Half Price Book Summer Reading program

Feed the Brain
Summer Reading program at Half-Price Book for kids 12 and younger.
It sounds like a great deal, and I'll probably do this with Micki along with the regular library reading program. For only 15 minutes of reading per day, your child earns a $3 shopping card each week through the end of July. Here's how it works according the the website:

1. Get a Feed Your Brain reading log at your local Half Price Books.
2. Check off each day you read for 15 minutes or more.
3. Fill out your reading log, and have your parent or guardian sign it.
4. Bring your completed and signed log to your local Half Price Books.
5. Get a Feed Your Brain Reading Reward:
$3 Shopping Card good at all Half Price Books locations.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 every week through Friday, July 31, 2009

Here's the link: http://www.halfpricebooks.com/feed_your_brain.html
Here's the link to find the store nearest you: http://www.halfpricebooks.com/find_a_store.html

Quick CVS & Wags run

Actually, there wasn't much for me at either place especially since the shelves were quite bear at CVS.

At Wags, my retail was 11.85 but after sales and coupons, I paid .50 which is a 96% savings. Then they gave me $3 in RR, so in the long run, they paid me $2.50 to take the stuff.

• Trident Single Pack Gum, 18-pc with in-ad coupon 3/$2.00 ($0.67/each)Use $0.75 coupon from 5/10 SS insert. I had 2 copies which made my final price .50 for 3 packs of gum.
• Reach Ultraclean Toothbrush or Floss 30 yds 2/$5.00 Receive $3 RR wyb 2 Use BOGO coupon from 4/26 RP Toothbrush (Pay $2.50/2) Final Price: $0.50 OVERAGE

CVS's retail total was 8.28 and I paid .98 cents making my savings 88%. But here comes the $5 in ECB which means they paid me 4.02. As I mentioned, they were missing a lot of the sale items, so I only got a few things.

• Revlon Nail Color $3.99 Earn $3 ECBs making the final price .99. There was a $1/1 coupon in 4/26 SS but I'd already used mine. This was only a two day sale.
• Colgate Total Toothpaste $2.99 Earn $2 ECBs Use $1.50 coupon from the March or April All You OR Use $1.00 coupon from the 5/10 SmartSource OR Use $1.00 Printable Coupon I had one of the $1/1 coupon, so my final price was free.

I got these deals from becentsable.net. I'll let you know if I can get those other items I wanted from CVS.

My mistake, My Gain

My Bad!! Well, part of it was me and part was Wags.

Did my usual Wags run today. Had a friend and her mother come along to kill time.I truly don't think her mom thought I could do what my friend told her I could do.

I have gotten into the habit of always checking my receipt especially after leaving Wags or CVS. Quite frequently I catch them not giving me a B1G1 or a RR or ECB I earned. I'm always nice about it, however, and if they insist that I didn't earn it or it wasn't on sale then I return it right then and there. That's what I thought was happening today.

I was matching my RR with what I thought I had earned and found one for $4 missing. I went right back to the register to hear the normal spiel of you can't use RR to purchase the same thing in RR which I assured her that I hadn't. Then I heard that my coupons probably took me below the required $10 purchase which is why it didn't print. I said I wanted to return those items then. Here's where it gets kind of hairy and my friend left! :-)

Actually, the manager was VERY nice and thoughtful. She went to the other register and voided the whole thing out and brought over to the register where I was waiting. She told me the same spiel so I actually went and got another item in the promotion to make me over the $10 required. She was ringing it up again. This time one of the coupons wouldn't go through and she insisted again that since my total sales was going to be under $10 I wouldn't get the RR, so I asked her to go ahead and take the extra item off since I didn't really need it and it wasn't going to help me.

Here's the thing. When I was rung up the second time with the same items and one less coupon, my total went for $2.06 to just .06! Crazy!! And when I tried to return the RR from the first time which she voided out, she said I could keep them AND THEN she gave me the RR from the second transaction as well! I asked her a couple of times if she wanted them back and she said no.

