Free Swagbuck code

Swagbucks is offering another free swagbuck today. Just go to the homepage, click on your swagbucks, and enter the code TOOLBARWIN.

For those of you who don't know what swagbucks are, it's an internet search engine that gives you points (called "swagbucks") for your searches. Once you've accumulated 45 swagbucks, you can get a $5 Amazon.com giftcard. Once you've accumulated 50 swagbucks, you can get a $5 Starbucks giftcard.

Mary and I now do all of our internet searches through swagbucks.com and we've already received one Starbucks giftcard, and we're almost 2/3's of the way to getting another one! If you're going to search anyway, why not?

Walgreens Freebies -- 12/28/08 - 1/3/09

Here's what's free at Walgreens this week. If you haven't learned the trick to shopping at Walgreens, click on my post here.

Orajel Cold Sore Medicine @ $8.49
Use $1/1 coupon from 10/26 SS
Receive $8.49 EasySaver Rebate
Final Price = FREE plus $1 overage

Revlon Matte Collection Blush or Eyeliner: $9.99
Use $1/1 coupon from 12/7 or 11/16 SS
Receive $9.99 EasySaver Rebate
Final Price = FREE plus $1 overage

Revlon Matte Collection Eye Shadow: $4.99
Use $1/1 coupon from 12/7 or 11/16 SS
Receive $4.99 EasySaver Rebate
Final Price = FREE plus $1 overage

Revlon Matte Collection Lipstick: $7.99
Use $1/1 coupon from 12/7 or 11/16 SS
Receive $7.99 EasySaver Rebate
Final Price = FREE plus $1 overage

Robitussin or Dimetapp: buy 5 for $20
Use 5 $2/1 printable coupons for Robitussin or Dimetapp
Receive $10 Register Rewards
Final Price = FREE

Jenna's buck is gone!

Well, I've gone and done it! I finally spent the last of Jenna's dollar at CVS. I had the good fortune of being able to go with my in-laws, and showing them how to shop there!

On my first trip, I bought Schick Quattro for women (Mary's favorite!), Gillette body wash for me, and two bottles of Nature's Bounty vitamins, just for the deal. On my second trip, I bought two Pantene Pro-V shampoo, 2 Colgate Advanced Whitening Toothpaste, Gillete Fusion shaver and Gillette body wash for Matt (but he left it behind!), and Orbit chewing gum for Mary. The whole trip cost $1.19. Not bad for a day's work.

Some of the fun was getting my sister-in-law, Erin, started on CVS. I got her the free glucose monitor, which starts her off with $5 ECB's. Plus, she got a bonus coupon on her receipt -- $5 off her next purchase of $15!!

Erin, if you're reading this, here's what I'd do to grow your ECB's:

• Buy 1 Schick Quattro for women @ $8.99 -- get $5 ECB's
• Buy 2 Colgate Advanced Whitening 4 oz. @ $2.99 ea. -- get $2 ECB's
• Buy 2 Dawn dishsoap 10.3 oz., BOGO @ $1.49

Then use these coupons:

• $2 off Schick Quattro for women that I gave you (12/7 SS)
• Print off 2 $1.50 off Colgate coupons
• And use the $1 off Dawn coupon that I gave you (12/14 PG)

Your total should come to $0.46+tax!! Here's the math: ($8.99+$2.99+$2.99+$1.49-$5 off $15 coupon-$5 ECB's-$2 Schick-$3.00 Colgate-$1 Dawn=$0.46). And now, your $5 ECB's turned into $9 ECB's!! Let me know how it went. Call me if you have any questions.

CVS $5 Challenge -- 12/28/08 - 1/3/09

The $5 Challenge was created by kingdomfirstmom. The idea is to walk into a CVS store with $5 and no ECB's, and get as much as possible, while growing your ECB's, in three transactions or less. If you've never shopped at CVS, check out my post on how to shop there.

Transaction #1
Buy 2 Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste @ $2.99 -- get $2 ECB's
Use 2 $1.50/1 printable coupons

Final cost = $1.98 + tax
ECB's received = $4.00

Transaction #2
Buy 2 Pantene Pro-V Shampoo or Conditioner @ 2/$7.00 -- get $2 ECB's
Use $3/2 coupon from 12/28 PG
Use $4 ECB's from Transaction #1

Final cost = $0.00!!!
ECB's received = $4.00

Transaction #3
Buy 2 Nature's Bounty Vitamins or supplements @ BOGO (prices start at $4.49) -- get $3 ECB's
Use 2 $2/1 printable coupons

Buy Schick Quattro or Intution for women @ $8.99 -- get $5 ECB's
Use $3/1 peelie on some packages or $2/1 coupon from 12/7 SS
Use $4 ECB's from transaction #2

Final cost = $2.48 + tax
ECB's received = $8.00

Total spent OOP = $4.46 + tax
Total purchased = $30.95
Total ECB's left = $8.00

Also, there is a $3 off your $15 CVS purchase printable coupon, if you want it!!! You could use it on Transaction #3, if you buy a Nature's Bounty vitamin that costs more than $6.01 -- that would make the vitamins practically free ($6.01-$2 coupon - $2 coupon - $3 CVS coupon).

December Savings

Here is an accounting for all the savings I've gotten in December without even spending anything extra. It's just for buying what I would have bought anyway, reading emails, or doing websearches:

• Upromise account - $7.33 for kid's college education
• Swagbucks.com - $5 gift card to Starbucks
• SendEarnings - $7.35 for reading emails (pays out when I accumulate $30)
• YouData - $1.53 in my PayPal account for viewing ads

That's $21.21 for the month. Not bad! That's about $250 for a year!

NOT A PENNY SPENT!!...Jenna's buck still continues

Everything you see in this picture was FREE -- not a single penny paid out of my pocket. Not for taxes. Nothing! Jenna's $1 bill is still in tact in the middle front of the picture. I am bound and determined to show just how much I can get for the $1 bill that Jenna gave me for Christmas. Not pictured is the glucose monitor that started this whole thing off. I gave it away to a client with diabetes, but that monitor is regularly priced at $79.99. I had a coupon that ended up making it free after the sales price, and I got $5 ECB's to start off the whole deal.

Today at CVS, I had to improvise. I was unable to implement the plan I made in the previous post, because the coupons for ThermaCare were not the right ones for this deal. But being the accountant that I am, I figured how to make each transaction work out to $0.00 exactly every single time!! I took Mary with me, and she got to pick out eye shadow and nail polish -- what a treat!

Rather than bore you with the details of how I got it, here is a list of everything I got today!

• 2 Listerine antiseptics
• L'oreal HIP eye shadow
• Sally Hansen nail polish
• 2 Arm & Hammer Essentials
• Crest Pro-Health rinse
• 2 ThermaCare neck & shoulder packs
• Halls Naturals 25 ct
• Zantac 150 8 ct.
• Benefiber 16 ct
• EAS AdvantEdge bar
• M&M's mini tubes
• Excedrin express gel tabs
• Powerade
• 2 RightGuard clinical strength deodorants

A total value of $83.81!! Combined with last week's savings, I've purchased $172.18 of stuff with Jenna's $1 bill! I still plan to take Jenna's dollar with me next week.

CVS Holiday

I received a special treat this week. CVS credited back $1 to my account. I can't figure out why, but my best guess is that my total order came to $0, and the $1 was just tax, but 6% of $0 is $0.

Whatever the reason, this means that Jenna's dollar still continues!! I'm going to bring it with me to the store tomorrow. I'll try and take a picture of everything I got for that $1. You're going to be amazed!

