A little of this & a little of that

Not much shopping this week. I got back from my weekend away late Sunday night. Monday was a day off, but Sweetheart had gotten food poisoning. He was sick early, early Monday morning and then the rest of the day. Not much got done around here. When he's sick at home & I'm around I don't feel like doing anything. I mean nothing! I didn't even want to get out of bed. It's not a bad way to spend the day, just unproductive. Tuesday I played catch up with chores, Wedneday had a friend, Christian over for dinner and Thursday was all day (9:00am-9:30pm) at work between the two jobs.

I did get a chance to head out to Walmart for a quick trip. I wanted to test the overage policy. I did get anything drastic, just some floss, toothbrushes and more Always Infinity. (Of coarse now Target is including the Infinity in the $5 GC deal. I only have two coupons left! ARG! See here.) I've got enough Infinity to last for a long time at this point. I'll use my last coupons and be done with it.

3 Advantage Toothbrush @ $1.97 each = $5.91
Always Infinity $3.97
2 Reach Floss @ $.88 each = $1.76
Total Before Coupons: $11.64

3 $2/1 Oral-B Toothbrush (Specific types listed)
$2/1 Always Infinity
2 $1/1 Reach Floss (No size restriction)
Total After Coupons: $1.64 cost

The cashier hardly looked at me as he took the coupons. I had one on top of each item so it would be easily visible. He just scooped them all up and took a quick glance. The first one beeped asking him to verify the amount. He took another look at it and just entered it all through. (I'm assuming the beeping was because the coupon was higher than the item was priced, because the Always coupon did not beep.) It was nice to use the overage to help pay for something else. Not sure if I want to test the giving me money back portion. I would feel weird.

In other news, I managed to find some of the free rebates I've seen circling around the blogs. (Actually found them a while ago.) I will say that Freschetta By the Slice is AWESOME! I just wish it wasn't twice as much as the Celeste. If only I was as happy with the Snapple. I don't normally purchase diet because sweet diet drinks have a very strange after taste. I didn't spot Aspartame on the label and decided to give it a try. (Aspartame usually means it's got that nasty taste to it.) It's dinkable, but not what I was hopping for. Yep. I'm staying away from diet drinks. (Not worth it!) At least when I have Christian (a diabetic) over he can have something other than water for a while.

I hope I can get my CVS shopping done tonight. I doubt I will remember about it tomorrow. As today is truck day I'm hoping some of the free after coupon items come in. I would like to get another green bag tag to throw on reusable bags & the kids oral care items. We'll see what tonight brings.

Rite Aid Run, Freebates Week 2!

WOW! I made some good money this week. Best part is it will come back to me in the form of a check. I'm really excited about that. I bought everything in two transactions so I could use the +ups from buying Febreze Noticables kits. So in no particular order:

Cold Buster $6.69
Coldwar $3.99
TheraMax $6.99
BioGuard $6.99
Beyond Bodiheat $2.99
Simply Saline $3.99
Simply Saline Children’s $3.99
Bioron Children’s Cough Syrup $4.99
Blink Tears $7.99
Bee MD Cough Drops $2.49
Therma Care $2.99
Childrens Oscillococcinum $4.99
4 Febreze Noticables Kits @ $2.50 each = $10.00

Coupons Used:
2 $5 off $25+
$1/1 Therma Care (Missed out on the VV $1 off coupon)
$2/1 Oscillococinum
$1/1 SimplySaline (I could only get one to print?)
4 $3/1 Febreze Noticables Kits (Register took off full amount of each coupon)

Will Receive:
SCR for all the above listed except the Febreze Noticables Kits
2 $1 +up wyb 2 Febreze
$1 MIR Bee DM (Just need to send it in. Waiting for all rebates to clear.)
Net: $19 profit! (minus cost of a stamp.)

I think I might take a break from Rite Aid. I don't see anything on ad 'previews' that really catch my attention. I don't have any +up to be spending. I wonder if I can really stay away for a week? That might be a good test for me. LOL.

Rite Aid Freebates!