Well, here's my bad part. I come home and lay everything out in front of Mike to tell him the story and what did I find? I found 2 RR for $4 from the offer that I had said I didn't received (color me embarrassed). Apparently, I had gotten the first time, but it must have gotten stuck to the back of another one, so I didn't notice it. AND THEN when she rung it up again insisting that I wasn't going to receive it again....I did receive it again!

So, this week is a little crazy for Wags. My OOP went from 2.06 down to .06 and my RR went from $16 up to $32 all because I didn't see a RR I had received. No, I do not recommend this a normal part of couponing!!!!!

The main deals that I got were (thanks to becentsable.net):

• Colgate visible white toothpaste 4 oz $4.99Use $1 off here Receive $4.99 in RR Final Price: FREE plus $1.00 overage. Moneymaker!

• Right Guard Professional or Dry Idea complete $5.99 Use $1 off from SS 4/19/09 Receive $5 in RRs Final Price: FREE plus possible $.01 overage. Moneymaker! (Actually, the picture shows in the print add shows Right Guard Extreme which at the Wags I went came up at 2.99 at the register!!! I had a coupon for $1/1 from http://www.nbc.com/the-celebrity-apprentice/exclusives/sponsors/rightguard/ and then received the RR for $5, too!!)

• Bayer Quick release crystals $2.49 Get $2.49 RR. Final Price: FREE

• Purchase $10 in select Bandaid items ($2/5) and/or Neosporin items ($5 each) and receive $4 in RR. Use $1/1 from 4-26 Red Plum, 3-15 Smart Source, or 2-8 Smart Source. (Thanks bargainbriana.com for this one.)

CVS & Walmart

I'm a bit overwhelmed today. My husband got me a Blackberry with all the bells and whistles, and I think I'm almost too old to figure it out! We didn't have a coupon, but the phone was B1G1 and the one we purchased (The Pearl) was 119 with a $100 mail in rebate. That means that we got two Blackberries for $19. The real cost is the monthly fees for everything, but my husband's new company does offer a 12% discount on our service fees with Verizon, so that will help, too.

So on to the more normal things.

CVS. I didn't have any ECB to use. Can you believe it? Only coupons. My retail was 33.84. After coupons, my total was 6.62 which is a 80% savings, but then they gave my $5 ECB which means I actually paid 1.62 which makes my final savings actually 95%!

Revlon Eye or Lip Cosmetics Buy 1 Get 1 Free
Use TWO $1/1 coupons from the 4/26 SS

Dial Bar Soap 3 pack - $1.99
Get $1 ECB
Use 35¢/1 coupon from the 3/8 or 5/17 SS
Final price: $0.64
(Limit 1)

Colgate Sensitive Whitening/Enamel Protect or Colgate Visible White Toothpaste - $3.99
Get $2 in ECBs
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Final price: $0.99

TWO Dry Idea Deodorants - $2.50 each
Get $2 ECBs
Use TWO $2/1 printable coupons
Final price: $1.00 OVERAGE

I also make sure to always keep any coupons like $5 off any purchase of $25 and make sure to it in before any other coupons because if I wait until after the coupons. Got these great deals at becentsable.net.

On to Walmart. Did about the same as I do for a grocery store. My retail was 17.28. After coupons, it was 10.03 which is a 42% savings. (I kicked myself at the cash register because I lost 3-$1 coupons somewhere in the store!)
These finds were thanks to becentsable.net as well.

Triscuit Crackers $2.00
Use $1.00/1 Printable Coupon
Final Price: $1.00

Wheat Thins $2.00
Use $1.00/1 Printable Coupon
Final Price: $1.00

Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs $2.96
Use $1.00/1 Printable Coupon
Final Price: $1.96

Honey Maid Graham Crackers $2.50
Use $1.00/1 Printable Coupon
Final Price: $1.50

No Yolk Noodles $1.68
Use $0.75/1 No Yolk Noodles
Final Price: $0.93

I still need to go to Walgreens. I had forgotten my special $5 off $25 coupon, so I still have tomorrow. If I kicked myself over losing $3 worth of coupons, can you imagine what I'd do forgetting a $5 coupon! :-)

Walgreens coupon

Special coupon for $5 off any purchase of $25 or more on Wednesday, May 20 and Thursday, May 21 only. Go to http://www.walgreens.com/dmi/instorespecials/default.html?ec=hn1028sr_mainimage.