Here's what I plan to do. You don't have to follow my sequence, because you might not start out with as many CVS bucks as I do. But use this as a guide:

Transaction #1
Buy Benefiber Drink Mix 16 ct @ $7.29, limit 1, get $7.29 ECB's
Use $2/1 coupon from 9/21 SS, 10/19 SS, or 11/16 SS

Buy 3 Thermacare Neck to Arm heatwraps @ $2.49 ea., limit 3, get $2.49 ECB's ea.
Use 2 $1.50/1 coupons from 11/30 PG
Use 1 $1/1 coupon from 11/30 PG

Buy 1 Arm & Hammer Essentials @ $2.99, limit 5, get $2.99 ECB's
Use $1/1 coupon from 12/14 SS or printable coupon
Mail-in rebate for $2.99

Buy 1 2-liter of Coke product @ $1.25, buy $15, get $5 ECB's
Use $12 ECB's from previous week

Total spent OOP = $0.00
Total ECB's received = $17.75

Transaction #2
Buy 1 Listerine Antiseptic @ $2.99, limit 5, get $2.99 ECB's
Use $2.99 ECB's from Transaction #1 -- Arm & Hammer

Total spent OOP = $0.00
Total ECB's received = $2.99

Transaction #3
Buy 1 RightGuard professional solid 1.8 oz or aerosol 6 oz @ $6, limit 5, get $6 ECB's
Use $0.50/1 printable coupon (register, enter "rightguard" in code box, print coupon from email) or $0.55 peelie, if I can find them

Buy 1 Zantac 150 8 ct @ $4.99, limit 1, get $4.99 ECB's
Use $1/1 coupon from 11/9 SS
Use $3.99 mail-in-rebate from 11/9 SS

Buy 1 Excedrin Express Gels 20 ct @ $3.99, limit 1, get $3.99 ECB's

Buy 1 EAS AdvantEdge bar 2.11 oz @ $1.69, limit 1, get $1.69 ECB's

Buy Halls Naturals 25 ct @ $2.59, limit 1, get $2.59 ECB's
Use $17.75 ECB's from Transactions #1 & #2

Total spent OOP = $0.01 + tax
Total ECB's received = $19.26

Transaction #4
Buy Slimquick 2 pk 4 oz. @ $4.99, limit 1, get $4.99 ECB's
Use $4.99 ECB's from Transaction #3, Zantac

Total spent OOP = $0.00
Total ECB's received = $4.99

Transaction #5
I will come back with Mary, since I kind of need her opinions on these

Buy 2 Sally Hansen lacquer shine nail colors @ $5.99, limit 2, get $5.99 ECB's

Buy 1 L'Oreal Hip Metallic Eye Shadow duos @ $6.99, limit 2, get $6.99 ECB's

Buy 1 candy @ $0.33
Use $19.26 ECB's from Transactions #3 & #4

Total spent OOP = $0.04 + tax
Total ECB's received = $18.97

Total spent for day = $0.05 + tax
Total received = $65.54

And Jenna's buck still continues...

Get 2 free swagbucks!

If you've already joined swagbucks, you already know how cool it is! Here are two codes, each get you one free swagbuck: SWAG1 and SWAGGERNAUT. Go to swagbucks.com, log in, and click on the number of swagbucks you have. Where it says, "Have a swagcode?", type in either of the codes for a free swagbuck each!

If you haven't signed up yet, you really should! Mary and I can attest that it is so much fun to search and win prizes! Just go to swagbucks.com to begin!

Get a free 8 x 10 photo at Walgreens

Today and tomorrow only, Walgreens is offering a free 8 x 10 photo. Just enter the code FREEGIFT or WALLFREE!

Also, Snapfish is offering a free 8 x 10 photo when you pick it up at Walgreens. Also, if you're a new member, you can get 50 free prints, plus 15% off Holiday cards. Just go to this link.

CVS Preview -- 12/21/2008 - 12/27/2008

Usually, I don't post on CVS's deals until the week of the deals, but next week is going to be HUGE. If you don't know how to shop at CVS, check out my post here. If you haven't begun shopping at CVS yet, go this week!! You can get a FREE glucose monitor and get $5 ECB's to spend on next week, just by using the coupon from the 10/26 SS (if you don't have it, email me! I have one more!)

Here's the deals next week (Sunday and Monday only!!) All of them are FREE after ECB's!:

• Listerine antiseptic 16.9oz $2.99 -- Get $2.99 ECB's
• Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine nail Color $5.99 -- Get $5.99 ECB's
• Arm & Hammer Essentials starter kit $2.99 -- Get $2.99 ECB's
• L’Oreal HIP Metalic eye shadow duos $6.99 -- Get $6.99 ECB's
• ThermaCare neck to arm heatwrap 1ct $2.49 -- Get $2.49 ECB's
• Right Guard Professional solid 1.8oz or aerosol 6oz $6.00 -- Get $6.00 ECB's
• Zipfizz energy 3ct $5.99 -- Get $5.99 ECB's
• Excedrin Express Gels 20ct $3.99 -- Get $3.99 ECB's
• Alteril sleep aid 30ct $9.99 -- Get $9.99 ECB's
• Halls Naturals 25ct $2.59 -- Get $2.59 ECB's
• EAS AdvantEdge bar 2.11oz $1.69 -- Get $1.69 ECB's
• EAS AdvantEdge shake 4pk $7.49 -- Get $7.49 ECB's
• Zantac 150 8ct $4.99 -- Get $4.99 ECB's
• Benefiber drink mix 16ct $7.29 -- Get $7.29 ECB's
• Iceland Health joint relief 60ct $29.99 -- Get $29.99 ECB's
• Slimquick 2pk 4oz total $4.99 -- Get $4.99 ECB's
• Sleepinal 32ct $8.49 -- Get $8.49 ECB's

Let me know ASAP if you want me to get anything off this list!!

Free $5 gift card to Starbucks

I've been using swagbucks.com for about a month now, and I can verify that it works. I just received my first reward -- a $5 giftcard to Starbucks!!

Usually, I used Google or Yahoo to search the internet. Now, I just use swagbucks.com. It's the same thing (actually powered by Google), but you can win swagbucks that can be used to purchase items. It takes 45 swagbucks to purchase a $5 Amazon.com gift card and 50 swagbucks to purchase a $5 Starbucks giftcard. Since Mary's a coffee drinker, that's free coffee!

If you're going to search the internet anyway, may as well get paid for it! Also, a little hint: on Fridays, swagbucks.com offers extra swagbucks, up to 100 swagbucks per search (that's $10 in Starbucks giftcards, but I've never won it).

$88.37 of stuff for exactly $1!!!

This is the CUTEST story! Mary's niece (is it my niece, too? It's one of her first husband's nieces) is 9 years old and sent her an adorable Christmas card. Mary got some homemade jewelry, and I got a $1 bill! I guess my reputation extends all the way to North Carolina!! ;-)

Mary and I laughed and laughed about getting a buck for a Christmas gift, and I thought I'd make an example out of it by getting as much as I possibly could for $1 at CVS. Jenna, if you are reading this blog, thank you sooooooo much, and I can't wait to meet you! You can call me "Uncle Ryan"!

Here's what I got for $1:

Rightguard Xtreme deodorant - $4.49, on sale for $2.99
Colgate Total Advanced Whitening toothpaste - $3.89, on sale for $0.90
Bayer Control Glucose Meter - $79.99, on sale for $14.99

I had a coupon for a free glucose monitor ($14.99 off), deodorant ($0.50 off), and toothpaste ($1.50 off). I also had a $4 off your $20 purchase at CVS. The total came to EXACTLY $1, because of taxes, plus I received $9 in ECB's to spend on my next purchase, so I'm still not even done yet! Not sure what I'll spend the $9 on, but I think I should splurge and get some candy, what do you think?

Jenna, you truly gave the gift that keeps on giving!!

Walgreens deals -- 12/14/2008 - 12/20/2008

Zooth Toothbrushes @ Buy 2 for $4.00, get $2 RR
Use $1 coupon from Walgreens Activity Book (will take $1 off each)
Use $1/2 coupon from 11/30 P&G
Final price = $1 moneymaker after coupons and RR

Oral-B Stages Toothbrushes @ Buy 2 for $4.00, get $2 RR
Use $1/2 coupon from 11/30 P&G
Final price = $1 for 2 after coupon and RR

Progresso SoupsSale price @ $0.99
Use $1/2 or $2/4 printable coupon
Final price = $0.49 each

Select General Mills cerealSale price @ $1.99
Use $1/2 coupons from 11/2 or 11/9 SS
Final price = $1.49 each

Royal JelloSale price @ 5/$1.00 with in-ad coupon
Use $1/5 blinkie found in various grocery stores
Final price = FREE

Skippy Peanut Butter @ 2/$3.00
Use $.40 coupon from 10/5 or 11/16 RP
Final price = $1.10 each

Coffeemate liquid creamer 16oz @ BOGO (regular price is $2.49)
Use (2) $1 printable coupons
Final price = $0.49 for 2

Ajax Dish Liquid @ $0.79 with in-ad coupon
Use $.20 coupon from 11/16 SS
Final price = $0.59 each

Almay Makeup @ BOGO
Use 2 $2 coupons from KMart Beauty Book
Or use 2 $1 coupons from 9/14 or 10/12 SS
Final price = cheap or possibly free

DeMet's Turtles 3.5 oz.Sale price @ $0.99
Use $1.50 coupon from 11/16 SS
Final price = $0.51 overage (if your store doesn't give the overage, you can buy 2 with the $1.50 coupon and pay $.48 for 2)

Russell Stover Private Reserve Luminary Chocolates 5.8 - 10.3 oz. @ BOGO ($4.99)
Submit for Walgreens rebate, up to $10
Final prince = FREE

CVS $5 Challenge -- 12/14/08 - 12/20/08

This challenge was created by kingdomfirstmom. The goal is to see how much you can get with $5 while growing your ECB's. If you don't know what ECB's are, please check out this post. It's a pretty good week for deals this week!

