Walgreens Savings on 4/16/10

I picked up the items pictured above at Walgreens today, which included 2 V8 Fusions, 4 Campbells Chunky soup, 2 Soft Batch chocolate chip cookies & 1 Spray & Wash.

Retail Cost was approximately $33

I paid $8.65 with tax!

How was this accomplished?

Spray & Wash costs $4.39. There was a Walgreens coupon in the weekly sales flyer that reduced the price to $1.99. Couple that with a $1 off manufacturer's coupon, & final cost was only 99 cents!

Soft Batch Cookies retail for $3.29 per bag, but were on sale this week for 2 for $5. There was also a $2 off 2 Keebler product coupon in the Walgreens ad - this makes the final cost $1.50 per bag!

V8 Fusion is regular $4.49; there was a Walgreens coupon that made them $2.50 each. I also had $1 off manufacturer coupons .... final price, $1.50 each!

Campbells Chunky Soup regular price is $3.29 per can but were on sale 2 for $5. I also had 4 dollar off coupons - final cost was $1 per can!

I also had a few "Register Rewards" which are basically like cash to use on any Walgreens purchase. The key is to couple sale items with coupons - and if you can find a store AND manufacturer coupon, even better!

Easton's had a busy April so far....

Happy Tax Day! (just kidding....) :-) We've had a busy first few weeks in April. Jason left for Communications School on April 5th - his flight flew out of Raleigh, so we decided to spend a few days with my friends Kim & Chris & their daughter Maddy. We went to the park, had lunch @ Firehouse Subs (one of my favs) and Kim introduced me to a consignment store called "Kid to Kid" in Apex. Kim & I also had a chance to just hang out, talk and catch up which was really nice - it's been AGES since we were able to do that!

. Jason tried to pack up Easton and take him to his training :-)

Easton's first trip to the park - there was a lot of pollen, so his little eyes look a bit red!

One of the outfits we got at the consignment store, it's baseball-themed of course :-)

After our visit with Kim, we headed to Danville to see family & friends. Gammy & Pappy greeted Easton with some Easter treats that were in his crib (yes, Gammy has set up Easton his own special place @ her house) :-) We visited tons of people, including Easton's new cousin Koy. Unfortunately, Easton was asleep during the whole visit so we didn't get any pictures - maybe next time!

Easton's Easter surprise from Gammy & Pappy (the candy was for "Easton's Mama") :-)

We headed back to our house on Friday Apr 9th and my Mom & Dad came along with us - Mama had not seen our house since it's been completed/furnished, so she was anxious to check it out and see the beach. They spent the weekend with us and we did some eating out, shopping and a few projects around the house. On Tuesday, uncle Bryce came to visit Easton - Bryce kept Easton while I went to a doctor's appointment and he really loved seeing how sweet and smiley Easton is in the mornings. It's definitely his favorite time of day, and makes getting up early so worth it!

I've started my training to become an online instructor, so that's been keeping me busy as well. If all goes as planned I should begin teaching sometime this summer. I am really hoping it works out because I am enjoying being able to spend so much time with Easton. I am quickly learning that he is growing up SO fast - he'll be 3 months old on Monday!!! - so I want to spend as much time as I can with him.

Here are a few cute videos of Easton - notice that he sneezes in both of them ....recall the pollen I mentioned, I think it is the cause of all of the sneezes. Regardless, it's still cute :-)

Some recent pics of Easton - 2 1/2 months old

Here are a few photos of Easton from the week - he's now 2 1/2 months old!

3/31/10 Trying to dress like Dad by wearing a striped polo shirt :-)

4/1/10 Relaxing on the floor after his 1st time rolling over!

4/2/10 Heading out to run errands in his GREASE shirt - thanks "aunt" Steph!

The deals keep on comin' - this time from CVS!

