Thursday, July 30, 2009

Walgreens Friends and Family Day Tomorrow 7/31

Don't miss tomorrow's Friends and Family Day at Walgreens. Print out the coupons I have here
http://www.walgreens.com/dmi/instorespecials/default.html?ec=hn1028sr_getcoupon

and take 15% off entire purchase and 20% off Walgreens Brand purchases.

Don't forget to buy their pharmacy plan card. It is $20 for one year and you ear 10% of your Wlagreenss brand purchases in rewards. So if you buy the card, then buy a walgreens gift card for the amount you are planning on spending, make sure and scan your Pharmacy Card. You will be credited 10% of the value of your gift card. Then when you go check out scan your pharmacy card again and the 10% will be deducted from your current transaction, then pay with the gift card you bought.

So a $20 giftcard just took $2 off your next transaction. Plus you get a great coupon book for signing up for the pharmacy card. Make sure to ask the pharmacist about it.

Episode Three.... Brand New Store....

This episode finds our hero well rested from a few days alone with her One True Love, and ready to shop till she drops in her continued effort to save the Almighty Dollar.

Fresh from a great clearance score at Target Super Coupon Mom heads to the other side of the highway to take on the newest CVS in the area.

"WOW!" She exclaimed as she entered the bright and clean store. "This is shaping up to be a promising outing."

Without delay Super Coupon Mom grabs her handy shopping cart, and heads straight to the Magic Coupon Machine.

The Magic Coupon machine must have been in a good mood today, because Super Coupon Mom scored a $5 off $25 coupon. "Woo Hoo!" She thought to herself, "If I can create a pre coupon total over $50 I can use both of the $5 off $25 coupons that I have."

Super Coupon Mom immediately began to calculate her transaction in her head.

"What high dollar items do I need to add to the stockpile?" she asked herself.

Quickly figuring that she definitely needed to add laundry detergent to the stockpile Super Coupon Mom set out to build her transaction around that goal.

After a thorough scan of the CVS Flyer Super Coupon Mom sees that CVS has Arm & Hammer Laundry Detergent on sale at 2/$6.99 with a $2 ECB for each set of two. Since the transaction limit was three per card. Super Coupon Mom quickly added six bottles to her cart.

"That will be a great start to building up to $50, now I need to find a way to fill in the difference." She said to herself.

Quickly remembering the three things she knew she had coupons for Super Coupon Mom added 16 individual packs of Mentos Gum, 1-3 Pack of Mentos Gum, 2 Composition Books (On both kids school supply list), 2 cases of bottled water and 2 packages of cashews. Having finally achieved a total of $51 Super Coupon Mom exclaimed, "Perfect, now to the checkout to save the Almighty Dollar."

With a skip in her step our Hero heads to the cashier already feeling triumphant.

After handing the stunned cashier her coupons and ECB's Super Coupon Mom paid only $14 oop.

AHHHHH... But wait. That $14 came from the gift card that CVS so nicely rewarded me with last week for filling prescriptions with them. So Super Coupon Mom’s total OOP is $0.

Giddy with her victory Super Coupon Mom passes the time by counting her new ECB's as she waits patiently for the cashier writes up her Rain checks for some of the school supplies they were out of.

New ECB's totaling $13 and another $5 off $25 in hand Super Coupon Mom Heads home to rest and prepare for her next adventure.

Reorganizing

My stock pile has gotten out of control... I have had a few weekends that have been very busy trying to enjoy my time while the kids visit their dad. Needless to say I have kept myself very busy, so shopping had to take a back seat. I was able to score some great deals at several places but, haven't had time to finish my biggest project... The Stockpile.

I am about 3/4 of the way through the task. I have most of the shelving where I want it and I am in the process of finding homes for everything. The biggest issue is that I still have a HUGE TV in my garage that I need to sell. It literally takes up half of my wall space.

I just received a free deep freeze and I need to transfer the contents of my overflowing inside freezer, I need to find a place for the 200 AMP Energy Drinks I got for free, and the cases of water also need a home.

Tonight is my last night before my kids finally come home. I hope to tackle the freezer, stockpile, and their laundry before I call it a night. Wish me luck. Hopefully I will have pictures of the finished product in the morning.



