Match Ups for Walgreens for 1/22-1/28

Helloooo.

I have begun putting together the coupon/sale match ups for next week's bargains. I will be updating as I see this week's coupons, so check back!

Walgreen's:
This is a good week to stock up on medicines, again.

Ultimate Flurry Protein Bar is a Freebie. Buy one for $1.99 and get a $1.99 RR.

Renew Life Flush & Fit Kit is also a Freebie. Buy one for $20.00 and a rebate form for $20.00 will print at the register.

Triaminic Fever Reducer is on sale for $5. Buy two and use (2) $1.50/1 coupons. You will pay $4 at the register and earn a $5 RR for a profit of $1.00.

Tylenol Cold Liquid is on sale for $5. Buy two and use (2) $2/1 coupon. You will pay $6 at the register and earn a $5 RR for a net cost of .50¢ each.

Ex Lax, Gas X, and Maalox are all on sale for $5 and all qualify for the Buy $20 and get $10 RR.
I have these coupons in my binder:
$3/2 Gas X or Maalox Advanced (buy 4, use 2 coupons= $14 at register, earn $10= $1 each)
$2.50/2 Maalox Advanced Products (buy 4, use 2 coupons= $15 at register, earn $10= $1.25 each)
$1/1 Any Gas X Prevention Product (buy 4, use 4 coupons= $16 at register, earn $10= $1.50 each)
$1/1 Any Maalox Advanced Product (same scenerio)
$2/1 Any Ex Lax (buy 4, use 4 coupons= $12 at register, earn $10= .50¢ each)

My plan is to use the highlighed offers and purchase two Gas X and two Maalox. Because I also have RRs to use from last week, I plan on using two $2 RRs. My cost at the register will be $10 and I will earn a $10rr, making my net transaction FREE. In a second transaction, I will buy four Ex Lax. I will use another two $2 RR to make my cost at the register $8 and I will earn another $10RR. I cannot use the first $10 RR on the 2nd transaction because the 2nd $10RR would not print. Doing it this way will cost me $18 out of pocket, but I will earn a total of $20RRs, making me a profit of $2. I will stock these items in my medicine closet to have on hand should anyone require them.

Advil and Advil PM are on sale for $4.99. I have seen mention of a $1/2 coupon, but I did not have one in my binder. If you do, you can buy 2, use one coupon and pay $7.98 at the register. You will earn $5 RR when you buy two, making your net cost $2.98/2 or $1.49 each.

Prevacid is on sale for $20 with a $10RR. There is a $7/2 coupon available, but would buying 2 at the same time be the best way to do this deal? If you buy two and use the coupon, you will spend $33 at the register and earn $10 RR= $23/2 or $11.50 each net cost for a savings of $8.50 over the sale price. However, if you bought the same two boxes in 2 seperate transactions without using the coupon, you will spend $40 at the register and earn $20RR= $20/2 or $10 each net cost for a savings of $10. This only works when you do not roll your RRs. This is the better deal. If you use the 1st RR on the 2nd transaction, you will pay $20 in your 1st transaction and $10 in your 2nd transaction totalling $30 with no RR left for a net transaction of $15/box.

Hershey's Candy Bar are on sale for .59¢ with the in ad coupon. Use the Buy One, Get One coupon on Air Delights. Buy Any on sale Hershey bar and get an Air Delight's Bar FREE. Total cost .59¢ for two candy bars or .30¢ each.

Nice! Brand cookies (3.25-7 oz),  cutlery, and aluminum foil are on sale for $1 each. Get a $2RR when you buy $10 worth of Nice! products. If you decided to buy any of the medicines above and earned the $10 RR, you could use it to buy $10 worth of these items for FREE and still earn a $2 RR.
Or buy $10 worth of these items and earn the $2rr without rolling anything for a net cost of .80¢ on them.

Sales for January 8th-12th

Walgreen's
I found a few interesting items for Walgreen's this week. Some of these are not yet combined with its coupon match up, (if I can find a coupon for them), but it is a start...

