Coupon Deals: June 27, 2012

Today is one of those days that I will avoid going outside as much as possible. High today of 95 with 50% humidity… ah the joy of central air! I digress, today’s post will be n the topic of coupons. As you can probably tell from the majority of my posts to date, I really like couponing. Not for showing off or anything but I love saving money and that feeling of getting the total as close to zero. This past week/weekend (6/19-6/25) Dan and I were visiting his brother out in Minnesota. As mentioned yesterday, I had no issue buying my Sunday papers out there and organizing my coupons when I got home. It’s a good thing I did because I had an awesome week of savings!

I was also thinking of changing my format for figuring out how much I’ve saved. I don’t currently include any money rewards I get into the amount of savings, but I feel like I should because most times that is what makes the deal so amazing (e.g. I buy something priced for $4, use a $3 coupon but then get $4 rewards making it a profit on my end for $3) This happened a lot this week so lets see how it goes:

CVS

Nothing fabulous about CVS this week. I am trying not to stock up toooo much on all the summer items (razors, shaving cream) because I already have a pretty good stockpile and Dan is constantly reminding me that even though we have the space now, not to fill it. I agree, so this week I went with some more practical items, like we are definitely due for new toothbrushes.

 I spent $1.24 for $5.49 worth of merchandise for a savings of 77% and earned $4 toward a future purchase, making this deal a money maker of $2.76!

Colgate Sensitive Pro Relief Toothbrush: $5.49

$4.99 with CVS ExtraCare Card

-$3.00 off any Colgate toothbrush

-$0.75 off any Colgate toothbrush CVS printable coupon from register

Final price: $1.24

(Got $4 ECB for future transaction)

Walgreens

With all my register rewards from the awesome Suave deal last week, I continued with my toothbrush theme and also grabbed some crafting essentials that I’m running low on J Of course, I had to leave with some free stuff too.

 I spent $0.58 for $13.15 worth of merchandise for a savings of 96% (so cool!) and earned $2 toward a future purchase, making this deal a money maker of $1.42!

Elmers glue stick 2 pack: $1.59

Found in clearance section for $0.79

-$2 Register Rewards

Final price: Free! ($0.42 money maker, which was applied to the total)

Reach Total Care toothbrush: $3.99

On sale for $2.99

-$2 Register Reward

Final Price: $0.99

(Got $2 Register Rewards for future transaction)

Bayer Asprin 32 ct: $2.99 (x2)

-$3 off any Bayer Asprin 20ct or higher x 2

Final Price: Free!

Rite Aid

I couldn’t manage to earn any money at Rite aid this week but I did have a lot of Up Rewards to spend so I was able to bring my total spending way down.

 I spent $2.95 for $14.47 worth of merchandise for a savings of 80%!

Xtra Laundry detergent: $3.49

$1.97 with Up Rewards card

-$1 Up Reward

Final Price: $0.97

Garnier Fructis Dry Scalp Shampoo: $5.49

$2.99 with Up Rewards card

-$1 off any Garnier Shampoo/Conditioner (x2)

-$1 Up Reward

-$1 Up Reward

Final Price: $1.98 or $0.99 each

Great haul for the week… in total I made $1.23 off all these deals which is just so exciting! Happy Couponing!

Father's Day 2012

I know I'm almost 2 weeks behind on the Father's Day post but I blame that on being in Minnesota most of the past week and a half..

Proof that I crossed the Mississippi River!! 

and also beginning training for my new job these past 2 days (so exciting!). With all my excuses aside, I have a few cards I made for my father and my grandfather for Father's Day. I also ended up making a card for my grandmother at the same time (What can I say, I was in a serious card-making mood!) since she recently fractured her ankle.

So my dad (or Papa as he is referred to in our house) is very much into camping. And by camping, I don't mean the no bathrooms, no electricity type camping, I'm talking the air-conditioned, wood floored, built in fireplace for your camper type camping. So essentially every weekend he leaves home to live in a smaller version of his home, either way we love him for it! It was a no brainer then that I would make some sort of camping themed card for Father's Day. I found a great inspiration in the May/June 2012 edition of Paper Crafts magazine:

I also found the inspiration for his gift too (except in the March/April 2012 edition)!

With ideas in mind, I went to work. The mug was very very simple, I have used vinyl in the past to make Christmas gifts for my Stepmom and Grandmother, so luckily I had that lying around and I purchased a mug at Michaels for ~$3. 

Downloaded the lettering, which was perfect, I found "World's Best Papa"!! and cut with my Cameo:

To make the card, I searched for a grill design on Silhouette studio, the program I use with my cutting machine, the Silhouette Cameo. To my surprise, I found the exact same grill they used in Paper Crafts, which is a rare find for me!

When I make any cuts, I always like to make as many cuts as I can in one pass; That way I don't have to continuously feed the cutting mat into the machine and then I can assemble easily!

I made some minor changes but overall stayed pretty similar to the inspiration, I actually like mine a lot better :)

I didn't have any plain red ribbon, so I got creative with some Christmas ribbon I had laying around 

Finished project!