Target Clearance Finds

Sunday I went with a freind to Target to introduce her to the joys of coupon shopping. While we were there we happened upon the summer clearance section. All of the items were 75% off. So we set out to find some great deals. My daughter has been wanting a volleyball, there was one for $1.50. Can't beat that. I also found some great storage buckets for $1.50, some kids dinner plates for $.37, and two great water bottles one for each kid for $.99. I also found some great kitchen items and a bucket of Margarita Mix for $1.50. Remember that while all Target stores do their mark downs on the smae days, they are often different percentages.

At lunch on Wednesday I went to target with my mom, and was able to get 12 boxes of Kellog's Pop Tarts for $.22. They are on sale for $1.52 I used 12 $.55/1 mfg c/o stacked with 12 $.75/1 Target c/o. These also qualify for Kellog's Fuel for School Rebate so I have a $10 Rebate coming too. In addition I found Olay in Shower Body Lotion on Clearance for $2.88, I used 5 $2/1 mfg c/o and got this great high cost lotion for $.88 each. We also found a great Christmas gift for my son on clearance for under $5.

I am going to try to go to another store tonight or tomorrow and get some Crest White strips Advanced for Free. I will update with those later if I find some. I am also going to try to get my hands on a few more Scrubbing Bubble Shower Cleaners. Target has them on sale this week for $12.99, there is a $7/1 ip c/o on the Scrubbing Bubble site and A Target c/o in ine &/26 Samrt source insert for a $5 gift card when you purchase one. I already got one, but I want to roll my GC into a few more.

Home Made Simple

Deal Seeking Mom has a great post for all of you beginners. Fill out the form and Home Made Simple will send you a booklet of great high priced coupons for household cleaning prodeucts. Febreeze, Cascade, and many many more.

Check out Deal Seeking Moms site for this info and tons of other great deals.

http://www.dealseekingmom.com/yet-another-home-made-simple-coupon-booklet/

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Target and CVS another fun lunch excursion

I had to get two prescriptions refilled today, so I searched the internet and found a coupon from Kmart for up to $100 in gift cards for transfered prescriptions. No we don't have Kmart here, but CVS will honor competitor coupons in their pharmacy. So I called the store had all of my transfers done and went to pick them up. I gave the cashier my coupon and CVS card and was rewarded with a $50 giftcard for spending ony $40 on prescriptions. This is probably a better money maker for those with insurance.

I went from there to Target, I really wanted to take advantage of their sales this week. I wanted to find the Quattro Razors but they were sold out. I did find a clearance swimsuit for my daughter, an AXE three piece gift set ($1.49), two Softsoap refills ($1.79) and two Softsoap Bodywash (.99). I also was able to get two Head & Shoulders shampoos for $2.29 (BOGO mfg. co. and a $2 Target co). My other stacking was a Venus Embrace Razor for $4.99-$2.00 mfg. co.-$4 Target co.+ $1.99 For Shave gel -$2 Buy Venus get Shave gel free. Total for those two items was Target paid me $1. Not bad.

Hope that you are finding some great deals. Target is a fun one because you can stack a Manufacturer coupon with a Target coupon, this often leads to free items. There are several place to find Target Internet Printable Coupons....



Target has them on their own web site.




A Full Cup. Sign up for these.



My Favorite
Organic Grocery Deals


Also Check out...

Attention Target Shoppers
She has a printable spreadsheet every week of coupon match ups at Target, including Mfg. and Target co.


Monday, July 20, 2009

Kroger AMP Deal

Kroger stores in our area are having their Mega Sale. This is a great time to stock up on lots of great items. So far I have focused on the AMP Energy Drink deal. This is how it works, buy 10 AMP 16 oz. cans. Use your Kroger card and pay $10.72. They are going to ring up $2.49, $1 will come off for scanning you Kroger card, and when the cashier hits total an additional $5 will come off because you bought 10 items. Pay for your ten cans how ever you choose. A catalina coupon (CAT, register coupon) will print that is worth $10 on your next order (OYNO). While you are in the store grab a grocery gift card from the gift card center. Go up to the customer service desk and hand the clerk your Kroger card, gift card and catalina. They will scan all three and your gift card will have a $10 balance good for gas or groceries.

I was able to go to five Kroger stores and get 120 cans. I have already drank a few. This can actually be a money maker if you have any AMP coupons. Mine came today after a trade so I will try again for a few more. I still have $25 on my GC so this could add up nicely.


