Wednesday, March 30, 2011

CVS

The larger selection of clearance dropped again from 50% to 75%. I had my eye on some photo albums. I need them to organize my pictures until I have some time to sit down and actually put together a scrap book. I should just take a weekend and block off the time to that. First I need to clean up everything so I have the space. *snickers* Like that will ever happen.

My mom asked me for some body wash the other week. I gave her one out of my stash knowing a few good deals were coming up. Clean & Clear body wash this week was $.99 after coupons and sales. If I had the BOGO from the Sunday paper they would have worked out to $.49 each. Alas, no such luck. Sometimes I get very frustrated when I can't find a hot coupon everyone 'talks' about. There are a few other things that I'm missing. At least I can try and work around it. Any who . . .


2 Clean & Clear body wash @ $2.99 each = $5.98
2 Nestle Tasters Choice Instant Coffee 7ct @ $1.00 each = $2.00
3 Photo Albums @ $2.49 each = $7.47 (75% off)
4 Pert 2-in-1 Shampoo Trail Size @ $.99 each = $3.96
Skintamate $3.19 (my ad was slightly lower than the match ups.)
Total Before Coupons: $22.60

2 $2/1 Clean & Clear Product (IP)
2 $1/1 Nestle Tasters Choice (from a sample Lady in the grocery store the other week)
3 $1/1 Pert 2-in-1 (no size restriction)
$.96/1 Pert 2-in-1 (Adjusted down from $1)
$1/1 Skintamate product* (sometimes I get better coupons than in the previews, ^_^)
Total After Coupons: $11.64

Received:
$2.50 EB Skintamate
Net: $9.14 cost

*Note: The Skintamate coupons is beeping for some products and not others. Not all Skintamate products start with the same bar code and that seems to be the problem.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Saving Sunday - Mailbox!


~Star Shaped Treat for the girls (Dixie & Noel)
~Cute Beauty Bag From Target. Loads of great Target Q's plus the other items pictured here.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

CVS vs Rite Aid: Toothbrush Battle!

CVS: 1
Rite Aid: 11

This week both CVS & Rite Aid had Reach Toothbrushes on sale for $1.00/$.99 after +up rewards. The CVS I work at didn't carry the Reach Toothbrush that was on sale. I ventured out to another CVS only to find one and it didn't even have a home spot! I briefly considered trying another CVS, but didn't want to waste time & gas for the hopes of one toothbrush. Lots of other stuff though.


2 Colgate White Max @ $2.77 each = $5.54
Essence of Beauty 5/$5 Bath $5.00 (I was hoping these would go on clearance, never did. $1 per Sponge isn't bad for CVS.)
5 Jerzee Ringer @ $1.25 each = $6.25 (50% off, not sure how long these have been around)
4 Kleenex Oval Holiday @ $.80 = $3.20 (These never got marked down either. My manager decided to just be rid of them)
Shamrock Lei $.99 (50% off)
Shamrock Beads $.49 (50% off)
Schick Quartro 4ct Blades $8.79
Cobroxin $18.99
Total Before Coupons: $49.25


2 $1/1 Colgate 4.0oz +
$1/4 Kleenex (yea! Makes each box $.55!)
$3/1 Any Schick Quartro
Total After Coupons: $43.25

Received:
$4 EB Colgate
$4 EB Schick Quartro
$18.99 EB Cobroxin (only reason I got it)
Net: $16.26, not great, not bad. The shirts & sponges alone account for $11.25. Sweetheart & I could use some new shirts.

Instead I headed out to Rite Aid and see what could be found. (Would have preferred to buy at CVS 1. because I work there & 2. Not having to deal with +up or EB after my purchase.) I actually bought six toothbrushes earlier in the week during my normal stop to roll some +ups. While out I was surprised to find the small bottles of Gain Fabric Softer. I've been looking for them since the coupon came out. I found two at the first store (early in the week) & one at the second (today). I bought them all. I didn't feel bad clearing the shelf this time. The coupon expires on the 31st and supplies were limited.

Picked up a few other freebies/money makers. If only I would have remembered them for my second trip! Perhaps next week on the Salons Patches. (Not on special, just a good deal with the coupon.) Would have loved too get Lysol wipes, but both stores were out. Rainchecks for SCR & +up rewards are way to much hassle. I'll just hope for another sale.

