I LOVE Free!

These are the things I got free this month from Walgreens, Rite-Aid, CVS and Kroger! There are 2 Bayar Meters (to donate), 5 boxes of cereal, 3 packages of toilet paper, and 2 mouthwashes. And who says coupons aren't worth it?

I forgot to add these freebies. Two butters on sale at Kroger last week for $1 each, used 2 $1 coupons. Five single load Tides from Wal-Mart at 97 cents each. I used five $1 coupons reduced to 97 cents. I only paid 7 cents each for tax. Not bad at all!

I Love My CVS!!!

The Nivea bodywash is currently on sale at CVS for $4.88 per bottle. If you buy $15 worth you get $5 ECB. I had heard that the limit was great than the 1 listed in the ad. However, the deal was cumulative meaning you couldn't spend $14 one day and $16 the next and get 10 ECBs.

I had trouble with my deal today. I spent $14.64 on DBF's card Sunday and wanted to try to get at least the 5 ECB. I wasn't paying attention and would have added an item to get $15 if I was. I spent $15.74 today. Of course, I had a feeling that it wouldn't give me 10 ECBs. The manager said she'd call about it. Bless her heart, she dealt with this guy for about 10 minutes trying to explain that it didn't say limit reached etc. When she hung up, she said she'd be fired if she talked to me the was he talked to her. He told her to tell me the ad said limit one and for me to be on my way. This lady knows I'm in there at LEAST twice a week usually. She told the guy that there were people who "search CVS to death on the Internet and know more about CVS than we do". She was so nice to me! She didn't force print the 5 today, but wrote on my receipt to do it next time if it "doesn't catch up" by then. There are so many managers out there that wouldn't have taken the time or trouble!

FWIW...on the trans I did Sunday (and got the 5) my receipt just says $15.00 spent, not the $17.63 I actually spent.

Coupons + CVS = :)

I went to CVS tonight just because I had coupons! Me---with coupons? Imagine that! LOL I had just printed 4 $5 coupons from Nature's Bounty vitamins' "Healthy Rewards" site. I'd found codes on a fellow bloggers site to print the coupons. A $5 coupon cost five hundred points, BUT you can hit the back button and print more for no additional points.

At CVS, I purchased everything you see above for a whopping $1.70!! And I didn't even have to use ECBs to get my total that low. Here's a run down of the deal:

(1) B12 vitamins $8.49
(1) B2 vitamins $8.49
(2) D Vitamins $9.98
(1) Tampax 40ct. $3.49 CLEARANCE
(1) Tampax 20ct. $3.89
(1) Colgate7.6oz $3.99 RAINCHECK
_____________________________
Before discounts and coupon Total = $40.61 w/tax

The vitamins were BOGO, plus I had a $5 Q for each. That alone took $33.48 off my bill. I also had a $1 Q for the Colgate. Then I had a Q for free 20ct. Tampax with the purchase of a 40ct. ($3.89). That made a total of $24.89 just in coupons! I just realized that my subtotal after all of this was NEGATIVE 4 cents! With tax my OOP=$1.70!! AMAZING!!! I'm going back tomorrow! I still have 2 more $5 Q for vitamins. :) I love being able to add more things to my stockpile. BTW...I'm working on more stockpile pictures!

Speaking of picture: CVS has prints for only 9 CENTS each until Saturday!!! This is for the one hour service not the ones that print from the machine. You can upload your pictures at the store or online. At this late date, I'd do it at cvsphoto.com....use the promo code: 9cents There's no limit to how many you can print!

Great Deals at CVS!

CVS has Pampers this week for $8.97 (reg. $11.99). You get 3 ECBs back AND there's a $2 Q in the March 14th Red Plum coupon insert. There's also a $1.50 (maybe $2) coupon in the February 7th Proctor and Gamble insert. The limit for the Pampers is 3 per card, but you can't get all three in one transaction. After ECBs and coupons it ends up being $3.97 per package! (I think Easy Ups are also part of the deal).