How do you do it?

Today some friends asked me how I do my coupon shopping. So, I decided to start a couponing 101 section.

My first advice is to start slow...no I didn't follow my own advice. I have days (today) where my stockpile can overwhelm me. I have a lot to do in the house and that has to take priority so my stockpile is not looking its best.

But to answer a few questions...

1. Where do you get all of your coupons?

I started out just buying a few copies of the Sunday Houston Chronicle each week. I also found several sites that allow you to print coupons. As I learned more I found chat rooms and websites devoted to trading coupons. (It is illegal to sell coupons, if you are paying someone to send you a coupon make sure that this is very clear. All EBay coupon transactions must state this. You are paying for their time and effort to locate, clip and sort the coupons for you).

I also learned that coupons can be found in so many other places. Of course on the grocery store aisle (blinkies), or attached to a product (peelies), but also a gas station can often have several great coupons, usually they are attached to the cooler doors.

2. What advice do you have for someone who is interested in trying extreme coupon shopping?

Stay under the radar. This is the key to your success. Try your hardest not to draw too much attention to yourself. Don't try to cram 100 identical items into one transaction, try two or three smaller ones. Take your stuff to the car and come back through, or if you live in an area with several of the same store move on to the next one.

I have a circuit I like to use for CVS and Walgreens in the area where I live, but I also have a circuit in the area near my office. This way I don't attract any undo attention. If you do find a clerk who is excited to help you and excited to see your great deals, learn her schedule. This can be a very valuable resource.

There is another piece of advice that will keep you from angering people, both in stores and chat rooms, never take the last one. It is a simple courtesy, sometimes it is very tempting to snag all of a great deal, but imagine being the harried mom who just needs one pack of size 3 diapers and having to go to several stores. We have all been there, or will be soon. It is no fun.

3. Is it worth it? What do you do with items that you don't need or near expiration?

Yes, it is absolutely worth it. But, that is my personal opinion. Many of my family and friends are in awe of what I do; others see it as a waste of time. For me it is several things a hobby, an escape and a third job. I am a mom and partner first and foremost, I have to focus on that at all times, and second I have to focus on my career. But, part of my role as parent and partner is keeping us fed, clothed, healthy and safe. If I can achieve all of those things and save money in the process, then why not?

As for the items I do not use or are close to expiration, I have several options. One, food items I will donate to a local charity. I have been through those rough patches and I told myself that if I can one day help some other mom keep her kids fed and still hold her head high I will always do so. I take a digital picture of the items I donate to any charity; I keep a list of how many, what size and the full retail value of the item. This will come in handy at tax time

A second option is to collect items for free and cheap for a stretch of time and have a yard sale a few times a year. Several sites will even give you a pricing list based on their previous yard sale experiences.

I hope that I have answered any questions you might have, if not please email me or leave me a comment. I will respond as quickly as possible.

Good luck and happy couponing.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Adventures of The Super Coupon Mom Episode 2

When we last saw our Hero she was celebrating her victory at CVS with her young side kicks. Sadly today Super Coupon Mom is on her own in her efforts to save the Almighty Dollar.

Alone and feeling a little down with out her super side kicks our Hero headed out to see if she could find a great deal to lift her spirits.

Her first stop was CVS to create some great Photo Books. These free albums are a great glimpse down memory lane, and this helps Super Coupon Mom find the strength to carry on.

Revitalized by the happy thoughts of Princess Random and captain Obvious, Super Coupon Mom heads down the road to Kroger. This next deal was going to require some leg work, always ready for a challenge Super Coupon Mom grabs her trusty binder and a shopping cart.

She quickly makes her way to the soda aisle and spots her target...AMP energy drinks. "The Mega Sale today makes these only $1 each, and I know that they are printing a $10 gift card Catalina if you buy ten". Super coupon Mom revels in the thought of FREE products for a moment and then begins to formulate her plan of attack.

"I will start with 10, get my gift card and come back for more. Then I will go to a few more Kroger’s and see how many I can stock up on".

She dashes to the register with her super shopper speed, all the while dodging crying babies, and inconsiderate shoppers. Super Coupon Mom makes it to the Express Lane. Insert victorious music here. But, Oh, What is that? The dreaded Manager is helping check out in this lane.

"Drat He spotted me; I am stuck in his tractor beams." She exclaimed.