I am planning another stock up for both Bugles and Chex Mix. These are on sale for 4/$6 with an in store coupon for $1 off 4. 4/$5=$1.25 each. There is a $1/2 coupon in this week's everyday saver coupon insert. Using two of them brings the price to 4/$3 or .75¢/bag.  I found a coupon HERE at coupons.com for .50/2 Chex Mix, bringing the cost to $1/bag. You can print these twice. Bugles are $1.25 each bag.

Eclipse and Orbit gum is on sale for .79¢ with an in ad coupon on page 4. Limit 4.

Butterball Chicken Broth 14.5 oz cans are on sale for 2/$1 with in ad coupon, also on page 4. Limit 4.

Domino Sugar 4 lb bags are on sale for $2.49/bag with in ad coupon on page 5. Limit 5.

Reach Total Care Floss 30 yards on sale for $2.99. Print a $1/1 off any coupon HERE to bring the cost to $1.99 and earn a $2 RR on your next order. You can print two times. Two FREE Reach Total Care Floss Yards.

Kids Omega Smart Ultimate Fish Oils 60 ct with DHA on sale for $10 with a $10 register reward, which makes it like getting it for FREE. Limit 1 per transaction.

Blistex Lip Balm on sale for .99¢ with in ad coupon. There is a $1/2 off any Blistex Lip Care Products coupon that expires on 1/31/12. This brings the price to .49¢ each.

Tom's of Maine Unscented Deodorant, Cool Mountain Mint Mouthwash, and Toothpaste are each on sale for $3.99 with a $3 RR for use on your next purchase for a cost of .99¢ each.

Syntha-6 Meal Replacement Bar on sale for $1.89 with a $1.89 RR for use on your next purchase making this like getting it FREE.

Rite Aid:

Kellogg's Raisin Bran is on sale with a Buy One, Get One Free. I printed two copies of the .70¢/1 from coupons.com last week. These can be combined to get $1.40/2. The price of these is not listed, so I will have to check that before I decide to buy at this price. The ad mentions there being a $1/3 coupon in Sunday's paper, but I didn't see it. I will have to look more thoroughly.

ThermaCare Heat Wrap on sale for $3.00 with a $3.00 RR for your next purchase makes this FREE. Limit one per card.

Shaw's:

Land O Lakes Margarine or Spread is on sale for $1.69. Use the .75/1 coupon from 11/13/11 Smartsource, which doubles to $1.50, making each only .19¢. Our family prefers butter, but it would be good to have some of these in the freezer for cooking or to have on hand in a pinch when the butter prices are higher.

Wet Ones Wipe is on sale for $2.49. There were links to coupons.com for a .75/1 printable coupon, but I could not find it when I checked today. If you already printed the coupon, this would double to $1.50, bringing the cost to .99¢ each.

Coffee Mate Flavored Creamers are on sale for $1.99. Use the .75¢/2 printable coupon HERE to make the sale price $1.24 each.

Pennsylvania Dutch Noodles on sale for $1.00 are perfect for stews and soups to warm my family's bellies on cold, winter nights. Print your facebook coupon HERE for $1/2. Final cost $1.00 for 2 bags.

CVS:

Suave Invisible Solid is on sale for $1. You can use the .75¢/1 coupon from this week's Red Plum insert to make these .25¢ each.

According to a post by BargainBrianna today, All laundry detergent is on sale for $2, not $4. You can use the $1/1 coupons in last week's paper to make them only $1 each!!! You may be able to download a printable $1/1 coupon HERE. They will go fast, though. Great price, right? Additionally, it qualifies for the $10 CVS Gift Card when you spend $30 special this week. Gotta love that!

More to come as I scan through Walmart, Target, and Hannaford sales for the week. So, check back again.

