Saving Myself Silly: October 2010

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Free Sample Round-up

Here are a few free samples available now:

Dove Go Fresh From Costco-No membership required.

Axe Pheonix Deoderant From Sams-No membership required.

Playtex Sport from facebook--like them. There is also a printable coupon available.

A Few Free Classics For Halloween

I love to read, and I've been in the mood to read lately. I have been checking through the free Kindle downloads at Amazon pretty regularly, but there has not been much new that has been of interest to me. I've begun to overlook the ones that are always there, searching for something fresh, but with Halloween approaching, I thought that some of the always free classics were quite fitting. Here are a few spooky favorites that you can download and (re)read for free.

Bram Stoker's Dracula

The Legend of Sleepyhollow

The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allen Poe

Frankenstein

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

In The Mail: CVS Coupons

There was not much in my mailbox today, but there was one very exciting and unexpected piece of mail:

This is what was inside:

Yes,that says $3/1 Huggies diapers and $1.50/1 Huggies wipes. And yes, these are CVS STORE coupons, so they can be stacked with manufacturer coupons. There is currently a $2/1 Huggies coupon on coupons.com that you can use along with this coupon to get $5 off one pack of diapers!

Did anyone else get this in the mail today?

Kroger Trip 10/26

I spent most of the morning putting together my shopping list for Kroger. Today was the last day of the sale ad, so I wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on anything. I usually wait until my husband gets home and go shopping by myself, but he has meetings today and a new evening tutoring job tonight, so I hurried so that I could make sure I got to the store with both kids before the crowds got there after work. I am not a fan of crowds, especially with two small children.

They were out of some things that I planned to get, but what else can I expect when I wait until the last day. Here is what I got:

Shelf Price: $84.64

Sale Price: $63.74

Price After Coupons: $28.35

Price Paid After $25 Pharmacy Coupon Deduction: $3.35 (Savings of 95%)

I also had a coupon for the yogurt that I somehow forgot to give to the cashier, so I should have saved another $1. Oh well, I will be buying more. I now have plenty of pizza and biscuits. I didn't even have a coupon for the waffles, but we've been out for a while. I keep telling myself I was going to make my own and freeze them, but that has not exactly happened yet, and I needed 4 more frozen items for the mega sale...

I wish I could tell you that I have done all the shopping I need to do for a while, but sadly (and gladly) tomorrow is payday and new sale ads will start. If the sales are good, I will probably hit the stores again. I'm so glad I got my coupons back in order.

I am trying to make sure I have plenty of food around because my mom and grandparents are getting here Friday night so visit for a week. That probably means I should stop fussing with the groceries and focus on more pressing matters, like that sink full of dishes over there...

Monday, October 25, 2010

Free Books For Bloggers

I just came across a new (to me, anyways) website called BookSneeze. According to their site, if you are a blogger, you may register and request a free copy of any available book. They will send it to you to read. Once you have read it, they simply ask that you post a review of it on your blog and any consumer website that sells the book, such as amazon or walmart. Go back, give them the links to your reviews, and then you can request another book.

When I just signed up, the site said that they were all out of available books for right now, but I will check back and let you guys know when I get one. They also said they would email me when there was something new. It seems like they update their facebook page regularly, as well, when new books become available. Many of the recent ones seem to have been religious books or children's books, and I would love to have either. I love to read and I really don't care what it is I'm reading, I like all sorts of books. They certainly are expensive, though, so I am all about an opportunity to get books for free.

I'm pretty excited about this one. If you are interested also, click on the link above to register your blog.

Thanks Money Saving Madness

In the Mail

On Friday, all of this came in the mail:

Playtex Sport Sample with coupon
Wisk Sample
Crest Pro-Health For Me Sample with coupons

On Saturday I received another Crest toothpaste sample, this time the Pro-Health Clinical Gum Protection, with a few coupons.

Today, I received a full-sized Cover Girl lip gloss that I honestly do not even recall submitting for, so that was a nice unexpected surprise.