Store 1:
2 Gain Fabric Softener (small! bottle) @ $2.69 each = $5.38 (10% discount)
6 Reach @ $2.99 each = $17.94
2 Salnopas Large Patch 4ct @ $2.42 = $4.84 (10% discount)
Veet Gel Cream Sensitive $6.02 (10% discount)
Total Before Coupons: $34.18

2 $3/1 gain Fabric Softener (no size restriction)
3 $2.99/1 Reach BOGO (from Oct! I keep my coupons for 6 months.)
2 $3/1 Salnopas
$3/1 Veet in ad Q
$3/1 Veet IP Q (Don't remember where this one is)
$1 off purchase VV March
Total After Coupons: $6.21 (used $6 +up)

Received:
6 $2 +up Reach
$1 +up Veet
Net: $6.79 profit


Transaction 2:
Gain Fabric Softener $2.69 (10% discount)
5 Reach @ $2.99 each = $14.95
Total Before Coupons: $17.64

$3/1 Gain Softener
$2.99/1 Reach BOGO
3 $1/1 Reach/Listerine product
Total After Coupons: $8.65 (used $8 +up)

Received:
5 $2 +up Reach
Net: $1.35 profit, added bonus: Survey for a $3 off a $15 dollar purchase!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

CVS - Little Trip

I was looking high and low in my store for the $1 Reach Toothbrushes. They are no where to be found. I think I will need to try another store. Mine doesn't carry everything that the other stores do. (Good example: Olay Pro-X? Not here!) It's really frustrating to go into a store that doesn't even carry what's been advertised. At least I do my shopping on the days I work.


Allegra 5ct $6.99
Crest Pro-Health 4.0oz $3.49
Big Chill $1.57
Total Before Coupons: $12.05

$2/1 Allegra (IP)
$1/1 Crest 4.0oz+ Toothpaste
$.74/1 Big Chill CVS Coupon Machine (Read as 50% off one big Chill, Max $.74)
Total After Coupons: $8.31

Received:
$6.99 EB Allegra
$2.50 EB Crest
Net: $1.18 profit

I also noticed at the bottom of my receipt that my purchase of the Honest Tea from last week carried over to this week's deal. I need to pick up some Coke as we are almost out.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Rite Aid - Forever Low Stock

It doesn't seem to matter when I get to Rite Aid. They just don't have the stock. I saw deals posted about buy Soft Scrub Total, but there were none to be had at my Rite Aid. Nor did I see the Purex Crystals or the smaller size of Gain Fabric Softener. No Dixie plates either, one thing I really wanted. It's kind of sad really. I would have hoped after several months with the +up rewards they would have learned how to better be in-stock. CVS has a strong focus on this, why not Rite Aid? Perhaps it takes longer than I thought.


What did I find?

Chloraseptic Sore Throat Strips $3.99
2 Drano Foaming Liquid @ $3.50 each = $7.00
Drano Max $3.50
2 Gain Dish Soap @ $.88 each = $1.76
Little Colds Multi Symptom $3.99
Thermacare Back 2ct $6.74 (10% discount)
Visine $4.76 (10% discount)
Total Before Coupons: $31.74

$1/1 Chloraseptic (IP)
2 $.55/1 Drano Foaming Liquid (peelies)
2 $1/1 Gain Dish Soap (P&G Everyday Savings Book, mail)
$1/1 Little Colds (IP)
$1/1 Thermacare (in-ad Q)
$3/1 Thermacare (IP, wouldn't scan so it was manually typed in)
$2/1 Visine (in-ad Q)
$2/1 Visine (IP, coupons.com?)
$3 off $15+ purchase (Rite Aid customer survey at end of receipt)
Total After Coupons: $15.64 (used $8+up)

Received:
$3 +up Chloraseptic
$3 +up wyb $10 of selected cleaning products (Draino, not free but Sweetheart and I have long hair so our tub will need cleared out about once every other month or so)
$3 +up Little Colds
$3 +up Thermacare
$1 +up Visine
Net: $2.64 cost (Not bad for 3 Dranio products, which I normally am buying at full price!)

Friday, March 18, 2011

CVS - Better Late, Than Never

I'm always busy it seems. Luckily I'm getting a break this weekend! So it's time for me to catch up once again on my trips. I shopped early at CVS this week, so I could get a head start on our clearance deals. Lots of items were marked down on Sunday. It was fun putting up signs to see what was left. To bad our Rubber Maid didn't get marked down. That's what I've had my eye on for a number of weeks. Ah well.