I started out yesterday with 5 ECBs (on DBF's card) and none on mine. I spent a total of $24.70 and 10 ECBs (rolled 5 from 1st deal into 2nd)....now I have 20.5 ECBs. Not bad for 2 Bayar meters, 3 packages Pampers, 1 Crest ProHealth, 2 pack Stayfree pads, and a gallon of milk.



And NO, buying diapers doesn't mean I have an announcement to make...just preparing a gift for a friend who is expecting. If it was me, I'd be begging for coupons so I could do the deal 3 more times! LOL

August Has Been a Busy Month!

I love my new job, but I'm exhausted! I've not been on the GC message board as much as I'd like. I'm still getting my coupons, but not hunting down the deals like I had been. I haven't even been to CVS this week! Saturday will be my last day working at Wal-Mart, so I'm looking forward to that. I still need to add up my coupon and ECB savings for the past month and a half....keeping my receipts, but too tired to add them up.

Just wanted everyone know I was still alive!

CVS Gift Card Giveaway!

$10 CVS Gift Card Giveaway!

lbmoore is giving away a $10 CVS gift card...stop by her blog to find out how to enter: http://kittytigerskitchen.blogspot.com/



Here is just a glimpse of the stuff I've gotten for nearly nothing at CVS in the past year and a half!

Pictured above is only part of my feminine neccessities stockpile.

Here are deodorants and medicines as well as trial size lotions that I've acquired.

Good Deals at CVS and Picture of Baby Max

Today I went to CVS to get a photobook made. I knew they were on sale for $7.99 and that I'd get a 7.99 ECB that I could use later for something else. Once I got there, the cashier said that I could use the ECB and get another. I could "roll" the ECBs and end up with 6 photobooks for the price of one! How cool is that?? I didn't even have to get the pictures done today. Just bring the books back as I wanted to make the book. Good thing because I tried twice and had trouble both times. I'd get almost done and the computer would mess up. I don't know if it was just in my area or not, but my cashier said the stores were competing to see which store could sell the most photobooks. Makes a great birthday or CHRISTMAS gift.....Christmas is only 5 1/2 months away!




Here's one of Max's first pictures. My mom is wearing the gloves because Max scratched like crazy while taking his bottle. Maybe that's why Little Girl brought him to us and kept the other five. LOL That and the fact that he never got full! Up until he was 6 to 12 months old he'd knead my hair while I slept. I'd wake up and find half my hair matted to the side of my head. He'd also "pet" my head sometimes when he wanted HIS head petted.


I find myself looking at the other black cats and trying to spot Max's white whiskers. I really miss him when I'm in the kitchen because he'd hit my leg with his head and push his way through my calves. I guess that way he got petted on both sides and the same time. I also miss his distint meow. The house just isn't the same without him! :(

Why I Stockpile and Use Coupons

Now that this blog is linked to my facebook page and not just to the ladies at The Grocery Challenge, I feel that I should explain why and how I stockpile. I know that it looks and sounds a bit strange to those who do not shop the same way.


I really don't remember the first time I used coupons. I never remember my mom or dad using a coupon or stockpiling anything. I must have been started during college. I know my dorm had a table by the front door where you could leave or pick up coupons that were clipped out of the Sunday papers. I would look through them once a week or so to see what I could use. Then I got a subscription to the Sunday paper from Louisville (still has the best coupons around!). I also remember going to both Kroger and SuperWal-Mart for my grocery shopping. Kroger would double my coupons up to 50 cents, and at the time, they would take expired coupons.

When I started working summers at Wal-Mart, after my freshmen year in college, I started a mini stockpile I guess you could call it. I worked 25+ hours per week in the summer and only 15 hours at my work study during the school year. Therefore, I bought enough toiletries to last for entire the school year. That way I could use my employee discount PLUS coupons. I was then able to use my income during the school year for food and gasoline.

I continued using coupons and sales ads ever since then. However, the major stockpiling and going to CVS started a year ago this past February after I discovered the helpful ladies at The Grocery Challenge. I wish I'd started shopping at CVS years ago! There so many things that you can buy and get the whole amount back in Extra Care Bucks (CVS store credit type coupons).