Tom Thumb Trip 10/25

I finally got my coupons back into some sort of order and I made a trip to Tom Thumb this afternoon. Here is what I came home with:

I picked up a couple of bags of chicken nuggets that were $3.99 with the in-ad coupon from yesterday's paper. I also had $1/1 coupons for those. The Betty Crocker fruit snacks were only $0.99 with the in-ad coupon. I had paper coupons for $0.50/2 (but the register only let me scan one because an e-coupon had come off already), and I also found out that there is a Catalina promotion going on with those right now. I got a $2 coupon at the checkout for buying 4 boxes. I bet I would have gotten $3 if I had bought one more box, but the in-ad coupon had a limit of 4. The can goods were all $0.79 with the in-ad coupon. All the prices are good through tomorrow. I had to grab a few things we needed, such as corn meal, milk, and some TP to last until payday. My daughter told me she wanted to be in the picture, too, and she was pretending to be a milk jug.

In all I spent $11.56 after all of my coupons and the $6.50 in catalina coupons I also had. I saved $37.77, or 76%. I also have the $2 Catalina coupon from the fruit snacks to use next time.

New Nestle Coupons

There are a few new coupons available from VeryBestBaking.com.

Here is what you will find:
--$0.50/2 cans of Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk
--$0.75/1 package of Nestle Mini Morsels toppers
--$0.50/2 packages of Nestle Toll House morsels
--$1.00/1 package of Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough (My favorite!)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

New E-Coupons Available

There are new e-coupons available today at both shortcuts.com and cellfire.com. Go check them out!

New Free Kindle Book On Smart Spending

Living Rich By Spending Smart is currently available as a free Kindle download. Its regular price in Kindle format is $13.99, and who knows how long it will stay free, so hurry and get this one while you still can!

There are many other free Kindle titles to choose from. The place I always check for them is under the bestsellers list, which they now have split into paid and free bestsellers, which makes it much easier. I find so many great books to read under this listing. I just wish I had time to read them all! There are always a good mixture of fiction, nonfiction, classics, thrillers, romance, you name it! I think that anyone could find something of interest, so check it out. You do not need to have a kindle, you can download a free app to read these on your phone, computer, or ipod.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Another $2/1 Quaker Coupon

There is another coupon available for $2/1 box of Quaker Oatmeal available here. I would hurry and print this one as soon as you can before it runs out. Click the link again to print it up to two times.

This coupon recently made a moneymaking deal on oatmeal at CVS, and I am betting it will score us some free oatmeal with sales at the grocery stores as colder weather approaches. Also, it does not expire until 12/31!

Sunday Coupon Preview 10/17

It looks like there will be a SmartSource and a RedPlum insert in tomorrow's paper. There will be some General Mills, Huggies, several drug items and pet items. If you want to check them all out ahead of time, go here.

A Trip To The Farmer's Market

This morning I woke up early. I thought that I could get a lot of stuff done around the house this morning while my husband was tutoring kids. Then, I stepped outside to walk the dogs on this gorgeous fall day, and I decided that being stuck inside the house would be almost criminal. Plus, I really didn't want to mop...

The Dallas Farmer's Market was having a pumpkin festival today. I had debated whether or not I wanted to go by myself with both girls, but I decided it would be a nice outing. I didn't really know much about what activities would be happening, or how much they would cost.

I'm really glad that my 4 year old asked to go to the restroom as soon as we got there, because had we taken our normal route through the produce section, I might have missed the free children's activities all together. They were located in an area where nothing is usually happening, and I would not have thought to go that way. But we saw it on our way back to the produce and we walked over. They had several carnival games and crafts for the kids, with small prizes they could win. There was even one table sponsored by the library system and Half Price Books that gave each of my kids a free book.

Then we went and walked around checking out the produce, sampling all the delicious fruits and veggies that they offered. By the time we were done, both of my kids were too full to eat lunch! We bought a few things that I thought were a really good deal, and will keep well in the freezer.

The bag is full of raspberries. They were very ripe, so I have already frozen them for use in smoothies/oatmeal/pancakes/muffins. I paid $4 for them. I got all of those green beans for $4 also, and $5 for the squash.