Bottle Brush $.49
2 CVS bags ('winter theme') @ $1.15 each = $2.30
2 Jr Clip 3ct @ $.49 each = $.98
3 Scissors @ $.29 each = $.87 (These were hanging off the calendar display marked at 90% off. I'm always miss placing my scissors!)
Tena Ultra Thin $9.99
Theraflu $.99
Total Before Coupons: $15.62

$2.50/1 Tena
$.99/1 Theraflu (was $2/1 adjusted down)
Total After Coupons: $12.13

Received:
$9.99 EB Tena
$.99 EB Theraflu
Net: $1.15 cost (my MM of Tena & Theraflu almost paid for the clearance!)


Second Trip Latter in the week to pick up the rest of my freebies:

Aussie Shampoo $2.99
Aussie Styler $2.99
Carmel $.33 (filler to use up some EB)
Crest Floss $3.49
Crest Toothpaste $3.49
2 Honest Tea @ $1.00 each = $2.00
Irish Springs Deodorant $2.99
Scuncci Coin Purse $.84 (75% clearance)
Total Before Coupons: $19.12

$2.99/1 Aussie or Herbal Essence BOGO
$1/1 Aussie or Herbal Essence (P&G Everyday Savings Book, mail)
$1/1 Crest Floss
$1/1 Crest Toothpast 4.0oz+
2 $1/1 Honest Tea (Recycle Bank)
$1/1 Irish Springs (coupons.com, no longer available)
Total After Coupons: $10.13 (used my $9.99 EB from Tena)

Received:
$2.00 EB Aussie
$5.00 EB Crest (2 offers combined)
$2.00 EB Irish Springs
Net: $1.13 cost

Grand net: $1.15 cost + $1.13 cost = $2.28 cost, not bad for all that stuff. ^_^

Can't find my receipt with the Dulcolax. I think I got it free after coupons. I picked up a few items for my mom that she requested. That's probably why I can't find it. Mmm . . . I should get more organized.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Saving Sunday - Mailbox!


Not much this week. Some makeup, cheez-it & $1/1 Honest Tea coupons. You better believe I'll be using my Honest Tea coupons for free tea at CVS this week. Yippie!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Target - Pet Food for Pennies!

I was excited to see there are great deals to be had if you have coupons for GoodLife cat food & Pedigree dog food. I went ahead and order some coupons because it's so good of a deal! Here's hoping there will be stuff on the shelf by the time they get shipped.

Timidly I took a trip earlier this week. I wasn't sure what to get. I've been meaning to pick up the 'free' ibuprofen up&up. (Target Q for $1/1 pain reliever up&up brand.) Twice I had forgotten to look for it. I grabbed that and some GoodLife single serve cat food to see how the Redplum IP would work out. I only got one and knew there would be some overage. Not sure what else to get so I grabbed two single serves.


2 Up&Up Ibuprofen 24 ct @ $.97 each = $1.94
2 GoodLife Cat Food @ $.77 each = $1.54
Total Before Coupons: $3.48

2 $.97/1 Up&Up pain relief (auto adjusted by computer)
$1.50/1 GoodLife Cat Food
Total After Coupons: $.04

After that trip I wanted to use the overage on something else to see how well it would work. I spotted a great deal on Totally Target for Pedigree Dog food. My parent's girls could always use the food. A useful way to help out my parents.

To my surprise when I got there I found A LOT of the GoodLife Cat food on clearance! Some flavors were $.65 each and others $.53 each. W00t! My deal just got better. And thus my hurry to order up those coupons! (Which I don't normally do.) I think I shocked the cashier a little bit with the total. LOL. Wonder what she really thought about it.


3 GoodLife Cat Food @ $.53 each = $1.59
3 Pedigree Dog Food @ $4.00 each = $12.00
Total Before Coupons: $13.59

3 $1.50/1 GoodLife Cat Food (No adjustment!)
3 $3/1 Pedigree Dog Food
Total After Coupons: $.09!

*Dances* Yup. Now that's exciting. ^_^

Friday, March 11, 2011

Rite Aid - Tunaless . . .

I went to Ride Aid this week hoping to get some tuna. Seems there's been a lot of talk about tuna and +up rewards on the boards of late. First it was printing, then only one for the month, now unlimited again and on Sunday I'm not sure if it will be limit one for the month or non at all? It's really confusing. Didn't matter much to me as my store was out of the tuna anyway. A girl can dream?