Goodnight, Friends.
Sonja ♥

$1 Pantene, .99¢ Aussie, & Herbal Essence Hair Care until Saturday

I started my morning at Walgreen’s. My intention? Purchase one pair of Aussie and two sets of Herbal Essence shampoos and conditioners and ten bottles of Soft Soap. The twist to this transaction was that the sale for the shampoos was for individual items, not a “two for”. When you are dealing with RRs, this can be complicated. Setting the sale this way necessitates buying in several transactions to get the advertised RRs. For example, if I were to purchase a set of shampoo and conditioner, my cost would be $2.99 each= $5.98, less (2) $1/1 coupons=$3.98 for two. This transaction would give you one $1rr making the net cost $2.98/2 or $1.49 each. I purchased each shampoo and conditioner separately instead. My cost was $2.99 less the $1/1 coupon= $1.99 and I earned $1rr, which makes the net transaction .99¢ each bottle. I had to make 6 separate transactions to make this work.  I also intended to purchase 10 bottles of Soft Soap. This was on sale for .99¢ each. I had (5) $1/2 coupons to use, which adjusted my price to only .49¢ each bottle. To consolidate my transactions as much as possible, I added two Soft Soap bottles to the first 5 transactions. I could not “roll” the RRs to help pay for the subsequent purchases, because then no new RR would print and I would, in effect, be paying only the sale price.

At Rite Aid, I was uncertain how my visit would turn out. I knew that with the turning of the new year, Rite Aid has begun giving Customers the option of preloading coupons onto their wellness cards. You can sign up at www.Load2CardNow.com or  Just Click HERE. Another difference is Rite Aid is automatically loading earned RRs to our cards. The RRs are available to be used the next day, NOT immediately. These changes are going to be interesting and definitely change how I shop some. To my surprise, the RRs printed on both my receipt and Sean’s. The manager mentioned that the change had not gone into effect yet, but to expect it any day. I still plan on stocking up, it is just going to take more care to make sure that I am using the correct card for each transaction. (According to the red colored brochure detailing the changes to policy I picked up at the register today, each household may have a limit of 4 cards and you must be at least 13 years of age to sign up for a wellness card. SCR are limited to one for each household address.) I expect that I am going to mess up some as I work through my new strategy, but I am up for the challenge!

For today, I had (5) $1RRs to begin my transactions. I also had (4) $3/2 Pantene coupons from last Sunday's insert and a $3/1 Oral B Battery Toothbrush. Pantene is on sale for 2/$7, less the coupon= $4/2 bottles. You earn a $2 RR when you buy 2= $2/2 bottles or $1 each. I split my purchases into two transactions because the limit for this sale was 2RRs per card. I also took advantage of the SCR for 2.99 on the Oral B toothbrush. It was on sale for $5.99, which will make it free when I get the SCR back.

I am a little behind still in sorting the sales for the coming weeks, but I have all my coupons cut, sorted and in my binder. I posted my posts. All in all, not bad for getting back into the swing of a normal schedule. I'll let you know how Rite Aid's new policy is going to work out, once I have it reckoned.

Talk to you all soon!

Sonja ♥

.25¢ Popcorn and .39¢ Hydrogen Peroxide at Walgreen's

Walgreen’s Popcorn and Hydrogen Peroxide

I have been waiting for a good deal on Hydrogen Peroxide for a couple of weeks, since I needed some for my family’s “emergency kits”.  When I saw bottles on sale this week for .39¢ each, I knew that this was a stock up price, so I picked up 3 bottles. My kids love popcorn on cold winter nights when we put on an old movie and snuggle up in the family room. Is there anything better than warm, buttery popcorn and a mug of hot cocoa? Mmmmmm. These individual sized bags were on sale for .25¢ each with the in ad store coupon.

My last purchase at Walgreen’s was Kleenex tissues. With winter here and in force in Maine, I wanted to grab a couple of boxes for the days ahead. These were priced at $2.69 and $2.29, respectively, but they both qualified for the Buy One, Get One sale and I had (2) .50¢/2 manufacturer’s coupons. The math looked like this: $2.69+$2.29=$4.98, less $1=$3.98 for 4 boxes or .99¢ each. Wait. What???? Yeah, that’s right. I spent nearly $1 each for these! I didn’t mean to. When I did the match, I figured $2.69/2-.50¢=.85/box and $2.29/2-.50¢=.64¢/box. This goes to show the importance of understanding the “order of operations” when calculating coupon values. As depicted above, it does matter. In this case, it was a difference of paying $3.98 for 4 boxes or paying $2.98 for 4 boxes. When you are counting your coupons, make sure you subtract their value before you figure in any sale amount on a buy one, get one offer. Lesson learned.