My usual

I ran back to CVS for a few more things once I asked Mike about a couple of them. Those items were not needs nor were they things that that we normally would have considered purchasing. My retail would have 65.17 but after sales, coupons and receiving $9 in ECB back my total was 20.97 which was a 68% savings.
A couple of the really good deals from this purchase were:

Schick Quattro for Women razor w/2 cartridges $8.99
Use $4/1 women’s Quattro razor from 4-26 Smart Source Insert
Earn $4 Extra Bucks
Final Price after Extra Bucks: 99¢
and
Crest Whitestrips 56 ct. $18.99
Use $5/1 from 5-3 P&G Insert
Earn $5 Extra Bucks
Final Price after Extra Bucks: $8.99
Thanks http://www.bargainbriana.com/.

Made a Price Chopper run. Purchased a few things that I won't use right now, but will freeze. (Did I mention that I don't have any more room in my freezer? Wonder if there are coupons for deep-freezers?) My total was 17.95 and after Q's and sales my total was 9.11 which makes me have a 49% savings. That's around my usual percentage for grocery stores.

Best Deals for me (which end on Saturday by the way):
Bar-S Jumbo Franks Price with card: $0.68
Less $1.00/2 coupon 5-10-09 RP or here
Final Price: 2/$0.36 or $0.18 each
AND
Oscar Mayer Bologna Price with card: $1.99
Less $1.00/2 coupon here
Final Price: 2/$2.98 or $1.49 each
Thanks http://www.kcpennypinchinmama.com/.

Note: Both CVS and the Price Chopper deals I mention end tomorrow, Saturday, May 16.

ConAgra Summer Savings Offer

Is anyone else doing the ConAgra Summer Savings Offer from the May edition of ALL YOU magazine?
You simply send in $25 worth of receipts with the products that involved and they send you $34 in coupons. You don't even need the UPC even.
If you are let me know. I'm sending my in and actually have a receipt for $7.89 worth of the products that I'm not going to need.
Act quickly if you are. Receipts need to be dated by 5/22 and mailed in by 6/4!

Last Few Shopping Outings

I've been so busy trying to finish the school year with Micki, start my politicking, and deal with my coupons, that I haven't actually had time to blog about my coupons!

At Walgreens, I purchased 30.45 retail for 9.27 after sales and coupons making it a 70% savings. But, then they gave me $11 RR which means my final price was FREE!!!!!

Got most of these from www.bargainbriana.com.

• Iceland Health Omega 3 Fish Oil $8 Earn $8 Register Reward when you buy one Final Price after Register Reward: FREE
• Kelloggs or Kashi Cereal 3/$10, Earn a $3 RR when you buy three Use $1/1 Kellogg’s Cereal printable from coupons.com or Kellogg’sUse $1/1 Kashi Cereal printable from coupons.comFinal Price: $1.33/each
• Jello. .59 with coupon from sales ad or internet. Add the $1/3 coupon from www.coupons.com makes the final price .26 each!

Walgreens was just a good. My retail total was 54.27. After sales and coupons and Extra Care Bucks, my total was.... .81! Yup, 81 cents which made my savings 98%, but I received $3 ECB back which means they paid 2.19 to take the stuff out of their store!

• Spend $10 on select Skippy, Ragu, Hellmann’s or Lipton, Get $3 Extra Bucks: Skippy Peanut Butter 16.3 oz. or Ragu 26 oz. $1.67
  .40/1 Skippy Peanut Butter Product 15 oz + from 4-5 Red Plum Insert
  .30/1 Ragu Pasta Sauce from 4-5 Red Plum Insert
  Hellman’s Real Mayo 30 oz. or Lipton Tea Bags 40-100 ct. $3
  .60/1 Lipton Tea from 3-15 Red Plum Insert (purchased 3 Skippy Peanut Butter and 2 Lipton tea)
• Kellogg’s Cereals: Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes, Corn Pops, Rice Krispies, Apple Jacks, or Froot Loops $2 (Limit 4)Use $1/1 printable from coupons.com or printable from Kellogg’s or $1/1 from 4-5 Red Plum Insert

I went to Hen House today. I don't usually go to Hen House, but I was going to be in that neck of the woods, so I scanned the sales add and then I found a few things. My retail total was 28.12 and after coupons my total was 11.16 which is a 62% savings. (Nice Hen House actually does the math for me!)