I'm so excited! I was beginning to think I would never be able to change all the +up rewards that I've accumulated into cash again. Don't get me wrong I love all the deals I can score at Rite Aid, but trying to roll the rewards all the time can be tiring. And I love getting a big check in the mail. ^_^

Apparently in October Rite does a ton of Single Check Rebates of free items! It's just so fantastic I'm a bit giddy. I need to head back latter this week to pick up a few items I missed. Either I didn't see it on that wonderful end cap of all the free items or perhaps there wasn't enough room for everything. We shall see. Not sure if I can get enough time tomorrow.

Transaction 1:
Neilmed Nasal Mist $9.99
4 Nyquil Sinex 20ct @ $4.99 each = $19.96
Total Before Coupons: $29.95

$5 off $25+ purchase
4 $4/1 Sinex ($16.00)
Total After Coupons: $8.95 (used $8.69 +up & $.26 GC)

Received/Will Receive:
$9.99 SCR Nasal Mist
4 $1.50 +up ($6.00)
Net: $7.04 profit

Transaction 2:
4 Gain Dish Soap @ $.89 each = $3.56
Blistex Ointment $1.49
Neilmed Nasal Dock $5.99
Kids Eeze Allergy $4.99
2 Antiox Shot 2pk @ $2.99 each = $5.98 (limit 2 freebates!)
Emergen-C Shot 2pk $3.49
Sucrets Herbal Berry $2.99
Palmers Lip $1.99
Pediacare Multi System Cold $7.99
Total Before Coupons: $38.47

$4 off $20+ purchase
4 $1/1 Gain Dish Soap
~I thought it would be adjusted down, but went through without a problem. The cashier told me the register would take the full amount if there was more than one being purchased. Not sure if it's true or what she thinks is the reason.
$2/1 Neilmed (forget which product?)
Total After Coupons: $28.47 (used $28.42 +up & $.05 GC)

Will Receive:
$1.49 SCR Blistex Ointment
$5.99 SCR Neilmed Nasal Dock
$4.99 SCR Kids Eeze Allergy
2 $2.99 SCR Antiox Shot 2pk ($5.98)
$3.49 SCR Emergen-C Shot 2pk
$2.99 SCR Sucrets Herbal Berry
$1.99 SCR Palmers Lip
$7.99 SCR Pediacare Multi System Cold
Net: $6.42 profit

Grand Net: $7.04 + $6.42 = $13.46 profit!

More than likely I could have planned these out better and used another $5 off $25 coupon, but Rite Aid seems to have pulled the plug on those. The video values of these coupons were pulled only a few days into the month. If you watched them, you got them, if not you can't access them. I haven't seen them on redplum lately either. I think they might crack down on the usage at some point soon. Who knows?

Making Money From Rebates

In the short span of time that I've been doing the rebates (May of this year) I've managed to make:

$36.37 at Rite Aid (includes the GCs from skin care rebate, GC P&G rebate & has my out of pocket costs subtracted out of the total. This is everything I’ve ever bought at Rite Aid!)

$20 rebate OLAY (Rite Aid already paid for everything except for about $2. I took that money away from my Rite Aid total so I'm looking at this as a bonus)

$10 rebate Kraft (I didn't think I would get this rebate. I didn't specifically head out to the store & buy $30 of product to get $10. I just happen to do so in the time span required. Definitely a bonus)

$10 Johnson & Johnson rebates ($5 more Johnson & Johnson to arrive in the mail. Again all items I would have gotten anyway.)

Grand Total: $76.87 and I still expect another $5 to come in!

I'm not counting the Office Depot as of yet because I haven't received it. I don't count CVS Money Makers because it has to be spent at CVS. If I could turn around and get gift cards with the Extra Bucks you better believe I would. (Pre-paid Visa anyone?)

In the long haul $75+ doesn't seem like that much over 3 months . . . If you add in the free products it's an awesome deal! There are some things I wish I had done at the beginning to keep better track of what was going in & what went out.

1. Given my rebate “fund” a head start by setting aside $50-$100 to use. Once it grew enough to be twice the size I would take back the initial amount back into savings or use it to pay off more of my debt. (Depending on where exactly I got the money from in the first place. As it is everything either came out of my spending cash or groceries.)

2. A written record of all rebates. For The Mommas has a wonderful rebate tracker (here) to put on paper. It really helps keep everything organized. It’s easy to see what I should be getting back, when it should be coming and eventually will give me good expectations on how long things will take in the future. (I don’t plan on using this for Rite Aid, except perhaps to keep track of my totals. I want to make a month to month accounting of that specific store.)