You may have noticed two tickers at the top of my blog page. I have never kept track of how much I'd save with coupons, Extra Care Bucks, or Walgreen's Register Rewards. I thought I would keep track of it on here. I'm trying to see how long it takes to save $1,000 in coupons and $1.000 in ECBS and RRs. I've only been keep track for 15 days and already saved nearly $100! And I haven't speant a whole lot either. Here's a good story I found on MSN about saving money buying food inexpensively: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/the-dollar-food-pantry.aspx
Ok, now you know a little about HOW I do it. So WHY do I do it? Well, to be honest, some of it is because it's a challenge. I like to see how much I can get for so little. But the major part is because my paychecks are so erractic. During March and April my paychecks from school (at assistant pay, NOT teacher pay), were only for seven days each because of a two week long spring break. Ten day checks are pretty good, I can make that work. But four 7 day checks in a row was tough! Because of my HBA and food stockpile (haven't showed a picture of that yet) I could use those tiny checks to pay the bills and not worry about having food for me and the furbabies. All I really had to buy was perishables, dry cat food and Diet Cokes. I can never have enough dry cat food and Diet Cokes stockpiled!

Another reason why I stockpile is to help friends and family who need it. A month or so ago a family member and his three kids moved and were starting over. I could not help with money, but I could help with HBA products! Below is a picture of things I gathered up from my stockpile. I probably spent less than $5 on all of that!

Happy Easter!

Yes, I know that Easter is still a few days away, but I won't be near a computer then. DBF and I are visiting his family in Kentucky this weekend. They live near Lexington so it'll be about a four hour drive each way. We'll celebrate his niece's 2nd b-day while we are there. We all (his parents, sister, niece and the two of us)will spend Saturday at the Cincinatti zoo. I was already looking foward to spending the weekend with them, but even more now that I know about the zoo! I haven't been to the zoo since a field trip to the Nashville zoo when I was student teaching in 1998! Expect to see LOTS of pictures next week!!

I am almost finished with my "Integrating Technology" class! It's been very interesting which is good since I just found out that I will have to pay full price ($758!) for it. My dad received a purple heart when he was in the military so I qualified for a remission of fees. However, I would have to be seeking a degree. No thanks, I already have a bachelor's and a Masters. All I want to do is keep my Kentucky Teaching Certification! The crazy thing is, this is the paper I got from the university to tell me I'd have to change to degree-seeking status was the first contact that they've made. They never even sent me a letter telling me that I was enrolled! I had to call the Friday before classes started! Oh well, I hate to spend the money, but THANK GOD I have the money put away already to pay for it. It just means that I won't be able to pay off the $400 or so that I owe on my student loans from 11 years ago.

I've had some good deals at the stores lately. I've gone to Walgreens the past two Sundays. I loved getting the Softsoap for only tax! I got three on Sunday night. Then I gave the last Q to DBF (since he works near WAGS and I live 30 miles away) to get some more. Too bad the stores caught on and stop the multiple Qs from printing. DBF said he tried to get four in different transaction during his lunch and the new Q didn't print. Four for the price of one (I used $1 Q on the first one) isn't bad at all!

This past Sunday, I did the Colgate, Skintimate (again!), and Chapstick deals (couldn't find this on 3/29!). I have $6.50 in RRs. Need to check if there is a WAGS near DBF's parents. I already looked up CVS and found one about 30 minutes away from their farm. We will be driving right by it on our way home Sunday so I can get more FREE Softsoap----I love this stuff!

Another great deal was the Pepsi at Target last week. I had just gotten my Pepsi/Frito Lay Qs the day before. I also found the Gillette shampoo/body wash on sale for $2 (I had $2 Qs!). For 5 12packs of Diet Pepsi and 3 of the bodywash I spend a grand total of $6.12!! Plus I got a $5 giftcard to Target! DBF and I saw this kid (12 or 13) loading a cart down with Mountain Dew. It was a funny sight, but I know that if it had been a Coke sale, I would have bought 2 carts worth of Diet Coke!

I got a $15/75 CRT from CVS this week, but I didn't have the right Q from P&G to make it work. If I had Tide/Swifter Qs and could find my Intuition Qs I might have been able to do it.