• Dawn Foaming Dish Soap for 1.99. I had a coupon through snail mail for 1.50/1 which made the final price .49!
• Egg Beaters 1.88. Had a coupon for $1/1 from May All You magazine.
• Healthy Choice Meals were 1.97. Coupon for $1/2 making the final price 1.47 each. http://www.healthychoice.com/news-offers/spokesperson-coupon.jsp?WT.mc_id=jld_hc&WT.mc_ev=click
• Then the store I went to had the entrees for 2.18. Had coupons for $1/1 making the final price 1.18. http://www.simpleanddelicious.com/special-offers/walmartfrozen-coupon.jsp
• Cool Whip in the can is 1.77. Had a coupon for $1/1 making the final price .77!

Oh, and those purchases of Healthy Choice and Egg Beaters should give me enough to send in for my $34 in coupons from ConAgra. That deal and many coupons are found in the May edition of All You Magazine.

Free Father's Day gift

I've used VistaPrint many times, but never for this. They are offering a free personalized t-shirt (I think postage cost me 4.41...still cheap). I had it personalized for Mike to give him for Father's Day. SHHHHH. Don't tell him! Yes, this is a picture of what my shirt is going to look like. They have many varieties.

Anyway, I thought you might like one, too. There are also other free items such as note pads, pens, etc. Here's the address: http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/studio3.aspx?pf_id=370&combo_id=62582&gallery_id=188&category_id=8087&referer=&rd=2

Family Dollar & Coupons.com

I had received a Family Dollar sales insert and I noticed that a lot of the new coupons.com coupons can score some pretty good deals at Family Dollar. Call your Family Dollar ahead of time to make sure they take computer printed coupons. One of my local ones does and one doesn't....you can guess which one gets my business. Oh, I think many of these are also currently available at kraftfoods.com.

Here's my own personal shopping list:
Kraft BBQ sauce $1.25 after $1/1 coupon the final price is .25 each.
Kraft Easy Mac Microwave Singles .90 after $1/2 coupon is .40 each.
Kraft Velvetta Shells & Cheese $2. After $1/1 coupon it is $1/1.
Kraft Miracle Whip or Real Mayo $2.50. After $1/2 coupon it is $1.50.

There's also Wheat thins and Triscuits available for 1.50 after the $1/1 coupon, but I don't think I need those in the house.

I'm also going to pick up another item for my ConAgra coupon rebate from May's issue of All You Magazine.
Banquet Homestyle Bakes 3.50. .50/1 Q from May All You magazine make is $3.00

coupons.com

Coupons.com has reloaded a bunch of new coupons, so make sure to go load up while they're still there.
Kraft cheese
Velvetta
Crystal Light
Digiorno pizza
Maxwell House
Oscar Meyer
Triscuits
Wheat Thins
Tombstone Pizza
Jack's Pizza
Kool-aid
Lunchables
Minute Rice
ETC...... Hurry, before they get all printed up. www.coupons.com

Price Chopper

Made a Price Chopper run last night. Wanted to get there before the 4 day sale ended and knew that shopping on Mother's Day would not be allowed.

I did fairly well considering the fact that I bought several things that were on sale but for which I had no coupons. I purchased $113.79 for 63.65 which is 43% savings.

• Hunt's Ketchup 4/$5. I had a $1/2 coupon from All You May magazine which means I paid 1.50 for 2 bottles or .75 each.
• Peter Pan Peanut Butter was 2.39 and there was $1/1 Q from the same magazine making my final price 1.39. Yes, that's cheaper than generic.
• Hunt's Snack Pack were $1 each. I had a coupon for $1/3 making the final price .67 each.
• These three items can be applied to a rebate for $34 coupons from Conagra. It's also in the May edition of All You. What's nice about it is that you don't need the UPC symbols, only the receipts.
• Dole fruit and parfait cups on sale for 2/$4. I had 2 coupons for $1/2 from online. In the end, each pack cost 1.50.
• Digiorno Pizza is on sale for 2/$9. I found 1.25/1 Q's on coupons.com which made the final price for each pizza 3.25 which was a chip as Tony's pizza.
• Red Baron singles are on sale 4/$11 and coupons for .75/1 in 4/19 SS. Final price 2.56 each.
• Marie Callender meals are 5/$10 or $2 each. Coupon for $1/2 makes them $1.50 each.

