Power Shop Tuesday!

Today was one of those kind of shopping days where everything falls into place. The deals are right, the stuff is in stock and my 3 year old was actually behaving! I had a very short window to pack in as much as I could so before I left the house I wrote out a list of the things I wanted to buy from each store and made paper clipped stacks of coupons to put in the front of my binder so I had them at the ready and didn't need to search for anything at the store. I still brought my binder and am glad I did because I did find a couple of extra items that I was glad I had my coupons for!

First Stop: Target

(2) Super Cute plastic Easter plates to save for next year (90% off Clearance!) - $.19 each!

(2) 1 qt. Bottles of Similac Sensitive Ready to Feed - on sale $3.84 from $6.85

(2) Aveeno sun care items - $9.89 Each (Receive $10 Target card wyb 2)

Sub Total: $27.84

- used (2) $3 off any Similac coupons from a coupon insert a couple of weeks ago

- used $2.00 off any Aveeno printable from my Recyclebank points

- used $1.00 off any Aveeno Active Naturals coupon from previous coupon insert

- used (2) $1.00 off any Aveeno Target coupons

Paid: $16.84 + tax OOP and received a $10 gift card for my next Target purchase!

Basically I paid $.84 each for the formula and $2.39 each for the sunscreens. I am hoping that I will be able to breastfeed my new baby but just incase I can't or if I need to occassionally supplement, I want to be prepared for as little $$ as possible.

2nd Stop: Rite Aid

Bought 1 Crest Pro-Health 4 oz Toothpaste - $2.99
- used $1.50 off Crest coupon from 5/1 P&G Insert
- used $1.00 +Up Reward from previous purchase
Paid $.77 OOP including tax, Received $2 +Up Reward for my next purchase!

I got PAID to buy this toothpaste!
I am not like those people on Extreme Couponing that have 1,000 tubes of toothpaste stockpiled; its unrealistic and I don't have the storage space! I have about 5 or 6 total. Toothpaste is one of those things that I can always get for free with coupons so I don't buy a ton of it when it's on sale, just 1 or 2 which is plenty for my family.

3rd Stop: Walgreens

1 Gillette Pro-Glide Razor system - on sale $9.89
2 Lysol Wipes - on sale B1G1 Free (or 2 for $3.59)
1 Puffs 100 ct. tissues - on sale $.99 with in-ad coupon
Sub-Total before coupons: $14.47
- used $5.00 off Gillette Razor from P&G home mailer (NLA but there was a $4 off coupon in the P&G insert this month)
- used (2) $1.50 off 1 Lysol Facebook coupon (sorry NLA)
- used $.50 off 1 Puffs coupon from the P&G home mailer
Final Price OOP: $5.97 + tax, Received $5 Register Reward coupon good toward my next purchase for buying the razor.

My husband uses an electric razor but because I essentially got paid $.11 for buying this razor I can give it to someone else who does use razors. I also paid only $.30 each for the disinfectant wipes and only $.49 for the tissues.

Plus I have $5 to use on my next trip! Ideally with sales like this I can buy something there next week that I can pay for with my Rewards and in return get more rewards, which only builds my savings and costs me nothing OOP for more products!

Our 4th and final stop for the day was: Safeway {I did 2 transactions}

#1

3 Hallmark cards - 1 for $1.99 & 2 for $1.49

Paid: $4.97 + tax OOP, Received a Catalina coupon for $5 off my next purchase!

(3 free cards!)

#2

Mission Tortillas (8ct.) - $1.49 with in-ad coupon

+ a few other random grocery items that I needed like egg noodles, bananas & cream cheese

I paid for my 2nd transaction with the $5.00 Catalina coupon from the 1st transaction!

The tortillas were cheaper at a different store this week (only $.99) but because I only had a certain amount of time & gas it isn't logical to go all the way to another store just to save $.49.

Albertsons: Hot Pampers Deal through 5/3

Coupon Connections has come up with an awesome scenario using coupons from yesterday's newspaper inserts (there were 3!) and sheet of 3 Twice the Value coupons! I just went to my local store and did this deal and it worked perfectly plus it only uses 2 of your 3 doublers so you can add another coupon deal into your order!