How much do you think all of these items (plus 4 jugs of Pedialyte, not pictured) would cost if you paid retail price? $80??? $100??? More? How about $117.91 - does that sound accurate? (hint..... it is accurate) :-)

Tonight at CVS I paid $41.64 for all of this, plus the 4 Pedialytes that are not in the photo! Just the diapers and Claritin alone would usually cost about $50 .... I am quickly learning that pairing sale prices with coupons can save HUGE amounts of cash. Also, CVS offers Extra Care Bucks (ECB) for purchases - for example, CVS is running a special this week where if you buy $25 worth of qualifying baby products, you get $10 in ECBs. Here's what I did:

4 Pedialytes (usually $5.99, on sale for $4.99) = $19.96

2 Johnson&Johnson Lotions (usually $4.99, on sale for $.299) = $5.98

Total baby products = $25.94 (qualifies for $10 ECB)

Minus the following coupons:

2 Buy one, get one free Pedialyte = - $11.98

2 $1.50 off Pedialyte = - $3.00

2 $1 off J&J products = -$2.00

Total out of pocket: $8.96

If you subtract the $10 in ECB that I can use like cash to my next purchase, it's a $1.04 money maker!

For anyone with babies/toddlers, here are a few coupons you may like (act fast, some of these expire in mid-April):

$3 off Huggies, any size: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?bt=vi&tqnm=zcspbeu30728534&o=62585&c=FB&p=pSh2QOBN

$1 off Johnson&Johnson products: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?bt=vi&tqnm=zavqbib62194249&o=9996&c=JB&p=W4cVv9iE

$1.50 off Pedialyte: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=zc5sfgz39908436&bt=vi&o=62280&pt=&lang=&ws=&ct=&ci=&cl=&cp=&eb=1&c=PL&p=80389&z=&r=&pc=&tc

Buy One, Get One Free Pedialyte: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=zdcadvj2234267&bt=vi&o=61762&pt=&lang=&ws=&ct=&ci=&cl=&cp=&eb=1&c=PL&p=81158&z=&r=&pc=&tc==

Another great deal - it's game time!

I got an awesome deal at Target today that I have to share ... last week the Target website had printable coupons for $3 off various Hasbro games. Hasbro has a website called "Play Saver" where you can print off manufacturer coupons for their games. You can find it here:
http://www.hasbro.com/discover/Play-Saver.cfm

Target is running a special this week on Connect4, Battleship & Bop-It games - the games are discounted to $14, plus you get a free Monopoly card game with purchase. Here's how the deal worked out for me:

Bop-It game (originally $19.99, on sale for $14.00)
Monopoly card game $5.24
Target special, buy Bop-It get Monopoly card game free -$5.24
Target coupon - $3.00
manufacturer coupon for Bop-It - $5.00
manufacturer coupon for Monopoly - $5.00

Total amount paid = $1 plus tax!!! That's two games for a $1, and retail savings of almost $25!!!

The reason this worked out is because Target allows you to use a Target coupon AND a manufacturer's coupon on one item. This, combined with the games' sale price and the "Buy one, get one free" promotion with the cards made it an awesome deal!!!

Easton rolled over - and this is no April Fool's!!! :-)

You may be wondering why I am making a post at 3:30am .... Easton woke up about an hour ago and wanted to eat. I fed him and then he, Jason and I laid on the bed together. We put Easton on his tummy for some "tummy time" which usually gets out any "stuck burps" and also helps him use up and excess energy so he can go back to sleep.

Almost immediately after laying on his stomach, Easton started to lean towards the left. He was somewhat twisted, but definitely making progress towards rolling over. We did several things to encourage him - lay on his left side, squeak toys, make noises, etc. We got his favorite toy, a red bird that hangs on his car seat/carrier, that makes a "tweet" noise. Easton loves to look at the bird and followed his gaze to his left side and then ROLLED OVER! We were so excited and proud, and he seemed quite pleased with himself too. We put him on his stomach again & he instantly rolled over for a second time, without any encouragement from us at all!