I love being able to stock up on fresh produce when it is in season. I was actually surprised to still see these summer squash available. I remember buying a bunch of squash at the farmer's market last June and freezing it, so I thought I had missed out.

What is your favorite produce to stock your freezer with when it is in season? I would have to say mine is berries of all kinds!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Check Your Email: CVS Coupon

I just received an email from CVS that contained a coupon for $5/$25 purchase. It is only valid through Sunday.

The email also previewed an upcoming P&G promotion, so be sure to check that out, too.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Aldi Produce Deals 10/13-10-19

Here are the produce deals advertised for Aldi this week:

*Large Pumpkins $2.99 each
*Red Grapes $0.79/lb (sold in 2lb pack for $1.58)
*Apples, all varieties $0.45/lb (sold in 3lb bags for $1.35)
*4 pack Pears $0.99/pack

*Gallon Milk $0.99 each
*Dozen eggs $0.69 each (these have been even less at the store closest to me)

Although not advertised, this store has the lowest prices on just about anything I've seen, except perhaps meat. They sell loaves of bread for just $0.69 and hot dog/hamburger buns for $0.75 everyday ($0.75 for the dogs, too!) The sell mac & cheese for $0.35/box. They sell bags of frozen chicken nuggets for $3.99. These things are all lunchtime staples around here. ;)

In the Mail

Here are all the goodies I got in the mail after the long holiday weekend:

*First Aid Kit (empty) with a booklet containing $15 worth of coupons from the Band-Aid rebate.
*My Catalinas that didn't print at Tom Thumb --That was fast!
*Sample of Wisk and a $1 coupon
*Coupon for a free bottle of Advil
*Survey from the Consumer Opinion Institute containing a $5 cash up-front payment.**
*Every Day with Racheal Ray magazine (not pictured)

**Note: I receive surveys from this company by mail, maybe once every 2-3 months, sometimes less often. They used to come with $1 inside, then $2, now I'm getting longer ones with $5. I'm hoping maybe if I keep sending them back in I'll start getting $20's...lol.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Laptop Mishap

Hey guys, I posted This on The facebook page, but I Wanted To let You guys know That if You don't hear from me for a while it is because last night while I was fixing a glass of water for my poor sick husband, my baby took it upon herself To climb into my desk chair and knock over My water unto my laptop. Luckily, the thing still functions, but The keyboard is doing some crazy things, like randomly capitalizing words, as you can see. So, until I figure out what to do About This, Since i do not think my warranty covers water damage, I won't be posting much because this is annoying as heck to try To read and almost impossible for me to fix. Plus my shift keys are acting Like Arrow keys so i can't put any of The symbols where i want Them. *sigh *

Monday, October 11, 2010

P&G Samples Available:Always, Tampax, Tide

I was able to request a new P&G BrandSampler pack today. This time they are offering samples for Always, Tampax, Tide, and some coupons for Tide and Febreeze. Click the link above to see if you are able to request them too. I love getting these because they all come together in one box, so it saves on packaging, and its so exciting to get so many samples at one time.

*Note* A person is only able to request samples from this site once every three months. If it has been less than that since you last requested a sampler pack, the site will tell you when you are able to return and request another one.

Proctor and Gamble Rebate: $110 Worth of Coupons By Mail

This rebate form was in the P&G insert towards the end of August, but here is a link to it. All you must do is purchase $50 worth of P&G products between August 20 (so check your receipts, you may have it already!) and December 31.

I had almost forgotten about this one! I don't know what made me think of it, but with all of the Prilosec and Iams I've bought lately (we got two new puppies), I've more than covered this one! I'm getting it together to mail off right now.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

GREAT Coffee-Mate Coupon

Hurry over here to print a coupon for $1.50/1 15oz or larger bottle of Coffee-Mate creamer, powder or liquid.

This is a great coupon, probably the best one I've ever seen for Coffee-Mate! To make it even better, Kroger has these as part of their Mega Sale that is going on right now! I think it will continue for another week at least, since the game on their website will continue.