Check out the full details on the deal HERE!

Here is what I bought today:
1 big pack of Pampers (Size 3 - 96ct.) - $19.99
1 tub of Pampers wipes - $2.99
1 Cover Girl eyeshadow - $2.64
2 Tony's Crispy Crust party pizzas - $1.00 each

Sub-Total before coupons: $27.62

Coupons I used:
$2.00 off any Pampers Diapers (from a Home Mailer I received. There was a $1.50 off coupon in yesterday's paper.)

$.50 off any Pampers Wipes coupon from 5/1 P&G insert

$1.00 off any Cover Girl product from 5/1 P&G insert

$1.00 of 2 Tony's Pizza products

plus my 3 Twice the Value Albertsons coupons (-$2.50 additional!)

Total OOP today: $20.62 - At checkout I received 3 Catalina coupons: $5 off my next purchase of Pampers, $5 off my next purchase of anything and 5 FREE Redbox movie rental codes!

That's like paying $10.62 for everything plus getting 5 free movie rentals! It works out to be about $.10/diaper which is way better than the $.17/diaper Costco price for Huggies in this size! With the new baby coming very soon I have been stocking up on various sizes of diapers so we are prepared when he/she comes and we won't have to pay full price for spendy diapers ever!

Plus I got an additional Catalina with a code on it for 10 free Pampers Gifts to Grow points! If you have a baby and use diapers this is a program you have to sign up for. You acrue points for the items you buy and then use the points to get free products! From the points I got from codes today I was finally at enough points for a $10 Starbucks gift card! Why not be rewarded for the things you are already buying anyway?! Sign up HERE for the Gifts to Grow program!

Note: If you do not subscribe to the Sunday paper, your store should sell them all week for $2 each and they will have the coupons in them. I have heard there is a deal going for the Sunday Seattle Times delivery for only $1.58/issue going on right now if you are thinking of signing up.

Free Tub of Cottonelle Wipes!

Hurry and go HERE to "Give a Tub, Get a Tub" from Cottonelle Fresh Moist Wipes! All you need to do is fill out a brief survey and enter a friend's name and email and you will receive a coupon in the mail (in about a month) for a free tub of wipes!

Not sure how many this is limited to so I would do it soon because the promotion could end at any time!! Hope you all have a Fabule$$ weekend!

Whole Foods: Organic Strawberries $1.99 lb!

Every once in a while Whole Foods comes out with a deal that can't be missed! Tomorrow (4/29/11) is one of those deals! They will have 1 lb packages of organic strawberries for only $1.99 each! This is cheaper than most stores have non-organic strawberries priced right now!

Strawberries are on the dirty dozen list of foods that you should buy organically or not at all because of pesticide contamination, so this is a perfect time to stock up and freeze some! Frozen strawberries are great for desserts and smoothies! I also plan to get a couple packages to keep in the fridge since Naomi is OBSESSED with strawberries these days!

Check out the details HERE and go get your strawberry on tomorrow!

It Pays to Register - Literally!

As you know, our little family is growing by one come this July! While this is our 2nd baby and we don't need much in the way of "supplies" and aren't having a shower, I still decided to go ahead and do a couple registries because of the freebies and coupons you get when you register for a baby. Little did I know, you get so much more for registering these days!

Above is what I got for registering at Babies R Us:

Not a whole lot in the way of samples, but there was a cute Pampers diaper pouch with a diaper and a travel pack of wipes. I also got 2 free magazines and a whole stack of coupons both manuf. & store. I will also get a "registry completion" coupon within 6 weeks of the baby's due date for 10% off anything on my registry.

The best part about this registry? I had a coupon for a free $10 gift card when you create a new registry! Hence the title of this post - I literally was paid $10 by the store to go around and let Naomi have fun using the "beep gun" on the few things we did add to the registry.

