$9.01 money maker + 11 free boxes of crackers at Safeway!

I had 9 more 1/1 Nabisco MQs from the 11/8 SS and 2 1/1 Wheat Thins IPQs from becoming a Wheat Thins fan on Facebook. The MQs expire today (along with a ton of other Qs) so I grabbed some more free crackers that I will send in for a $10 rebate on. I wasn't paying attention, so I bought 11 boxes instead of 10- so the Cheese Nips were not $1 like they should have been. You have to buy in multiples of 5 to get the discount. Oh well, .99 for 11 boxes of crackers + $10 rebate is okay with me.

1.00 Wheat Thins (6) FREE
1.00 saltines (3) FREE
1.00 Better Cheddars FREE
1.99 Cheese Nips .99
No tax, so I paid .99 on a giftcard.

Happy New Year!

Target, CVS, & Safeway = $5.02 profit!

Whew, I am tired! First, I headed to Target to get the 6.99 Luvs for 1.99 (thanks for the reminder Desert Deals Diva!) with my $5/1 home mailer Q. Then, I remembered, I had a baby Target Q book I got in the mail, so I put together a little run of baby items.

6.99 Luvs diapers 1.99
8.99 Pampers diapers 4.99
4.99 Method baby wash .99
2.19 J&J baby powder .19
2.59 Pampers wipes 1.09
25.75 subtotal
-5/25 baby purchase Target home mailer Q
-1.50/1 Pampers diapers Target Q
-2/1 Pampers diapers 12/27 PG
-2/1 Method Target Q
-2/1 Method IPQ
-1/1 J&J Target Q
-1/1 J&J IPQ
-1/1 Pampers wipes Target Q
-.50/1 Pampers wipes 12/27 PG
-5/1 Luvs home mailer MQ
4.75 + 1.07 tax = 5.82 total paid with giftcard

CVS
I had a hard time getting my total to $10 for the 2/10 CVS CRT because all CVS brand items are BOGO 50% off. I would have planned better if I knew about that sale before hand. But I'm happy with this run- we needed paper towels & trash bags.

.99 Dawn soap (3) .01 overage
5.88 Bounty 8 pk 4.88
4.99 Nature's Bounty BOGO (4) 10.02 overage
4.99 CVS trash bags BOGO 50% off (2) 3.74 each
.99 CVS candy BOGO 50% off (2) .74 each
.99 CVS baby wipes .99- grabbed these to get to $10 for the 2/10 CRT
1.75 Reese's Christmas candy- grabbed these because my total went negative
30.53 subtotal
-5/20
-2/10 CVS purchase
-1/1 Dawn Home Made Simple home mailer MQ (3)
-1/1 Bounty MQ - inside Pampers diapers box
-5/1 Nature's Bounty IPQ (4)
-1/2 CVS Candy CRT
-1.47 total + 1.63 tax = .16 paid on giftcard
Earned $6 EB from vitamins
SUMMARY = 5.84 profit!

Safeway
One more Chinet + $5 giftcard deal = $5 profit ... see yesterday's post for more information.

TOTAL SUMMARY = $5.02 profit!

Chinet overage at Safeway - 5.82 profit!

I found the mythical blue Chinet plates peelies today on Chinet plates at Safeway! I have been searching high and low for those so I could pair them up with the orange Chinet cups peelies for major overage! I didn't find them until I hit the second Safeway, so my first two transactions were more of the same Chinet deal I had been doing.

#1
5.97 Chinet cups (3 @1.99 wyb 3) 3.03 overage
7.50 Chinet plates (3 @2.50) $1 each
7.98 Nestle water (2) FREE - No cat printed either time, $2 OYNO is dead
.96 tax
22.41 subtotal
-1.50 for $2 Chinet Safeway in-ad Q
-Free Orange Chinet peelie (3) auto deducted $3 each
-1/1 Chinet plate blinkies (3)
-Free Nestle MQ (2)
-.03 + .96 subtotal = .93 paid cash

#2
5.97 Chinet cups (3 @1.99 wyb 3) 3.03 overage
7.50 Chinet plates (3 @2.50) $1 each
2.22 Progresso soup (2 @ 1.11) 3.28 overage
7.98 Nestle water (2) FREE - Different Safeway, no cat. Deal is definitely dead.
1.57 bananas
6.88 ground beef 2.88
2.11 tax
26.25 subtotal
-1.50 for $2 Chinet Safeway in-ad Q
-Free Orange Chinet peelie (3) auto deducted $3 each
-1/1 Chinet plate blinkies (3)
-.25/1 Progresso MQ (2)
-1.50/2 Progresso Safeway Pharmacy Q
-2.00 EQs for Progresso (4 .50/2 EQs)
-Free Nestle MQ (2)
-3.00/1 Safeway ground beef IPQ from signing up at Safeway.com
-.50/1 ground beef IPQ - just realized these expired last month :(
3.25 total paid cash

#3 & #4 - This is where I found the blue peelies...
5.00 Safeway giftcard - to eat up overage
5.97 Chinet cups (3 @1.99 wyb 3) 3.03 overage
7.50 Chinet plates (3 @2.50) $3.00 overage
.57 tax
19.04 subtotal
-1.50 for $2 Chinet Safeway in-ad Q
-Free Orange Chinet cups peelie (3) auto deducted $3 each
-Free Blue Chinet plates peelie (3) auto deducted $3 each
-.10 subtotal

SUMMARY = 5.82 profit!

The best part is I was looking at the in-ad $2 Chinet Q and it doesn't expire until New Year's Day, so don't throw away that ad! The shelf tag prices on the Chinet are good through New Year's also. I plan on making money with this Chinet deal until the last minute!

An Unexpected GREAT trip to Safeway! $2.14 total

Originally, I just went in to grab a couple of gallons of milk. As I walked by the dairy department, I noticed lots of clearanced cheese and yogurt. I had some .30/1 Real CA cheese/dairy product Qs, so I matched those up with the 1.25 clearanced cheese and snagged 25 cent cheese! I will make a couple of italian dinners this week and use it up no problem. What a great find! I also put the $2 Chinet in-ad Q to good use.

1.25 clearanced cheese (4) .25 each

2.19 milk (2) 1.19 each

1.99 Chinet cups (3) 3.03 overage

2.50 Chinet plates (3) 1.00 each

.79 tax

23.64 subtotal

-1.50 deducted for $2 in-ad Chinet Q

-.30/1 Real CA dairy IPQ (3)

-.30/1 Real CA cheese peelies (3)

-1/1 Chinet plates blinkies (3)

-BOGO Chinet tearpad MQ (3) auto deducted $3 for each Q

4.14 total - piad with $2 Nestle water cat and 2.14 cash

If I had planned this trip out, I would have grabbed a couple more cases of water to get another $2 OYNO. That cat stops printing on Thursday and I have a few more free MQs to burn through. I'll be back at Safeway tomorrow for some more free plates before that in-ad Q expires.

Disney Movie Rewards!

Do you have a Disney Movie Rewards account set up yet? If not, get started today- its free! In just the last month, I have redeemed enough points to get these 3 DVDs for free! Sorry about the glare...

I collect all the Disney rewards codes from the DVDs my family purchases (thanks Mom & sisters!). I redeem the highest value codes on Double Points Days and had enough codes to order 3 DVDs! What a great program! All 3 of these were waiting in my mailbox when I got back from vacation- what a great freebie surprise!

One more Safeway run...

I am typing this from California where we will be spending Christmas. I made one last Safeway run on the way out of town yesterday.

3.99 Nestle water (2) $2 profit
1.99 Chinet cups (4) .04 overage
.99 Nabisco crackers wyb 5 (5) .05 overage
1.69 Safeway brown sugar FREE item of the day
22.58 subtotal
-Free Item in-ad Q
-Free Nestle MQ (2)
-1/1 Chinet MQ (2)
-Free Chinet MQ (2) auto'd at $3 each
-1/1 Nabisco MQ (5)
-.04 total + .64 tax = .60 OOP
Received $2 OYNO from Nestle

I'm trying to use up all of my free Nestle water MQs at Safeway before the end of the year because they have a $2 OYNO when you buy 2 packs. I may as well make a profit while I'm getting free water. Plus, it helps me get to my $20 subtotal quickly for the free items of the day.

If I find any good coupon deals while I am here, I will post about them. If not, have a Merry Christmas!

Safeway & Albie's

SAFEWAY
I keep getting sucked into Safeway with the free item deals every day! It's like a trap. Here's how I got to my $20 minimum purchase today (before coupons, of course):

3.99 Nestle water (2) -Free Nestle MQ from summer promotion FREE

1.99 Chinet cups (4) -1/1 Chinet IPQ (2), -Free Chinet item tearpad MQ (2) .01 profit each

2.19 milk (not pictured)

3.50 Hillshire little smokies FREE item of the day

Total before Qs = 22.37

Total after Qs = 2.89

Paid with $2 Nestle cat, received another $2 Nestle cat

SUMMARY = .89 cost

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I realized today the free item of the day does not count towards the $20 minimum purchase total. The coupon scanned at $0, but customer service gave me the cash back. I will note this for future purchases. In case you are wondering, the 2 extra Nestle waters in the picture are from my Safeway trip yesterday.