These are on sale for $1.89, get one and use the coupon, you've got $0.39 creamer! But, if you buy 10 participating items, the price of each item gets $0.50 deducted, so now the creamer costs only $1.39. The coupon will scan with no problems because of the original price that it rang up, so you will be getting paid $0.11 to buy this creamer. I was able to print the coupon twice.

I'm soooo happy about this. I was looking for more things to add to my Kroger list that had coupons to go along with them. Go print this one fast before they are gone. You will have to register an account with Coffee-Mate, but they rarely send emails, and they have great coupons!!!

My 10/10 CVS Trip and How I Did It

I went to CVS today to use my $5/$30 coupon that expired today. I must admit that I am way behind on organizing my coupons, but that didn't matter at all for today's trip. All the coupons I needed came this morning or were printed yesterday! If you are just getting started on couponing, or want to get started shopping at CVS, this would be a great week to do it. Here is what I picked up:

Sale Price: $32.98

Price After Coupons: $19.98 (*Note that even if I did not have existing ECB's to use, this is less than the cost of the generic version of the medicine!)

I also had $18.50 in ECB's ($8.50 from last week, and $10 from a survey I got from the CVS advisor panel on Friday)

I paid $1.48 OOP and I also received $11.99 in ECB's ($2 from the oatmeal, $7 from the Prilosec, and $2.99 from the toothpaste)

The Prilosec also came with all of those coupons inside the package, $15 worth!

Now, for the coupons I used:

* The Quaker oatmeal was on sale $2 for 5. I used 2 $2/1 coupons that I got yesterday from their facebook page. Allow the application, and click the coupon tab at the top. I was able to print it twice, but I had to go back through the original link. This coupon makes these $0.50/box before ECB's, and then you receive $2 ECBs for buying 2 boxes, so this is a $0.50/box moneymaker!!!! You can do this deal up to 2 times. By the way, the Wild Blueberry Muffin flavor is AWESOME! Its my favorite late night snack.

*The Colgate Total was $2.99 (free after the $2.99 ECBs it generates). There was a $1/1 coupon in this morning's Smartsource insert.

*The Prilosec was on sale for $24.99 for the 42ct. box, and it was generating $7 ECB's. There was a $3/1 coupon in this morning's P&G insert.

PLUS: When I checked out, my receipt had 2 coupons that printed along with my ECB's. One was for $5/$15 purchase, which was good for 3 days only! (I think I may have to go back.) The other was a store coupon for $5/2 bottles of Tums. I know I have manufacturers coupons that I can stack with this somewhere, and that would almost be my $15 I need to use the first coupon right there. ;)

Did you guys score some good deals at CVS this week? Let us know about them.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Sunday Coupon Preview 10/10

There are supposed to be 3 coupon inserts in tomorrow's paper. A SmartSource, RedPlum, and P&G. If you do not normally get a paper, tomorrow might be the day to do it. You can check out what specific coupons to expect here.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Kroger Instant Win Game: I Won!

Remember that Kroger instant win game I told you about? Well, I just played it, and won a FREE 20oz Coke Zero! Not incredible, but I'll take it. ;) The coupon loaded to my shopping card, and I should be able to redeem it during my next shopping trip (which I'm planning really soon).

According to the site, you are allowed two wins, so I will keep playing. There are 24 more days remaining to win.

Did any of you win anything playing this game? Tell us about it!

Every Friday is Mega Swagbucks Day

Just a reminder that you can earn larger amounts of Swagbucks on Fridays. Swagbucks can be used to purchase all sorts of things in the Swag Store. My favorite are the $5 Amazon certificates, which are a better value per swagbuck than the larger denominations of Amazon certificates! If you haven't signed up yet, do so here.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Check Your Email: CVS Coupon

I just got an email from CVS containing a coupon for $5 off a $30 purchase. It is good until Sunday 10/10, so be sure to print yours!

You can get a look at what will be in next week's ad here. There are some pretty good Extra Bucks deals including free toothpaste and cheap oatmeal, soap, and makeup. Have a look so you can prepare!

