Looming Cat-Lady-dom

My not-really-my-office-anymore is not a very fun place to be these days. So even if I bring my lunch, I head out to read under a tree or browse a nearby store for an hour, gazing at all the fun things I would buy if my employment future were not one big, ugly question-mark. Today, I dropped by Target. I bought cat treats and candy. Right on track to becoming a cat-lady.

Dark 60% Cacao Ghirardelli Squares are on clearance for $2.30. If you're still hanging on to the $1 off one bag coupon from the May 2011 All You, now might be the time to cash it in (especially since it's dark chocolate, boo on milk chocolate).

And Whisker Lickin's ($1.07) are basically B1G1 when you use the $1 off 2 bags coupon from the 6/26/11 SS.

Original Prices: $7.57

Sale Prices: $6.58

Total Paid: $3.58

Total Savings: $3.99 or slightly over 52%

Muzak Deal!

Amazon has 100 MP3 albums on sale for $5 until June 30!

I highly suggest (to name a few):

Florence + The Machine - Lungs

Beck - Mellow Gold

The Raveonettes - Raven In The Grave

Bjork - Vespertine

Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_58930_20360700_pe_button/?docId=1000371251

60 for $1

Walgreens and CVS are at it again. Five 12 packs of Dr. Pepper or Pepsi for $13...hurry!

I had $10 ECBs from last weeks CVS Hawaiian Tropic expedition and wanted to spend them on my 5 packs of Diet Dr. Pepper. OF COURSE all the stores near to my zip code were sold out by the time I got out of church Sunday. Grrr. So my dear sweet sister, Sarah, took my card and my ECBs and my monies to the CVS in Gulf Breeze. Apparently Gulf Breeze either stocks their shelves more appropriately than every other CVS I've ever been to or Gulf Breeze people don't raid it. Not only was she able to find the soda and use my $10 ECBs, but she was also able to use 2 coupons found in store for $1.00 off 2 12 packs. So my total was $1! Props to Sarah. Visit her at the Gulf Breeze Library. They have books. For reading.

Made any awesome ECB purchases? Tell us about 'em.

Original Prices: $24.90

Sale Prices: $13

Total Paid: $1

Total Savings: $23.90 or slightly over 95%

Scouting the Hawaiian Tropics

CVS is offering tons of ECBs this week. $10 ECBs with the purchase of two Hawaiian Tropic products is one such offer. And lip balm counts! Purchase two Hawaiian Tropic lip balms for a total of $5.98 to receive your $10 ECB. You make $4.02!

My scouts and I have searched local stores and found that the Gulf Breeze CVS does carry the lip balm. Stores that do NOT: Milton, Pace, Olive Rd, 9 Mile, 9th Ave, Brent. Shout out to Sarah for making the find in Gulf Breeze.

Oh sweet self-actualization, Maslow!

Check out "How Your Last Name Affects Your Spending Habits" on WiseBread. Basically, there's a study floating around with evidence that individuals with last names falling late in the alphabet are more inclined to jump at deals. This stems from childhood anxieties of missing out brought on by waiting in line at school. I bet that you, little Jipped Zuperduper, never realized that waiting and watching Snotty Alwaysgetseverything and Bubba Firstinline and Bitty Idonthavetowait go ahead of you would put you on a path to financial ruin, did ya?

So, my last names begins with "W". I was always last or very close to last in line. As an adult, I meticulously plan my shopping trips. I research purchases. I know what the best product is and who has it for the best price. Plans. Not impulses. Take that WiseBread. But wait! I am also a horrible impulse buyer! I'm proving them right. I want what I want and I want it yesterday. I buy Groupons and get really excited if I do so before everyone else I know. New restaurant - where? I should be the first to try it. Ooohhh, colorful bins of crap in the middle of the isle - they must be in the middle of the isle because they're special. I'm special too, I need that stuff. Pick me! Pick me, stuff! Now I have a blog about getting deals so other people can see my deals and tell me how cool they are (I am). Oh sweet self actualization, Maslow! I'm so glad I have something to blame this on. Personal responsibility? No thanks (unless it comes with a RR).

Soda Shop

Hello, my name is Jen and I am addicted to diet soda. Diet Dr. Pepper is my poison of choice but I enjoy most diet sodas (Pepsi and Root Beer being the exceptions). This week, Walgreens has Dr. Pepper products on sale 3 for $10 and CVS has Coke products on sale 5 for $13! Being an addict, I took advantage of both. That's $23 for eight 12 packs (96 cans!) - which is great, but I also had 4 ECBs which brought my purchase down to $19 or about 20 cents per can.