Sonja ♥

Despite Hoards of Last Minute Shoppers, Target, Walmart. & Rite Aid Today

I didn't relish the prospect of the inevitable crowds completing their last minute shopping sure to crowd the stores, but I had prepared this week's grocery coupons, matched carefully to the store's sales. My trusted and valiant chauffeur at my side, I ventured forth to see what deals I could find~ both to replenish my sad stockpile and also in anticipation for the coming wedding of my eldest daughter to her wonderful fiance scheduled for March.

Our first stop was the Rite Aid in Hampden. The crew there is awesome. Always knowledgeable, always ready to share a tip on upcoming sales or news. They understand coupons and how to use them to the best advantage. It is for these reasons that I gladly drive 15 minutes farther than the Belfast Rite Aid located closer to my home. I did not have many things to get this week. I needed to get some Chex Mix, though; our youngest daughter being near to mutiny if we did not get some soon. And, I have not been wearing nylons since my fall. If you think they are troublesome putting on with two working hands, try getting your bottom in them with only one. I have needed to replace the ones with runs, but I had been waiting for a good sale before doing so. Rite Aid had these on sale for $4.49 with a Buy one, Get one 50% off AND a $3 RR when you buy 2. It cost me $7.07 out of pocket and I earned $3 RR. I misunderstood the sale for the Chex Mix and now can't think what I was trying to do. I bought them for $1.60 each- much more than I would normally pay. I thought there was an RR for these, but none printed, so I must have mixed up something. I would have returned them, but was in fear of returning home without them.

She knows where I sleep.

At Walmart, I had a larger list. Armed with coupons and new binder in hand, I shopped. I purchased: (6) boxes Chex cereal on sale for $2.28/box. I used (3) $1/2 coupon to make them $1.78/box. (4) Whisker's cat treat bags at $1.07. I used $1.50/2 coupon to make these .32¢ each. (1) Idahoan Instant Potatoes were .98¢ each, but I had a coupon which was for one FREE bag, so it cost me nothing. (6) Clif Bar for my future son in law at .98¢ each. I used (3) B1G1 Free coupons to make these .49¢ each. (4) cans Dole Pineapple on sale for .88¢ each. I used (2) .50/2 coupons to bring the price down to .63¢ each. (2) Betty Crocker cake mixes were on sale for $1.25 each and (2) Betty Crocker frosting were priced at $1.64 each. I used a two $1/1 when

you buy both to make them $1.89 for both or .95¢ each. My husband spotted the Olivari olive oil on sale for $4.88 with a $1/1 peelie on the neck to make it $3.88. (2) Johnson & Johnson brand butterfly band aid boxes were priced at $1.52 each and J&J 10 ct gauze pads were $1.56/box. I used three $1/1 coupons to buy these for .52¢ each and .56¢ respectively. (In this house, I always keep a stock of first aid supplies handy! Besides my broken arm, my daughter Kristen sliced open her elbow to the bone and my husband punctured his nose with a screwdriver at work fighting with a hostile kitchen sink. We resorted to "bubble wrapping" my youngest as a preemptive measure. Back to shopping...) I purchased (4) Pillsbury Grands! biscuits on sale for $1.50 and used a $1/2 coupon to make these $1 each. (1) Hood sour cream priced at $1.66 with a $1/1 coupon became .66¢. Fleishmann's Pizza Yeast was marked to $1.06 and I used a .40/1 coupon for a price of .66¢ each. Celeste Tea was on sale for $2.18/box. I bought four and used (4) $1/1 coupons to cost me $1.18/box. I was running low on Excedrin and purchased (4) boxes for $3.24 each. I used (2) $4/2 coupons to bring the price to $1.24/box. My husband could not resist the "Oops! We Over Baked Rack" and snagged himself a cake for $3.74, which was my only unplanned purchase. The total came to $78.04. When my coupons were scanned through, my total came to $54.72. This was higher than I thought it should be; I expected it to be around $45, but with long lines behind me, I was not going to hold up the Customers behind me to dissect it there in line, item by item. When we returned home, my husband and I went item by item through our receipt and realized what happened. My (2) $4/2 Excedrin coupons were not scanned. That was $8.00 I was missing! I called the store and talked with Alison who took down my receipt information to forward to the accounting department. I will update you with what happens, once this is resolved.

