Baby Shower and....Coupons?!

I wanted to share this because this is one of those times that "before coupons" I would've just run out to the store and bought what I could with my budget. I don't have any babies anymore, so it was fun to see what coupon matchups I could do and what I could get! Being as this was a spur of the moment deal, I was not able to shop the sales as I usually do, but shopping with coupons was better than nothing! I actually printed her registry and then typed the items into the database on southernsavers.com and matched them up before heading up to the store.  Here's what I got with coupons (I did go and buy a few other items at Target like blanket, toy basket, etc):

PUBLIX

Huggies Little Snugglers Diapers (Size 2)

Huggies Sensitive Wipes Tub (64 ct)

Avent BPA Free Dual Pack Bottles (4 oz size)

Avent BPA Free Dual Pack Bottles (9 oz size)

Playtex Premium Nurser with Drop-ins (4 oz size)

Playtex Premium Nurser with Drop-ins (8 oz size)

A&D Zinc Oxide Diaper Rash Cream

Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Wash

Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Lotion

Subtotal 59.21 - Savings 32.34 = 26.97 TOOP

This kind of savings is making me think I need to pay more attention to the baby sales and start stocking up on these items...I mean the diapers and wipes after coupons was 5.00 and the A&D ointment was 49 cents! Someone is always having a baby, so it would be nice to be able to just pull from a small stockpile and then be able to go buy a few "fun" and more personal items to go with it! Which of course would be a lot easier if I don't have to spend money on the basics!
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Free Cleaning Products!

This was another deal from last week, a second trip to Walgreens that I made when I had to pick up some prescriptions for my husband.  Here's how I did it last week:

Buy:

2 Soft Scrub Total Cleaners =6.00

2 Soft Scrub Cleaners =6.00

3 Renuzit Air Fresheners =3.00

Subtotal =15.00

Used:

(2) Buy one Soft Scrub Total get one Soft Scrub Cleaner Free (-6.00)

(2) 1.50 off one Soft Scrub Total (-3.00)

(1) Buy 2 Renuzits Get one free (-1.00)

-5.00 RR from previous deal

TOOP =0.00 FREE 100% Savings PLUS this was another RR deal (4RR WYB $15 in these products) so I got another 4RR!

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Blueberries!

Here's what 10 lbs of blueberries looks like!

The kids and I went and visited our local blueberry farm this morning bright and early! It opened today as a pre-pick day since they had so many already ready, but the regular season actually starts next Saturday. We got 10 lbs for $12.50. I'm so excited....My hubby loves blueberries and they are actually something he can eat. He can't have phosphorus or potassium due to his medical condition, so it really limits what fruits/veggies (and food for that matter) I can bring into the house because if he likes it, he will eat it regardless! LOL I think I'm going to make homemade blueberry pancakes tomorrow morning for Father's Day and a blueberry cobbler for later during the day! Blueberries are so yummy and so good for you! Here's some nutritional information. It only took about 45 minutes today to get that much!

So, if we add this 12.50 to my totals from my groceries this week, we have 42.80 TOTAL out of pocket to feed my family of 5. Not bad! :)

Also, I wanted to mention that a pint of dry blueberries from the grocery store weighs about 12 oz. The cheapest in my area you can find that at is 1.99. So, 10 lbs of blueberries from the grocery store would cost me about 26.00. So, this was a savings of 13.50 or 52%. Not too bad for fresh produce!Pin It

Groceries!

Subtotals 125.12 - Savings 94.82 = 30.30 TOOP 

Total Savings 76%

Typical week, I went out to Publix and then BiLo for groceries. I really didn't see a whole lot on sale at either store, and I was actually very discouraged this week as a lot of the items I really wanted to get only 1 or 2 of for my family were cleared off the shelf. At Publix, they were the Lysol Healthy Touch Hand Soap Dispensers (just wanted 2), 2 OFF Clip-on refills for camping this next weekend and 2 of the flashlights also for camping this weekend. I would get a raincheck, but all 3 of these items were in the Yellow flyer and I was using the store coupons to get them, so no raincheck for coupons. So, I'll pass and maybe get lucky that I'll find a better or comparable deal soon. If not, no use crying over spilt milk, right? ;)   At Bilo, I was a little more frustrated as I just wanted ONE (JUST ONE!) dang olive oil as we are almost out. I got there the first day of the sale at 10am, and the shelf was completly cleared! Olive oil, really?! It wasn't even free...Anyway. I did get a raincheck for my ONE freakin olive oil. I also was wanting to use my raincheck for the Smart Balance milk that was 50 cents last week, and of course that was cleared as well. It probably didn't help that my store is remodeling and it was crazy insane in there...I had a hard time finding regular items as there was like a million rolling shelf carts EVERY WHERE. Okay, enough of that.