Transaction #1
Buy Bayer Contour Glucose Monitor @ $14.99 -- Get $5 ECB's
Use $30/1 coupon from 10/26 RP
Total spent OOP = $0.00!

Transaction #2
Buy Colgate Total Advanced toothpaste 4.0 oz @ $2.99 -- Get $2 ECB's
Use $1.50/1 printable coupon

Buy 2 Right Guard deodorants @ $2.99 -- Get $2 ECB's
Use 2 $0.50/1 printable coupons
Use $5 ECB's from Transaction #1

Total spent OOP = $1.47 + tax
Total ECB's received = $6

Transaction #3
Buy SleepMD 10 ct. @ $7.99 (Sunday & Monday only!) -- Get $7.99 ECB's
Use $6 ECB's from Transaction #3

Total spent OOP = $1.99 + tax

Total spent OOP = $3.46 + tax
Total ECB's left to spend = $7.99
Total purchased = $31.95

Just a note for those who already shop at CVS. Check your email on December 9. There is a $4 off your $20 purchase coupon in there. That should be perfect to combine the glucose monitor with the deodorant and toothpaste!

Sense & Sensibilities

Why do I take all this time to save a buck? I would love to say it's because I'm honoring God with my finances. It's true that I honor God by not wasting the money He has given Mary and me. But to be honest, I mainly do it because it is so much FUN! It is FUN to walk into a store with 70 cents and walk out with makeup and eye shadow, like we did yesterday.

The reason I bring this up is because a friend I know tells me he has saved thousands upon thousands of dollars at CVS this year alone. He has more Duracell batteries stocked up than one person should ever need in a lifetime. To me, this is senseless. It is still a waste of God's resources to stock up more than is reasonable.

I don't know where the point is crossed between fun and radical, but I hope that whatever you gain from my posts, that you do it all with the best intentions.

"For I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances may be. I know now how to live when things are difficult and I know how to live when things are prosperous. In general and in particular I have learned the secret of eating well or going hungry of facing either plenty of poverty. I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me." -- Philippians 4:11-13

CVS $5 Challenge -- 12/7/08 - 12/13/08

This is a challenge created by kingdomfirstmom. The idea is that you walk into a CVS store with $5 in your pocket and no ECB's, and you want to walk out with as much as possible, using 3 transactions or less. Of course, if you already have ECB's, you could potentially walk out without paying anything! If you don't know how to shop at CVS, check out my post here.

Transaction #1
Buy 3 Promax bars @ $1.66 ea. -- Get $5 ECB's
**Hint: Some websites are saying there is a $1/1 Promax coupon in the 10/26 RP, but I can't find it. If you can, you can save $3.

Total spent OOP = $5
Total ECB's received = $5

Transaction #2
Buy 1 Brut @ $3.49 -- Get $3 ECB's
Buy 1 Powerade 32 oz. @ $1.59 -- Get $1.59 ECB's
Use $5 ECB's in Transaction #1

Total spent OOP = $0.08
ECB's received = $4.59

Transaction #3
Buy 1 Theraflu Warming Relief @ $5.99 -- Get $2 ECB's
Use $2/1 coupon in 10/19 SS
Use mail-in rebate from same 10/19 SS to get $3.99 back!

Buy 1 Rolaids @ $2.29 -- Get $2 ECB's
Use $1/1 coupon in 10/5 RP
Use $4.59 ECB's from Transaction #2

Total OOP = $0.29
Total ECB's receved = $4

Total spent OOP = $5.37 - $3.99 mail-in rebate = $1.38
Total ECB's Received = $4
Total purchased = $18.36

Walgreens Freebies -- 12/7/08 - 12/13/08

Here are the Freebies at Walgreens this week:

Buy 2 Scotch Magic or Gift Wrap Tape @ $2
Use $1/1 coupon from the 11/23 SS
$2 Walgreens rebate
$1 in overage after coupon and rebate!!

Buy Reynold's Wrap Aluminum Foil 20 sq. ft
Use $0.99 in-ad coupon
Use $1/1 from 11/16 SS
FREE after coupon

Buy Schick Quattro Titanium Razor @ $6.99
Use $3/1 from December EasySaver Catalog
Use $4/1 from December All You Magazine
FREE after coupons

Buy 2 Maybelline Lip products@ BOGO (2 for $4.99)
Buy 2 products and use 2 $4/1 from 12/7 inserts
FREE after coupons

Buy Carnation Evaporated Milk
Use $0.99 in-ad coupon
Use $1/2 printable coupon
FREE after coupon

Getting paid $4 at CVS!

I wasn't going to shop at CVS this week, since the deals weren't all that great, but of course, I couldn't help myself. All the deals I got are available the entire month of December, so there was no rush to get to the store. I should have waited to couple it with some of the deals for next week, but I got the itch! As you recall from my Black Friday post, I went into CVS with $13.98 in ECB's. Here's what I bought:

• Complete Multipurpose Easy Rub Contact Solution - $8.99 Get $8.99 ECB's
• TheraFlu Warming Fluid - $5.99 (the sign said $6.59; I have no idea why it rang up so low!) Get $2 ECB's
• Rolaids - $2.69 Get $2 ECB's
• Bag of M&M's - $0.50 (wasn't going to get these, but the $0.60 off of Theraflu meant I had to spend a bit more to get above $13.98! Mary was okay with this!)

Here are the coupons I used:

• Complete Easy Rub printable coupon - $2
• TheraFlu - $2 from 10/19 SS

Also, right next to the TheraFlu coupon is a rebate form for a free TheraFlu! So, I gave the cashier 41 cents ($8.99+$5.99+$2.69+$0.50-$2-$2-$13.98 ECB's+$0.22 tax), I received $12.99 in ECB's and I will be getting a Theraflu rebate of $4.59! Paid $0.41, get $4.59. Not bad!!

As if that's not good enough, I also received a special bonus on my receipt! A $5 off your next purchase of $15 at CVS coupons! Hmmm, $12.99 in ECB's and $5 coupon -- I think I can do some real damage next week!

Walgreens moneymaker

I really haven't posted much this week, because the deals aren't that great. But Walgreens now has a deal where if you purchase $25, you get $5 in RR (good through Saturday). Here's a way to come out ahead:

• Buy 4 Wal-itins (Walgreens non-drowsy allergy equivalent of Claritin) @ $6.99
  Use in-ad coupon for $0.99
  Final price = $3.96 + tax
  Receive $5 in RR for a $1.04 moneymaker!

Note: In order to spend RR, you need to have at least that amount in purchases! For example, if you came into the store with $5 in RR, and tried to buy the 4 Wal-tins, they won't let you. However, if you came to the store with $5 in RR, bought 4 Waltins and another $1.04 worth of items, you'd get it all for FREE, and another $5 in RR for your next purchase!

I'm going to Walgreens with $5 in RR. I'll let you know how it goes!

Coupons.com refreshed

On the first day of every month, coupons.com refreshes the coupons that they offer. This is the best day to look through the selections and print off whatever coupons you think you may need, because they may not be there when they go on sale.

The three coupons I printed off this month were Lucky Charms ($0.55/1), Trix ($0.55/1), and Chex ($1/2). GM Cereal is on sale this week at Meijer for $1.80 ea. With these coupons, you're looking at $1.25 ea. Not bad!! Stock up for the month!

Get paid to read emails

SendEarnings is a website that pays you to read your junk emails. You get $5 just for signing up, $0.50 for filling out surveys (I don't fill them out, but you might), and about $0.02 for each email you read. Once you accumulate $30, SendEarnings will cut you a check! I figure it's $30 I didn't have before, and it only takes a couple minutes to read emails anyway.

Free Pillsbury products

Here is a printable coupon for $1 off any Pillsbury frozen dinner rolls, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, or mini cinnamon rolls. Print it off now, before it runs out, and wait for these to go on sale. These usually go on sale for less than $1, so it could be a moneymaker!