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ALBIE'S

I had one more $5 Holiday RR to use before 12/19, so I headed to Albie's. I bought a 3.98 clearanced bouquet of roses for my sister who graduated nursing school today. (Shameless plug- if anyone knows of a hospital hiring new RNs, please let me know!) I also grabbed some Hostess donuts. They were on sale for 1.99. I used a .45/1 IPQ which tripled to $1, making the donuts 99 cents. I paid with the $5RR and .37 change for tax.

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I officially have converted all of my RR to giftcards and/or groceries. I don't see a ton of great sales coming up at Wags in the next few weeks and I am going out of town for Christmas, so I don't want to have to worry about expiring RR. It was so nice to have the RRs as a back up reserve for Christmas gifts. I am so grateful I have learned this new way of life so I can afford to keep my pantry and food storage stocked, regularly donate to people in need, and have a Christmas while my husband is out of work. Thanks to all of my couponing friends!

Safeway & Walmart- .80 profit

I spent some time today matching up my EQs with MQs to see what was free or profitable at Safeway. As usual, not all the EQs came off that were supposed to, but it was still a profitable trip.

.99 Kleenex (4) -2/4 in-ad Q, -2/4 pharmacy book, -.50/3 MQ, received $1 OYNO = $2.04

.99 cheese (3) -.30/1 IPQ (3) = $.03 profit

1.99 Chinet (4) -6.00 (FREE peelies wyb Chinet product), -1/1 Chinet IPQ (2) = $.04 profit

1.99 Chex cereal (3) -1/2 MQ, -$3 in EQs = $.67 each

2.00 GoGurt (2) -.35/1 MQ (2), -.80 EQ = $.60 each

1.00 bananas at .39/lb.

1.00 clearance Hershey's (2) -1/2 MQ = $.50 each

1.49 eggs FREE item of the day

1.69 BC frosting -.50/1 MQ, -2.00 in EQs = $.81 profit

3.99 Nestle water (2) Free with free MQs, received $2 OYNO

2.99 PB Cookie Dough (2) -1.99 in-ad Q, -1/1 Pillsbury IPQ (2), -$3 in EQs=$1.02 profit

I paid $2.59 OOP and received $3 OYNO = .41 profit

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Walmart

1.87 Snuggle (3) -2/1 MQs (3) = .39 profit

The cashier actually handed me 39 cents. I told him he didn't have to, but he insisted.

Safeway & Wags

I headed to Safeway today with my Free Item IPQs for signing up for the Just For You program on Safeway's website (see details here at Desert Deals Diva's blog). I grabbed bananas and my free items. I used free Qs for pasta sauce, pasta, & eggs. None of them scnaned correctly; they all rang up as .01, so they were adding a penny. Strange. The cashier didn't know what to make of it either, so I went over to customer service where they gave me the cash back. I also had planned on grabbing the Betty Crocker cake mix (free item of the day promo), but my total wasn't above $20, so no go there. If I had more time to plan it out, I would have done better because a ton of EQs are expiring today, but oh well.

I have a few $5 holiday RR to burn up before 12/19, so I went to Wags today to grab milk and stamps. I also converted $25 of RR to a giftcard with the help of the super cheap votive candles (.17 each with in-ad Q). The milk was 1.99 and the stamps were 8.80 (geez Louise!). I used a $5 holiday RR and paid $5.xx on a gift card.

UPDATE - Do not use RR (regular or holiday) on postage stamps. I knew regular RR restrict purchasing postage, but for some reason, I thought the Holiday RR didn't specify that. Turns out they do, I looked more closely at one today. Sorry for the bad example!

Last minute Wags run - $6.19 profit

I went to Wags an hour before they closed tonight and had 7 transactions planned out with an estimated profit of $50. Everything was going so well during the first 2 transactions ... and then the $5 Holiday RR wouldn't scan. I was going to roll the $5 RR into my other transactions, so once I figured out the $5 holiday RRs weren't scanning, I left after the first transaction.

9.99 Renu contact solution $2 profit
9.99 Glade Lasting Impressions (filler) FREE
6.99 Just For Men $2 profit
.13 bags (3) w/ in-ad Q (fillers)
27.36 subtotal
-2/1 Renu IPQ
-9.99 Free Glade MQ
-2/1 Just For Men IPQ
13.37 paid with $12 in RR + 3.81 on gcard ($1.37 plus 2.44 tax)
Earned $22 in RR
SUMMARY = 6.19 profit

Wags = $17.42 profit!

There is a LOT going on at Wags this week! $5RR when you spend $25 and tons of FARR (free after RR) items! Sales like this make my head spin.

#1
5.00 Triaminic strips (2) 5.00 profit
7.99 Sudafed .99
5.99 Comtrex 1.99
2.00 Conair clips FREE
.13 Christmas bag w/ in-ad Q (fillers)
25.98 subtotal
-3/1 Triaminic MQ 12/6 SS (2)
-4/1 Sudafed IPQ (not available anymore?)
-2/1 Comtrex MQ 11/1 or 12/6 SS
-2/1 Triaminic Wags Q from Healthy Savings Book (2)
This is where things went south. The register wouldn't take the second Triaminic Q (I think the registers are getting smart, because these both worked last month), so the cashier adjusted the price of each Triaminic down by $2. I appreciated the effort, but it made my subtotal drop below $25, thus eliminating my $5 RR! Darn it.
-2/1 Comtrex Wags Q from December Savings Book
-3/1 Sudafed in-ad Wags Q
5.11
Paid with $4 in RR, 1.11 + tax paid on gcard
Received $5 RR, did NOT receive the $5RR for spending $25
SUMMARY = Cost .11

#2
9.99 Glade Lasting Impressions FREE
6.99 Just for Men Touch of Grey $2 profit
7.99 Sudafed .99
1.99 Stayfree $1 profit
2.00 Stim-U-Dent FREE
.26 Christmas bags (2) fillers
29.22 subtotal
-Free Glade MQ
-2/1 Just for Men IPQ
-4/1 Sudafed IPQ
-1/1 Stayfree IPQ
-3/1 Sudafed Wags in-ad Q
9.23 total paid with $9RR, .23 + tax on gcard
Earned $16 RR
SUMMARY = 6.77 profit

#3- different store that had Renu in stock & Wags Triaminic Q worked!
9.99 Renu contact solution $2 profit
5.00 Triaminic (2) $5 profit
7.99 Sudafed .99
.26 Christmas bags with in-ad Q (2) fillers
28.24 subtotal
-2/1 Renu IPQ
-3/1 Triaminic MQ (2)
-4/1 Sudafed IPQ
-3/1 Sudafed Wags in-ad Q
-2/1 Triaminic Wags Q from Healthy Savings Book
9.24 total - paid with $9RR, .24 + tax paid on gcard
Earned $20RR
SUMMARY = $10.76 profit

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this week's deals. The transactions improved as I went along. I have more Qs, so I'll be back at Wags tomorrow!

Free Cheese at Safeway!

Here's how you can get your free cheese...

Lucerne (Safeway brand) cheese is on sale for 99 cents through next Tuesday, limit 3. This sale price includes both 8 oz shredded and bar cheese. Some of the bags and most of the bars have the Real California cheese symbol on the packaging. Grab those and pair them up with this .30/1 Real California Cheese IPQ which will quadruple to $1 and give you .01 overage!

Disclaimer- This is a YMMV deal because the coupon states the minimum price has to be 1.25. No one questioned me, but I wanted to make you aware of that in case you are questioned. If you wanted to, you could give the coupons first and scan your card last so the price shows the 2.49 price, but you have to do what feels right in your couponing heart. :)

A couple of things...
1. Try to enlarge these before you print them. They come out kind of small and didn't scan at one of my stores.

2. Try to buy these along with something else so your total is not -.03. Not sure if your cities are the same as mine, but Mesa does not charge tax on food items. It scares cashiers when the total is negative, so try to avoid that if possible.

Also, I am planning on heading to Wags today for some serious money makers! I will report back.

Bashas & CVS

I feel like the sales have been lacking the last week or so. I haven't seen enough of an amazing sale that has drawn me out of my warm home into this deliciously seasonal cold weather. I ran to Albie's & grabbed some rainchecks for these free after coupon items = .50 Libby's canned veggies, 1.00 Hefty plates, & 1.00 GG Steamers.

I was in need of peanut butter and garlic toast though, so I headed to Bashas to copy Desert Deals Diva and grab some .58 Skippy. No luck. My MQ was a $1/2, not a .50/1. Oh well, 1.01 is still a good deal.