Finally, at Target, we wrapped up our shopping for the night. I found some great coupons for Keebler and Nabisco crackers, which will come in handy for use in Bridal parties and gatherings in the coming months. We purchased (2) Keebler Townhouse crackers on sale for $2.50. I used (1) $1/2 Target coupon stacked with (1) $1/2 manufacturer's coupon to make them $1.50/box. Nabisco crackers were on sale for $2/box. I used (3) $1/2 coupons to make the six boxes of Nabisco crackers $1.50/box, also. (2) Boxes of Lipton Tea, on sale for $1.19 became .69¢ each using a $1/2 coupon. Pillsbury all natural chocolate chips cookies were marked at 2.50 each. I stacked a $1/2 Target coupon with a $1/2 manufacturer's coupon to make the price $1.50 each. Lastly, I bought (3) Swiss Miss hot chocolate boxes on sale for $1.19 each. I stacked a .50/2 Target coupon with a $1/3 manufacturer's coupon to make them .70¢. The total retail for my Target purchases was $34.86, but I paid $21.82 out of pocket. I saved $13.04 with coupons.

Clearly, this was by no means the MOST EXTREME COUPONING trip I have taken, but after being out of the saddle for awhile (catch the pun?), I was happy with my modest results. I should have saved a total of $60.85 and I didn't do anything really exciting to get there; no series of multiple transactions to make, no complicated mathematics to figure. So, ponder this. Take this average trip's savings and multiply it by 4.5 weeks in a month. Could you find other things to do with an extra $273 in your budget each month? Or consider it in a years time of modest couponing, could you think of anything to use $3,000 on instead of groceries? I get asked often if clipping coupons is worth my time. My answer is always, "Yes."

Goodnight, Friends,

Sonja ♥

Shaw's at 9:00 PM

I am not one to venture to the stores late in the evening, even with the stores remaining open well into the night as people prepare to celebrate holidays. It is not that I do not appreciate the savvy business sense of proprietors to take full advantage of people's desire to "shop 'til they drop." I simply prefer to be at home snuggled up with my family after a long day of doing just about anything else.

Tonight, I had a tough choice to make. You see, I had spent some time the past few days reassembling a coupon binder. I sorted through the coupons, organized smartly into their respective categories, to pull the ones I would need. I scanned the weekly sales flyers, and printed my shopping lists. I thought I was all ready for my husband to chauffeur me to the stores I would visit for this week's shopping trip. As silly as it seems, I will admit to being just a little giddy at the thought of actually getting out of this house for a while and was happily anticipating the sales I was going to utilize to start refilling my newly depleted stores. And, then, I realized that my shopping plan for Shaw's was going to be for naught. I had forgotten that unlike the other stores, Shaw's changes their sales on FRIDAY. As in, tomorrow. As in, if I did not venture out immediately into the cold night air, I would miss out on some sales, I was looking forward to using. After discussing the situation with my partner in crime, aka my husband, Sean, we decided to drive the 30 minutes to Bangor and shop.

Was it worth it? We thought so.

One of the sales, we wanted to use was the GM Cereal/Free Milk Deal:

It worked like this: You earn a catalina for free milk (up to a $4.50 value) when you buy 4 participating GM cereals or Nature Valley granola bars at 2/$6.

We had an internet coupon from: www.coupons.com for $1/2 Cookie Crisp to use and another one for $1/3 Cookie Crisp cereals. We used them in two separate transactions.

The math looks like this: 4 boxes of cereal for $11.00+ $3.94 for milk= $14.94, less $1 coupon, less $4.50 coupon= $10.44 out of pocket for 4 boxes of cereal and the milk. I did this one twice, so I still have one $4.50 voucher for milk.

The other sales (taking into account our coupons) I used were; (2) Sargento shredded cheese $1.50/bag, (4) Philadelphia cream cheese $1.00/box, (8) Campbell's "cooking" condensed soups* $ .61¢/ea., (4) Nestle Carnation condensed milk .89¢/can, (6) Pillsbury cinnamon rolls $1.52/ea., (1) Cain's pickles $1.25, (8) GM Cookie Crisp cereal $1.63/box, and (1) FREE gallon milk. Out of pocket, we spent a total of $47.88 and we earned a catalina coupon for $4.50 for milk on our next visit. This certainly was not the best shopping trip I have ever had, but spending less than $50.00 for over $96.00 in groceries makes me very satisfied with our savings of 49.5%.