Publix
3 packs of Dannon Danimals yogurt
6 packs of Dannon Dan-o-nino yogurt
3 packs of Dannon Coolision yogurt
2 packs of Sargento Reduced Fat Colby Jack Slices
5 Think Thin protein bars
2 packs Crystal Light (quart size)
2 bottles of Dove Men Care Body Wash
2 Mentos Pure Fresh (50 ct)
2 boxes of Magnum Ice Cream bars
4 bags of Lean Cuisine Market Creations 
Subtotal 88.13-Savings 61.77= 26.36 TOOP   Savings of 70%

Bilo
2 bags of Cape Code chips
8 bottles of Fuze
1 bottle of Glass Plus
2.41 lbs of Red Grapes
2 Stouffer's Farmers' Harvest single serve meals
Subtotal 36.99-Savings 33.05= 3.94 TOOP   Savings of 89%

Sorry, no pictures again this week...It is simply too hot already here. My groceries are screaming at me "We're melting!" by the time we get home...Stupid 100 degree days.Pin It

97% Savings & All About Rain Checks!

From my house to:

Publix 7.4 miles or about 20 minutes

BiLo 5.1 miles or about 15 minutes

Walmart 1.1 miles or about 4 minutes

CVS 3.6 miles or about 10 minutes

RiteAid 5.9 miles or about 17 minutes

Walgreens 1.9 miles or about 5 minutes

A lot of people talk about the price of gas when you talk about coupons and going to the different stores. Since I do visit about 5-6 different stores weekly, I want to give you an idea of how close they are to my home. Also, I carpool with my mom pretty much every time we go to the store, so it also saves on the little bit of gas we do use. And on top of that, generally speaking, most of these stores are close together for me. In other words, I'm not driving one way to get to one store and turning around and driving a totally different direction to go to another!  Not everyone is this lucky though, and if you are not as close to the store as I am, you may need to pick only one to two stores to visit per week or pick one day a week to do ALL your shopping. I know I have a good friend of mine that lives about 30 minutes from any of the *hot* stores to shop at in our area so it is very unreasonable for her to go shopping more than once a week. And with that, comes the inevitable possibility that you will miss an item being on sale. And to be honest, with all the hype on coupons here lately, I've even been a little frustrated with not being able to find certain items in stock.

Which brings us to RAIN CHECKS! What is a rain check, you ask? A rain check is particularly useful when you get to a store to only find out that the item or items you came to purchase are no longer in stock. It is a voucher which will allow you to purchase the item at the advertised price after the store has restocked it. Here's a few tips and tricks:

1. Know your ad...Have a copy and try to have an idea of where your item is and what kind of sale/deal you are wanting for the rain check.

2. Rainchecks are for grocery stores AND drugstores! Don't limit yourself! The drugstores will give you the sale price PLUS the deal they are running like ECB.

3. Some rain checks expire, BUT some do not! Make sure you pay close attention to the stores that don't have expiration dates on their rain checks. A great tip is to get a rain check on items like produce at those stores that don't have expiration dates. Then, when you need something out of season, you can still get it at the sale price!

4. Another great tip is to remember that if one flavor is out of something, you can still get a rain check for it even if there are other flavors there! For example, the yummy Jala Bars I blogged about here were on sale at a great price, but when I went back, the blueberry ones were out of stock. I got a rain check for 10!

 * Hope this helps you, and remember, don't leave empty handed! Once you get used to them, it is second nature!*

First, like usual is CVS. I did some great shopping there this week!

2 John Frieda Full Repair Conditioners

2 Soft Scrub Total

2 Soft Scrub with Bleach

1 Cetaphil Facial Cleanser

2 OFF! Clip-on Starter Kits

2 OFF! Clip-on Refills

1 Zyrtec 5 ct

1 Bayer Advanced Aspirin

2 boxes of Skinny Cow Bars

Subtotals 96.25-Savings 95.61=0.64 TOOP

And of course, here is RiteAid...another small week!

1 Bayer Advanced Aspirin

1 Compound W Liquid

1 Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Color

Subtotal 21.97-Savings 17.00=4.97 TOOP-1.99 Mail in Rebate (Bayer)= 2.98 TOOP

Walgreens was a pretty decent week though!