We took him to our room (where there is no furniture quite yet - still waiting on the delivery!) and laid him in the floor where he'd have plenty of space to move .... & this time we grabbed the video camera. Easton did not dissappoint - below you can see him roll over for the 3rd time!!!

Who knew coupons were so much fun??? :-)

As some of you know, I have been getting into coupons lately. It all started when I found out I was pregnant and wanted to come up with ways to save on baby necessities, such as diapers, wipes, etc. I registered at a number of "expectant mom" sites and the coupons for Pampers, formula, Babies R Us, etc started flooding my mailbox and email. Jason gave me a coupon organizing book for Christmas, and oddly it was one of my favorite gifts. I began looking for coupons for other parts of our life, such as eating out and grocery shopping. It's been a focus for me ever since.

Last week my friend Sarah informed me that Harris Teeter does triple coupon days where they'll triple the face value of a coupon that is worth 99 cents or less. For those that are not familiar with Harris Teeter, it's a southern grocery chain. They also have the VIC club, which is their shoppers reward club similar to Food Lion's MVP program.

I already had a VIC card from my previous days of living in VA & NC. We did not have Harris Teeter while living in Michigan, so this is a definite advantage to being back in the south now! I pulled out my existing coupons to find the ones that were worth 99 cents or less, searched online for printable coupons (there are a TON out there!) and purchased the Sunday paper for the first time in forever and clipped coupons from the Red Plum & SmartSource inserts.

Harris Teeter limits shoppers to 20 coupons per day, so we've made a few trips to make the most of the promotion. I was especially proud of my finds today - here is a photo & a written list of what I purchased:


Non-coupon items:

6 lbs of boneless chicken breasts (VIC Buy one 2 lb package, get two free, cost $1.66 per pound)
3 lbs of fresh strawberries (VIC special Buy one, get two free, cost $1.11 per pound)

Coupon items:

2 Duncan Hines cake mixes
1 Betty Crocker cookie mix
1 Betty Crocker muffin mix
1 Betty Crocker Warm Delight
1 Chex Mix
1 Total cereal
2 Orville Redenbacher popcorn
1 Lipton decaf tea bags, qty 24
1 Heinz cocktail sauce
1 Wishbone Italian dressing
3 Hunts Snackpack pudding, qty 4 per pack
1 Yoplait Greek yogurt
1 Sargento shredded cheese
1 Sargento string cheese
2 French's mustard
2 French's honey mustard dipping sauce
2 Lever 2000 bars of soap
1 Colgate toothpaste

So now for the exciting part .... guess how much I spent??? I can't just blurt it out, so here is the math - hey, gotta keep my skills sharp for when I go back to teaching :-)

Retail cost of purchases: $143.84
VIC program savings: - $38.36
Coupon savings: - $72.06

TOTAL SPENT: $33.42 .... that's a savings of $110.42!!!!

Here's a breakdown of some of the great deals I got:

French's mustard: $1.95 retail price - .45 VIC savings - 1.50 triple .50 coupon = FREE

Colgate: $3.25 retail - .75 VIC savings - 2.25 triple .75 coupon = .25

Betty Crocker Warm Delights: $2.55 retail - 2.25 triple .75 coupon = .30

Wishbone dressing: $2.99 retail - 2.25 triple .75 coupon = .75

Total cereal: $4.45 retail - 1.45 VIC savings - 2.25 triple .75 coupon = .75

Sargento shredded cheese: $3.19 retail - 2.25 triple .75 coupon = .94

Hunts pudding Snackpacks: $1.29 retail - .29 VIC savings - .50 triple coupon = .50 each, $1.50 total for three packs

I can see already that "couponing" is going to be addictive for me, it combines two of my favorite things.... math & a scavenger hunt! Hey, I guess you could have worse hobbies, right? :-) I still have a lot to learn; I have read blogs where ladies manage to end up with a total less than a dollar. Now that is impressive! Sarah also mentioned that Harris Teeter does "Super Doubles" where they will allow you to double coupons up to $1.99 face value.... who knew coupons were so much fun?