One Day Sale at CVS

I got an email earlier from CVS talking about a great one day sale going on tomorrow Saturday, December 17th. If you have the CVS card, go to your local CVS store and swipe the card in the coupon center to receive $25 worth of coupons. One of these coupons is for a great deal on 12 packs of cokes. You can get 3 for $8! They have not released details on the other deals available, but I will definitely be making the trip to pick up some 12 packs for our family.

Then after CVS I will be finishing up my Christmas shopping - just 3 more people and my list will be done! Only 7 more shopping days left...happy shopping everyone!

Trying Something New

If anyone has scrolled down lately and noticed a new widget on the right side of my blog, I just wanted to take a minute and let you know about the website Hubpages. It is a website where you can write about anything your heart desires and get it published on their site. People who travel to this site can either rate these articles or follow a particular author whose articles interest them. I figured it was worth a try since I have already been blogging away these past few months. A few of my articles, also known as "hubs" on their website, include subjects I have previously wrote about on here just updated a little. I have also published 3 new hubs in the last few days on different subjects so be sure to check those out. The whole Hubpages site has really interesting topics, great advice, and tips on just about anything you can think of. So if you would like to check it out, please click on the My Hubpage widget and enjoy the reading! Thanks in advance for supporting me in this new writing adventure!

P.S. If you love to write, are an expert in a particular field, or just give great tips and advice, I also encourage you to join in on the experience of Hubpages.  If this sounds like something that may interest you or just want to learn more about Hubpages, click on the following link: Create Your Own Hubpage

Successful Shopping Week

 After celebrating my husband's birthday on Sunday, it was back to the usual grind hunting the ads in Sunday's paper for this week's best deals matched with my available coupons. I was excited to see several things that I needed to stock up on on sale this week including Purex laundry detergent (the only detergent I can use on my sensitive skin), Pledge furniture polish, and Smuckers jelly for my boys. There was also several free items to be picked up thanks to my little cheat sheets (see my list of favorite blogs). One of these items was Softsoap handsoap which was on sale at CVS for $0.99. Matched with my $2.00 when you buy 2 coupon these came out to be absolutely free. I guess CVS figured out this pretty quick because hand written on the sale tags were "Limit 2". No problem...I drove to Walmart to price match and got 2 more to use with the other coupon I had clipped! My final cost with both shopping trips was $15.74 for a total of 25 products purchased. I also received $7 worth of extra care bucks to use at CVS next week. So really I only spent $8.74 for all the below products! I would say I had a pretty successful shopping week!



Shopping Results Week of 11/06/11

CVS:

4 Pledge Furniture Polish 4/$12 - (2) $1.00 coupons = $8.00 (Receive $4 ECB)

2 Smucker Jellies 2/$5 - $1.00 coupon = $4.00 (Receive $3 ECB)

2 Softsoaps $1.98 - $2.00 coupon = FREE
Used $12 ECB from last week
Final Cost = $0.91 and received $7 ECB for next week
(Total Savings $34.62)


Walmart:
2 Smucker Jellies $1.88 each - $1.00 coupon = $2.96
2 Travel Size First Aid Kits $0.97 each - (2) $1.00 coupons = FREE
2 Travel Size Aquafresh Toothpaste $0.97 each - (2) $1.00 coupons = FREE
2 Snuggle Dyer Sheets $1.87 each - (2) $0.75 coupons = $2.24
2 Softsoaps (price match to CVS ad) $0.99 each - $2.00 coupon = FREE
1 Folgers Coffee (price match to Walgreens) $3.49 each - $1.00 coupon = $2.49
2 Purex Detergent (price match to Walgreens) $1.99 each = $3.98
4 Sets of Vampire Teeth 16 count (Clearance 75% off ) $0.36 each = $1.54
Final Cost = $14.83 for 17 products
(Total Savings $15.00)




Couponing Tips

If your budget has been feeling the strain and want to start the couponing process, I thought I would share a few tips that I have learned over my past 6 months of couponing. Believe me, it is definitely a learning process and I will take all the help I can get!

• Tip #1: Start following some websites that show all the great deals in your area. You can either follow them by email on their blog/website or most of them have a fan page on Facebook where they highlight the best deals. Some of the websites I keep an eye on is http://thekrazycouponlady.com/, http://www.southernsavers.com/, and http://www.iheartcvs.com/. (*Note: If you don't shop at CVS the "iheart..." websites have several other stores that that they keep up with such as http://www.iheartthemart.com/, http://www.iheartwags.com/, etc. Just do a search on the Internet and you will more than likely find your store.)
• Tip #2: Check your store's website a few days before the upcoming sales week starts for a sneak peek at what items will be on sale for that week. You can go ahead and start planning your shopping trip and line up the coupons you will be using. Not all stores will give you a preview but I know for sure that CVS gives you a sneak peek either Wednesday or Thursday before the upcoming week sales start.
• Tip #3: Ever wish you had bought more than one Sunday paper to cash in on that great deal in your store? Well if you check sites like http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/ a few days before the paper hits the stands, you will be able to see the coupons that will be in those all important inserts. It may not be the exact coupon and amount due to the inserts will vary for the different regions, but it will give you a good heads up on the company that are issuing coupons for that week.

Hope these tips help you in your couponing adventure! I know they do save me alot of time if I check out all these websites before I hit the stores! To the ladies who love makeup deals, I will leave you with a good deal at CVS I found last night from a recent search....

Deal of the Week:



Almay Intense i-color Shadow, Liner, or Mascara $5.99
Buy 1 and Receive $4.00 ExtraCareBucks (If you have a CVS card, this is a coupon good on your next purchase)
-Use $1.00 on One Almay Any Color Cosmetic Product from Walmart Ad insert 10/9 (exp 12/31)
Pay $4.99 plus tax and Receive $4.00 ECB
*Final Price $0.99 plus tax*

Goodie Bag Mania!!!

Halloween is just around the corner and haunting me is the all the goodie bags I will be making over the next several months. With one son is kindergarten, the other in preschool, and a 4th grade teacher as a husband, I easily make about 60 goodie bags for every major holiday. Here are a few tricks I have picked up along the way on how to stretch your money on a limited budget:

• Tip #1: Of course always shop the clearance aisle after the holiday sale is over to stock up for the next year. For those of you that did not do this, I recommend shopping somewhere like the Dollar Tree where you can find some great deals especially on the bags. You can buy 25 bags for $1 while Walmart sells 20 for $1.88.
• Tip #2: Don't get sucked into buying the Halloween packaged candy. Try to buy the regular packaged candy so if you have any leftover you can save that candy for the next set of goodie bags. Always check the best before date but most candy will last 6 months to a year after the manufacture date.
• Tip #3: Recycle those goodies you get from other parties. For example, I have been saving all those pencils my son got at every birthday party, holiday, etc. By the time he started kindergarten, I had over 30 pencils all ready for him to take to school.
• Tip #4: Do not waste all that trick or treat candy! I try to separate the regular packaged candy and use some of that batch to fill up goodie bags for my son's birthday party which always comes the first week of December.

Most importantly get creative and have fun making the goodie bags! Both my boys love to help and believe me I appreciate any help I can get around here! Hope these tips help you to save some money and lessen the stress of goodie bag mania!!!