New Ronzoni Coupon=Free Pasta and a Few Thoughts

When you "like" Ronzoni on facebook, you can print a coupon for $1 off 1 box of Ronzoni Healthy Harvest. Go under the Healthy Ha! tab and look on the left hand side for the coupon link. A small box will pop up that says "click here" in red. Click there, don't close the box. ;)

These often go one sale for $1, so this coupon will mean free pasta at many stores with a sale. I'm very excited about this one. I bought a bunch of this pasta a while back, mostly the Smart Taste variety, which is white pasta. I had some coupons for this variety, though, which is whole wheat. You have to understand that the family I was raised in was pretty healthy food-phobic, so I was a little hesitant. I was pleasantly surprised when we first tried a box of thin spaghetti. I could almost tell no difference from my usual store brand white pasta. My husband said he found it a little "grainy"?? but that it was good. My kids didn't even notice, they just ate.

The reason I tell you all of this, as opposed to just posting the coupon link, is because I believe that it is a very common misconception that the only thing that can be purchased using coupons is junk food. This is a case in which coupons have allowed me to make a change for the better in my family's diet and include healthier, brand name options for a lower cost than less healthy store brand options. Of course, coupons do make it much easier to have treats readily available, too. =)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Vocalpoint: FREE box of Barilla Pasta

Log into your Vocalpoint account and you will be able to request a coupon by mail for a FREE box of Barilla Pasta. It said it may take 5-7 weeks to arrive. Hurry, Vocalpoint offers usually run out fast!

New Kroger Instant Win Game=Free Items

Kroger and affiliates have a new Kick Off To Savings instant win game going on right now. I did not win today, but it says you may win twice. Play once a day for the next 26 days. May guess is that a new game will start then. They've been pretty constant lately. Love the free things!

New E-Coupons

All of the E-coupon sites have new E-coupons available! Click the links below to load up yours now!

Cellfire

Shortcuts

U-Promise Note* It says their systems is currently updating, so check back later.

Proctor and Gamble

If you have a Kroger, they have their own e-coupons on their website too, and I've found that I can load the P&G ones from there as well. Go here to check that out.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Tom Thumb....and No Catalinas =/

Well, I went back to Tom Thumb tonight armed with coupons to do some of those Catalina deals that I told you about earlier. However, when I checked out the coupon printer was blinking error and the two coupons that I should have gotten did not print. This happened once before, and I emailed the Catalina company about it. They responded very quickly and mailed my coupon to me within 2 weeks. I am sure that will happen again, so I'm not too upset about it.

Here is what I bought tonight:

This store's receipts have gotten ridiculous to interpret. I ended up paying $13.54 out of pocket, and I should get $6.50 in Catalina coupons. The receipt says I saved $23.48, or 63%.

Note to my local people, Tom Thumb has jumped onto the $0.99 Gallon of milk bandwagon. =) This will save me a trip out to Aldi in the next day or two.

New Target Printable Coupons

While you are over at the Target website checking out their new free samples, check out the new printable coupons they have listed, too. They have plenty of coupons for their store brand items available, so you can get them even cheaper than they already are. They also have some Kraft and General Mills coupons available. The Kraft coupons are Target store coupons, which can be stacked with manufacturer coupons for even better deals. The General Mills coupons are manufacturer coupons that print without the Target logo on them, so they can be used at any store. I printed a few that I plan to use along with those Catalina deals at Tom Thumb!

Free Samples From Target!

Target is now offering FREE SAMPLES on their website!! Right now, they are giving away samples of Glad trash bags and Tide detergent. Go here to get yours.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Free Kindle Book Downloads from Amazon

There are a few pretty awesome Kindle books available for FREE right now for a limited time:

The DNA of Relationships (List Price $12.99)

Intervention (List Price $14.99)

This author writes Christian fiction. I have read some of her previous work and it is really good!

First Things First by Kurt and Brenda Warner (List Price $20.99!!)

Wisk Sample

Click here to request a free sample of Wisk detergent from Costco. You do NOT have to be a member!

Free Sample of Ester-C Gummies

Click here to request a free sample of Ester-C Gummies.

