.

Transaction #2:

Pringles x 3 ($1x3) - $1ECB earned - $0.20/3 coupon = $0.60 OOP each
Dawn dish detergent $2/2 - $1 ECB earned = $0.50 OOP each
CVS panty liners $0.99 - $0.99 ECB earned = FREE
Lipton To-Go drink mixes ($3.99 x 2) - $3 ECB earned - $1 coupon = $1.99 OOP each
Duracell 4 pack AAA batteries ($2.99 x 2) - ($1 coupon x 2) = $1.99 OOP each
Trident gum $1.19 OOP (can't live without gum!)
Stridex $4.49 - $1.50 ECB earned - $2 coupon = $0.99 OOP

Okay, now going through this receipt I see that the Pantene that I bought that was supposed to be on sale for $3.33 rang up at $7.99 so I 'll have to bring that back in too grrrrrr... but that should be $1.33 OOP! It's hiding in the background with the purple lid.



I am very excited to have gotten all of those body washes because Everett and Gillian use my soaps to make "potions" (usually when they can reach the soap when I'm not looking) and have recently started using regular body wash (as opposed to children's soap) so even though I currently have a ton of it, I believe it will get used super fast!

A new blog for my shopping threads

Okay, it's a bit funny for me to be putting all of my deals and steals into my family blog so I have created this new blog so that I can post pictures of all of my good deals because as it turns out, we all love a good deal and we all love reading about the good deals as much as we love getting our own good deals! So henceforth, my CVS trips and other great deals will be posted in this blog instead! Happy shopping!