Free Rayovac batteries

Here is a printable coupon for $1 off a pack of Rayovac batteries. Just print it off now before it runs out and wait for it to go on sale for a buck. I think Walmart's every day price is $1, or at least pretty close.

Walgreens Freebies -- 11/30/08 - 12/6/08

Nothing really great this week at either Walgreens or CVS. I think all the excitement was for the Black Friday deals. Anyway, these are the few good deals I could find:

Reach Products (Toothbrush, 30 yard Floss) @ 2/$6, get $6 RR
Use B1G1 toothbrush coupon from 10/12 RP
Use $1 floss coupon from 10/12 RP
Final price = -$1

Colgate Max Fresh Toothbrush or Total or Max Fresh Toothpaste @ $2.99, get $2 RR
Use $1.50 printable or use $1 coupon from 11/16 SS
Final price = -$0.51

Excedrin 40 ct Express Gel Caps @ 3/$15, get $8 RR
Use (3) $2 printables
Final price = $1

Also, there is a $5 off your $25 purchase printable coupon, good only on Monday & Tuesday this week.

A list of things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving

• My family. I am truly blessed with a family I love, and a family that loves me.
• God has blessed my finances and has put it on my heart to share it with others
• I have a job that I love and look forward to each day. I realize not everyone can say that, and I am truly thankful.
• My health is impeccable.
• My marriage to my beautiful wife, Mary. God has shown mercy to me and given me one of his saints to take my heart of stone and turn it into something useful.

Black Friday at CVS

CVS had a TON of free stuff in its ad this week. The entire back page of its ad was free things. I went to the store at 7 AM. Mary thinks I'm nuts!

I went to the store with $5.49 in ECB's from my previous transaction. I did 5 transactions on Thursday, and brought my ECB total up to $13.98, all while spending less than $1.50 out of our change jar. In order to make this all work, I had to ring up 5 separate transactions. It can get tedious, but there was no one else in the store, except another lady doing the exact same thing! Sometimes I worry that my quest for free stuff will just end up in a stockpile of stuff we'll never use, but today I DEFINITELY feel like we got $1.50 of worthwhile products!

Transaction #1
Bought 2 Bic Soleil razors @ $5.99 + tax (receive $5.99 in ECB's)
Used 2 $3/1 coupons from 11/2 SS
Used $5.49 in ECB's

Total paid OOP=$0.88
Total ECB's received = $11.98

Transaction #2
Bought 2 Aussie Shampoo & Conditioners @ $2.99 (receive $2.99 in ECB's)
Used $1/1 coupon from 10/12 PG

Bought Colgate Advanced Clean toothpaste @ $2.99 (receive $2.99 in ECB's)
Used $1/1 coupon from 11/16 SS

Bought Johnson's Softlotion @ $5.69 (receive $5.69 in ECB's)
Used $1/1 Printable coupon
Used $11.98 in ECB's from Transaction #1

Total paid OOP=$0.18
Total ECB's received=$14.66

Transaction #3
Bought King-sized Mr. Goodbar @ $1 (receive $1 in ECB's)

Bought Playtex Gentle Glide tampons @ $3.99 (receive $3 in ECB's)
Used $1/1 coupon from 10/5 SS or printable

Bought Garnier Nutritioniste cleansing towelettes @ $5.99 (receive $5.99 in ECB's)
Used $1/1 coupon from 11/9 RP

Bought 3 Gatorade G2 bottles @ $1.49 (receive $1.49 in ECB's)

Bought 1 pack of Orbit chewing gum (no ECB's; just needed a small item to get above the $14.66 earned in Transaction #2)
Used $14.66 in ECB's earned in Transaction #2

Total paid OOP = $0.08
Total ECB's received = $13.46 (for some reason, my $1 ECB's from the Mr. Goodbar didn't print off; I didn't throw a fit, because I had to go to church and couldn't wait around)

Transaction #4
Bought Covergirl Smoothers Powder @ $5.99 (receive $5.99 in ECB's)
Used $5.99 in ECB's from Garnier ECB's in transaction #3

Total paid OOP = $0.00!!
Total ECB's received = $5.99

Transaction #5
Bought Colgate Advanced Clean toothpaste @ $2.99 (receive $2.99 in ECB's)
Used $1.50/1 Printable coupon

Bought Covergirl Smoothers foundation @ $7.99 (receive $7.99 in ECB's)

Bought Orbit chewing gum $1.29
Used $4.47 ECB's from Gatorade in Transaction #3 and $5.99 ECB's from Covergirl in Transaction #4

Total paid OOP = $0.34
Total ECB's received = $10.98

Transaction #6
Bought 2 L'Oreal lipgloss @ $6.99 (receive $6.99 in ECB's)
Used $10.98 ECB's from Transaction #5 and $3 ECB's from Playtex in Transaction #4

Total paid OOP = $0.00!!!
Total ECB's received = $13.98

So, for the day, my total was:

Total paid OOP = $1.48
Total purchased = $75.62
Total ECB's left to spend = $13.98

Holy smokes! I bought $75 worth of stuff for $1.48!!!

My $0.09 day at CVS!

Wow. I took Mary with me again. She couldn't believe it herself! I had $15 in ECB's from the week before for the Duracell battery giveaway. Here's what I got:

• Cetaphil lotion - $7.99
• Lysol toilet bowl cleaner - $3.49
• Crest Pro-Health toothpaste - $3.49
• 4 Pepsi 2-liters - BOGO at $1.79
• Orbit chewing gum - $1.29

Used a $1/1 cetaphil coupon
Used the $3/1 snail-mail coupon for Crest toothpaste I posted about earlier this month
Used a $0.75/1 coupon for Lysol toilet bowl cleaner

Total of items purchased = $23.42
Less: BOGO free Pepsi = -$3.58
Less: coupons used = -$4.75
Less: ECB's used = -$15.00
Plus: Bottle deposit = $0.40

Total paid OOP = $0.49
Less: Bottle deposit = -$0.40

And there's my $0.09 day at CVS! Not only that, but I received $5.49 in ECB's to use for the next time I shop at CVS. I think I'll try the $5 scenario I posted below!

CVS $5 challenge -- 11/23/08 - 11/29/08

This is the challenge created by kingdomfirstmom. It assumes you walk into CVS with no ExtraCare Bucks and $5 in your pocket, and the challenge is to get as much as you can in 3 transactions or less. If you have never shopped at CVS, see my post on how to shop there first. Since this week is Black Friday, there were a TON of possibilities. This was my best shot.

Transaction #1
Buy a Bic Soleil Razor @ $5.99
Use $3/1 coupon from 11/2 RP

Buy Colgate Total Advanced, Clean, Advanced Fresh or Whitening @ $2.99
Use $1.50/1 printable coupon

Total OOP = $4.48
ECB's Received = $8.98

Transaction #2
Buy Garnier Nutritioniste cleansing towelettes @ $5.99
Use $1/1 coupon from 8/24, 9/14, or 11/9 SS

Buy Johnson's Soft Lotion @ $5.69
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Use $8.98 ECB's in transaction #1

Total OOP = $0.70
ECB's Received = $11.68

Transaction #3
Buy Maybelline Foundation @ $8.99
Use $3/1 coupon from 10/26 RP

Buy Aussie @ $2.99
Use $1/1 coupon from 10/12 PG

Buy Playtex 16-18ct @ $3.99
Use $1/1 coupon from 10/5 SS

Total OOP = $0.00
ECB's Received = $14.98

Total Spent OOP = $5.18
Total Received = $36.63
ECB's left to spend = $14.98

Okay, so I spent a little more than $5 this week, but considering the deals, how could you not?! What an amazing thing! You spend $5.18 + tax, you receive $36.63 of stuff, and you have almost $15 to spend next time you're in CVS. Holy smokes!!

FREE Dr. Pepper

Just visit Dr. Pepper's website any time Sunday, November 23, 2008, and get a coupon for a free Dr. Pepper. The coupon expires Feb. 28, 2009.

CVS Freebies -- 11/23/08 - 11/29/08

Buy 1 Complete Multi-Purpose Contact Lens Solution @ $8.99
Use $2/1 printable coupon
Receive $8.99 in ECB's
Final cost = -$2.00 overage!

Buy 1 Maybelline Foundtion @ $8.99
Use $3/1 coupon from 10/26 RP or $2/1 from 9/21 RP
Receive $8.99 in ECB's
Final cost = -$3.00 overage!