I did get a few other items instead. Toothpaste for my mom, the free themacare (bought on Sunday with newspapers quick, not pictured) & 3 SCR items. I bought the SCR because I wanted to use up my Gift Of Savings. I don't know why I saved it so long. It's time I use it up before I forget about it. (I know, I had until the end of April. To be honest I forgot about it until I did some cleaning!)

Ascriptin 100ct $6.99
4 Colgate Clinical @ $2.34 each = $9.36 (only noticed now?)
Doans 24ct $6.99
Keri Lotion $6.99
Total Before Coupons: $30.33

4 $1/1 Colgate 4.0oz+
$3/1 Keri Lotion IP (No longer available? Beeped)
Total After Coupons: $23.33 (Used $20 Gift Of Savings, $3 +up & $.44 GC [$.11 tax])

Received/Will Receive:
$6 SCR Ascriptin
4 $2+up Colgate (Limit 4! $.66 profit each, unexpected!)
$6 SCR Doans
$6 SCR Keri Lotion
Net: $2.67 profit!

Not bad. I'm happy to have turned most The Gift Of Savings mostly into cash. Now if I can just get a survey for one of those $3 off $15 purchase . . .

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Junk Food Cheap!

Sorry for the picture quality. I don't take my camera with me to work, so I used my phone.

Bunch of little trips this week. CVS has some GE potato chips, tortilla chips & cheese curls at 75% off! (Last week was 50%) To my knowledge this is a corporate wide clearance, so look around and see if your store has any. (We have lots & lots left.)



Colgate Total .75 oz $.99
2 GE Potato Chips @ $.69 each = $1.38
2 GE Tortilla Chips @ $.64 each = $1.28
Total Before Coupons: $3.65

$1/1 Colgate Total Coupon Machine
Total After Coupons: $2.65
The Men's Dove Deodorant is a part of the 2/$4.00, just don't get the ones with clear caps. Those are not a part of the sale. That being said, I'm not sure if all stores will have them cut into the shelves. Supposedly it should be about the second or third shelf. Ours is on the bottom, because we couldn't fit all 5 SKUs on one shelf otherwise. Hope you can find them, great freebie.


Coke 20oz $1.89
4 Men's Dove Deodorant/Antiperspirant @ $2.00 each = $8.00
2 Simply Asia @ $.88 each = $1.76
Kellogg's Raisin Bran Crunch single serve $1.00
Total Before Coupons: $12.65

$2.00/1 Drink or Candy CVS Facebook Offer (took off max amount?)
4 $2/1 Men's Dove Deodorant (Hooray for free!)
2 $.50/1 Simply Asia internet printable (I forget where & how long ago)
$1/1 Kellogg's Coupon Machine
Total After Coupons: $.65


I was working on some price changes yesterday, oh my goodness! There was a lot of checkout candy that went up. A single serve bar now cost $.99?! What happened to $.50 each? That's when I started working. It's sad really. Some of the single packs of gum jumped almost $.40 . . . *blinks* . . . that's a 33% increase when you think about it. Ouch!? On the other hand I did price changes for some nail implements most of which were going down by $.20-$.50. That's more of a 'one-time' buy kind of item. Sometimes they hit you where is hurts the most. Maybe I'll just look at it as a diet plan. LOL.


One other thing of note, if you like diet soda keep an eye out for these peelies. $1/2 2 liters Sunkist, Canada Dry, 7up & A&W Root Beer. (BOGO this week!)

Friday, March 4, 2011

CVS Trip


It was a good week to be shopping at CVS. There were a number of freebies for a change, so I was rather excited. It's a shame that we ran out of the toothbrushes so quickly. I was patient enough to wait until Monday, but then they were gone. i actually did several transactions, but can't find the reiciepts so I don't remember my order. Ah well, I'll just summarize it.

2 Crest Pro-Health 2 $3.29 each = $6.58
Dove Swirl Bar $2.19
2 Oral-B Toothbrushes @ $6.00 each = $12.00
4 Puffs @ $1.00 each = $4.00
2 Reese's Mini's @ $2.50 each = $5.00
Revita Len's $5.99
3 V-day bags 2 @ $.29 & 1 @ $.39 = $.97 (90% off)
Total Before Coupons: $36.73

