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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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

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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!