Walgreens Freebies -- 11/21/08 - 11/29/08

FREEBIES 11/21-11/22 ONLY
Buy Crest Spinbrush Pro @ $4.99
Use $3 coupon from December Easysaver (at front of all Walgreens stores)
Use $2 printable coupon
Final cost = $0.01 overage!

Buy Bio Infusion 33.8 oz. Shampoo/Conditioner,Conditioning Balm 16.9z. or Shine Serum 6.75 oz. @ 2/$20
Use $5 coupon from December Easysaver (will take $5 off each)
Submit for November rebate of buy $20, get $10
Final cost = FREE

FREEBIES 11/23-11/29 ONLY

Buy 3 Robitussin @ $3.99
Use 3 $3/1 printable coupons
Receive $5 in RR
Final cost = -$2.03 overage!

Buy 2 Altoids - BOGO @ $1.99
Use $1/1 peelies
Final cost = FREE

Buy 1 Venus Razor @ $9.49
Use $4/1 coupon (vocalpoint mailer)
Receive $6 register rewards
Final cost = -$0.51 overage!

Buy 1 Sure deodorant @ $1.99
Use $1/1 from 10/19 SS or printable coupon
Use $1.50/1 from December EasySaver Catalog (in the front of all Walgreens stores)
Final cost = -$0.51 overage!

Black Friday Previews

Here's a pretty comprehensive list of all the Black Friday deals. There are some GREAT deals here! I'll start sifting through them, and let you know if I find some good deals you might like.

Walgreens Freebies -- 11/16/08 - 11/22/08

Chex Mix: $.99
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Final Price = FREE

Hershey Bars: buy 2 for $.89 each
Use buy one, get one Hershey’s Special Dark coupon from 9/28 or 11/9 SS inserts
Use in-flyer coupon to get each for $.39
Final Price = FREE
Note: It’s very important to use the buy-one-get-one-free coupon first so that the register will deduct the pre-sale price of the Hershey Special Dark bar (in this case, the max value of the coupon is $.79, so it will deduct $.79, rather than $.89). If you use the Walgreens coupon first the register will only deduct $.39 when the BOGO coupon is scanned.

Just for Men Touch of Gray: $7
Use $2/1 printable coupon
Receive $7 Register Rewards
Use mail-in rebate for full price
Final Price = FREE plus $9 overage

Walmart groceries for under $1

Campbell's Cream Soups - $0.60 ea.
Use $0.25/4 coupon from 10/12SS
Final price = $0.53 ea.

Idahoan potatoes - $0.98 ea.
Use $0.75/3 printable coupon
Final price = $0.73 ea.

Green Giant Valley Steamers - $1
Use $1/1 coupon from 11/16 SS
Final price = FREE

Eskimo Pies - $1.50
Use $1/1 coupon from 5/18 SS
Final price = $0.50

Bagel-fuls - $1.50-$1.98 (depending on your store)
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Final price = $0.50-$0.98

Beech-Nut Stage 2 Jars - $0.46
Use $1.50/8 coupon from 10/26 SS
Final price = $0.27 ea.

Strawberry Whole Grain Pop Tarts - $1.66
Each box has a $1/1 peelie
Final price = $0.66

Seapak Shrimp Poppers - $1.25
Use this $1/1 printable coupon
Final price = $0.25

Campbell’s Spaghettios - $0.49
Use $0.40/2 coupon from 9/21 SS
Final price = $0.29

Hershey’s Extra Dark Bar - $1.50
Use $1/1 coupon from 9/28 SS
Final price = $0.50

Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta - $1.50
Use $1/1 coupon from 9/14 SS
Final price = $0.50

Vlassic Pickle Relish - $1.12, or
Vlassic Pickle "Ovals" - $1.38
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Final price = $0.12 - $0.38

Coffee-Mate Creamer - $1.98
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Final price = $0.98

Cascadian Farms Organic Purely Steam - $1.22
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Final price = $0.22

Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix - $0.72
Use $0.55/1 printable coupon
Final price = $0.17

Kashi crackers - $2.50
Use $2/1 printable coupon
Final price = $0.50

Durex condoms (not yet Jeff & Angie!) - $1.83
Use this $2/1 printable coupon
Final price = FREE!

Rite Aid Freebies

Remember, at Rite Aid, you pay at the register, and then you go online and fill out a rebate form, and they send you a Single Check Rebate (SCR) at the end of the month:

Contour Blood Glucose Monitor - $30
Use $30 mail-in rebate on box
Also, use $30 off coupon in 10/26 RP

St Ives Apricot Scrub 10 oz or St Ives Elements Skin Care - $4.99 SCR
Use this printable coupon for $2/1 - Make $2 profit!!

Drinkin Mate Hangover Defense 2ct - $3.99 SCR

Nova Max Blood Glucose Monitoring System - $9.99 SCR

Unless you need the other stuff, the only one I'd buy this week is the St. Ives scrub or skin care. Otherwise, you pay sales tax on something you don't need or want.

Hint: What I do is I save my RiteAid rebate checks in a separate envelope. That way, every time I shop at Rite Aid, nothing comes out of my pocket again!

Shop at Rite Aid between now and December 24 to earn cash back through their Gift of Savings program. Here’s the deal:

• Spend $25-$50, get $5 cash back
• Spend $51-$99, get $10 cash back
• Spend $100 or more, get $20 cash back

You’ll get cash back in the form of a Rite Aid gift certificate by mail. Just save and submit your receipts online at RiteAid.com by January 26 to get cash back. Quick note that certain purchases do not count toward this promotion, including prescriptions, lottery tickets, stamps, gift cards, alcohol and tobacco products.

CVS $5 Challenge -- 11/16/2008 - 11/22/2008

This challenge was created by kingdomfirstmom. It assumes you have no ECB's and walk into CVS with only $5 in your pocket. The goal is to get as much as you can for $5, with 3 or less transactions (so as to not overwhelm you newbies!).

Transaction #1

Buy Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste - $3.49
Use $1/1 coupon from 10/12 PG insert
Hint: If you had taken my advice at the beginning of the month, you could have gotten a $3 off coupon, but that deal has now expired. Shame on you for not listening earlier!

Total after coupons = $2.49 + tax
Total ECB's earned = $3.49

Transaction #2

Buy Sure Solid 2.6 oz deodorants - $2.79
Use $0.75 Sure coupon from 10/19 SS or $1/1 printable coupon

Buy Windex - $2.50
Use $1/1 Windex printable coupon
Use $3.49 in ECB's from Transaction #1

Total after coupons = $0.05 + tax
Total ECB's earned = $2.00

Transaction #3

Buy RightGuard Extreme, Dry Idea or Soft & Dri deodorant - $2.99
Use $0.50/1 Soft & Dri or Dry Idea 10/5 SS
Use $2 ECB's in Transaction #2

Total after coupons = $0.49 + tax
Total ECB's earned = $3.00

Total spent OOP = $3.03 + tax
Total received = $11.77
Total ECB's Left = $3.00

Essentially, you paid $0.03 after ECB's -- especially if you saved the $3 ECB's from last week!

My $0.15 day at CVS!

I took Mary with me...she couldn't believe it! We got such a kick out of it! I came to the store with a "Buy 2 Clorox products, get 1 Clorox wipes free" printable coupon, and $3 in CVS ExtraCare Bucks.

Well, Clorox Bleach (the big one -- 96 oz.!) was on sale for 2/$3, so I paid with my ECB's and got it for free! The coupon gave me one tub of Clorox wipes for free. All I had to pay was the $0.15 in sales tax!

I walked out of the store with nearly $10 of cleaning products for $0.15!!

Freebies this week -- 11/16/08 - 11/22/08

Keep watching this list. I'll update it through the week, as I find more things:

CVS

Buy 2 Colgate Advanced Total Whitening @ $1.99 (BOGO)
Use 2 $1/1 Colgate coupon from this week's paper

Meijer

Earlier this month, I told you to print off some $1/1 Steamers coupons, because they always go on sale for less than $1. Well, now they're $0.89 at Meijer!! If you printed them off, you'll make $0.11 on each one!

Walmart

Progresso Soup is on sale - 3/$2
Use this printable coupon for $1.10/1 and get it for FREE! (hit backspace when finished printing -- you can print up to 2 per computer)

Honey Bunches of Oats - Just Bunches Cereal on Rollback for 2/$2
Use this printable coupon for $2/1 and get it for FREE plus $1 back!

Durex condoms (not yet Jeff & Angie!) - $1.83
Use this $2/1 printable coupon
Final price = FREE!

