Shop With Me!

Alright, here's this week's deals.  Some I may not get (trying to scale back on some purchases).  I'm bummed that we didn't get a rumored coupon that I really wanted.  Eastern Washington always seems to be left out on the good coupons :(

RITE AID:

Crest Toothpaste, 4, 4.2, 4.6 or 6.2 oz Oral-B Complete $3.00
Buy 1, Receive $3.00 +Up Reward, Limit 2
Use $0.50 off 1 oral b complete from PG 7/1 (exp 7/31)
Or $0.75 off 1 crest toothpaste PG 7/1 (exp 7/31)
Pay $2.25-@2.50, Receive $3.00 +Up Reward
Final Price: $.25-.50 Moneymaker

Super Poligrip Denture Adhesive Cream, 0.75 oz $1.99
Buy 1 Poligrip, Submit for $1.99 Single Check Rebate, only valid 7/29 – 8/4
Use $1.00/1 – Poligrip Product – (mypolicare.com)
Pay $0.99, Submit $1.99 Single Check Rebate
Final Price: $0.99 Moneymaker

Lanacane Maximum Strength Cream, 1 oz or Spray, 3.5 oz $5.00
Buy 1, Receive $5.00 +Up Reward, Limit 1
Pay $5.00, Submit $5.00 Single Check Rebate
Final Price: Free

WALGREENS:

Penway Colored Pencils, 12 ct $0.69

Cortaid Maximum Strength Itch Relief Cream $2.99
Buy 1, Submit for $2.99 Mail-In Rebate
Use $1.00/1 – Cortaid Product – (smartsource.com)
Pay $1.99, Submit $2.99 Mail-In Rebate
Final Price: $1.00 Moneymaker

Mueller Kinesiology Tape, 5.47 yds $6.99
Buy 1, Submit for $6.99 Mail-In Rebate
Pay $6.99, Submit $6.99 Mail-In Rebate
Final Price: Free

Vitali-T-Aid , 60 ct $20.00
Buy 1, Submit for $20.00 Mail-In Rebate
Pay $20.00, Submit $20.00 Mail-In Rebate
Final Price: Free

Arctic Naturals Omega Supplements, 60 ct $15.00
Buy 1, Submit for $15.00 Mail-In Rebate
Pay $15.00, Submit $15.00 Mail-In Rebate
Final Price: Free


Walmart

EcoTools EcoPouf Sponge $0.87
Use the $1/1 EcoTools Product coupon found here
Final cost FREE + $0.13 in overage!

Cra-Z-Art Crayons, 24 ct $0.25 (or price match to ToysRUs .25 ad for Crayola)

Elmer’s Washable School Glue Stick $0.10

Accu-Chek Nano Blood Glucose Monitor $9.99
Use $10.00/1 Accu-Chek Nano SmartView System, 1 coupon per customer from RP 7/29 (exp 12/31)
Final Price: Free

TARGET

Clean & Clear Morning Burst Facial Scrub, 1 oz $0.97, regular price
Use $1.00/1 – Clean & Clear Product, Limit one coupon per person – (smartsource.com)

Final Price: Free

Buy 5 select Kellogg’s Items = FREE $5 Target Gift Card

(No Coupons Needed!)
Buy 5 Kellogg’s Fruit Snacks $1.99 per box
Pay $9.95
Get back a $5 Target gift card
Final cost only $4.95 total – just $0.99 per box!

Buy 1 Gillette Fusion ProGlide Razor $9.74
Buy 1 Gillette 4-pk Cartridge $16.99
Total = $26.73
Use the $5/2 Gillette Razor AND cartridge Target store regional coupon found in the 7/29 RP
Plus, use the $3/1 Gillette Fusion Proglide Razor when you buy Fusion Proglide Cartridge found in the 7/29 PG
Pay $18.73
Get back a $5 Target Gift Card
Final cost only $13.73 for both!

Office Depot

Office Depot Paper Portfolios $0.01 Limit 10

Scholastic Crayons, 24 ct $0.25, Limit 3

Remember to Enter my Giveaway!

Just a reminder that there's only a handful of days to enter my giveaway, free coupons and jewelry/other handmade items!  Enter Here!

Calling artists, doodlers, etc!