(I didn't post which coupons I used because this sale was over tonight, so it didn't really matter.)

Tomorrow, it is Walmart, Walgreen's, Rite Aid and Target. Sean will be back on chauffeur duty and cart pusher extraordinaire. I will take photos and post my results. I am attempting to post regularly once again and as I do, I will post the sales and matching coupons.

The last thing I wanted to write about this evening, was about ecoupons from SavingStar. I registered my store loyalty cards earlier this week. You can register for yours HERE. I was able to register my Shaw's, Rite Aid, and Hannaford cards. Once, I registered for free, I looked through the ecoupons listed and "clipped" the ones I wanted to load to my store loyalty cards. (These coupons can only be used once and must be used before their expiration dates.) I shopped as I normally would. I scanned my Shaw's card and paid for my groceries at the register. The ecoupon does not come off the total bill at the register, but rather, once the ecoupon is redeemed by buying the qualifying item, the ecoupon amount accumulates. When the total amount reaches at least $5, I can request it to be paid to my paypal account or I can choose to have it sent to me in the form one of several gift cards. Today, the purchase for Campbell's "cooking" condensed soups qualified for an additional savings of .40¢/3 cans. It is an intriguing program. I am interested to see how this actually works. I'll be sure to let you know!

Goodnight, Friends.

Sonja ♥

All the News That's FIt to Print

I am still alive... mostly. THAT is a huge overly dramatic remark, but an honest one, nonetheless. I really thought when this whole arm thing happened that I would have a week or two of down time and then be on the mend and back in business, so to speak. Reality check. I am mending- this my husband and doctors have assured me. Repeatedly. I am also frustrated beyond all words. It has been nearly 8 weeks now and I am still only able to move my left arm at the shoulder joint about 3 or 4 inches from my body before I wish I hadn't. And this, I can only do a couple of times before the nerves rebel and my arm hangs limp and useless at my side. I am allowed to work- from home- in 15 minute increments- with thirty minutes rest between. I dare you to try that one. Did I mention how frustrating this is?

I have not been shopping. I have not even looked to see what sales might have come and gone. And, I have not found my neon green coupon binder. I have felt sorry for myself. I have become annoyed at myself when my building frustration veers into the waters of deep sadness. I have sat here, looking at cleaning tasks, farming tasks, and various general maintenance tasks going either undone, done haphazardly (by me), or stuffed into the "do later" column. My husband and family are a great help, but there is only so much more they can take on to do and fulfill the responsibilities of their jobs and schooling. See? Self pity leaking out, gumming up the works. Then, I think about all the ones out there dealing with REAL hardship, trials, and loss and I am ashamed of my bouts of self pity and morose countenance. I fractured my arm, not lost it for good.

I am getting better. This will end at some point and I will be back to normal; driving myself where I want to go, interacting with other humans when I get there, working, shopping, hanging with my friends... you get the picture. For now, I am finding solace in venturing out once a week with my husband on short errands. I worked for 3 hours today and actually accomplished something. I have a plan for working tomorrow, too. These small successes make me feel Good. Satisfied. And, Hopeful.

As for shopping, I am very grateful that I had a stockpile of grocery things from which to feed my family these past weeks. The supplies may be running thin, but I still have enough staples to last us a while. And, my sweet, helpful husband assisted me in cutting and sorting my stack of coupons, getting them ready for when I do feel able to hunt down those sales. My daughters bring me "gifts" of freebies from my mailbox most days, which brighten my days just that little bit more. And, I was able to sit here and type this: two handed, without my arm aching and my fingers going to pins and needles. It may not be much, but I will smile and be satisfied with that.

I will get back into the swing of things. I will count all my blessings and I will look forward to 2012 and all the adventure it will contain.

I hope this blog post finds you and yours in good health and calm spirits.
Talk with you all soon!
Sonja ♥