1.58 Skippy PB (2) 1.01 each
2.50 Mamma Bella garlic toast 1.50
0 tax
5.66 subtotal
-1/2 Skippy PB MQ
-.55/1 Mamma Bella's peelie MQ
3.66 paid OOP

A light bulb turned on for me while I was going through self check-out tonight at Bashas. You scan your own coupons, so there is no cashier to suppress doubles and/or limit you to 3 like coupons. Hmm.... I think the Bashas self check-out line is my new best friend.

CVS didn't go exactly as planned, but it was still a good run. I had one of the $4 EB Qs from the Catalog of Savings (found near the registers). I thought it was a 4/20, but it was actually a $4eb when you spend $20. No problem, I just used a $5EB and received the $4EB at the end of my receipt.

3.49 Huggies wipes -2/1 CRT, -.50/1 MQ = .99
.99 J & J first aid kit -1/1 MQ = .01 overage
.99 CVS tissues (2/.99) = .01 overage
1.99 CVS eyeshadow applicators - so I could use my 2/10 CRT
3.99 Merry Brite santa hat (2) Free after EB
4.49 Christmas candy for the office, filler so I could get to $20 - not pictured
.78 tax
20.71 total before Qs
14.22 total (paid with 8.99 EB & 5EB (adj to 4.45) + .78 on gcard
Earned $11.98EB
SUMMARY = $2.24 cost

Fry's Coupon Event ends Tuesday, 12/8! :(

I heard some rumors online that Fry's is ending the competitor and everything's a $1 coupon event this coming Tuesday. Turns out, these are not rumors. My fears have been confirmed! There were signs everywhere announcing the end of the coupon event on December 8th. So sad. Well, I panicked and decided I needed to make a trip today so my $5/20 Fresh & Easy Qs didn't go to waste. They expire tomorrow! It was not very well planned out, so I ended up with OOP expense and things kind of went haywire. I'll probably make another run on Monday or Tuesday.

I was planning on using 3 $5/20 Qs in one transaction. Silly me, I forgot the Fry's close to my house is NOT coupon friendly like the one by my office. I had to split everything up into different transactions at the register and things went a little awry. I was planning on walking out with no OOP and a $15 giftcard. Somehow, I ended up paying $5 OOP (on a Fry's gcard) and no gift card.

#1
1.00 Idahoan potatoes (4) FREE
7.49 Scotch Fur Fighter .51 profit
1.50 Dial hand soap .50 profit
2.41 Lysol toilet bowl cleaner 1.41
1.27 Totino's pizza (2) Just realized I bought Totino's instead of the $1 Tony's :( That's why my Tony's coupons wouldn't work.
3.79 tortillas 2.79
.99 18 ct eggs - with Safeway in-ad Q
1.10 bananas - .33/lb with Bashas shocker home mailer Q
24.59 subtotal
-5/20 Fresh & Easy Q
-.40/1 Idahoan IPQ (4)
-4/1 Scotch Fur Fighter MQ
-4/1 Scotch Fur Fighter EQ (cellfire)
-1/1 Safeway Dial hand soap Q (pharmacy booklet)
-.40/1 Lysol MQ
-1/1 Guerrero tortillas IPQ
.50/1 Tony's pizza MQ looks like she forced one of these through
$3.59 on Fry's gcard

#2
5.04 5 lbs ground beef - with Bashas shocker home mailer Q .99/lb.
.99 Kraft shredded cheese (2) - with Bashas shocker home mailer Q
1.00 PB crescent rolls (3) 1.00 profit
2.37 Clementines 1.37
1.00 Progresso soup (5) 1.00 profit
2.50 milk (2)
22.44 + .23 tax
-5/20 F&E Q
-.25/1 PB Crescent Roll MQ (3)
-1/2 PB crescent roll EQ
-1/2 Kraft MQ
-.55/1 Clementines IPQ
-.25/1 Progresso soup MQ (5)
-1.50/2 Progresso soup Safeway Q (2)
-.50/2 Progresso soup EQ (2)
-.50/1 MQ I have no idea what this Q was for... maybe the other Tony's pizza MQ?
$1.62 paid on giftcard

I paid $5.21 on a Fry's giftcard for $73 worth of groceries - not too bad. I think I got tripped up because I forgot about the EQs coming off would affect the subtotal for the $5/20. I will have to plan better next week. Hopefully, there are some comp Qs to use on Monday & Tuesday.

Hurry up and get to Fry's before the coupon event ends!

Walgreens - 4.88 profit!

My profit should have been much higher but wasn't because...

#1 - I did not have the awesome $10/3 Ecotrin MQs everyone else has. I was in CA that weekend and their papers did not get them. :( Oh well, I get plenty of other deals.

#2 - My $5RR I had planned to use to bring my subtotal to 12 cents was expired.

1.50 Band-Aids (3) .50 overage each

7.99 Complete contact solution 1.01 profit

5.99 Glade Lasting Impressions $2 profit

2.50 Quaker pancake mix (2) .50 profit each

2/1.50 Reese's PB trees (2) .67 each

.29 chocolate Santa (filler)

25.27 subtotal

-$3RR

-.50/1 Band-Aid MQ (3)

-5.99 Glade Free Lasting Impressions MQ

-1/1 Complete MQ

-2/1 Quaker pancake mix IPQ (2) - printed this a LONG time ago

-4.50 taken off for $2/1 Band-Aid Wags CAB Q

-.16 Wags in-ad Reese's Q

5.12 subtotal (should have been .12 if my $5RR wasn't expired)

Paid 5.12 with Wags gcard, received $13 RR

4.88 profit

I was also going to grab some free Toblerone chocolate and a free Bic candle lighter, but I didn't have the Toblerone Qs & I couldn't find a Bic candle lighter.

Free canned pineapple at Frys!

First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with family and great food!
I took a break from blogging and couponing and just enjoyed family. It was great, but now I am back and ready for some deals. I called Frys to make sure their pineapple was still $1 and it is! The sales weeks are all crazy because of the Thanksgiving holiday, so I wasn't sure. I used 6 .50/1 Dole IPQs and paid 5 cents tax for all 6. Yay! If you want free pineapple too, head out tomorrow. The new sale week starts Wednesday.

Not a good CVS day

I really wanted to grab the money making contact solution because I have been squeezing the last few drops out of my current solution bottle. I had good intentions of getting in and out quickly with little OOP. Things quickly went south for me...

I planned on buying these in 2 separate transactions so I didn't end up with a huge $17.98 EB. My first transaction was one contact solution. I planned on using a 1/1 MQ and a 6.99 EB making my OOP somewhere around $1. Well, turns out my 6.99 EB expired Saturday and I do not have friendly CVS stores that will take expired/beeping EBs.

So, I had to rework everything... In hindsight, I should have abandoned cart and left.

I had a 5/20 from taking a Medicare quiz on the CVS website in my car, so I ran out and grabbed that. Then, I grabbed a Glade Lasting Impressions (free after my MQ) and a CVS antibacterial gel (filler) to get my total over $20. This would have worked out great... my OOP was only going to be 13 cents and was going to get 8.99 EB back. No go. The 5/20 beeped and said the coupon had already been used on 11/7/09. What!? I just printed it out last week and I haven't even been to CVS in November. The manager said he couldn't take it and told me to call CVS customer service when they opened.

Grr... Again, in hindsight, I should have certainly left at this point, but for some reason, I just paid for it and left. What was I thinking? Paying real money instead of EB?

Then, I felt like I was in so deep, I should just grab the second contact solution to roll the first 8.99 EB & reach the limit. AND I FORGOT TO USE MY 1/1 MQ! Oh man.

Things did not go well for me tonight. I have been rehashing all of this in my brain since I got home - its funny how spending $5 OOP can drive me right up a wall. I've decided I am going to return everything tomorrow and try to repurchase it again without all the problems. And I am going to call CVS customer service about their beeping coupon. I do not have time for this drama... I am trying to get ready to go out of town tomorrow for Thanksgiving, but somehow, this has been therapeutic typing this all out. Ah, I feel better now. :)

UPDATE! I just got off the phone with CVS Customer Service and after talking with several different representatives and about 10 minutes of repeating myself, they are crediting my CVS card with a $5 EB. Yay! My world is complete again. :)

Quick Wags Trip from Last Week

I just realized I never posted this from last week! I hesitated even posting it because you won't be able to do last week's deals, but decided to post it anyway. I had one more $2/1 Welch's IPQ and I found some clearance Halloween Lofthouse cookies. Those cookies are so yummy.

2.50 Welch's Sparkling Juice - 2/1 IPQ = .50

1.00 clearanced Lofthouse cookies (2)

1.00 Ricola -.50/1 Wags Qs (2), received $1RR = $1 profit

I used a $3RR to pay that was expiring the same day.

On a side note, I won something! I entered Desert Deals Diva's giveaway for a $50 Safeway giftcard and won! I cannot wait to see how far I can stretch it with coupons and sales. She is doing another giveaway with another $50 giftcard on her blog - hurry and enter here!

12 cent TP at Wags!