I've been a busy bee over the last month.  Between work, couponing, and crafting-I haven't had a minute to spare it seems.  This blog got taken over a bit by couponing but I want to make sure I share some of my crafty stuff too :)  Here are some of the stamps that I carved for someone.  She is making things such as towels I think with the designs stamped on them with the larger stamps.  If she lists them online I'll try to get a link up here of what the finished projects end up being :) 

Are you an artist or know one?  Or just like to doodle?  What do you think of my rubber stamp carving skills?  Here's just a small sampling of what I do!  If you are interested, take a look at my shop and contact me.  Prices are likely to go up soon as my main supplier no longer carries some of my supplies so I have to go elsewhere with higher prices and I've realized I undercharge for my time-these stamp take a while to make!

Make Money-Buy Gift Cards!

I'm at home letting an injury rest up, since I can't be up and about much, here I am blogging away...  Thought I'd share something with you.  Last night we went to Safeway because we were all out of bread (and as you can see in the pictures-I got free sprinkles-load to your card occasionally freebies like some frosting powder right now on your Safeway card through their JustForU program).  While there, I saw a sign at the register that you get a $10 catalina off of your next purchase when you buy $100 worth of MasterCard gift cards.  The activation fee for a $100 gift card was $5.95, but it still made sense to buy 1!  We paid $105.95 and got a gift card worth $100 and a coupon (catalina) for $10 in free groceries, so after the activation fee, we got $4.05 worth of free groceries.  I wanted to break the $100 up into smaller gift cards for wedding gifts, but each $25 gift card had something like a $3.95 activation fee and after 4 of them, the math doesn't work in your favor.  The snag with this is that you have to have $100 to spend.  Luckily, with budgeting, eating out less, and couponing, we have more cash flow to spare and the Mastercard will be used instead of my debit card on other purchases.

Be on the lookout for these kinds of deals.  Back around Mother's Day I blogged about getting free groceries because I bought some gift cards to Michael's craft store (the one I usually go to most often), and yesterday there was a deal that I forgot to get in on (oops!  :(......)  where you could get a $100 gift card to Target for only $90.  If I'll eventually spend that money at Target over time anyway, might as well get a discount!

First Aid Goodies-Post for my Hubby :D

My husband just started his first class of college this summer-he's working toward an Orthotics & Prosthetics degree.  The 1 class we were able to squeeze him into for the summer is a first aid class.  Seeing these sweet deals (deal find and pictures courtesy TheKrazyCouponLady.com), and thinking of his class, I wanted to post them :)  Rite Aid rebates are really easy.  You go to their website and enter some numbers from the cash register receipt, submit the request for the check to be cut, and then you'll get your money back in the mail :)  We have plenty of first aid supplies already, but I think I'll get in on this deal anyway!

All four of the following products are included in the same Single Check Rebate, and the limit on this rebate is one, so pick your favorite of the following!

Buy 2 Kendall Antimicrobial Telfa Large Bandage, 10 ct $4.99
Buy One Get One Free, through 7/28
Buy 2, Submit for $5.00 Single Check Rebate, Limit 1
Pay $4.99, Submit $5.00 Single Check Rebate
Final Price: FREE!

Buy 2 Kendall Antimicrobial Telfa Nonstick Pad 3×4, 10 or 20 ct $4.99
Buy One Get One Free, through 7/28
Buy 2, Submit for $5.00 Single Check Rebate, Limit 1
Pay $4.99, Submit $5.00 Single Check Rebate
Final Price: FREE!

Buy 2 Kendall Antimicrobial Kerlix Bandage Roll $4.99
Buy One Get One Free, through 7/28
Buy 2, Submit for $5.00 Single Check Rebate, Limit 1
Pay $4.99, Submit $5.00 Single Check Rebate
Final Price: FREE!

Buy 2 Kendall Antimicrobial Curity Gauze Pad 4×4, 10 ct $4.99
Buy One Get One Free, through 7/28
Buy 2, Submit for $5.00 Single Check Rebate, Limit 1
Pay $4.99, Submit $5.00 Single Check Rebate
Final Price: FREE!

This deal involves a different Single Check Rebate offer, so you can do this one and the other one for antimicrobial bandages.