Preparation H wipes - $2.98
Use this $3/1 printable coupon
Final price = FREE!

I got paid $1.51 to buy $52.12 of stuff at Walgreens!!

Success!! I love it when I get so much stuff for free! Here's what I did:

I bought:

• 4 boxes of Kelloggs Cereal - $10
• 3 boxes of Sudafed PE - $11.97
• 2 cans of Carnation Evaporated Milk - $3
• 2 cans of Borden Sweetened Condensed Milk - $6
• 2 Scotch tapes - $2.58
• 2 boxes of Clabber Girl Cornstarch - $1.98
• 1 tub of Betty Crocker frosting - $2.49
• 2 Russel Stover chocolate Santas (just to get the total above $20, for my coupon) - $1

Total = $39.02 (They are regularly $52.12; I saved $13.10 by buying some on sale)

I used these Walgreens coupons from the front of the store:

• $0.99 ea. Carnation Evaporated milk
• $1.79 ea. Borden Sweetened Condensed Milk
• BOGO Scotch tape
• 2/$1 Clabber Girl cornstarch
• $0.99 ea. Betty Crocker frosting
• $0.39 ea. Russel Stover chocolates

Total = $7.43 in Walgreens coupons

I used these Manufacturers' coupons:

• 4 $1/1 Kelloggs coupons from 11/9 RP
• 2 $1.50/1 Sudafed PE coupons from 10/5 RP and one $1/1 printable Sudafed PE coupon
• A $1/2 Carnation Evaporated Milk printable coupon
• 2 $0.55/1 Bordens Sweetened Condensed milk coupons from 11/9 RP
• A $1/2 Clabber Girl cornstarch coupon from 11/9 RP (got this for FREE!)
• A $0.50/1 Betty Crocker frosting coupon from 10/19 SS

Total = $11.60 in Manufacturers' coupons

So altogether, I got $52.12 of purchases - $13.10 on sale - $7.43 Walgreens coupons - $11.60 MQ = $19.99 + $0.50 tax = $20.49

I printed off a $5 off your Walgreens purchase of $20 or more -- Friday and Saturday only, so I paid the cashier $15.49 on my gift card (see my post below about how to rack up money on your Walgreens gift card, and potentially never pay another dime to Walgreens again!).

Here's what I received and will receive:

• $7 in register rewards to use as cash on my next Walgreens purchase ($5 for the Sudafed, $2 for the Kelloggs cereal)
• $10 in rebate for buying 4 boxes of Kelloggs cereal (you can take these out of any You Now magazine; you can find this at many grocery stores or at Kmart). If you don't want to get this magazine, just print out this rebate for $2.50 off Kelloggs Smart Start! You'll only get $2.50 back, instead of $10, but you still got $52.12 of stuff without paying a dime out of your pocket (by following my Walgreens gift card recommendations)!

So $15.49 paid - $7 register rewards - $10 rebate = $1.51 profit for buying $52.12 worth of goods!! Holy smokes!!!

And not a dime paid out of my pocket. It literally pays to learn how to shop at Walgreens, folks!

How to make money at Walgreens!!

If you haven't learned how to shop at Walgreens yet, Friday and Saturday will be your best chance!!

1. First, print out this coupon for $5 off your purchase of $20 or more at Walgreens, good only this Friday and Saturday.
2. Pick up an EasySaver booklet at the front of the store. They have the coupons and rebate items in there for the month. Find the two FREE items for this month -- the L'Oreal Age Perfect Radiance Perfector and the Almay One Coat Mascara, even if you don't need them. Just buy them!
3. Use the $2/1 coupon for L'Oreal products from the 10/5RP (if you don't have this coupon, call me and I can get it for you).
4. Use your $5/$20 purchase coupon from the link above.
5. Your total amount owed will be $21.30 after tax. Pay it. Keep the receipt.
6. Go online to Walgreens. Sign up for the rebates for the month, and submit them. You have two options: Either they will cut you a check or you can receive it on a gift card. Choose the gift card!!! Why? Because if you choose the gift card, Walgreens will add 10% to your card! That more than makes up for the sales tax you paid.
7. If you have not done this before, it will take about 4 weeks to get your gift card, but your gift card will be in the amount of $29.68. You just made $8.38 to take their mascara and lotion!! You can either give those products to charity, a friend, sell it on eBay or keep it for yourself. But you just got paid to shop at Walgreens!

Free Family Photo at JC Penney

Here’s a great coupon to print out and take into your local JCPenney Portrait Studio to get a free 8x10 family portrait with no sitting fee. Be sure to call ahead to schedule an appointment and look your holiday best! What a great family gift!

Freebies this week

Keep watching this list. I'll expand it as I find more.

Meijer
Kelloggs Smart Start (strawberry or blueberry) - $2.50
Use $1/2 coupon from 11/9 SS
Use this rebate for $2.50 back, and make $1 profit!

Rite Aid
Trident gum - $0.50
Use $0.55/1 coupon from 9/21 SS

Walgreens
Reach Dental Floss - $0.99 with Walgreens coupon (find at the front of any Walgreens or in Sunday paper)
Use $1/1 coupon from 10/12 RP

World Market
Get a free bag of Costa Riccan whole bean coffee. No coupon necessary!
Offer limited to one bag per person per day. Just walk right in and grab one!

CVS $5 Challenge -- 11/9/08 - 11/15/08

This is the weekly challenge by kingdomfirstmoms. It assumes you go into CVS pharmacy with no ECB rewards, and $5 in your pocket. The goal is to get as much as you can for $5. If you save up your ECB rewards, you could potentially never pay for another thing at CVS again!

Transaction #1
Buy St. Ives Body Wash 18 oz. $3.99 - Sun. and Mon. deal only
Use $2.00 St. Ives printable coupon

Total after Coupons: $1.99
ECB's Earned: $3.00

Transaction #2
Buy Listerine Cool Agent Blue Tinting Rinse $3.99
Buy Garnier Fructis Shampoo, Conditioner or Styler $2.99
Use $1.00 Listerine printable or $0.50 QP from 10/5 RP
Use $1.00 Garnier Fructis coupon - many out there, most recent from 10/5 RP
Use $3.00 ECB's from previous transaction

BONUS: The Listerine rinse is a UPromise item and Listerine has a $0.50 Ecoupon that will be applied to your UPromise account, if you have linked your CVS ECB card to your UPromise account. You will also earn 2% back for the Listerine rinse.

Total after Coupons: $1.98
ECB's Earned: $5.00

Transaction #3
Buy Glaceau Smart Water 1 Liter $1.59
Buy Palmolive 11 oz $1.49
Buy Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste $3.49 - Nov. ECB item, limit 2
Use look for B1G1 free peelies (coupons) on the Glaceau water to get an extra water for free
Use $0.25 Palmolive QP 10/26 SS
Use $1.00 Crest QP 10/12 PG or $0.75 Crest QP 11/2 PG
Use $5.00 ECB's from previous transaction

Total after Coupons: $0.32
ECB's Earned: $6.08

Total OOP: $4.29
ECB's Left to Spend: $6.08

How to shop at CVS

Shopping at CVS Pharmacy is pretty simple. The first thing you absolutely must do is sign up for an ExtraCare card. Just go to the cashier and fill out a simple form, and the cashier will hand you one ExtraCare card (looks like a credit card) and two keychain cards. When the cashier scans your card, not only do you get lower prices on what you buy, but you get 2% back on your purchases in the form of ExtraCare Bucks (ECB's).

What are ExtraCare Bucks?
Every month, CVS has one item that is free after ECB's. What that means is you pay for the item, and then on your receipt, you get that amount off your next purchase. It's just like cash, except you can only spend it at CVS.

For example, this month (Nov. 2008) at CVS, Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste is the featured item. After you scan your card, you'll have to pay $3.49+tax for the toothpaste, but you'll receive $3.49 in ECB's at the end of your order. When you use coupons, you can sometimes make a profit! In this month's Sunday coupons, you can get $1 off your Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste. So if you use the coupon, you'll pay $2.49+tax, but you'll get $3.49 off your next order.

Make multiple purchases.
You'll have to make an initial "investment" in CVS in order to get your first set of ECB's. After that, read the ads each week to see how you can grow your ECB's. Potentially, you may never have to pay another dime at CVS again!