Original Prices: $40.82

Sale Prices: $23

Total Paid: $19

Total Savings: $21.82 or slightly over 53%

Shake Your Money Maker at CVS

Dirty mouth? Don't chew gum, that's dumb. Brush your teeth and brush 'em with toothpaste that CVS paid you to take home. This week CVS has Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste for $2.79 with a $2ECB. Combine this with a $1.00 coupon from the 6/12/11 SmartSource and you make 21 cents!

Don't know what ECBs are? Check out "Fillers, RRs, ECBs...huh?" on your right, under "Good to Know".

Walgreens Switch-A-Roo = Free-er Tampons!

I hate buying feminine products. They are expensive, no fun to buy and certainly no fun to use! Walgreens is helping make it a little easier this week. They are giving away an 18 ct box of Playtex Sport or Gentle Glide tampons when you purchase a 36 ct box. The 36 ct box is $8.49 and the 18 ct box is normally $5.29. Combine this with two of the $1.50 manufacturers coupons from the 5/22/11 SmartSource and you get both boxes for $5.49! That’s a savings of $8.29 or over 60%. It’s like you are getting the larger box free!

So that's 36 ct tampons + 18 ct tampons = $5.49
(Walgreens sale + 2 $1.50 manufacturer's coupons = $8.29 savings)

If you are currently in need of tampons, you'll probably like this deal: pop on over to CVS where you can get $5.99 in ECBs on a $5.99 bag of Hershey's Bliss. That's free - you have to pay $5.99 for the Bliss - a $5.99 Extra Care Bucks "coupon" will print on your receipt that you may use on your next purchase. Go ahead and use it right away if you want. Buy your chocolate then turn right around and buy a few things you need that add up to $5.99 (like bread, pet food, etc) and use your ECB just like a coupon! You walk out of the store with your Hershey's Bliss and other item(s) that equal $5.99 all for $5.99! Consider the Bliss free or the other stuff free, either way, you left with free stuff!

I tried this because it was on clearance product review: Godiva Truffle Bar Oranges & Cream in White Chocolate

Target has these on clearance for $1.49 (reg $2.99). There are a few other flavors on clearance as well...mint chocolate chip (ew), sundae something or other and a berry type deal.

Initial reaction: O.M.Geeee, that's good! Why did I only buy one? Go back! Go back! Why are they on clearance?!? Are they being discontinued? WHAT-IS GOING-ON?!?

Post initial reaction: Yeah, that was good. I'm glad I only bought one. Had I bought more, I would have turned into something not dissimilar to a wood chipper and devoured them all. Oh yeah, I made a coconut pie Tuesday - I can eat that instead. Wait, instead - I don't need anything instead. If I don't get a new job soon I'm going to be the size of a house. And I don't mean one of those cute little pre-fab houses Brad Pitt "built" in New Orleans after Katrina. I'll see if Target has more of those bars next time I'm there. Which will not be tonight. I can not go tonight. Can I?

Hello, Yellow!

It's the best time of year for Bath and Body Works: the Hello, Yellow! sale. Items are up to 75% off. I know, "up to" sales often sound much better than they are. I've never been disappointed in a BBW HY sale though. Look for $3 wallflowers and hand soaps and $5 lotions and fragrance sprays. And me...I'll be there at some point.

The sale is available online and in-store.

Stockpile Sneak Peek!

If you’ve seen any episode of Extreme Couponers, you’ve seen a massive stockpile. We’re talking 100 boxes of cereal, 1000 body washes and enough croutons to fill a salad the size of a Hummerzine. No wonder some couponers spell crazy with a “k” (which is annoying, don’t do that) – they really are nuts. Here's a peek at my stockpile. It’s appropriately sized for a single-person household. It contains items that I will use over the next year. It’s bigger than I thought it would be after a few weeks of couponing and I can see how folks fill a garage. I pledge not to do that.

Jen’s stockpile: 4 body washes, 5 lotions, 3 styling products, 1 insect repellent, 2 bottles sunblock, 1 chapstick, 4 mascaras, 5 bottles Bayer Advanced, 3 Tic Tac Big Packs, 2 bottles BBQ sauce, 3 Clorox wipes, 2 Lysol toilet bowl cleaners, 4 tubes Colgate, 2 bottles Glade Fabric & Air, 1 bag Tide Stain Release, 1 package Q-tips

Not pictured: three boxes of cereal and three cans of Pringles. They are in my pantry, which needs to be organized. I’m embarrassed to show it to you right now.