3. A box to keep ALL my receipts regardless of whether or not there was a rebate at the time that I knew about. You never know what your might find three days latter, only to have that receipt in the trash the night before last.

4. An ‘open’ filing system to readily file coupons, rebates, envelopes, mailing labels, stamps, receipts that have rebates & copies of receipts & mailings. This would be a nice bin with hanging folders that make for easy filing right next to my desk.

I think I will have better records of everything given I follow the above plan. In addition to a ‘normal’ rebate fund I plan on having a separate Rite Aid rebate fund. There have numerous free after rebate products at Rite Aid and the money will continue to just keep cycling through. A quick look ahead it seems as if the Single Check Rebates don’t look as good for the up coming month. (See here.) I hope it gets better, because I would hate Rite Aid to end up like CVS with their extra bucks.


Freebies have been spotty lately. Here are two that I've gotten since I last posted. Kelloggs sent more than just the one cereal sample which was a pleasant surprise. Boscia blotting sheets are really nice. $10 for 100 sheets is a fair price. CVS blotting sheets retail around $4.99 for 50, so it's about the same cost. Now the question is can I get free shipping? I might switch brands if such is the case.

Money Doesn't Grow On Trees!

It Grows In Drug Stores feeding on rebates!

Round two of drug store trips! First off to CVS. Still no pretzel M&M, I did however get a raincheck to use latter. Not sure when this will happen, we will see. The brita filter 3pk was a great deal with plenty on the shelf. I also found a CVS $4 coupon for a Schick Quatro raiser in the store. Pair that up with with the manufacture coupon and I've got a money maker! (Which was promptly absorbed by the filters.) Forgot to check on the panyliners. Next time . . .


Schick Quatro Raiser $8.99
Brita Filter 3pk $14.99
Total Before Coupons: $23.98

$4/1 Schick Quatro CVS
$4/1 Schick Quatro
Total After Coupons: $15.98

Received
$5 EB Brita Filter purchase
$4 EB Schick Quatro purchase
Net: $6.98 (-$.25 green Bag Tag)

Rite Aid had their delivery today. Unfortunately they were still out of the 20ct Motrin PM. That was disappointing. I really like that stuff for a specific time during the month. It's great just before going to bed. They didn't have any more of the Zegerid on sale. Boo! There went my filler! I ended up getting the Colonaide any way so I could use a $5 off $25 purchase.

Smooth Move Tea $3.69
Cryostat $8.99
Colonaide $22.99
Total Before Coupons: $35.67

$2/1 Smooth Move
$2/1 Colonaide
$5 off $25 purchase
Total After Coupons: $26.67

Will Receive
$3.69 SCR Smooth Move
$8.99 SCR Cryostat
$22.99 SCR Colonaide
Net: $9.00 profit

I ♥ Rite Aid Single Check Rebates! I'll just keep on going in and getting things if it means money grows in drugs.

After it's all over, OLAY was . . .

So here I am to get to the total of the OLAY rebate & Rite Aid's skincare rebate. You can see my transactions involving OLAY here, here and here. (Sorry for you having to scroll down on those!) I'm including the body wash in the deal because I had a coupon BOGO, buy one 7 Effects Moisturizer get a 7 Effects body wash free.

Total Retail of Merchandise (just OLAY): $58.89 (w/ body wash $68.83)

Total After Manufacture Coupons: $53.34 (includes body wash)

Actual Net of All Transactions: $34.36 ($36.85 if you take out other money makers. This amount is lower than after Manufacture Coupons because of Rite Aid's $5 off $25 purchase coupons.)

Will Receive: $25 Rite Aid GC for purchase of $50+ skincare
$5 Rite Aid GC for purchase of skincare with wellness card
$5 Rite Aid GC for purchase of PG products (one week only!)
$20 Rebate from OLAY

Grand Net: $20.64 profit ($18.15 profit if you take out other money makers)


Now that's a deal!

Shopping, shopping, shopping . . .

I did a few deals on Sunday and Monday. CVS sent out a 20% off non sale items coupon, but it was only good this past Saturday & Sunday. With that in mind I thought I should buy up the Off! Clip on. I wanted to keep this transaction separate from the Windex & Shout purchase. I managed to find excellent coupons for Dove deodorant from iheartcvs.com & CommonSenseWithMoney. So here we go . . .