Checking out http://www.kcpennypinchinmama.com/search/label/Price%20Chopper made me realize there were several things I missed on my own, so I'll probably be heading back before Wednesday. Feel free to check out kcpennypinchinmama.com on your own to see if you can beat me to them!

Walmart run

Had to get some stuff for the animals, so of course, I checked out bargainbriana.com and becentsable.com to see what some of the deals were. I only saved 57% but that's still not bad! That means I paid .57 for every $1. I'll take what I can.
Here's some of the best deals that I picked up:

• Kraft BBQ sauce is .98 cents. Coupon from 5/3 SS for .75/1 makes the final price .23!
• Dole canned Pineapple. If you buy the small can it's .78, but the large can which I purchased was 1.32. Printable Q that I no longer see available for .50/1 made the final price .82. Cheaper or as cheap as store brands.
• Birds Eye Steam Fresh Veggies were 1.25 at my Walmart :-(. Anyway, ! for $1/2 in 4/19 SS. Bought 2 for the coupon which makes the final price .75 each.
• No Yolk Egg Noodles were 1.62. There's a .75/1 coupon at http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=5S2ZUA6PWPEPO . Makes the final price .87.
• Special K cereal was now 2.50. Printable Q for $1/1 made it 1.50. About the same as Aldi.
• Soft soap w/ aloe is .97. Coupon for .35/1 is in 4/26 SS which makes the final price .62.
• Dole frozen fruit was 2.36. Coupon for .75/1 made the final price 1.62.

Well, there were a few other things that I was gong to pick up, but wasn't available at my Walmart or not a the same kind of price that list. It's a little frustrating to see other Walmarts have better coupons or better coupons! I'm jealous. But I must say, that it's so nice not having to wonder if we have enough groceries until Mike gets paid again and to have enough extra to share! That's been the real blessing of this.

As the Wags turns.... (and CVS)

Made my weekly run to Wags and CVS. I brought home 83.18 worth of items and Wags & CVS ended up paying me $26 to do it!!!

At Walgreens I purchased 36.40 worth of items. After sales, coupons and a $6 RR (the cashier only let me turn in one :-P), my total was 16.49. Then I had 14.84 left on my gift card from last months Easy Saver Rebates (which they are no longer going to offer :-P) which made my OOP 2.47. But then I received $11 in Register Rewards which means they actually paid me about 8.50.

• V8 V-Fusion on sale 2/$6. Online coupon for $2/1 at http://www.tryv8.com/. Do you know about printing 2 coupons. Most coupon can be printed up twice. Just back arrow a couple of times until it gets to the print screen again! Final price for these were $1 each.
• Buy $10 of selected ConAgra products and receive $3 in RR. Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers $3. A coupon for $1/1 from the May edition of All You magazine (only available at Walmart). Final price $2. Chef Boyardee 2/$3. Coupon for $1/4 in the same edition of All You making final price for 4/$5 Also purchase some Van Camps Pork & Beans at $2/1. So, after purchasing those items, I got my $3 RR which means I ended up getting all those items only $5.
• Pert Plus is 2/$5 and after $2 RR you end up getting them for 2/$3. I had 2 coupons for $1.50/1 from 5/3 Smart Source meaning that I got both for FREE!
• Colgate Sensitive3 Toothpaste is 4.99 but you get 4.99 in RR back making the final price free. BUT if you get the $1/1 coupon from http://www.colgate.com/app/ColgateSensitiveNew/US/EN/HomePage.cvsp then it ends up being a money maker!

On to CVS. My retail total 46.78. After sales, coupons & $27 in ECB received from previous purchases, my OOP was 2.39. Of course, that's not where ends. They gave me $20 in ECB which means they paid me about 17.50.