Target's "Welcome Kit" is much better sample and coupon-wise. No free Target gift card but here is what I did get just for registering:

Cute re-useable shopping tote
Johnson & Johnson Baby Lotion sample
Huggies diaper & travel wipes pack + manuf. coupons
2 Lansinoh disposable breast pads
2 Lansinoh breast milk storage bags
A coupon for a free 6 pack of Enfamil Ready-to-Feed bottles ($9 value)
A huge stack of Target store coupons - which are great because I can stack them with manuf. coupons to get deals on diapers, wipes, formula (if I need it), lotions, baby clothes, maternity clothes and a bunch of other stuff!

Best Part? A $20 gift code to Shutterfly.com! I got another one for signing up for the Similac Moms program so I have $40 to use on birth announcements in July! Woot!

I also got a coupon for $1 off any cafe purchase so Naomi and I enjoyed munching on some popcorn while using the "beep gun" in the baby section!

If you are pregnant, even if this is your 4th baby, it's totally worth it to go and do a registry just because of the store benefits and possible savings on all those expensive baby supplies!

I didn't register for the traditional baby shower items, especially not for things I already have; only the few things we actually are going to need like bottles, brushes, nursing pads, and diapers! Since we aren't having a shower, what I am hoping for is those registry completion coupons to save us some $$ when the time comes! My Target registry only has 11 items on it, lol!

I'm in Shock! Amazing Walmart Clearance Finds!

Naomi and I randomly made a trip up to Walmart today to pick up a couple of things that I knew I could get for free or actually paid to buy and was very disappointed that almost everything I went up there for was not in stock - I hate it when that happens!

I took a walk around the store to look for clearance deals since Naomi was being good sitting in the cart; low and behold I found the most AMAZING clearance deals I have ever seen! Right in front of my eyes was an entire aisle of brand new toys for $1.00 each. Yes, rub your eyes just as I did, $1.00 - ONE DOLLAR! I thought for sure I would get my cart load up to the register and they would start ringing up at random prices but nope, 9 brand new toys - $9.

Check out what I got!

Baby Boutique Baby Doll - Was $12

(2) Moto Frenzy R/C Motorcycles - Were $19.00 each

Strawberry Shortcake Berry Sweet Roadster - Was $15.00

Sassy Baby Toy (Perfect for our new little one arriving soon!) - Was $19.00

(2) Fisher-Price Baby Ah-Choo Dolls - Were $34.00 each

Hex Bug Nano Battle Set - was $39.97

Fisher-Price SmartFit Kids Video Game - Was $42.97

These were ALL marked down to just $1.00 each so my total before tax was $9.00!

I also was able to get a couple of Frigo string cheese singles for $.33 each - I had 3 $.50 off coupons so I actually was paid $.51 to buy them - so that just means I got one of these toys at 1/2 price!

Just a fun fact - If I had paid full price for all of these toys (which would have never happend) I would have paid $234.94 + tax!

Most of these toys are going straight into my gift closet where I keep all the great things I got at the Target toy clearance and will be perfect for birthday and Christmas gifts throughout the year! Naomi got to keep one of the Baby Ah-Choo dolls too, and has been playing with her for 2 hours now, which is totally worth the $1 I paid for her!


This is why it's totally worth it to swing by the clearance aisles at your Supercenters, you never know what you are going to find! Please don't run out your door right now to go to your Walmart unless you were already going. Clearance deals vary by store and I would hate for one of you to drive 30 miles to get toys for a $1 only to be disappointed. However, if you are going shopping at the Lynnwood, WA store today, you may find some $1 items still, it was picked through but there may still be some left!

Earth Day Freebie at Origins!

This Friday, April 22nd (Earth Day 2011) you can get a free full size cleanser at any Origins Skincare counter when you bring in a bottle of your own skin care, empty or full!

Just go HERE to print out the form. Bring the form and your bottle along with you to the counter to trade out for a free full bottle! You can even pick between Checks & Balances or A Perfect World!

I participated in this freebie last year and am excited to see it back again this year!

My Shopping Trips Today!

Today was a big run errands day for me so I thought I'd show you all what I came home with since there were quite a few deals that you can do this week as well if you want them!

First Stop: Target (Total Spent $15.25 - $5 gift card = $10.25)

Nivea Body Wash for Women - on sale for $3.19

- used $3.00 off any Nivea Body Wash coupon from 4/17 RP insert

Final Price: $.19!