Sunday's transaction included:
Gillette Fusion Proglide $9.97 (sale, wish I had know this was good on the sample set)
2 Dove deodorant travel size $2.00 ($1.00 each)
2 Clip Off! Starter kits $17.98 ($8.99 each)
2 Clip Off! refills $7.98 ($3.99 each)
2 Pantene travel size $2.58 ($1.29 each)
3 Right Guard travel size $3.87 ($1.29 each)
2 24ct Benadryl $9.98 ($4.99 each, not pictured)
4 12pk of Coke $13.00 ($3.25 each, sale)
Total Before Coupons: $67.36



Coupon Proglide $4.00
2 Coupons Dove $1.00 ($2.00)
Coupon BOGO Clip Off! Starter $8.99
Coupon Clip Off! Starter $3.00
2 Coupons CVS Clip Off! Starter $3.00 ($6.00, some people have said that these work on the refills as well. I tried to get it to go through and the cash register beeped, the cashier did not push it through. Read your coupons!)
2 Coupons Clip Off! refill $1.00 ($2.00)
Coupon Pantene $2.00/2 (was sent along with a sample, no size restriction)
Coupon Right Guard $1.00
Coupon Right Guard $3.00/2 (Adjusted to $2.87)
2 Coupons Benadryl $2.00 ($4.00, peelies from previous purchase)
Coupon CVS Benadryl $3.00/2 (Prepare for Allergy Season booklet)
Total After Coupons: $28.50

Special 20% Coupon $8.87
Total after discount: $19.63

EB printed at the bottom:
Coke $3.00
Proglide $5.00

MIR
J&J Buy 3 products get $5.00
Net: $6.63 - $.25 Green Bag Tag, Excellent considering the coke is still apart of that price. One Down more to go!

Rite Aid Trip(s)
On my first Transaction I bought:
Olay Total Effects Serum $17.99
Olay Total Effects Body Wash $9.49
OldSpice Body Wash $3.50
OldSpice Deodorant $3.50
Total: $34.48



Coupon Buy Olay TE Serum Get Olay TE Body Wash Free $9.49
Coupon Buy OldSpice Body Wash Get a Deodorant Free $3.50
Coupon Rite Aid $5/$25
Total After Coupons: $16.49

Received
$4.00 +UP Rewards
Net: $12.49

Transaction 2! I bought:
Gillette Proglide $9.99
OldSpice Deodorant $3.50
OldSpice Body Wash $3.50
Olay Prox Cleanser $17.99
Total: $34.98



Coupon Buy OldSpice Deodorant Get a Body Wash Free $3.50
Coupon Proglide $4.00
Coupon Olay Prox $3.00
Coupon Rite Aid $5/25
Total After Coupons: $19.48

Received:
$4.00 +UP Rewards

SCR:
$5.00 Proglide
Net: $10.48

With Both transactions I'm hoping to get:
$5.00 CG P&G (I'm hoping . . . waiting for it to clear)

Skin care GC? Looking closer at all the ads and such, I mistakenly thought all the Olay was included. It looks like it's just the Regenerist. Over all I don't think I got a bad deal . . . but it's not nearly what I had in mind. On the plus side I could still submit all the Olay for the rebate of $20 wyb $50. (I will have to go out and get a few more items.) I'll wait to see what happens when it clears. I would hate to return the items. My store was out of the free Blink and I forgot to get a toothbrush. I'm not really free until Saturday . . .maybe I could squeeze a trip in tomorrow?

Net of the 2 transactions: $21.97 (Just the stuff I know will clear)

CVS Monday Trip, I bought:
2 Windex $5.00 ($2.50 each)
2 Shout $5.00 ($2.50 each)
6 Dove Deodorant $15.00 ($2.50 each)
Total: $25.00

2 Coupons Windex $1.00 ($2.00, printable Smart Source)
2 Coupons Shout $.55 ($1.10, one from the paper and one peelie off package)
4 Coupons Dove $2.00 ($8.00)
Coupon Dove $3.00/2
Total After Coupons: $10.90



EB printed at the bottom:
$5.00 Dove
$5.00 J&J purchase

MIR
$5.00 wyb 3 J&J product
Net: $4.10 profit + $.25 Green Bag Tag (much better than what I did at RiteAid)