Almost free for me... possibly free for you!These Cottonelle 4 packs of toilet paper were ringing up at .95 each, but were marked full price on the shelf. Have a cashier check your Cottonelles - they may be on a secret clearance sale too! I had $1/1 Cottonelle IPQs, but when I tried to use 6th Q, the smart register would only take 5, darn it! So, I only used 5 Qs and got each pack for 12 cents each. Not bad. But maybe you can do better. Some registers are not smart and don't realize when there is coupon overage. I hope you have one of those stores near you. ;) I did the same toothbrush and Ricola deals I did yesterday.

Here's my transaction...

.95 Cottonelle toilet paper (6) -1/1 Cottonelle IPQ here and here (5) = .12 each
1.00 Ricola -.50/1 Wags Q #1 and .50/1 Wags Q #2, earned $1RR = $1 profit
7.99 Crest Spinbrush -3/1 IPQ, earned $3RR = 1.99
14.69 subtotal before Qs
5.69 after Qs
Paid with $5RR and 1.69 on Wags gcard (.69 subtotal + 1.18 tax)
Cost 1.69

Walgreens!

I had $12 in RR expiring today and wanted to grab a couple of new Crest Spinbrushes. Ours are in need of replacing & 1.99 each is not a bad price. I forgot to bring a second coupon with me, so I only grabbed one.

7.99 Crest Spinbrush -$3/1 Crest Spinbrush IPQ, earned $3RR = 1.99

2.50 Welch's sparkling juice (3) with in-ad Q -$2/1 Welch's IPQ (3) = .50 each

1.00 Ricola -.50/1 Wags Q #1, .50/1 Wags Q #2, earned $1RR = $1 profit

.12 Christmas pencils (5) fillers

20.00 Wags giftcard

37.09 before coupons

27.13 after coupons, paid with $27 RR

.13 subtotal + .86 tax = .99 paid on Wags gcard

This trip cost me $3.13, but I didn't pay anything out of pocket & now I don't have to worry about those RR expiring!

Today's shopping!

I am still alive! Sickness has arrived at my house (not the dreaded H1N1, thank goodness) & coupon shopping has been on the back burner. But I went out for some deals today. CVS
Picked up 2 Glade Lasting Impressions for free using Free Lasting Impression Qs found inside refill packages. I paid .84 tax on a CVS RX transfer giftcard & earned $4 EB = $3.16 profit!

Safeway
There is another cleaner deal that rivals the Mr. Clean deal I did last week...
7.96 Buy 4 Scrubbing Bubbles cleaners 1.99 each (sale price wyb 3 or more)
-4.00 Use 2 $2/2 peelie Qs found on bottles
-3.98 BOGO sale (deducts when you scan your Safeway card)
.04 profit!
I did 8 in one transaction and had .08 profit to eat into my tax.
Paid .67 in tax

The key here is to scan the coupons BEFORE you scan your Safeway card. Otherwise, the last coupon will beep and if you have a grumpy cashier, this deal will go south. Two different cashiers tried to tell me I couldn't use coupons on free items. Sigh. You could get into the whole "I am purchasing 4 items and paying for 2" debate, but its much easier without the beeping. I'm just saying...

Fry's
I went to Fry's in search of BOGO Hasbro card games to pair up with my BOGO Hasbro card game MQs from the USA Weekend in yesterday's papers. Neither Fry's I went to even carries Hasbro card games, but Yahtzee was on BOGO sale for 6.99 which also happens to be the max value of the MQ. The cashier said I could use the Qs for that product since it was the same manufacturer and they didn't have the correct item. So, I walked out with 4 Yahtzee games for free, paying .27 in tax each! Family & friends... if you get Yahtzee for Christmas, know that I bought it with love... and awesome coupons! :)

I also had 2.75 in Fry's cats expiring today so I grabbed some canned veggies on sale for .50 a can. I used 3 1/5 MQs and paid .25 total out of pocket after my Qs and cats.

Lots of last minute Tuesday shopping!

I always find myself running around like a crazy person on Tuesdays trying to get all the deals I have procrastinated on before the sales turn over on Wednesdays.

Albie's
1.00 Del Monte Pineapple (3) FREE
1.30 bananas .59/lb
4.30 subtotal
-1/1 Del Monte pineapple IPQ (3)
1.30 total
Paid with $1 Fry's cat & .30 cash

Safeway
3.98 BC frosting B2G3F
1.90 grapes .88/lb.
5.88 subtotal
-.50/1 BC frosting MQ (5)
.88 total paid on SW gcard

Fry's
I am kicking myself now for not checking my coupon binder more closely. I had a Fry's cat for $1 off a Ghirardelli brownie mix! And a Fry's Q for 1.00 off a BC potatoes box! I could have used these instead of MORE lint rollers and sponges for fillers. Oh well. I need a break from Fry's after all this mega deal craziness.
.99 Uncle Ben's rice (7) .01 overage each
.99 3m lint roller .01 overage
.50 Scotch Brite sponge (2) FREE
9.05 subtotal
-1/1 Uncle Ben's rice MQ (7)
-1/1 3m PDF Q
-1/2 Scotch Brite PDF Q
.06 paid OOP

On a side note, I did go to customer service about the issues I had during the mega event (detailed in this post). The girl at customer service was the same cashier who would not adjust my Fritos down to .88 to match the Safeway price! What are the chances? I think she remembered me. :) She told me competitor coupons are not accepted on mega deal items. What?!? I used a Bashas store Q on the I Can't Believe its Not Butter! I went back and forth a little bit, but didn't have time to wait for a manager so I just left. I got a cash refund back of $5.55. Next time, I'm in Fry's I will talk to a store manager. $2 is $2!

Bayer Run at Walgreens - $14.68 profit

I ran out early this week to make sure I could cash in all 4 of my Bayer Qs for the RR deal this week. Mission accomplished.

I did 4 identical transactions that looked like this...
14.99 Bayer Contour/Breeze 2 monitor
-14.99 Bayer MQ
0 subtotal + 1.33 tax paid with giftcard
Receive $5 RR

I paid 5.32 in tax and received $20 in RR, so I made a profit of 14.68!

Target & Fry's

I went back to Target one more time for the amazing Buy 3, Get 1 Free Kellogg's cereal deal. I did it right this time - I bought 4 Special K with Red Berries at 2.66 each, used 4 $1/1 IPQs from the Kellogg's website, 3 $1/1 Kellogg's Target IPQs and paid 98 cents for 4 boxes! I did 2 identical transactions - so I got 8 boxes of cereal for 1.96! This is probably a good time to start the Special K 2 week challenge to drop a jeans size! Note- Don't try to do this deal, it ended on 11/7.

Then I headed over to Fry's to do another mega deal with the free Safeway breakfast item Qs. This may have been the last one, I am getting low on participating coupons! I took a $10/50 AJ's q with me (courtesy of Desert Deals Diva! Thanks KC!) to really bring my OOP down. Print your Q here.

2.88 Kroger brand OJ -Free Safeway in-ad Q, -$1/1 Safeway OJ Q from Safeway "Stay Well" coupon booklet = $1 profit
1.77 Kroger bacon -Free Safeway in-ad Q = FREE
1.38 Fry's eggs -Free Safeway in-ad Q cashier took off 1.88 instead of 1.38, -.75/1 peelie on eggs wyb BC Cookie Mix =$1.50 overage
1.99 BC Cookie Mix -.40/1 MQ, -.40 EQ = .59
1.99 Fry's english muffins -Free Safeway in-ad Q = FREE
1.49 milk (2) = 2.94
2.99 egg nog (just because it's time for egg nog to be in the fridge!)
1.25 ground beef 1 lb. roll (3) -.50/1 ground beef IPQ = .25 each
1.00 3m lint roller (2) -1/1 PDF IPQ = FREE
1.00 Reach floss (2) -1/1 Reach MQ (2) = FREE
.99 Kleenex (4) -2/4 Safeway in-ad Q, -2/4 Safeway "Stay Well" Q, -.50/3 MQ = .26 overage each
1.99 canned pumpkin
2.49 5 lb. Gold Medal flour -price matched to Bashas in-ad Q (1.28), -.50/1 IPQ (2) = .28 each
1.49 PB Simply cookie dough (4) -1.25/1 IPQ (4), -$2 EQs = .24 each
4.19 Poligrip (2) -Free MQ up to 3.99 (2) = .20 each
.69 cupcake liners
-$10/50 AJ's Q
When everything was calculated, I owed $2.78. I was expecting overage so I knew something was off. The cashier (while entering comp Qs) accidentally kept adding on 2.20 for deli hot foods and 4.20 for a mocha something. He took those off, but I still owed $2.78. I just paid it so i could go home and study the receipt. I bolded the errors I found...

1. The free english muffins Q was missing.
2. One of my floss Qs was missing.
3. The cashier took off 1.50 for the 2 flours instead of 2.42 for both.
4. Older issue I haven't dealt with yet... the Fritos price matching Q was not applied.
So I will go back on Monday and get $7.77 back for these things.

I also did one more transaction for the 3rd gallon of milk to get the 1.47 price. So, all in all, I paid 4.28 on a giftcard, but after I visit customer service, I will have an overage of 3.49.