Buy 2 Kendall Alcohol Swabs, 100 ct $2.99
Buy One Get One 50% Off
Buy 2, Submit for $4.00 Single Check Rebate, Limit 1
Pay $4.49, Submit $4.00 Single Check Rebate
Final Price: $0.25 each, when you buy 2 

Target has a deal going on that if you buy 3 participating first aid items, you can get a free kit shell (box).  They had a printable on their website for .75 off any Up & Up (Target brand) first aid item which made for free hydrogen peroxide (.57 each).  I don't see that deal there anymore.  But......

Curad, which usually makes bandaids, now makes hydrogen peroxide as well.  I think it's at Walmart for less than .70 so this .50 coupon makes for a great deal :)

Shop With Me :)

I'm not a dedicated blogger that can post 5 times a day-I've got way too much going on in life- a full time job, etsy sales (need to post a pict of my last order!), etc.  But I can share my shopping list :)    Here's what I'm looking at this week. 




Walmart

Glade Expressions Mist Refill, 7 oz $1.98, regular price
Use $2.00/1 Glade Expressions Collection from SS 7/15 (exp 8/4)
Final Price: .02 Moneymaker

The Natural Dentist Stim-U-Dent Plaque Remover $3.19
Submit for mail in rebate here
Final Price: Free




RITE AID:

Crest Pro-Health Sensitive Enamel Shield Smooth Mint Toothpaste, 4.2 oz $2.99
Buy 1, Submit for $2.99 Single Check Rebate, Limit 1
Pay $2.99, Submit $2.99 Single Check Rebate
Final Price: Free


Stayfree Maxi Pads, 14-24 ct $3.00
Buy 1, Receive $1.00 +Up Reward, Limit 2
Use $2.00/1 Stayfree product, one coupon per person from SS 7/22 (exp 8/31)
Pay $1.00, Receive $1.00 +Up Reward
Final Price: Free


Stride, Extra or Orbit Gum, 14-15 ct $1.00 each, when you buy 2
Buy 2, Receive $1.00 +Up Reward, Limit 4
Use .50/2 – Extra Gum, 15ct – (walmart.com)
And use .50/1 – Extra Single Serve Gum – (adperk.com)
Or .25/1 – Stride Gum – (adperk.com)
Pay $1.00, Receive $1.00 +Up Reward
Final Price: Free, when you buy 2


Buy 2 Convenience Pack Oreo Cookies .88
Use $1.00/2 – Nabisco Cookies or Crackers, Except Single Serve – (smartsource.com)
And use $1.00/2 – Oreos – (adperk.com)
Final Price: Free

 Powerade, 32 oz Vitamin Water, 20 oz or SmartWater or Dasani, 1 L .88
Limit 12
Use $1.50/2 – Coca-Cola, Dasani, 20 oz, or Powerade, 32 oz – (adperk.com)
Final Price: .13 each, when you buy 2


Buy 1 Skin Below Chin Pure & Clean Body Spray 9 oz, $1.99
-$1.00 off Store Sale
Final Price: $.99 OOP, Get Back a $1.00 UP Reward, making these Free! (limit of 3 per card)

(Not sure if sale is still going on? Were all sold out when I looked last week, wasn't an advertised deal)

WALGREENS:

Right Guard Total Defense 5 Antiperspirant/Deodorant, 2-4 oz $2.99
Buy 1, Receive $2.00 Register Reward
Use $1.00/1 – Right Guard Total Defense 5 Antiperspirant, Deodorant, Bodywash, Available at Walmart – (coupons.com)
Or $2.00/2 – Right Guard Total Defense 5 Antiperspirant or Deodorant – (facebook.com)
Pay $1.99, Receive $2.00 Register Reward
Final Price: .01 Moneymaker

 Stayfree Ultra Thin Overnight Maxi Pads, 14 ct $1.99
Use $2.00/1 Stayfree product, limit one coupon per person from SS 7/22 (exp 8/31)
Final Price: Free


TRUE2go Blood Glucose Walgreens Monitor $9.99
Buy 1, Submit for $9.99 Mail-In Rebate
Final Price: Free


Staples

You must purchase $5.00 in other products in order to get the following items for a penny:
 Staples Pink Cap Erasers, 12 pk .01

Staples Rule Index Cards, 100 pk .01


Zebra Mechanical Pencils, .7 mm 10 pk $4.00
Submit for $4.00 Easy Rebate, Limit 1
Final Price: FREE


Pentel R.S.V.P. Black Fine Point Pens, 5 pk $4.00
Submit for Easy Rebate, Limit 1
Final Price: FREE

How to help local schools without spending a dime.