Pampers Kandoo Flushable Wipes - on price cut for $1.42

- used $1.00 off coupon from the last P&G insert

Final Price: $0.42 for 42 wipes (FYI $.01 per wipe or lower is my ideal stock up price)

Pediasure Sidekicks 4 pack - $6.49

- used $5.00 off catalina coupon I received a while back

Final Price: $1.49 for 4 - I don't usually buy these but they are nice to have on hand for travel, usually they are pretty expensive too.

Carefree Liners, 20 ct. - $.99

- used 1 cent Target coupon from 4/17 SS insert

Final Price: $.01

2 Johnson & Johnson First Aid To Go Kits $.97 each

- used $1.50 off 2 printable coupon

Final Price: $.22 each!

Breyers All Natural Ice Cream (2) - $2.99 each on Price Cut

- used $1.50 off 2 Target Printable coupon

Final Price: $2.24 each - Decent price for this ice cream, plus it's my favorite and I love it because it's got no HFCS in it!!

I have also been wanting to try the new Annie's Organic Granola Bars and this week there is a nice scenario to get them for the cheapest I have seen plus two boxes of Mac & Cheese.

My Scenario:

Bought 2 boxes of Mac & Cheese ($1.00 each)

Bought 2 Boxes of granola bars ($2.99 each)

- used $1.00 off granola bars wyb 2 Annie's products Target Printable

- used $.50 off granola bars Target Printable

Final Price: $6.48 - not an amazing price for 4 products but you can sign up for a free gardening kit HERE wyb any two Annie's products plus another 2 Annie's catalina q's printed at the register when I checked out!

Fred Meyer had a couple of good deals this week, you can check out the coupon match ups at Frugal Chic Living, she has a great FM list!

Today I bought:
4 lbs of strawberries for $4.98 ($1.25/lb)

Organic Baby Spinach - on clearance for $1.49

Organic Whole Wheat Bread on clearance for $1.69

Sourdough English Muffins on clearance for $.59

Organic Salsa on sale for $2.50 - my favorite kind!!

Maranatha Peanut Butter - $4.99

-used $1.00 off Peelie coupon on product

And 1 green pepper for dinner tonight!

Mostly clearance finds today and a couple of store deals, I only used 1 coupon! But this was the place I spent the most of my time because Naomi and I both love that she is old enough to go to the Kid's Club for our free 1 hour of babysitting while I can slowly wander the store! I actually forgot that I needed flour & eggs so I ended up stopping back by the one near my house later today for those two things.

Gold Medal Flour (unbleached) - on sale for $1.99 for 5 lbs.

My final stop today was to use my 3 Twice the Value coupons at Albertsons!

What I bought:
(2) Yo-Baby 4 packs Organic Yogurt - $2.69
1 - 6 Pack of Snapple - $6.99
- used $1.00 off Yo-Baby Printable x 2
- used $1.00 off Snapple 6 pack
- used 3 Doublers (-$3.00)
Final Price: $6.37 OOP + I am mailing in for a full rebate on the Snapple! So about $1.38 total after rebate!

All in all I was pretty pleased with my shopping trips today; I spent about $40 for all of our groceries for the week plus a few extras!

Menu Plan Monday: Week of 4/18

On the menu for dinner in our house this week:

Monday: Red Curry Chicken, Peppers & Rice (Got a seasoning packet to try out; hopefully it tastes good!)

Tuesday: Spaghetti with slow cooker meat sauce

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken with veggies and some sort of rice dish that I will throw together!

Thursday: Homemade Tortilla soup

Friday/Saturday/Sunday: Heading to Leavenworth for Easter weekend. Friday will probably be an eat out night and then we'll be eating with family at their homes for Saturday and Sunday. We'll actually have two Easter dinners to attend on Sunday; one with turkey and the other with ham!

Stay tuned this week; I am going to do a post on how I put together my daughter's Easter basket for almost free!

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day! {Today!}

Today (4/12/11) is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's scoop shop locations from 12pm - 8pm! Just head in and get a free ice cream cone, no coupon needed!

Check out the details HERE!

Find a participating shop near you HERE!