Lots of little shopping trips...

Yesterday, I went to Fry's and was pleasantly surprised to find the shelves restocked. I did a small 10 item run...
1.00 Playtex gloves -1/1 Fry's Playtex gloves cat = .50 profit
1.50 3m lint roller -1/1 PDF MQ = free
.99 Gatorade -Free Gatoradee MQ from Wags = .51 profit
1.00 Ricola (2) - B1G1F (cashier took off $1) = .50 each
2.50 Nestle chocolate chips -1.02 1.48 Bashas in-ad Q, -.50/1 MQ = .48
1.49 Kleenex (4) -2/4 Safeway in-ad Q, -2/4 Safeway pharmacy coupon booklet, -.50/3 MQ = 1.04 profit
-5.00 mega event savings
.10 tax
Subtotal should have been -5.47, I was going to get some fillers or a giftcard, but the cashier entered the Safeway kleenex Qs incorrectly. After I gave her the Safeway in-ad Q, she voided them all out and re-rang them at $2 each. I told her the coupon was for $2 off 4, but she wasn't listening. Then, the $5 mega savings came back on the order because she was voiding and un-voiding the Kleenex so many times. :( Finally, the manager came over & just took off the $5 savings manually and I ended up 1.92 negative. This could have all been avoided by her paying attention to what the coupon said or by listening to me. Ugh.. The manager didn't give me the cash back. But, I went back to customer service today and got garlic toast with the overage. I also stopped by Safeway with my receipt showing I purchased 4 Pillsbury items, so I got my free OJ.

Today, I went to Target for the Kellogg's buy 3, get one free cereal deal. The best way to do this deal is to buy 4 Special K Red Berries (priced the lowest at $2.66) and use the $1/1 IPQs from the Kellogg's website. I didn't have those, but I did have 3 Special K Blueberry 1/1 IPQs & 1 Frosted Mini-Wheats 1/1 IPQ.

3.29 Special K Blueberry (3)
3.05 Frosted Mini-Wheats
12.92
-3.05 deducted for buying 4 Kelloggs (takes off the lowest price)
-1/1 Kelloggs Target IPQ (3) I had 4, but the register beeped & said I couldn't use a Target Q on a free item. Darn those smart registers! :)
-1/1 Kelloggs cereal IPQ (4)
2.87 paid on gc

If you want in on this deal, make sure you get to Target before the end of Saturday. Their new ads reset on Sundays. If you print 4 of the Special K Red Berries 1/1 IPQs and 3 of the 1/1 Target IPQs you can get all 4 boxes for .98! I might have to go back tomorrow!

I also stopped by Wags and grabbed 6 more free Hunts tomato sauces = OOP zero!

The Safeway OJ made a repeat appearance in picture #2 because I forgot I already pictured it with yesterday's stuff. :)

Time to stock up on baking supplies at Safeway!

I took a break from the mega sale at Fry's and headed over to Safeway to try out the "Home for the Holidays" promo. Basically, buy $25 participating items, receive $5 OYNO. I forgot there is another promo going on ... buy 4 participating Pillsbury products, receive a free Safeway OJ! I'm going back today for my free OJ.

1.50 Gold Medal flour (3) -.50/1 IPQ (3), cashier suppressed the double :( = 1.00 each
2.50 Bisquick -.60/1 MQ, 1.20 EQ = .30
3.29 Progresso broth (2) B1G1F -.50/1 MQ (2), -1.50 EQ = .21 overage
1.69 C&H sugar (5) - .35/1 MQ (5) = .69 each
2.49 PB crescents (2) - .50/2 MQ, -1.00 EQ = 1.99 each Had planned to use 1/1 Qs, but they were expired :(
1.69 BC Cookie Mix -.40/1 MQ, EQ didn't come off :( = .69
25.43 Home For The Holidays subtotal
Other things not included in promo...
.99 PB Halloween sugar cookies (2) -1/2 MQ, -3.50 EQs! = 2.52 overage! Not sure if these are included in the promo, I will check with CS today. If so, AWESOME deal!
3.78 BC Frosting (5) B2G3F - .50/1 MQ (5), -1.50 EQ = 2.72 overage!
1.00 Hamburger Helper (3) - .75/3 MQ, -1.50 EQ = .17 each
1.25 Dannon yogurt clearanced - 1/1 MQ = .25
2.00 Fiber One yogurt clearanced - 1/1 MQ, -1/1 EQ = FREE
1.26 bananas .59/lb
1.62 grapes .88/lb
9.10 subtotal
Used $3 Kleenex cat & $3 PB cat, paid $3.10 on gc
Received $5 Home for the Holidays OYNO

My subtotal was definitely supposed to be lower. I added on the fruit & clearanced dairy, so that probably contributed. I was also expecting another 3.15 to come off in EQs & I am a little irritated the cashier suppressed the flour Qs from doubling. I have read several other couponers are contesting the double supression when the store advertises all MQ are worth $1. I'll try it out today and report back. Even if I don't get anywhere with that, I am really excited to have snagged 10 lbs of sugar for 3.45! What a steal! Bring on the holiday baking season!

Wags Trip - Money Making Almay!

The Almay is ringing up at B1G1F, but it is supposed to be B1G1 50% off. This fluke could be "fixed" at any moment, so get to Walgreens now if you want in on this money making deal!

9.99 Almay Pure Blends foundation
6.99 Almay Pure Blends mascara
6.99 Almay One Coat mascara (8)
.99 Hunt's tomato sauce (9)
4.00 Tag body spray (2)
$20 Wags giftcard
3.70 tax
111.80 subtotal
-34.50 RR
-B1GIF Tag spray MQ ($4.00)
-2/1 Tag spray MQ
-1/3 Hunt's IPQ (3)
-B1G1F Almay mascara - took off 34.95
-4/1 Wags Almay Q from November Q book - took off 24.00
-3/.99 Hunt's in-ad Wags Q - took off 4.20
1.45 subtotal + 3.70 tax
Paid 5.15 OOP, earned $17RR
Cost $2.65
.
I did a second transaction for 2 more Tag sprays and one more $2RR- cost 2.64 for 2. These aren't the best deal, but my husband likes them.
.
FINAL SUMMARY - 5.29 cost

Another Fry's Run - .68 profit!

I made another run to Fry's last night. This trip went a little haywire because I had a grumpy cashier at self check-out. She suppressed all my DND Qs, wouldn't take my $3/30 F&E Q with my $10/100 Albie's Q, wouldn't price adjust my Fritos & she missed several Qs. I didn't have time to deal with it last night, but I'll be back today to get some money back. Here's what I did...

1.47 Chex Mix (6) -.50/1 MQ (6), - .50/1 EQ (3) = .27 each
1.00 Playtex gloves - 1/1 Fry's Cat = FREE
2.00 Kotex - 1/1 MQ, -1/1 EQ = FREE
1.99 Pillsbury Simply cookie dough (6) - 1.25/1 IPQ (3), -1.00/1 IPQ (3), -1/2 EQ (3) = .49 each
1.00 Colgate toothbrushes (3) -.75/1 MQ (3) = FREE
1.00 Colgate toothpaste (8) -1.00/1 MQ (8), -1/1 Colgate Fry's Store Q (3) found near pharmacy = .38 profit each
1.47 Fritos (4) -.88 each Safeway Q (4), -B2G1F Fritos tearpad Q in front of Fritos = .05 for all 4
1.00 Rolaids (6) -4/2 MQ (2), 1/1 MQ (2) = .67 profit each
.49 Gatorade - Free MQ = .51 profit
.88 Sunny Delight - .25/1 MQ = .12 profit
1.99 Pillsbury pie crusts (2) -.50/2 IPQ (2), -.50/2 EQ = .74 each
.99 Cheez-Its (4) -1.50/2 MQ (2) = .24 each
.50 Scotch Brite sponges (6) - 1/2 IPQ (3) = FREE
.50 Carnation milk (4) - .50/2 IPQ (2) = FREE
1.49 Gushers fruit snacks - .40/1 IPQ = .49 (.40 EQ should have come off)
1.49 Go Gurt yogurt (2) - .35/1 MQ, -.80/2 EQ = .09 each
1.49 Yoplus yogurt - 1/1 MQ = .49 (1/1 EQ should have come off)
1.99 Kraft string cheese
1.00 3m Lint Roller (3) - 1/1 IPQ (3) = FREE
.99 I Can't Believe butter (8) - .75/1 IPQ (8), 3/4 Bashas store Q (2), rec'd $2 OYNO = 1.01 profit each
2.99 Snuggle - 3/1 MQ = .01 profit
.49 Dole canned fruit (5) -.55/1 IPQ (2), received .75 OYNO = .06 profit each
.89 Hormel chili (4) - $2 off wyb 2 Hormel & 2 Fritos tearpad MQ in front of Hormel (2) = .11 profit each
NOT INCLUDED IN MEGA SALE, BUT NEEDED TO GET TO $100...
1.00 Nursery water - .55/1 MQ = FREE
15.49 Purina cat food - FREE Q from writing to manufacturer = FREE
1.00 Yakisoba dinners (2) - .50/1 MQ = FREE
.77 subtotal + 1.30 tax = 2.07 on giftcard
Used 10/100 Albie's store Q
Received $2.75 in cats = .68 profit
.
I am headed back to Fry's today to contest the DND coupons, find out why some of my Qs got skipped over, why my Pillsbury OYNO didn't print, and why they wouldn't adjust the Fritos down to the Safeway price. I'll let you know how it goes...