Or at least spending a dime more than you need to...

We have a predicament when it comes to American public education and the costs.  Parents complain that the schools are asking them to spend too much on school supplies.  Yet the schools are suffering because of budget problems.  Schools get their money from the government-taxes...which come from parents anyway.  Who else is going to pay for these fees if not for parents and/or the government?  Teachers?  It's a job, not a charity, they're so underpaid anyway!  How about those corporations that are making money and are willing to donate?  I vote for that!

Here is a picture of the Box Tops for Education and Labels for Education that my husband and I have built up over the past few months.  Just shy of $11 in box tops and about 41 Labels for Education points. 

Before I couponed, I never really bought name brand, I was a generic brand kinda gal to save $.  And when I bought name brand, I never paid attention to the eduction program coupons.  Now that I coupon, I know how to get the name brand for cheaper than the store's generic!  And I've just been more aware with what I can do to help out.  We don't have any kids yet, but they don't have to be my kids to benefit. 

We have a central location in our kitchen where we drop these-just do a quick check before you toss a cereal or other box.  The nice thing is the coupons are usually good for at least a couple years, so you can wait to build them up and then donate them.  Also, you can go online to boxtopsforeducation.com and earn eboxtops.

Shop at Target?  I chose to get a Target REDcard Debit Card for my purchases at Target because it's simple (just works like my regular debit card out of my checking account) and I get 5% off on all purchases and I signed up online to dedicate 1% to a local school.   

Clipping coupons off of products you get anyway, signing up for programs that are online/with debit cards-all really simple ways to do your part :)

Special Deal on Special K!

I love Special K and it seems like I can never get good deals or coupons on them so I was happy as a hog when I came across this deal!
First of all, I go scavenging when I see the papers hung up around Walmart that say all red clearance tags are an additional 50% off.
They had 2-packs with red tags of $5 which is cheaper than buying the boxes individually already (priced at $2.98 each for that size). Then half off the red tag is $2.50 for 2-only $1.25 each box!! We went home and printed a couple of $1 off 3 coupons from Kelloggs.com and went back for more. Let’s just say that 18 boxes later…we almost doubled our cereal wall. Here it stands, 43 strong…

Make Money at Staples!

Here's the deal we scored as a "Money Maker" at Staples.

2 reams of paper (.25 each after rebate)
2 calendars (free after rebate)
1 superglue (free after rebate)
2 glue (.01 each because I bought over $5 in other items)
2 packages of pens (.01 each because I bought over $5 in other items)
2 crayons (.01 each because I bought over $5 in other items)
scissors-sale for $1
tape-sale for $1
pencils-sale for .25
mini boxes-sale for .25 each

before rebates but after sales, the total came up to $30.26.  I used a $5 off $30 purchase coupon from their ad in the Sunday paper.  So we paid $27.46 out of pocket after sales and coupons and will get back $26.45 in rebates.  That means we paid $1.01 for all of this loot!!!!!  In the couponing world, that's considered making money since we will have paid less than the tax amount (tax was $2.20 of the total)  NOT BAD!!!  Great donation items or to stock up for later!

Got Kids? Back to School Savings Start!!!

Staples has a sweet deal this next week-make sure to stop by.  If you don't have a rewards card with them, I highly recommend it!

This week you can get free superglue and a .25 ream of paper (free and .25 after easy rebate, which is honestly one of the easiest rebate programs I've come across).  Then, if you buy at least $5 of items, you can get up to 2 packs of crayons, 2 glues, and 2 packages of pens (per customer) for a penny each!  If you get just the paper, you pay about $7 before the rebate so that in itself qualifies you for the penny price on these other items! 

I plan to get the superglue, paper, and crayons, glue, and pens so after rebate, I'll pay .31 if I get 1 ream of paper (can get 2). 

Beating the heat

Our tiny little apartment has 1 air conditioner built in.  It sits in the living room in the most inconvenient space for cooling down the whole place.  It is placed in the East side of our apartment, the side shaded by trees.  While our bedroom is on the West side and it takes the brunt of the daily heat.  We don't really plan on spending a bunch of money on another air conditioner but our little fan we have in the bedroom just doesn't do it sometimes.  Additionally, we rather like our electric bill being less than $30/month. 