3 Schick Hydro Shave Cream

2 Tone Body Washes

1 Finesse Shampoo

1 Finesse Conditioner

1 Blistex for Men

1 Colgate 360 Toothbrush

4 Laffy Taffy (fillers)

Subtotal 37.01-Savings 33.06=3.95 TOOP-2.99 Mail in Rebate (Finesse)= 0.96 TOOP

DRUGSTORE TOTALS FOR 6/12: 

Subtotal 155.23-Savings 145.67= 9.56 TOOP-4.98 Rebates= 4.58 TOOP

93% Before Rebates or 97% After Rebates!

Since I had a few things I wanted to get before my coupons expired, I also went to Walmart...

2 Nautica Cologne (clearance 7.00 each)

5 Dial Travel Size Body Washes (0.97 each)

1 Bic Mark-It pens 24 count (12.44)

Subtotal 30.32-Coupons 22.00=7.32 TOOP

Savings of 73%! Here's a breakdown:

(4) 2.00 off Dial from (RP 6/12)

(2) 5.00 off Nautica Cologne (printable)

(1) 5.00 off BIC Mark-It 24 ct (printable)

So, I used the overages from the dial to help pay for the other items, bringing my TOOP down!

And lastly, I made a quick trip back to Publix as well to grab a few items...

5 Think Thin Protein Bars 

2 Tomatoes

1/2 lb grapes

2 Bayer Advanced Aspirin

2 Skinny Cow singles

Subtotal 21.90-Savings 18.26=3.64 TOOP

Savings of 83%!

*Quick Note* I was planning to also use my $2.00 off Publix produce coupon from the Stocking Spree signup, but come to find out, the coupon was not valid until 6/16. Oh well!

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A little late....Last Sunday's Trip to Drugstores & More...

Okay, well those of you that know me, know why I'm late posting this. Those that don't, well, I had 3 birthday parties in the last 3 weeks on top of going back to school for summer semester and kids getting out of school. And of course, about  a million other things. I don't know about all of you, but I'm not super mom...It's exhausting!  But, here is a quick breakdown of last Sunday's totals (6/5):
CVS Trip
5 Vitamin Waters
2 Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash/Rinse
2 Colgate MaxFresh Toothpaste
2 Oral-B Pulsar Toothbrushes
Subtotal 40.99
- 40.99 Savings/Coupons
=0.00 TOOP

RiteAid Trip
2 Veet Products
1 Blink Tears
2 Rimmel Nail polishes
Subtotal 29.45
-24.50 Savings/ Coupons
= 4.95 TOOP
*BUT* The Blink Tears were a SCR this month, so I will be getting a check for 7.99 back making it 3.04 in OVERAGES paid to me!

Walgreens
1 Box of Omega Smart Ultimate Fish Oil
5 Laffy Taffy candy (fillers)
23.99 Subtotal
-23.99 Savings/Coupons
=0.00 TOOP











So, my weekly drugstore totals altogether are:
Subtotal 94.43 - 89.48 Savings = 4.95 TOOP - 7.99 SCR = -3.04
SO, a savings of 94% without the rebate and 103% with the rebate! Better than FREE!

(Quick) Publix Trip
2 Mrs. T's Pierogies
1 Fresh Express Salad Mix
(Raincheck for the yummy Jala bars)
Subtotal 9.16
-7.57 Savings/Coupons
=1.59 TOOP

I wanted to share this quick Publix trip because this would make a great lunch for the kids and us during the summer...Can you imagine paying for that without shopping the sales and coupons? Even if you did the sale, it would have still been right at 5.00. Not as bad, but it really makes you look back on the "before couponing"...I just imagine on what all we could have saved! It makes my tummy hurt thinking about all that wasted $$$! I think the best thing altogether about this, is that I get to buy things that I never would've splurged on before...Like the Rimmel nail polish...I actually did the french manicure today on my nails and it looks salon perfect! It's nice to have those little things and not have to worry about spending that little extra!Pin It

FREE + Overage Pizza at BiLo!