Get a Coupon For a FREE Bottle of Advil (Hurry: First 500,000 Only)

Go here to request a coupon by mail for a FREE bottle of Advil. Hurry, because this is limited to the first 500,000 to request it.

New Catalina Promotions at Tom Thumb (Today-10/31)

On my trip to Tom Thumb yesterday, a few Catalina notifications printed out at the register. Here are the details

Nature Valley Granola Bars:
valid 10/4-10/31

Buy 3, get $1.50
Buy 4, get $2.50
Buy 5 or more, get $3.50

Betty Crocker Frosting Tubs
valid 10/4-10/31

Buy 2, Get $1
Buy 3, Get $2
Buy 4 or more, Get $3

General Mills Fruit Snacks (Gushes, shapes, Fruit by the Foot, Roll-Ups, Stickers)
valid 10/4-10/31

Buy 3, Get $1
Buy 4, Get $2
Buy 5 or more, Get $3

There was also one going on yesterday for Pillsbury. I do not know the details of it, but I bought 4 cans of Grands biscuits, and I got a $3 coupon when I checked out, so i'm not complaining. If anyone knows the details of this one, let us know in the comments. Thanks!

Yesterday's Shopping: CVS and Tom Thumb

This is what I picked up at CVS yesterday:
2 Clorox wipes on sale 2 for $5. Used 2 $1/1 coupons (from facebook)=$1.50 each
Playtex Gentle Glide 36 ct. $6.99. Used $2/1 coupon. Got back $2 ECB's
Bengay Massage $5.99. Used $2/1 coupon from yesterday's paper. Got $2 ECB's
Colgate Proclinical $3.99. Used $1/1 coupon from 9/12 SS. Got $1.50 ECB's
Revlon Nail Polish $3.99. Used $1/1 coupon from 9/19 SS. Got $3 ECB's

Also used a $4/$20 coupon I got by email and the $8 ECB's from last week, and $1.69 I had left on a gift card. Paid $4.15 OOP and got back $8.50 in ECB's for next time.

Then I went to Tom Thumb and grabbed all of this stuff:

4 Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs (.99 each with coupon from the ad in Sunday's paper) Limit 5. Used 2 $1/2 coupons.
4 Grands Biscuits (.99 each with coupon from the ad in Sunday's paper). Used 2 $0.30/2 coupons.
3 Betty Crocker Cake Mixes (.89 each with coupon from the ad) AND
3 tubs Betty Crocker frosting 2 for $3 used 3 coupons for varying amounts off the purchase of both.
4 boxes Betty Crocker Mashed potatoes *these were advertised as buy 4 save $4 in the ad, but for some reason only the loaded baked had the sign on them, so I got all that flavor. The reciept is very confusing, and I'm not actually sure if the $4 came off or not) $0.89* wyb 4. Used a $1/2 and a $0.50/2 that doubled.
2 Nature Valley Bars (1.79 each with coupon from the ad in Sunday's paper) Used a $0.50/1 that doubled, and a $0.75/1 that came inside the wrapper on my paper yesterday along with a sample bar! Woohoo!
1 can Reddi Whip 2 for $5. Used $1/1 (think it was from ALL You)

and A LOT of e-coupons came off.

All said I spent $10.73 OOP. The receipt says I saved $38.78 or 78%

I'm going to be honest though, I'm really very confused by the way their receipts are printing out now. It's very hard to figure out the beginning price and the savings. Here is the top of my receipt. As you can see, the first thing on there says "grocery coupon" for which I was charged nothing, and apparently that saved me a penny??? Then I scanned 1 Nature Valley bar, and 4 ecoupons showed up?. Very strange indeed. Also, at the self-checkouts, if your coupon doubles, the register thinks the doubled portion is an item and expects you to bag it. Just, so you know. ;)

Once I checked out, I surprisingly got back a $3 Catalina from Pillsbury! I thought that was a pretty large amount, for only buying 4 cans of biscuits!

I also (wouldn't you know it!) got a few notifications of promotions that begin today, including the frosting and the Nature Valley bars, so I may just have to dig up a few more coupons and go back.

I'll put the details of those in the next post. =)

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