"Hi, Mam, do you have your Kroger card today?" He asks.

"Yes, sir. Here it is." She says quietly handing him her card.

"Isn't this a fantastic deal? Did you know that it is going to give you a coupon for $10 off your next purchase?" He asks a very stunned Super Coupon Mom.

"Why yes, I did know. I can't believe you are happy about it; most store managers do not take kindly to coupon shoppers. Why are you different?" She asks him, confused by this recent turn of events.

“Well, we still get paid, you get your drinks, and everyone is happy". He stated very bluntly. "Plus, I plan on taking advantage of this deal myself when I get off."

Clearly dumbfounded our Hero merely mumbles, "Wow."

This new friend of Super Coupon Mom asks her "Were you planning on purchasing any more?"

"Yes."

"How many more are you going to get?'

"Maybe 40, if you have enough."

"Let's go to the customer service Desk and get you all situated then. I will start your gift card and we will take care of the rest of your transactions up here."

Picking her jaw up off the floor Super Coupon Mom follows her newfound friend to the Customer Service Booth. Five minutes later she heads back to the Soda Aisle gets her 40 more AMP drinks. And Walks out the door to the waiting Mom-mobile, with 50 AMP drinks, and $10 dollars left on the Gift Card.

"What a great day," she thought to herself. "I sure do miss Princess Random and Captain Obvious, but that was certainly fun. I think I will head to the next Kroger and see how I do there".


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

My Stockpile A Quick Tour

When I first started researching coupon shopping the first thing I read about was stockpiling. It is designed to ensure that you always have enough of what you need so you don't have to pay full price. So when an item reaches its rock bottom price you stock up, and go SHOPPING in your own stockpile when you need something rather than pay the premium price.


I have wanted to take pictures of my stockpile to show people. This morning before work I ran out to the garage to snap a couple of pics. They are nothing special. I really want to get some new shelves to put stuff on. In just under six weeks I have already run out of room. MY freezer, pantry, medicine cabinet, and three shelving units in the garage are full. I really enjoy finding these great deals, and sharing them with others.

This shelf has 14 toothpastes, three Listerine, two body wash, 6 Renu Contact solutions, three Playtex Tampons.

This shelf has too many dish soaps to count six Soft-soap hand soaps and two CVS panty liners.

This shelf has three each Tresemme shampoo and conditioner and 1 hair gel. 7 Johnson buddies soap, three deodorants and 5 aspirin.

This is my Dish Detergent stash, 19 boxes.

And my air freshener stash of 26 cans.

This one is 4 notebooks, 4 rulers, and 2 Pictureeka card games, countless deodorants, 8 packs of Dove soap, 2 Kotex Panty Liners, Two laundry soaps and one fabric softener.

This one has 1 Venus Embrace razor, 3 Gillette Fusion Razors, 6 Colgate Wisps, 1 Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, 16 Body Sprays, 4 LED Candles, 4 School glue, 5 Mentos gums, 8 Dental floss, and 8 Tooth brushes.

This is the second storage shelf. It is a terrible pic, but it will do. I keep all of the food in here since it has doors that I can close to keep it safe. I won’t go into detail here about its contents.

I have left a lot out. This weekend I am getting a deep freezer, and I can't wait to clean out my freezer inside as well as my pantry. Maybe I will get sometime to take much better pics. The best thing I see when I look at all of this is that the most expensive item in all this was $2.00. The majority of it was free or under $.50.

CVS IS great this week.

I had to make a quick trip to CVS for my mom today at lunch. So I planned to start taking advantage of their 6x8 Photobook sale. This week it is on sale for $7.99 with $7.99 in ECB's back = FREE. Originally the limit was 1 per card, but as it turns out other bloggers discovered that it is 5 per card. So I have been planning to create 15 books, five for each card. I have organized and edited all my pics, and was ready to go. The CVS I went to not only didn't know about the limit change but, the albums were ringing up incorrectly ($9.99 with no ECB). I knew this was not going to go the way I wanted. Little did I know that I had just encountered a great cashier and manager. I forget their names, but, I have her id number to call and brag. They manually did the ECB's for all 4 of my transactions. I will be going back on Friday to a different CVS to continue this deal. But, I am so excited about my albums. They will make great gifts.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Adventures...Super Coupon Mom conquers CVS.