Oh, I did make a quick $60 the other day! On January 2nd I had to get a script for strep and of course the stupid computers were on the blink so my insurance wouldn't go through. My insurance is throught Wal-Mart and I was filling the script at Wal-Mart-----how hard is that??? Anyway, I paid full price so I could take my meds and go to bed....all $64.xx of it! I never got anything back from it so I went back the the pharmacy and asked. Remember if you don't ask the answer is always NO! That reminds me, I need to check if CVS will take my insurance so I can get some of those $25 gift cards next time I need meds. Too bad I can't get the furbabies meds there----one of them is always needing something!

Well, that's an update of what's going on. I was going to post pictures of my deals, but I'm just too tired! Have a Happy Easter and Happy Passoever!

December Update

I haven't been keeping up with this page or the Grocery Challenge forum like I used to. I've really not been on the Internet much in the past couple weeks. I've done some GREAT deals at CVS since Thanksgiving. I had 60 ECBs when I went to CVS on Thanksgiving. I used 50 and $1.48 OOP and got 67 ECBs in return! I used a handful of coupons and walked out with two bags of things. The next morning I went back for another Schick razor and the TV remotes---- I used some ECBS, $0.56 OOP and got at least 20 ECBS back. I still have nearly 30 to use for the great sale that starts 12/21.

Is it bad that I'm going to delay my family Christmas get-together by a couple hours so I can do a CVS run after church? I'll be with DBF's family on Christmas day, so my family's celebrating on Sunday.

Okay, I have to brag on DBF. Last Sunday, not only did he fix my heater in my car, he also fixed me dinner! Isn't that sweet? He's still buying me Christmas presents too, even though he said he already has 5 or 6 for me. I'm excited about spending Christmas with his family. This will be the first time I'm met his sister and 20 month old niece.

Not much else going on. One more week until school's out for 2 weeks!!

I love FREE!

In these days of rising prices, it's great to find a good price on anything. However, my favorite price of all is FREE! Before going onto the the MSN money messageboard (specifically the Grocery Challenge thread), I rarely if EVER got anything free. Now, however, that is changing. In the past week I have gotten at least 8 items for free! I actually MADE 50 cents on each of the Colgate toothpaste by using a $1.50 coupon and getting $2.00 ECBS back.





Here's how I got so much for FREE!

Loreal facial cleanser 5.99 at CVS - $1.00 Q = $4.99 and got 5.99 ECBs back
Dawn HandRenewal on hidden sale at CVS (thanks to GC for telling me!) 99 cents - $1.00 Q
Colgate Toothpaste 2 at $2.99 at CVS - $1.50 Q each = $1.49 and get 2.00 ECBs
Cover Girl lipstick on BOGO sale at CVS AND I had a BOGO Q so I got $19.98 for FREE!
Cottonelle TP 4 single roll pack (2 packs) 99 cents each at Kroger - 2 50 cents Qs that double = FREE!

Most of this will be for my personal use (stockpile), but the toothpaste and toilet paper will be used for HBA Christmas baskets for friends and family.

CVS Deals

Yesterday, I went to CVS to get the July deals. Frugalsuz had mentioned the CVS make-up removers being free after ECBs so I had to find out if I could get them at my store.

Here's what I got:


2 22pk CVS pantyliners = $1.98
2 Sure 2.6 deordorant = $5.98
1 CVS exfoliant face wipe = $3.49
1 Revlon ponytail holder = $5.99
1 Revlon hairclip = $5.99
____________________________________

Qs I used:

$4 off $20
$1 off each Sure deo (I also have a BOGO mail-in rebate to send in)
$3 off skincare
$11 ECBs

Total OOP = $3.81
Amount saved = $20
ECBs earned = $12.97



When I got to the car, I realized that I had a regular CVS make-up remover wipes in my bag that the cashier forgot to ring up. So I go back in to pay for it (and get 2.99 more ECBS.

1 CVS make-up remover = $2.99
used 1.98 ECBs
Total OOP = $1.08
Earned 2.99 ECBs

Next transaction:

3 CVS 15 ct. make-up removal wipes = $8.97
used $8 ECBS
Total OOP = $1.04
Earned 8.97 ECBs