To the Couponer go the Spoils

Target
2 shirts (sale & store coups)
2 dresses (sale & store coups)
Walgreens
Blistex (sale & rr)
Scar Zone (sale)
3 tubes Colgate (sale & manus)
2 Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaners (store coup)
3 Bayer Advanced (manu coup & rr)
3 Peanut Butter M&Ms (sale) - filler items (I'll do a post on fillers)
Butterfinger (sale) - filler item
Sample of Renpure
CVS
3 Falsies Mascaras (sale & ecb)
Bread (used ecb on this)
4 cans Friskies (used ecb on this)
3 Tic Tac Big Packs (sale & manu)
NYC Lipstick (used ecb on this)

Original Prices: $148.52
Sale Prices: $73.07
Paid: $44.30
Total Savings: $104.22 or slightly over 70% AND I have a few mail-in rebates to submit!

Update: check the right hand side of the blog under the "Good to Know" section for more info on RRs, ECBs and Fillers.

Crunchy Underwear, no, wait...

The Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme is 99 cents this week! I tried it. It was alright. When I consider I ate lunch for 2 dollars and some change (add a Diet Coke), it was downright good.

Also, the Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale started this week. Get yo-self some cheap under things. If you find any cheap Bare Ultimate Hiphuggers, let me know. I personally feel that they are the only product worth purchasing from VS.

4 Cent Lotion!!!

Like Nivea USA on Facebook to print a $2.00 manufacturer coupon. Combine this with the Target Nivea coupon for $3.00 available on Target.com and you can get lotion for 4 cents!

I admit it, I did this 3 times. Then I took a picture of the lotion and some coupons in a nice grassy area on the UWF campus. Yeah, I went on a picnic with my lotion. So?

Feeling Suave. Can you tell?

FREEEEEEEE STUFF!

Did you clip the Suave B1G1 coupon from your Sunday paper inserts a couple weeks ago? Though it states B1G1, it actually rings off $3.00! I bought 2 Suave body washes at Target for $1.94 each and used the aforementioned coupon. I paid $0.88 total for 2 body washes! I felt really great about that until I saw that Publix has them on sale for $1.49. They could have been FREE – negative two cents to be exact (Publix does overages)! Learn from my mistakes. The coupon expires June 19 – don’t let this one get away.

AAANNNNDDDDD, you may visit http://www.suave.com/canyoutell/ to watch a few short hair care videos. Each video will end with the question “Can you tell? which model used Suave products”. For each correct answer, you unlock a coupon (answer them all before choosing your coupon – you only get to choose one). I’m getting 2 FREE products!

Family Affair

Butterhead: Get Paid to Buy Bayer!

When something ails me, I generally prefer to find alternatives to pills. But I get a lot of headaches (yeah, yeah - if I had a head like that, blah, blah, blah) and they often have me reaching for the bottle. So pain reliever coupons are pretty awesome. Especially when you are paid $0.76 to take a bottle home! Publix has Bayer Advanced Asprin 24 count on sale for $2.99 plus an in-store coupon (check the info rack at the front of your store) for $2.00 off. AND I printed a couple manufacturer's coupons a couple weeks ago for $1.75 off. Let me say it again, Publix will pay you $0.76 to take Bayer off their hands! Of course they don't just hand you money - you may apply the overage to other items in your cart but chances are you didn't go into Publix just to buy Bayer, so what's the difference?!?

Publix Display of Affection

Today I made my first Publix shopping trip since I began couponing. Publix accepts competitor coupons (such as Target - check your store for details) and allows overages! Publix
Bayer Advanced Asprin (sale + manu coup + store coup)
2 Mrs. T's Pierogies (B1G1 + manu coup)
2 Hormel Canned Chicken (B1G1)
2 Aunt J Frozen Pancakes - whole grain! (B1G1)
Off Botanicals (manu coup + store coup)
CVS
5 Cans Cat Food (sale)
Tide Stain Release (sale + manu coup)
2 Garnier Hair Stylers (sale + 2 manu coups)
Walgreens
2 Morton Salt (store coup)

Original Prices: $45.02
Sale Prices: $30.62
Paid:$18.88
Total Savings: $26.14 or slightly over 58%

There IS such a thing as a FREE lunch

FREE Arby's Roast Beef Sandwich!

You Salty Dog: 1/2 Price Old Navy + Sushi

Check it out: $20 worth of Old Navy apparel for only $10 on Groupon! You can use it on clearance. Join me on the coupons + clearance high! Use my referral link to get your Groupon and help a sister out.

Pick up a $12 Nippon Sushi and Grill Groupon for $6 while you're there. Click here to use my sushi referral link.

Update: DON'T do this with your Groupon! (Link courtesy of THE Kacey of KaceysKitchen.com.)

It's that time again...

Did you print your new coupons yet? Check coupons.com for the latest and greatest. Go ahead and print as many as you think you will need. When I was a couponing newbie way back two weeks ago, I only printed one of each. I went back the next day to print additional copies of a few select coups that were very good to me and they were already gone. Learn from my mistakes, kids.