Safeway Run!

I made another run to Safeway today to grab some more money making deals before they end... Kleenex & Mr. Clean. The Kleenex works like this: buy 3 of the .99 boxes, use the .50/3 MQ, pay $1.97 OOP, receive $3 OYNO = $1.03 money maker! Don't try to do more than 3 per transaction though. I took one for the team to test it out... it's a no go. I only received one $3 OYNO. This cat reportedly stops printing on Saturday, so hurry and stock up now!

.

The Mr. Clean deal works like this: Buy 2 Mr. Clean sprays & 2 Mr. Clean liquids for 1.99 each (wyb 3 or more). Use the Free Mr. Clean liquid wyb Mr. Clean spray MQ from the 9/27 P&G. The free MQ rings up at the original price of 3.99 making all four cleaners free plus a .02 moneymaker! This MQ expires on Saturday, so hurry and stock up now!

.

I used my last $10 cat from the Joint Juice deal to pay the OOP and buy a $5 Safeway giftcard. I ended up with a $5 gcard and a $3 OYNO, so this really only cost 2.00. If both Kleenex cats would have printed, this would have been a profitable trip.

.

My friend KC over at Desert Deals Diva is running a fun weekly contest on her blog. She is giving away a $50 Safeway giftcard each week for the next 5 weeks! Wow, think of all the possibilities! You can enter to win by leaving a comment on her blog here. Good luck!

Fry's Mega Event - Profit of $22.45

This mega event is very mega compared to the recent "mega-events". I have been to Fry's 3 times today already! My overage was so extreme on my first transaction, I had to add a $20 Fry's giftcard to keep my total from going negative! I got to Fry's at 7am this morning, hoping the shelves wouldn't already be cleared, and there were no other couponers out yet! Maybe it was the frigid temperatures, but I was shocked. When I went back a few hours later, there were still lots of money maker items left on the shelf! People! Grab your coupon binders and get to your nearest Fry's! To make this deal even sweeter, Fry's is accepting competitor's coupons this week! I didn't realize this until my last transaction, darn it! I used a Fresh & Easy $3/30 Q.

Here's what I got:
15 cans Dole mandarin oranges .50 profit each = 7.50 overage
10 boxes Betty Crocker potatoes .50 profit on each + a .40 EQ = 5.40 overage
20 packages Keebler cookies .01 profit each = .20 overage
2 pouches Uncle Ben's rice FREE
10 Sobe FREE (not included in mega-event)
6 Ricola .89 profit each = 5.34 overage
22 pouches Bumble Bee tuna .50 profit each = 11.00 overage
2 Playtex gloves .50 profit each = 1.00 overage
2 Ghirardelli brownie mixes .99 each
Other assorted things I needed: parmesan cheese, saltines, dry milk, Fritos, ground beef (forgot my .50/1 Q :(. These all helped get my total to $30.

I received 4.75 in cats (5 Dole .75 each, 1 Ghirardelli 1.00)

My OOP was 1.30, but I have a $20 giftcard and 5 .75 Dole cats - so I made 22.45 today AND took home all these groceries! Phew, I am exhausted.

Lots of shopping today!

FRY'S
1.47 milk (4)
1.00 Chef Boyardee (2) FREE
.77 Mentos gum (7) – clearanced FREE
13.27 subtotal
-.40/1 Chef Boyardee MQ (2)
-.55/1 Mentos MQ (7)
5.88 paid OOP

CVS
2.00 Nestle candy (3) FREE
1.62 vapor strip refills (3) clearanced - I use these so this was a great clearance find. At Walmart, they run about $6 each.
.49 & .50 CVS pocket pack tissues (2) .01 overage
.99 CVS green bag tag
3.99 Q-Tip vanity case - total splurge filler. There are always Q-tips scattered in the bottom of my bathroom cabinet and it drives me nuts.
.50 Dove chocolate filler
.82 tax
18.15 subtotal
-2/1 Nestle candy IPQ (3)
-.30/1 Q-tip MQ
-1/2 CVS tissues CVS Q
10.85 (Paid with $10 EB, .85 on CVS gcard)

Wags
39.99 Vicks Thermo-Scan Thermometer ON SALE THIS WEEK FROM $50!
.20 Royal gelatin (9) with in-ad Wags Q
1.00 Halls cough drops FREE after RR
3.49 Emergen-C FREE after RR
2.99 Chapstick FREE after RR
2.49 Fiber Choice 10 ct FREE after RR
3.29 Wags vapor bath- getting ready for flu season!
2.99 Huggies wipes - needed a travel size for diaper bag
4.57 tax! Holy cow!
62.61 subtotal
-$58 RR from all that Thera Flu!
4.61 paid OOP
Received $10 RR
SUMMARY $52.61 cost
That's a high cost, but I feel better not having to keep track of so many RR expiring every 2 weeks! I had a .50/1 Huggies MQ to use, but that would have made my subtotal negative. I was so excited to see the thermometer I wanted $10 less than I thought it would be! I had to buy tons of gelatin to make up the item to RR ratio. I wish those Halloween pencils were still around. :)

E-Coupon research Safeway trip - cost $3.21

I posted last week here my e-coupon success on the Betty Crocker potato pouch (1.75 overage!), so I decided to try it again this week with more items. My findings on the e-Qs are - they are unpredictable and hard to track, but there are lots of savings when they accumulate and come off at checkout. I printed out all my shopping lists from shortcuts, cellfire, and Safeway.com beforehand so I could build a profitable trip. I would estimate 90% of the e-Qs I was expecting to come off were deducted. Some e-Qs didn't come off but then more e-Qs came off than I was expecting on other items. I wouldn't rely 100% on them, but I'll keep adding them to my cards and continue enjoying sporatic savings.

-

Here's how my trip went:

2.00 Chex Mix (-1.50 e-Qs, .50/1 IPQ) .50 overage

2.19 BC Warm Delight (-2.50 E-Qs, .50/1 IPQ) 1.31 overage

3.00 BC Cookie Mix (.40/1 IPQ) 2.00 - I was expecting .80 in e-Qs to come off

2.99 Special K Blueberry cereal (1/1 IPQ) 1.99 - I was expecting 2.00 in e-Qs to come off

1.39 Old El Paso beans (2) (-1.80 e-qs, -.60/2 IPQ) .02 overage

1.49 PB Grands Jr. biscuits (2) 2.98 I messed up & bought Jr's, no e-qs or MQs. :(

2.99 PB Italian breads (2) (-4.60 EQ, -2 1/1 IPQs) .62 overage

1.89 PB cinnamon rolls (2) (-1.20 EQ, -2 1/1 IPQs) .29 each

.99 Safeway 18 ct eggs (in-ad Q with $20 purchase)

.55 Yoplait yogurts (6) (-2.00 eq, -.40/6 MQ) .05 each

2.50 Yo-Plus (-3.00 EQ, -1/1 MQ) 1.50 overage

.70 bananas .33/lb.

HERE'S MY FAVORITE DEAL (courtesy of Desert Deals Diva, check it out here!)

1.99 Mr. Clean (4) sale price wyb 3 - ALL 4 FREE after 2 FREE Mr. Clean MQs (9/27 P&G)!

.64 tax

42.69 subtotal

E-Q savings = 17.60

MQ savings = 18.98

6.21 paid OOP

Received $3 OYNO from Pillsbury

SUMMARY 3.21 cost

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In hindsight, I should have just taken off the Grands Jr's because I didn't get any Q savings on those. Then, my total cost would have been 73 cents after a $2.50 OYNO. Oh well. That's the problem with EQs, you can't tell which EQs are for which item until your receipt prints out at the end. All in all, a good run. And a good experience with the E-Qs.

Safeway - Cost 25 cents!

I went to Safeway earlier in the week, spent an hour filling up my cart with all the items I had e-coupons accumulated for... and NONE CAME OFF! I was so irritated, I just voided the whole order and left. I read on some forums that the e-coupons weren't working for anyone earlier this week. I went back this afternoon and tested one item - the Betty Crocker potato pouch and off came FIVE .40 e-coupons! Those e-coupons are not reliable, but when they do come off, it's an exciting thing! I'll probably go back Monday or Tuesday to match up quintupled MQs & e-coupons for lots of savings!