In the further adventures of the Super Coupon Mom we find our hero sweltering in the intense Texas heat. "Hottest July in decades....hmmm I better think of something to do today that won't keep me out in this heat," thought Emily. "I know," she thought, "Let's go to CVS and see if we can find some great deals. Maybe we can even save that Almighty Dollar." With her trusty sidekicks in tow Emily quickly changed them all to their alter egos(gotta help the youngsters)...Super Coupon Mom, Princess Random and Captain Obvious. So they all dashed to the Mom-mobile(Trailblazer), and off they went. This CVS was not a great windfall, it was a little to far out in the burbs. All of those great razors were gone, but never fear Super Coupon Mom is here!!!!!

Straight to the pharmacy isle for clearance Alavert. Yes we all have allergies, even super heros have weaknesses. The 12 count Alavert was on Clearance from $10.99 marked to $2.75. Two of the boxes had $2 peelies (p/e) and Super Coupon Mom just happened to have a $2.00 c/o in her trusty binder. All of the other clearance medicine was gone so our heros set out in search of other great bargains.

"Look Super Coupon Mom, over there" cries Captain Obvious, "the clearance table." They all rushed to the table to see what bargains awaited. Super Coupon Mom turns to Princess Random and says, "Princess do we have any coupons for Mentos Gum?"

"Why yes, look here $.55 c/o." Cries Princess Random. Great so they grabbed 5 at $.42. Cha-Ching!!! Free gum!!

"Quick Captain Obvious, get our handy CVS card and ECB's and lets go check out!"

Our Heros head to the cashier where they present their finding to the clerk. After the total they present all of their coupons and ECB's and the Cashier says, "that will be $.06 please."

Captain Obvious reaches into his little pockets and pays her with a dime.

Once again our fearless heros have conquered evil and saved the Almighty Dollar.

Stay tuned next week for more adventures of Super Coupon Mom, Princess Random, and Captain Obvious.

A new feature.

I have decided to write a weekly narrative just for fun. Each week I will detail one of my shopping trips in story form. I hope that this will become a fun weekly release. Enjoy the Adventures of Super Coupon Mom, Princess Random, and Captain Obvious.

Monday, July 13, 2009

CVS Deal Today....


For a while now bloggers have been posting about this great clearance deal on Bic Soleil Razors. CVS had a bonus pack with 4 blades attached for $2.99. Great price, but dig into my handy coupon binder and woo hoo I have a $3 c/o. So I have been searching high and low for this deal. I searched through at least 10 CVS stores. Today for lunch I decided that I needed to try one more time. I mean what super hero can give up on a challenge like this. So I mapped a route that would take me to 3 CVS stores I had never visited.

First stop was my Jackpot!!!!!!!!!!!

They had not one or two razors..... they had 14. It was official I had won.

I got one and went to scan it just in case. Wow! Not $2.99, but $1.49. Sweet so my handy $3 c/o would net me 2 and I would only have to pay tax. Sweet! But, what what's that. Oh look I have three coupons for free blades if you buy the handle. OMG!

So I got 10 Razors, each with a bonus 4 pack of blades, and three extra packs of blades.

As always in CVS I checked the clearance section. Scoreboard. 90% off Clearance was packed. I got a Crayola Hannah Montana Color Wonder kit for $1.30, a Hannah Montana Candy container for 13 cents and a set of Hannah Stickers for 40 cents. All will be in my Christmas stash for this year. I also got 6 two packs of Colgate Wisp for 13 cents each, and 5 Sally Hansen Nail Polishes for 1.39. Oh look a .50 c/o in my binder. Woo. And for my super reader seven year old side kick, I found a book she has been eyeing at the bookstore for a while only 70 cents.

So a very successful trip even if I didn't buy anything at the other two stores. I also have two more coupons for the razors.

In the beginning...........

Let me introduce myself, I am Emily, a mild mannered single mom to two great kids. I work full time, do photography on the side and work very hard to make my little ones my first priority. Recently I discovered a super power..... the power of the Almighty Dollar. My life till now has been all about living from paycheck to paycheck, I am tired of it. So on June 1, 2009 I decided to try my hand at extreme couponing. I have done the research and joined the chat groups. I have really enjoyed the challenge and love to revel in my successes. My hopes for this blog is to connect you to the great deals and through my ups and downs help others learn the tricks that will help them in their quest to save the Almighty Dollar.