So our problem-fixer: ice packs.  This may seem a bit ghetto-but you know what?  It's worked for us.  Usually the bedroom has cooled down enough at night and with the fan running constantly, that we can sleep, but last night was another night when it was just too hot.  We use a couple of ice packs to help cool us down and we're good to drift off. 


Tips/Warnings: Make sure to wrap the ice pack up in a towel so it doesn't drip condensation everywhere and so you don't get frostbite from direct contact!  Your neck and armpits are huge temperature control centers for your body-aim for them. 

I wish you all a great Saturday. 

p.s. I've added a link of other blogs I follow for couponing on the right hand side of my blog for those who are interested.  Don't forget to follow my blog by clicking on the follow button and also participate in my free giveaway!!!

Savings Tip-Know when your local stores re-stock

My area has a lot of couponers and great deals get cleared off of shelves quickly.  I'm starting to get to know the re-stock dates of different stores in the area.  For example, Walgreens had a sweet deal on FREE shampoo and conditioner.  Buy 2 Suave Naturals shampoos/conditioners ($1 each) and get a $2 register reward back-essentially free!  The deal ran the last couple of weeks.  The first week they just didn't have many shampoos but we got plenty of conditioners for our stash.  They never restocked until mid-way through the 2nd week of sale, just with a few days left before the sale is over.  We were glad to get a few of these goodies for ourselves and donations :)  Another tip-call before shopping.  I've gotten tired of going to a store for a great deal just to find they're out.  I called ahead this time!

FREE X3!

FREE #1: Happy 4th of July-a wonderful day to step back and remember all of the sacrifices to give us the freedoms we have.  I love my American citizenship.  America isn't perfect...just like any family, but you can still love it in imperfection and remember to do your part-stick up for what's right and vote :)

FREE #2: I have a giveaway going on.  I am an epic fail at getting people to follow my blog and participate but I know in part it's because of my lack of time to advertise.  I am offering free products from my craft shops and coupons.  Free entry, great prizes :)  I set it up to end on a certain day or when we got a certain amount of prizes.  So it doesn't drag out, I'll end it at the end of this month regardless of how many entries we get!  GO HERE TO ENTER!

FREE #3: A savings/couponing tip!
Today's Tip: Pay Attention

I had a couple experiences lately that reminded me to pay attention while shopping to make sure I'm saving $. 

Albertson's-I was at the store using my doubler coupons and I came across the Ivory soap.  The label on the soap was 10/$10 so $1.00 each!  Sweet since the last P&G insert from the Sunday paper had a $1 off coupon = FREE.  But that's where the paying attention came into play...When at checkout, they were ringing up for $1.59 each, not $1.00.  I'm glad I paid attention to what it was ringing up as and they had someone go back to price check.  Turns out my powers of observation at checkout failed me in the soap isle.  The tag was an old one (deal ended 6/26).  Luckily, they adjusted all of the prices down to $1 AND gave me 1 for free since it was their error for not pulling down the price tag.  This ended well, they were very kind.  (FYI: if you want free Ivory soap since the Albertson's deal is over, you can go to Walgreen's and get them for free-on sale for .99 right now)

Rite Aid-They have Prell shampoo on sale @ 2/$4.  I had 2 coupons for $1 off 1 from a recent Sunday paper.  Then, Rite Aid had a Single Check Rebate going for $2.  These are free after coupons, sale, and rebate.  The problem is the rebate period, which is monthly, ran through July 3rd for the June rebate program and I had already submitted for my rebate.  They only allow 1 grand total rebate request per period.  The moral of the story on this one is to pay attention to rebate days.  Also, I emailed the customer service department to see if they would be understanding.  They said as a 1 time exception, they'll cut me a check if I send in some things.  Now I have to spend more time, and the cost of a stamp and envelope because I didn't pay attention to dates!

Driving-I was watching bits of TLC's extreme couponing show and 1 lady was speeding to get to the store for a killer sale.  I thought of how silly that was.  I live across the street from a park and the speed limit on our street goes down from 35 MPH to 20 MPH during the summer.  I know the cops set up traps there and hear sirens almost daily.  Don't let anything rush you so much that you get a ticket-the $$$ large fine far outweighs any coupon you have!