For example, last week I went to CVS with $2 in ECB's. By figuring out what I wanted to buy before I went into the store, I clipped my coupons and got my first item under $2. Using my ECB's, I got it for free! But there's more!! On that item I purchased, there were $3 ECB's to use on my next purchase. I found something I needed anyway, clipped my coupons, and bought it for $3.50. After using the $3 ECB's, I paid the cashier $0.50, but I got $5 in ECB's.

Be patient.
Just because you can get something, doesn't mean you should. If you don't need it, it's best just to stay home, rather than pay $3 for something you didn't need, just to get $3 of ECB's.

And make sure you know the rules before going into the store. I've had some cashiers who won't round down the ECB's (using $2 in ECB's to pay for something that's $1.99 or less), and some who will. If the cashier won't do it, either add something small to your cart, or just walk away. It's better to not get something, than to pay for something when you didn't need to pay anything.

Link to Upromise.
Go to the Upromise website. Link your CVS card and your Meijer cards (and credit and debit cards, if you want) to the Upromise website. Here's why: On thousands and thousands of name-brand items that you buy anyway, some brands will kick in between 1$-20% to help you pay your student loans, or pay for your kids' college educations. If you're buying the stuff anyway, you might as well! There's no cost to you, and the money racks up after a while.

For example, this week (Nov. 9-15, 2008) Listerine is on sale for $3.99 at CVS. Use a $1 off coupon, and it's $2.99. Use $3 in ECB's (I'll show you how in my CVS Challenge this week), and now the Listerine is free!! But Listerine is also a Upromise item, for 2% of your purchase price. PLUS, Upromise has an ecoupon for $0.50 when you buy Listerine. So not only do you get your Listerine for free, but you also get $0.57 in your Upromise account for college education!

528 Diapers for $27.25!!!

If you need size 1-2 diapers, here's a deal you won't want to miss:Amazon.com has Huggies Snug & Dry diapers for $17.65 for a box of 264 diapers. Shipping is $6.95. That's a good deal in itself, but there's more. If you buy $25 or more in a single order, you get a free subscription to Cookie magazine, which is a $15 value. But you can opt out of the subscription, and get your money refunded instead. (See details about that here.) So, if you buy 2 boxes, that will put your total above $25. Shipping is still $6.95 for both boxes. You'll pay $42.25 for both boxes, and get a $15 refund for the magazine subscription. That comes out to $27.25 for 528 diapers, which is just 5 cents per diaper! If you want to get in on this deal, you'd better hurry before it's gone

How to earn a little cash on the Internet

I just found out about YouData. It's a new company that is letting you decide who gets your attention for advertising and you get paid to look. I just joined, and I've already gotten paid $0.41 through Paypal just for looking at some ads and clicking through to a few sites. The person who referred me to the site made $7.70 in two weeks.

Here's how it Works:

• You sign up for a YouData account
• You create a MeFile (which includes basic information about you, like gender, birthday, etc...no personal information, like name, address, etc.)
• You can either look at your ads on blogs that host the YouData ads or download their viewer.
• When you view an ad, you get paid to view it or click through to the website.
• The site has a great demo video that describes how it works. I love the idea of getting advertisers to pay me for viewing their ads.

Whenever I have to search the internet for something, I use Swagbucks (powered by Google and Ask). Every time I search, I have a chance to earn Swagbucks. Normally, they come in 1, 2, 3 and 5 bucks. However, Swagbucks recently introduced MegaBucks, where you can earn 10, 20, 50 and even 100 SwagBucks for each search. Starting today and every Friday after today, Swagbucks will be giving away 1000 Swagbucks in Mega bills. So, if you win 100 Swagbucks with one search, that's $10 in Amazon gift cards or $10 in Starbucks gift cards!

Once you get 45 Swagbucks, you can earn a $5 Amazon gift certificate. There are other rewards that you can earn, such as a Starbucks gift card, Target.com gift card, etc. Since it takes 45 Swagbucks to earn $5, each Swagbuck is worth about $0.11.

If you need to search for something anyway, you might as well use Swagbucks and earn something :-).

Get a free 8 x 10 photo

Jeff & Angie -- looking to print your engagement picture?

Walgreens is offering a free 8x10 portrait through Saturday, 11/8. Simply go to their website, upload a photo, add an 8x10 to your account, add the promo code FREEPIC to the bottom of the page, and click update total. No shipping charges if you do in-store pickup.

FREE Starbucks coffee

Every Starbucks store is giving away free coffee to every person who votes tomorrow. You don't need proof of voting. It's going on the honor system. So vote, and drink coffee. Ain't America great!

$25 grocery challenge -- 11/2/08 - 11/8/08

The idea behind this challenge is to feed a family of four on $25 or less per week. Some weeks there is enough for more than all the meals that week. Other weeks are a little leaner. But the objective should be to have enough in the house to feed a family of 4 over the course of a month for under $25 a week.

MEIJER

Crest Pro-Health Whitening @ 2/$5
Use this snail mail coupon for $3 off (sign up now, so you get coupon by end of week)
Final cost = FREE

Yoplait Yogurt @ 10/$5
Use two printable coupons to get $1/4
Final cost = 8/$2!!!


2 lbs. grapes @ $0.99/lb.
Final cost = $1.98


5 lbs. Pork shoulder bone-in Western Style ribs @ $1.19/lb.
Final cost = $5.95


Kraft Singles @ $2
Use $0.55/1 coupon in 11/2 SS
Final cost = $1.45


4 Meijer Milk @ $2.50 ea
Final cost = $10

Buy 2 Aunt Millie's Whole Grain Bread @ $0.99
Final cost = $1.98

Buy 2 Aunt Millie's Hamburger Buns @ $0.99 (good for pulled pork sandwiches from pork shoulder above & cheese)
Final cost = $1.98

Buy 3 Hamburger Helper @ $3
Use this printable coupon for $.80/3
Final Cost = $2.20

Buy 6 Kelloggs Special K with strawberries (my favorite!) @ $5
Or buy 6 Kelloggs Frosted Flakes Less Sugar, Gold, Bite Size Mini Wheats, Pops Peanut Butter, Cookie Crunch or Cocoa Krispies @ $2 ea.
Use this printable coupon for $1/1
Final cost = $6!!!

Buy 2 Kelloggs Pop Tarts @ $2.67
Use $1/2 coupon from 10/12 RP
Final cost = $1.67

FINAL COST AT MEIJER = $35.21
(oops, went over, but last week, we only spent $10.35)
By now, you have enough cereal to last you to the New Year!! But $1/1 is too good a deal to pass up!

2 great coupons deals!

Go to coupons.com and print off $1/1 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers and $1/1 Pepsi ONE 12-pack. These are great deals and they may be printed out soon, so make sure you get it before it's gone. You can print off two of each.

Meijer almost always has the Steamers on sale for $1 at least once a month, so when that comes around, you'll get it for FREE. Pepsi 12-packs go on sales sometimes as low as $2 or $2.50, so wait for that deal and you can get a 12-pack of pop for $1.50 + deposit!

How to shop at Walgreens

Shopping at Walgreens takes patience, confusion, and an initial investment. The initial investment is kinda big, and you'll probably get stuff you don't need. But after that, you'll never have to pay for another thing at Walgreens again!

Steps to saving at Walgreens:

1. Go to your local Walgreens and pick up an EasySaver catalog at the front of the store. This has coupons you can use all month, as well as rebates. Each month, there are usually some items that you can get for free after the rebate.
2. Buy these free things that you can get for free this month, even if you don't need them. I know, I know. It feels like you're spending money on crap. You are. Just be patient.
3. When you're finished, go online to Walgreens.com and register an account. Then, enter your rebated items and always request that your rebate be sent to you on your gift card -- Walgreens will give you an extra 10% by doing this (this should cover the sales tax, plus some). Every time after this, make sure you recharge your gift card.
4. So you just spent some money, and Walgreens is going to rebate you your money + 10%. Be patient. Don't buy anything else at Walgreens (unless you were going to anyway). For new accounts, you will have to wait 4-6 weeks for your gift card. After that, it will be 2-3 weeks to recharge your card.

What I did this month (November 2008):

1. The two free items this month are L'Oreal Perfect Radiance Perfector, 1.7 oz. for $19.99 and Almay One Coat Mascare for $6.99. Obviously, I don't need either. But I bought them anyway, and gave the Mascara to my wife and the Age Perfect to Mom. If you don't like that, you can always sell them on eBay and make even more!
2. I had a $5 off coupon for spending $20 at Walgreens. It is now expired. Don't worry if you don't have one. But if you see one, grab it!
3. I had a $1 off L'Oreal manufacturers coupon.
4. So I spent $22.54 at the register ($19.99 + $6.99 -$1 + tax - $5)
5. Walgreens is going to send me a gift card for $29.68 ($19.99 + $6.99 + 10%)
6. This month I made $7.14! Walgreens paid me to take these items off their shelf!!