1.25 Betty Crocker potato pouch 1.75 overage!
.90 bananas .33/lb -lowest price I've ever seen!
1.17 Ragu pasta sauce (3) .17 each-I'm stocked up on spaghetti sauce, but needed alfredo.
1.00 Fresh Express salad (4) FREE-Hope I can eat all this before 11/3 expiration!
.55 small pumpkin-just because I love the little festive pumpkins. I can't resist Safeway's great fall display!
.04 tax
10.25 subtotal
-.40/1 e-coupon (5!)
- .25/1 Betty Crocker potato MQ
-.30/1 Ragu pasta sauce (3)
-.55/1 Fresh Express IPQ (2)
-.75/1 Fresh Express IPQ (2)
.25 paid OOP!

Walgreens - Profit $25.02

I'm pretty well stocked up on Theraflu & Triaminic. I am pretty confident I would be able to carry the state of Arizona through flu season, but Walgreens is having another MAJOR money maker this week and I couldn't help myself. I'm trying to build up enough RR to buy a forehead scanning thermometer. I have a dinky underarm thermometer that came with a first aid kit and it says everyone's temperature is 95.4. Side note - does anyone have a forehead scanning thermometer? Do you like it?

Moving along... I have realized coupon order is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT at Wags. Hand the coupons in this way to avoid beepage... RR first, manufacturer Qs, Wags in-ad Qs, Wags instant value Qs.

#1
8.99 Almay eye makeup (2) .50 each - The shelf said 8.49, but it rang up at 8.99. I think they should have given me the lower price, but whatever.
2.49 Robitussin to Go 1.00 profit
4.99 Theraflu (3) 1.53 overage + 8 RR = 9.53 money maker!
3.49 Emergen-C Free
.39 Halloween pencil .13
2.42 tax
41.74 subtotal
-4.00 RR
-1.50 Theraflu MQ
-3.00/2 Theraflu MQ
-1.00/1 Robitussin MQ
-1.00/1 Almay MQ (2)
-.26 Wags In-Ad pencil Q
-2.00/1 x 3 Wags Theraflu Q #1 (took off $6) Healthy Savings Book
-2.00/1 x 3 Wags Theraflu Q #2 (took off $6) Healthy Savings Book
-8.99 B1G1F Wags Almay Q from October Q book
.57 subtotal + 2.42 tax = $2.99 paid OOP
Earned $14.00 RR
SUMMARY $7.01 profit

#2
Same as above, but without the Robitussin (they didn't have anymore) or the Emergen C (didn't need the filler). I added in tuna and chocolate pumpkins as fillers to cover the overage.
.40 subtotal +1.93 tax = 2.33 paid OOP
Earned 8 RR
SUMMARY $5.67 profit

#3
Same as #2, but did Triaminic instead of Theraflu
.40 subtotal +1.93 tax = 2.33 paid OOP Earned 8 RR SUMMARY $5.67 profit

#4
4.99 Triaminic (3) 1.53 overage
.55 Bumble Bee tuna (3) fillers to cover overage
.12 subtotal after Triaminic Qs + 1.21 tax = 1.33 paid OOP
SUMMARY $6.67 profit

TOTAL SUMMARY = $25.02 profit!

I have also come to terms with the fact that my OOP is never going to be as low as others because in AZ, we get taxed BEFORE Qs. Lots of other (lucky) states get taxed AFTER Qs, so their OOP is pennies. Oh well, we get some pretty great deals here in Arizona, so I won't complain.

Needed some milk.... CVS profit of $3.83

I was flipping through all the grocery ads to see who had the best price on milk and found $2.19 at Frys was the best I could do. A far cry from Safeway milk for 1.37 a gallon last week! I stopped at CVS to pick up the Glade moneymaker candle and noticed Shamrock Farms milk was on sale for $2.19. Perfect! I scanned my CVS card at the magical coupon kiosk and out popped a $5/15 CVS Q! Even more perfect! Here's what I did...

2.19 milk (2)

6.99 Glade candle

.89 Reese's candy

.44 Reese's (B1G1 50% off)

1.99 Absolutely Divine chocolate

.99 CVS cocoa butter lotion

15.68 subtotal

-5/15 CVS Q

-2/1 CVS any face cleanser/moisturizer Q

-.89 B1G1F Reese's MQ

-1.99 Free Absolutely Divine emailed CVS Q

-3/1 Glade MQ

-3.00 extra bucks

Total -.20 + .36 tax = .16 paid with CVS giftcard

Received $6.99 EB for Glade

SUMMARY = $3.83 profit!

Last day of the Joint Juice deal - $2.91 profit!

I was at Safeway this afternoon picking up some 1.37 milk and remembered today was the final day for the $10 cat Joint Juice deal. I was so excited to see a full shelf! I was not so excited to see the price had been mysteriously changed overnight from 1.00 to 1.39. Sneaky Safeway.

#1
1.39 Joint Juice (8)
11.12 subtotal
-B1G1F Joint Juice IPQ (4)
5.56 total paid OOP
Received $10 OYNO

#2
1.39 Joint Juice (8)
1.37 milk (2) great price!

1.58 bananas (.59/lb) great price!
.55 pumpkins (3) These are sooo adorable!
17.09 subtotal
-B1G1F Joint Juice IPQ (4)

-$10 cat from transaction #1

1.53 total paid OOP

Received $10 OYNO

SUMMARY - Profit of $2.91 (7.09 OOP, 10 OYNO)

There were still more Joint Juices left on the shelf (about 15), but I was out of coupons. So, if anyone wants to head over to Ellsworth/Baseline, they may have some left!

Bashas - 42 cents!

2.00 Orroweat Dutch Country bread (2) 1.00 each
.98 Crest toothpaste - Bashas Home Mailer price .02 profit
.98 Shamrock Farms sour cream - Bashas Home mailer price .48
1.50 La Vic enchilada sauce - raincheck price (4) .50 profit each
11.96 subtotal
-.55/1 Orroweat MQ (2)
-.75/1 Crest MQ
-.50/1 Shamrock Farms blinkie Q found on dairy case
-4/2 La Vic IPQ (2)
.46 OOP

Bashas - $1.68!

I made an early morning run to Bashas today to cash in some rainchecks and do the "Buy ground beef, get 4 items free deal".

.88 Challenge butter-raincheck (4) .12 profit each
.50 Lawry's seasoning - raincheck (2) FREE
1.50 La Vic enchilada sauce - raincheck (6) .50 profit each
.79 refried beans (3)
3.84 grapes - 1.99/lb.
7.99 Moran's ground beef 1.05 profit
.99 Bashas baguette FREE
.99 Food Club spaghetti FREE
1.69 Food Club pasta sauce FREE
2.50 Dole salad FREE
0 tax- thank you City of Mesa
33.89 subtotal
-.75/1 Challege butter IPQ (4) doubled
-.50/2 Lawry's MQ doubled
-4/2 La Vic IPQ from La Vic rewards (3)
-.99/lb. ground beef Bashas home mailer Q - took off $9.04!!
-6.17 for Free Items wyb ground beef
1.68 subtotal!

Be careful with the ground beef/free items deal. The cashier has to manually take those items off and enter in the correct prices. My cashier shorted me $1.81 and I had to go back. I forgot to grab the $3 Snuggle while I was there... I have a raincheck from last week's price so I'll have to go back for that later. All in all, a GREAT deal!

My cashier also told me they are still honoring the Bashas home mailer Qs so, I think I'll grab some free/cheap Kraft singles and some other things.

I am living at Walgreens this week.

I am so glad I waited for a better diaper sale to use up my RR. Last week, I paid $11.49 per pack. This week, they end up being $4 per pack before the Caregiver's Marketplace rebates. Yay for cheap diapers! I have had several transactions at several stores over 2 days.

14 jumbo packs Huggies diapers - 3.25 each (after Caregiver's .75 each rebate)
12 boxes Quaker oatmeal - .63 each
24 jars of Ragu pasta sauce - .36 each
3 Emergen-C energy shots - .01 profit
13 Halloween cups - fillers .17 each

I still have about $70 in RR, but now they won't expire until the end of the month. My total OOP is around $7. Not a bad week for my RR to be expiring!

Lots of shopping today!

Safeway
I finally found some Kleenex to do that deal before it ends on Saturday! I bought 9 boxes in 3 seperate transactions. I didn't have any coupons and no catalina coupons printed for me, but they were still a .03 moneymaker! Here's what the transactions looked like:

.99 Kleenex (3)
2.97 subtotal + .24 tax
Paid 3.21 on giftcard
Received $3 OYNO

Repeated two more times paying with $3 cat each time. Can't have enough Kleenex! There were still 20 boxes left on the shelf at the Val Vista/Southern store.

I also bought a Betty Crocker pouch of cookie mix during one of the Kleenex transactions. I don't know what happened, but twice the amount of e-coupons came off than I was expecting! Do those coupons accumulate? I also used a .50/1 BC Cookie Mix IPQ and the cashier suppressed the double! I have never had a cashier do that, but it was okay because so many e-coupons came off. There were 4 deductions of .40! The cookie mix was 1.50 so after the deductions, I was already at a .10 overage. With the .50/1 factored in, I got an overage of .60! Gotta love those e-coupons!