• Huggies wipes are 2/$5. I had 2 coupons from 4/19 Smart Source making my final price 2/$3.50.
• Select Kellogg cereals are 3/$10 which doesn't sound like that great of a deal, but they give your $5 RR making the final price 3/$5. That's better, but I wanted an even better deal, so I 2 coupon for $1/1 for Mini Wheat that I received through the mail. I got another $1/1 from coupons.com. That made my final price for 3 boxes of cereal was $2 or about .67 each.
• I don't know anything about Zantrex-3, but it's available for FREE after getting the Extra Care Bucks.
• Dawn dish soap is .99. I had a coupon for .50/1 that I received through snail mail making the final price .49
• Adidas Action 3 Anti-perspirant is on sale for $3.99 but after getting $3.00 ECB the final price is .99. But there is a coupon for $1/1 from 4/5 Red Plum making it FREE.
• Colgate MaxWhite toothpaste is $2.99. After getting $2.00 back in ECB, the final price is .99. But when you use the $1/1 coupon from 4/22 Smart Source it ends up FREE.

Mike was floored when he dragged in all the bags of things and I told him I only paid $5 OOP and then was paid $26 in return!

Free things you can get this week.

Ok, if you are reading this and haven't started anything yet, I'm going to post a few tings you can get for free or nearly free from CVS and Walgreens. At CVS, you do need to sign up for a card, but not a big deal and you can start using it immediately.

Walgreens has:

• Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste. It's 4.49 but when you check out, you'll get 4.49 back in Register Rewards, so it's FREE. And if you go to http://www.colgate.com/app/ColgateSensitiveNew/US/EN/HomePage.cvsp you can get a coupon for $1/1 which means you end up making a $1 off Walgreens.
• Right Guard is on sale for 2.99. You'll get RR for $2 making it only .99. BUT if you still have your 4/19 Smart Source, there is a $1/1 making it FREE.

CVS (remember the card):

• Adidas anti-perspirant is 3.99. You get $3.00 making it .99. If you have 4/5 Red Plum there was a $1/1 coupon making it FREE.
• Zantrex-3 Instant Shots are 4.99 and you get 4.99 in ECB back making it FREE.

There are definitely more. Check out Bargainbriana.com to check some out. Oh, and Wags has officially stropped the Easy Saver Rebates.

What can I save while I'm waiting for Sunday inserts?

Well, ran to Walgreens yesterday. I had to make sure I got the items that were going to be free this week because I had forgotten them on my earlier run.

I purchased 21.97 worth of items for 5.47. That would have been a 75% savings but I got 8.50 back in RR, so they paid me $3.03. I always try to get the items that end up being free because they give you RR or ECB at CVS. This time the items I got for free was Rembrandt toothpaste and Bayer Aspirin.

I had to pick up my prescriptions at Price Chopper and made sure to run through the ads before I went. I purchased 34.30 worth of groceries for 12.83 which is a 63% savings. I have to remind myself that means I only paid 37 cents for every dollar.

Some of my best deals were on cereal. Kellogg Miniwheats were on sale for 2/$5. I had a B1G1 coupon meaning that I got 2/$2.50 or 1.25 each. I purchased 2 more with $1/1 coupons making them 1.50 each and some Rice Krispees for .66 after a coupon for $1/1 because they were on sale 3/$5 which is 1.66. Most of those coupons I got through snail mail, but one was from 4/5 RP and I think I got one or two from coupons.com. Better than Aldi's prices. You bet.

(Speaking of Aldi. Hyvee has their instant oatmeal on sale for 1.38 this week. Micki is an oatmeal fiend. Aldi sells theirs for 1.49. Hey, 11 cents is 11 cents.)

I also got some Sara Lee Bread. It was on sale for 1.97 and I had $1/1 coupons from 4/26 RP. So name brand bread for .97. I only wish the whole wheat were included.

Also, Johnsonville Brat is on sale for 2/$5. There was a .55/1 coupon in 4/5 SS. I had two so I managed to get 2 for 3.90 or 1.95 each .

Well, tomorrow we start a new week with Walgreens & CVS. Of course, you can still snag thes deals from Price Chopper until Tuesday.