I got up today, and decided I didn't feel like dragging all 3 kids to the grocery store this morning as they are out of school now. Plus, I haven't had a lot of sleep the past couple of weeks due to both my girls' having sleepover birthday parties and this week was test week for me. So, sleeping in till 10 sounded like heaven to me! So, I milled around all morning and cleaned some house and then sat down at the computer and my coupons with the intention of possibly getting out Friday morning to do my groceries this week. Well, Publix did not excite me at all this week...and neither did BiLo until I went through my little coupon box of cut printables and realized that I had 2 of the BOGOF coupons for the Palermo's Pizza that I could also pair up with the 2 $1.00 of coupons! So, I quickly did the rest of the ad and headed up there. Here's how I fared...
Grocery List
4 boxes of Palermo's Pizzas =27.96-14.00 BOGOF Sale=13.96
4 boxes of Lean Pockets 2 ct =10.00
3 Land of Frost Wrap Kits =20.97-6.00 Savings from Sale=14.97
1 Pineapple =4.49-2.25 Savings from Sale=2.24
1 carton of Strawberries =3.99-2.00 Savings from Sale=1.99
Subtotal before Savings=67.41
Total Store Savings=-24.25
Subtotal after Savings=43.16
Coupons
2 BOGOF Palermo's Pizza Coupons =-13.98
2 $1.00 off Palermo's Pizza Coupons =-2.00
3 $1.00 off Land of Frost Wrap Kits Coupons=-3.00
2 BOGOF Lean Pockets 2 Ct Coupons =-5.00
1 $4.00 off $40.00 at BiLo Coupon =-4.00
Total Value of Coupons =-27.98
Total Saved=52.23
TOOP=$15.18  A Savings of about 77%!

Now, I have to be honest, I didn't plan on the BOGOF coupons giving me the full price off of each...But, each coupon had a limit of up to  7.50 and I have gotten accustommed to giving my BiLo card at the end of the transaction to avoid beeping issues with coupons, so I ended up getting 6.99 for each coupon and the sale price was 6.99 for 2! So, with the 2.00 off coupons, they paid me 2.00 to get that pizza! :) So, free strawberries! LOL!Pin It

Eating Healthy with Coupons?

Anyone that knows me, knows I'm not a huge fan of "unhealthy" foods for my family. But, my husband is the king of fast food and junk food. So, I try to compromise and get things for my family that are decent. I actually am taking a nutrition class this summer towards my ADN and finding I'm wayyyy more interested in this subject than I would've ever originally thought! For instance, I bought eggplant at BiLo this week (on sale for 1.00) and introduced it to my family. I wanted to grill it, but it looked like rain, so I sliced it, brushed olive oil on it, and sprinkled a little salt and fresh pepper on it. Then I broiled it till it looked a little golden, and topped it with a small amount of mozzarella cheese and melted it slightly under the broiler as well. Then, we had some spaghetti sauce for dipping! While I don't think it was my kids' new favorite or anything, they ate it well enough! And I LOVED it! Too bad my husband wouldn't even touch it though. Oh well! At least my kids are eating new nutritious foods! Anyway, I shopped Publix like usual this week. I haven't been able to take any pics because its so hot outside, I have to come home after Publix and put it all up right away! Here's my totals for Publix this week (I'm being realistic and don't feel like adding in BiLo as I have a birthday party tomorrow for my youngest and I'm still cleaning house plus like 4 tests next week):

PUBLIX
2 Combat Quick Kill
John Frieda Root Awakening Restoring Smooth Lotion
Lg Cool Green Bag (for transporting frozen food back to my house during our 110 degree days)
TOOP 0.86
Total Saved 17.00 or 95%

Tasteful Selections Potatoes
8 boxes of Jala Yogurt Bars
Fresh Express Caesar Salad Kit
2 Packs of Trans Ocean Crab
2 Tubs of Dove Ice Cream
2 Mrs T's Pierogi
2 boxes of Ronzoni Garden Delights Pasta
TOOP 12.91
Total Saved 54.81 or 81%

Now, I know that not everything here is what one would call "healthy", but the Jala bars are super delicious and not too bad at all for you! I actually am hoping to head back tomorrow morning and get some rain checks as my freezer has no room for more, but I would love to have these instead of ice cream for the kids this summer! We've already tried the Blueberry Vanilla Swirl and we all thought they were crazy good! And I have to say...Before coupons, this is not something I would've ever bought...We would've just had some cheap wally world ice cream full of fat and calories to snack on. So, this is much better! And I already took both the crab meats and made a pasta salad with the Ronzoni, a bag of steamfresh peas,  a bag of frozen chopped onions/celery/peppers, and some fat free Italian dressing! The kids loved it and there is a ton of veggies in there!Pin It