Coupon Stacking
The EasySaver Catalog and the weekly store fliers always include a number of store coupons which are good all month or all week, depending on which flier they came from.

Since these are store coupons, they can be stacked with manufacturer coupons. Often, you'll be able to get a really great deal, or a FREE deal, by stacking the store coupons with the manufacturer coupons.

Register Rewards
Similar to CVS ExtraCare Bucks, Walgreens offers Register Rewards. When you buy a certain item, you will get a printed coupon called "Register Rewards" which you can use like cash off your next purchase. By using your register rewards, your store coupons, and your manufacturer coupons, you can often get the item for free or almost free. Then use your gift card to pay the balance.

Note: Register Rewards have expiration dates.

Very Important

1. Walgreens requires as many items as you have coupons. So if you have a store coupon, a manufacturer coupon, and a register reward, you'll need to have at least three items in your cart.
2. Unless the cashier knows what he or she is doing, the order you give the coupons is important. Just play it safe, and hand the cashier the register rewards first, the manufacturer coupons second, and the store coupons last.
3. If for some reason, you get a cashier that can't get a coupon to go through, just ask him or her to void the item off your order. It's better to just void it off and not pay for it than to try and mess with it later.

CVS $5 challenge -- 11/2/08 - 11/8/08

CVS Pharmacy -- $5 challenge


This is the weekly challenge by kingdomfirstmoms. It assumes you go into CVS pharmacy with no ECB rewards, and $5 in your pocket. The goal is to get as much as you can for $5. If you save up your ECB rewards, you could potentially never pay for another thing at CVS again!


Transaction #1
Buy Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste 4.2 oz @ $3.49
Use a snail-mail coupon for $3 off
Or if you're not patient, use a $1/1 coupon from 11/2 PG
Total OOP = $0.49 + tax
Receive $3.49 in ECB


Transaction #2
Buy Gillette Fusion @ $9.99
Use $4/1 coupon from 9/28 PG
Use $3.49 ECB from Transaction #1

Total OOP = $2.50 + tax
Receive $5 in ECB

Transaction #3
Buy Colgate 360-degree, motion, or kids battery toothbrush @ $4.99
Use $0.75/1 coupon from 10/26 SS

Buy Dawn Dishsoap @ $0.99
Use $0.25/1 coupon from Oct PG
Use $5 ECB from transaction #2
Total OOP = $0.00 + tax
Receive $2.00 in ECB

Total Spent = $2.99 + tax
Total Received = $19.46
(note that if you had saved the $4 ECB from last week, you'd get $19 worth of stuff and pay nothing!)

Free JC Penney!!

From October 29 - November 1, you get $10 off your $10 purchase at JC Penney online by using promo code DOOR39!!!

FREE Stuff -- 10/26/2008 - 11/01/2008

Free stuff this week. If you're going there anyway, you might as well!

WALMART
**SPECIAL NOTE: I guess different Walmarts have different deals. I went to one in GR and they had different prices from one in Plainwell. Check your local ad before buying these.

Buy Ziploc Sandwich bags 25 ct. @ $0.75 + tax
Use this printable coupon for $0.75/1

Buy Nestle Hot Chocolate 10 pk @ $0.75
Use this printable coupon for $0.75/1

Buy Kotex Pantiliners @ $0.94 + tax
Use this printable coupon for $1/1

Hunts Tomatoes @ $0.34 ea.
Use this printable coupon for $1/2
**This coupon has already run out; Hope you got it before it did!

Buy 2 Honey Bunches of Oats @ $2
Use this printable coupon for $2/1

Buy Preparation H 10 ct. wipes @ $2.97 + tax
Use this printable coupon for $3/1

Buy Schick 10 ct. disposable razors @ $1.97
Use $2/1 coupon from 9/7 SS

Buy Well Patch Singles @ $0.97
Use $1/1 coupon from 7/13 SS

Buy KY Jelly 2 oz. @ $2.59 (everyone but Angie, j/k!)
Use $3/1 coupon from 5/1 RP

Buy Powerade @ $0.75
Use $0.75/1 coupon from 6/8 SS

Buy Purina Cat food or Puppy Chow @ $3.97
Use this printable coupon for $4/1

Buy 3 Johnson’s Buddies Bar Soap @ $0.94
Use $3/3 coupon from 9/14 SS

RITE AID

Buy Kotex Maxi Pads/Tampons @ $3 + tax
Use this printable coupon for $1/1
Get $3 back in SCR

Buy Loreal Age Perfect Radiance Perfector Tinted Moisturizer @ $15.99 + tax
Use $1/1 coupon from 9/21 RP
Get $15.99 in SCR

Buy Oral B Artica Toothbrush @ $2.49 + tax
Use $0.75/1 coupon from 9/28 PG
Get $2.49 in SCR

KMART
Kmart is doubling coupons this week!

Buy 2 bags of Nestle Candy @ $3.34 + tax
Use these $1/1 printable coupon (print two coupons)
Final cost = FREE

Buy Colgate Total Advanced Whitening @ $2.50 + tax
Use this printable coupon for $1.50 off
Final cost = FREE

RESTAURANTS.COM
Okay, this one isn't free, but it may as well be. You can get $25 worth of restaurant gift certificates for $2. Just use promo code PUMPKIN at checkout. If you're going to eat out at any of these restaurants anyway, you might as well! This deal ends 10/31/2008.

$25 grocery challenge -- 10/26/2008 - 11/1/2008

The idea behind this challenge is to feed a family of four on $25 or less per week. Some weeks there is enough for more than all the meals that week. Other weeks are a little leaner. But the objective should be to have enough in the house to feed a family of 4 over the course of a month for under $25 a week.

Meijer

Transaction #1
Buy 2 boxes of Jello Gelatin @ $1.20
Use the printable Meijer Mealbox coupons for $1.50/2
Final cost = FREE!!

Buy 2 boxes of Velveeta Shells and Cheese @ $3.34
Use the printable Meijer Mealbox coupons for $2/2
Final cost = $1.34

Buy 2 Miracle Whip @ $2
Use the printable Meijer Mealbox coupons for $2/2
Final cost = $2.00

Total cost = $3.34, register will print $4 coupon to use on your next purchase
Double these as much as you want -- Meijer will pay you more than you pay them!

**SPECIAL NOTE: Meijer has a deal right now where you buy 3 Kraft products and you get a coupon for $2 off your next purchase. I went to Meijer last night, and they would not print off $4 in coupons, because I bought all 6 at once. Just buy 3 or 6 Jello, and pay $0.30 each time, and you get $2 off in coupons! Keep doing this until you get all the $2 off coupons you want. But each time you buy three, it needs to be a separate transaction.

Transaction #2
Buy 4 boxes of Kelloggs cereal @ $10, and get $2 off at register
Use these printable $1 off coupons (just hit backspace after printing them; they will allow you to print up to six)
Final cost = $4

Aunt Millie's Bread @ $0.99
Use $0.35/1 coupon from 8/3 RP
Final cost = $0.64

Buy 2 Breyers Ice Cream @ $5
Use the printable Meijer Mealbox coupons for $1/2 and $0.50/1 from 10/26 RP
Final cost = $3.50

Meijer eggs @ $0.99

HALLOWEEN CANDY
Buy 1 bag of Nestle Candy @ $1.88
Use these $1/1 printable coupon (print two coupons)
Final cost = $0.88

FINAL COST AT MEIJER = $13.35 - $4 coupon = $9.35

Family Fare

Buy 2 cans of Progresso Soup @ $2
Use these printable $1.10 off coupons (just hit backspace after printing them; they will allow you to print up to two)
Final cost = FREE (Some Family Fares will even pay you the difference between the coupon and the sale price! Mine does not)

Buy 2 cans of Red Gold Tomatoes @ $2
Use this printable BOGO coupon
Final cost = $1

FINAL COST AT FF = $1

Holy smokes! For just $10.35, I got 2 boxes Jello, 2 boxes Velveeta Shells and Cheese, 2 jars Miracle Whip, 4 boxes Kelloggs Cereal, loaf of bread, eggs, Halloween candy, 2 cartons of ice cream, 2 cans of Progresso soup, and 2 cans of tomatoes!!