2 $1/1 Crest Toothpaste 4.0oz+
$2/1 Dove Swirl Bar CVS CRT (Employees only?)
2 $3/1 Oral-B (wasn't so sure on the BOGO paired with a $3/1 combo)
$1/4 Puffs (I was hoping for the $.50/2 Puffs so I could have it doubled at the grocery store that also had Puffs on sale for $1.)
$2/2 Reese's Mini's or Hershey Drops
$2/1 Reese's Mini's or Hershey Drops CVS Coupons Machine (I had hoped for a second one, but no luck.)
Total After Coupons: $21.73

Received:
$6.58 EB Crest Toothpaste
$6.00 EB Oral-B Toothbrush
$5.99 EB Revita Lens
Net: $3.16

Not bad. On Sunday I posted my disappointment with my Chef Boyardee BOGO coupon. Turns out CVS has them on sale BOGO this week! So that means I get TWO free cans of pasta! Okay, not the best, but great to keep at my desk at my second job in case I forget to pack.

March Budget & Climbing

February was a good month for me financially. I got in a few extra hours & I sold Lizzy to my brother. His car threw a rod or something. It's dead, no resurrection, short of a new engine. So he bought Lizzy. Took her to my parents mechanic and as far as I know she's running fine. (Not stalling!) Still has that coolant leak to look into & the problem with the heater. I just hope she'll last longer for my brother than his last car. (Which was about 9 months for about $1000.) Yea for bonus money! Let's rebuild the Emergency Fund shall we?

Kori is using TONS LESS GAS than Lizzy ever did. LOL. It's partly better gas millage & partly cutting my normal commute to CVS in almost half. Yep. It's like getting a raise. Better actually because they don't taxes out of it. ^_^

Unfortunately the amount I will be cutting back is going to the be eaten up in the increased rent. Sweetheart volunteered to take it, but he pays more than half already. I feel bad enough as is. This is just an easy switch. Nothing to fuss about.

Decorations at a friend's wedding.


The Budget:
Bills (Electric) $103
Bunnies $30
Car Insurance $36
Cellphone $36
Free Money $40
Gas $140 (works out to $35 a week)
Groceries $100
Rent $310 (increased rent)
Student Loans $472

Grand Total: $1267/month (Take home pay.)

Extra Funds Notes:
1. Extra to the Emergency Fund.
2. Categories on hold: Car Repair, Clothing, Health & Savings.
3. Car Repair to be funded by 5th pay week when it occurs as the inspection is due in May.

A gift for being a bridesmaid.



Emergency Fund:
Last Month: $419.32
This Month: $782.92
Goal: $1,000


As I said, a good month.


The tossing bouquet. Sometimes I think I should have been a photographer.



2011 Goals

Finical Goals

1. Buy A Car (A Reliable Car)
2. Rebuild Emergency Fund So Close
3. Pay my parents Back Not applicable
4. Pay off another smaller loan
5. Save $750 for Cruise 2012!
6. Start a Gift Fund for Presents

Non-Finical Goals

1. Develop a sleep pattern - Still working on getting up at a regular time.
2. Lose 20lbs.
-Slight change in plans. First I'm starting to look at what I eat. Each day I'm doing an 'approximate' calorie count to see where I stand. If I'm between 1600-1850 I'm good. (That's the range I should be eating to lose weight.) If I'm over then I'm going to mark how or why. (Chinese Buffet . . . Bad idea.) I want to see how much over eating I'm actually doing. Just the act of looking at this is causing me to measure my food out. (1/2 cup chex mix instead of the entire bag at one sitting.)
-I started to gain weight with changes in my diet, including eating out more. Sweetheart treats me out about once or twice a week. I'm okay with that, but rather eat at home. Sometimes I'm just too tired to care or too stressed. When I'm stressed & tired I choose fatty, high calorie foods. Then his parents will turn around and invite us out to eat (and then pay). It all adds up. Time for me to start looking really hard at menus and make better choices.
3. Do more stuff that doesn't involve sitting & playing games on the 'couch'. - Still working on it. Kinetics Sports anyone?
4. No more dirty dishes in the sink @ the end of the night. - Improving, but a far cry from it.
5. Clean the apartment more often. - Set up a 'schedule' on a three week rotation: Living area/Kitchen, Bathroom & Bedroom.


Monthly Climb!!!
Grand Total Last Month: $42,844.31
New Grand Total: $42,547.41
Amount Paid Off: $296.90



Fairy Wings of a bridesmaid. Each one had a different color to represent the four elements: Earth, Air, Water & Fire.


Here's hoping for another good month. If I'm very, very lucky I can finish off the emergency fund either by the end of this month or next.