Target
Quick trip to grab some cheap peanut butter...

2.04 Skippy peanut butter (2)
4.08 subtotal
-1/1 Skippy peanut butter Target IPQ (2)
-.40/1 Skippy peanut butter MQ (2)
1.28 paid on giftcard

CVS
I had a $4 eb expiring today. I grabbed a Revlon nail polish (free after eb & coupon). The manager wouldn't let me use my Revlon coupon because it didn't picture the nail polish and it didn't specifically say it was for a nail product. It said ANY Revlon color cosmetic product. How else would you describe nail polish???? So irritating. I went back and forth for 20 minutes and then decided a dollar was not worth the hassle. So, I paid FULL PRICE (ugh) with my $4 eb and received $3eb back. Not too thrilled about that trip...

Wags
I am starting to burn through all of those RR from the TheraFlu deal. I grabbed a couple of packs of diapers, but I am hoping there is a better diaper price next week. 11.49 per pack is outrageous! I also got some baby stuff for my little sister's baby shower this weekend. Every new nursing mom needs Lansinoh, she just doesn't know it until 2 days after she gets home from the hospital. I'm saving her that pain! And Boudreaux's Butt Paste is, hands down, the best diaper rash cream I've found. It's miraculous.

11.49 Huggies diapers (2)
8.99 Gillette razor
4.00 Playtex tampons (2)
9.99 Lansinoh
5.79 Boudreaux's Butt Paste
2.00 Halloween bags (9) fillers
57.75 subtotal
-3/1 & 2/1 Huggies MQ
-4/1 Gillette MQ
-.50/1 Playtex MQ (2)
-1/1 Boudreaux's Butt Paste MQ
-1/1 Wags Huggies Q from Children's Activity Book (2)
-1.00 Wags in-ad Halloween bags Q 8/$1
43.75 subtotal
Paid with $43 RR (wow.) + 5.03 on a giftcard (4.40 of that was tax!)
Received $9 RR ($6 Gillette, $3 Playtex)
It almost physically hurt to part with that many RR, but I was able to get lots of stuff I needed. And I don't have to worry about them expiring. I can't believe how many fillers I had to have to balance out the RR.

I did 2 more transactions to buy more Gillette razors.

Albie's - cost 2.37!

I love it when Albie's has a mega sale and doubles, triples, & quadruples coupons at the same time!

2.19 milk (3)
1.00 Chex mix (3) wyb 6
.88 Tony's pizza (2)
1.00 Totino's pizza rolls (4) wyb 6
1.00 BC Warm Delights (4) wyb 6
1.00 BC frosting wyb 6
9.99 Glade Lasting Impressions - filler to get to $30
30.32 subtotal
-5/30 Bashas CRT Q
-.50/1 Tony's pizza MQ
-.50/1 Chex Mix MQ (3)
-.35/1 Totino's pizza rolls (4)
-.50/1 BC Warm Delights (4)
-.50/1 BC frosting
- FREE Glade Lasting Impressions Q found inside refill pack
1.57 + .80 tax = 2.37 OOP

I got rainchecks for Progresso broth, Crunch n Munch, & Green Giant veggies. First day of the sale & they were already cleaned out! Not surprising, this is a great sale. The great thing is Albie's is doubling, tripling, & quadrupling coupons through 11/3 (per a posted sign in their store)! So, I can get a raincheck for the items they're out of and still get them for free! So exciting. On a side note, I saw a sign in Safeway - they are quadrupling coupons until further notice. I am loving all of this healthy competition between the grocery stores!

Free butter & a profitable Safeway trip!

Stopped by Bashas for the last day of the free butter! .88 Challenge butter (10)

-1/1 Challenge IPQ (10) adj to .88

Subtotal = 0

This stockpile will be nice for holiday baking.

I picked up a raincheck for the spreadable Challenge butter. They were out of it already, so I'll head back next week to pick those up for free too!

Safeway & Bashas from yesterday..

Safeway

1.69 Pillsbury crescent rolls (3)

1.89 Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (2)

8.85 subtotal

-1/1 Pillsbury IPQ (5)

-1/2 Pillsbury e-coupons (2) shortcuts & cellfire

-.50/1 Pillsbury e-coupon

1.35 OOP

Received $3 OYNO from purchasing 5 Pillsburys

SUMMARY 2.65 profit!

-

Bashas

.33/lb. bananas (Bashas mailer Q)

3.00 Mama Bellas garlic toast

2.00 Ragu (2)

1.39 Barilla pasta

9.40 subtotal

-.50/1 Ragu MQ from Kmart savings booklet (2)

-.50/1 Mama Bellas MQ

-1.50 Free pasta wyb 2 Ragu products - Bashas monthly ad Q

4.92 paid OOP

-

The free pasta Bashas monthly-in ad Q takes off 1.50 no matter what kind of pasta you buy, so next time I do that deal, I will find the cheapest pasta I can to take advantage of the overage.

Selling the Stockpile!

I had my first experience with selling stock pile items at a yard sale and it went really well! I crashed my friend's (thanks Emily!) yard sale armed with toothbrushes, Listerine, BBQ sauce, mustard, and everything else in my stockpile closet. Friday was definitely better than today, but I made $70! Not a gigantic amount of money, but for my first sale, I am happy with that. I really wanted to take that $70 to Wags and get more Theraflu, but I restrained myself.

Some of the best sellers were toothbrushes & toothpaste. This is funny to me because I priced the toothpaste at $1.00 which is a pretty standard sale price at most stores. One lady bought 8 tubes! I think I'll have a follow up sale in a few weeks to see if I can unload the rest of the Theraflu, Triaminic, & Zyrtec.

I finally found some Joint Juice!

I have been searching high and low for Joint Juice to participate in the great deals everyone has been posting about at Safeway. I stopped in Safeway today to price check their refried beans against Bashas and Fry's and decided to check one more time to see if the Joint Juice shelf was empty. Every store I've checked over the past several weeks has been completely cleaned out. My store was fully stocked! I left a lot of Joint Juice so hopefully some other couponer comes across it.

#1

1.39 Joint Juice (7)

9.73 subtotal

-B1G1 Joint Juice IPQ (3)

5.56 OOP

Earned $10 catalina

#2

1.39 Joint Juice (7)

7.16 boneless skinless chicken

16.89 subtotal

-B1G1 Joint Juice IPQ (3)
-1/1 Safeway chicken IPQ

-10 cat from previous transaction

1.72 OOP
Earned $10 catalina

*Repeated this one more time

#4

1.39 Joint Juice (7)

3.98 Pillsbury brownie mix B2G3F sale (5)

3.99 Precious string cheese

16.70 subtotal

-B1G1 Joint Juice IPQ (3)

-1/2 Pillsbury brownie mix MQ (2)

-1/1 Precious peelie MQ

-10 cat from previous transaction

.53 OOP

Earned $10 catalina

SUMMARY .47 profit!

I also hit up CVS this week because I was almost out of laundry detergent, so the P&G extra buck deal came at a great time!

6.00 Tide (4)

1.00 Dawn

.76 clearance Neutrogena mascara

.99 CVS nuts (2) not pictured

27.74 subtotal

-5/25 Flu Quiz CVS Q

-1/1 Tide MQ (4)

-.50/1 Dawn MQ

-2/2 CVS nuts CRT

-1/1 Neutrogena MQ - adj to .76

15.48 subtotal

Paid with $15 eb, .48 cash

Earned $10 eb

Cost $5.48 - I am ok with this because each Tide bottle ended up costing me about a dollar a piece.

And one final note, over the last couple of weeks, I have received snarky comments from a mysterious Anonymous person about the amount of things I get for free or how I clear shelves. I had a serious rant that I typed out, but I am editing this to simply say that #1 I never clear shelves... its bad coupon karma. And #2 I don't do anything illegal. From now on, I am moderating all comments so we don't have to be exposed to the negativity of others. Everyone else.... happy shopping!

This is a new record... $84.36 profit at Wags!

Did you know you can stack Wags Qs? Neither did I. With all the different Wags coupon booklets floating around, it's not surprising that like coupons overlapped somewhere. A very helpful cashier told me about this a week ago, but I didn't try it until I saw Christine on the Crazy Coupons blog make serious money doing this exact thing! You can check her post out here... and here's the deal:

12.00 Theraflu (3)
-6.00 2/1 Wags Q #1 from Healthy Savings booklet
-6.00 2/1 Wags Q #2 from another booklet Christine found.
(You can print out both Qs from her website. That's what I did - worked like a charm.)
0 subtotal, pay .97 tax
Earn $8RR
SUMMARY - 7.03 profit!
I did this transaction 12 times (paid $11.64 in tax, earned $96 RR) and made $84.36!

I was skeptical about stacking Wags Qs, but both cashiers I had today said as long as the bar codes are different (and they are) they can take them both. No beepage either! Yay! Both stores I went to (Greenfield/Southern & Higley/Southern) had plenty in stock when I left, so don't worry Mesa, AZ couponers, there is enough for everyone!