With that card done, I moved onto my grandfather, who is a man who loves his workshop. For as long as I can remember, my grandfather has always been working in the "barn" attached to my grandparents house aka the 2 story garage that looks like a barn. I have always associated him with tools and crafty things (and by crafty I mean he made my parents dining room table and chairs.. not crafty in making dorky cards :P). SO naturally, I went with the tool approach:

I was a little nervous as I am slightly a perfectionist and this was one of my first cards using stamps but it was surprisingly simple albeit tedious (which I oddly don't mind...) 

Quick and simple!

Phew. You've survived my ramblings long enough, onto the last card! My poor grandmother unluckily stepped off a curb and fractured her ankle a few weeks ago. My inner Physical Therapist is replaying the scene in my head and cracked my grandmother up when I was able to explain to her what happened and I wasn't even there :P So, with my card making frenzy, I knew I had to try out more stamps (and my embosser!) for my creative grandmother. Her card was also an inspiration from Paper Crafts (May/June 2012):

I was in a total stamping mood!

And also very excited to use my embosser! 

Matchy matching ribbons

Glue dots = so easy!

Tada!

Well that was a long winded post, but very much overdo. I am all blogged out for tonight but stay tuned tomorrow for my weekly coupon deals! (And yes I did buy my papers while in Minnesota as to not miss out on them!)

Coupon Deals: June 18, 2012

CVS

Decent deals this week, I was more exciting to use my extra care bucks than anything, I love getting the total as close to $0 as possible, it’s such a thrill! J

I spent $3.74 for $15.96 worth of merchandise for a savings of 77% and $3 toward a future purchase!

Colgate Maxfresh Toothpaste: $3.99

$2.49 with CVS ExtraCare Card

-$1 off any 2 colgate toothpastes

Final price: $3.98 or $1.99 each

(Got $3 ECB for future transaction)

General Mills Honey Nut Cherrios: $3.99

$1.88 with CVS ExtraCare Card

No specific product coupon but used my $3 ECB from last week

Final price: $0.76 or $0.38 each

Walgreens

MUCH better week at Walgreens! I was so exciting, Dan and I are going away for a week and I hate bringing those mini shampoos and conditioners. How awesome that Walgreens essentially gave me my shampoo and conditioner for free! We also desperately needed sponges as we destroyed a fresh one the first week we moved in.. (apparently cutco knifes are really sharp haha)

Also funny side note about this trip: I went to the first Walgreens and they had no sponges so luckily we have to Walgreens within 1 mile so got 2 times the shampoo!

I spent $7.54 for $12.93 worth of merchandise for a savings of 42%..however factor $4 register rewards received and its like paying $3.54 (savings of 72%)

Suave Shampoo/Conditioner: $1.00 (x4, 2 for each transaction)

Final price: $4.00 or $1.00 each

Received $4 Register Rewards making them free!

O-cello Sponges: $4.29

Walgreens deal B1G1 free: 2 for $4.29

-$0.75 off 2 O-Cello Sponges coupon

Final price: $3.54 or $1.77 each

Rite Aid

Lots of cereal this week! I went to Rite Aid with a few ideas and had so many Up Rewards from last week that I felt like using them!

I spent $5.93 for $23.15 worth of merchandise for a savings of 74% and $4 toward a future purchase!

Kelloggs Raisin Bran 13.7oz: $4.79

$1.97 with Up Rewards card

-$1.00 off 2 Kelloggs cereal

Final price: $2.94 or $1.27 each              

Arrid XX Deodorant: $3.59

$2.99 with Up Rewards card

-$2 Up Rewards

Final price: $0.99

(Received $2 Up Reward)

Wonderful Pistachios: $4.99

$2.50 with Up Rewards card

-$1.00 off 2 Wonderful Pistachios

Final price: $2.00

(Received $2 Up Reward)

Happy Saving! :)

30 Books..

For those of you who know me, you probably know that I am a member of the “Ladies Literary Guild,” a book club made up of most of the women on my mom’s side of the family and a few family friends. We meet every 6-8 weeks to discuss books and chat about life and eat yummy food. It’s a way for us to keep our minds strong but to also take time away from real life to just discuss a common topic and enjoy ourselves. I usually wait until the week before we are going to meet to purchase and read the book frantically in order to finish. This is something I really want to change.

I have set some goals for myself this summer, one being to finish 30 books by Labor day.. This is quite the feat seeing as I’ve probably read 10 books in the past year but I wanted to set some goals for myself that way I will be motivated to achieve them. I also really enjoy reading but lose interest when I don’t know what books to read, hence why being told which books to read for book club is great because it’s like an assignment (ok so I miss the structure of school….) So, I’m in need of some good books to keep my attention, I am open to any suggestions! 

Next book on the book club list: "Objects of My Affections: A Novel" by Jill Smolinski

Coupon Deals: June 11, 2012

Now that we are all settled in and my desk area is finally clean and organized, I’m ready to organize my coupon deals. I’ve been slowly accumulating and restocking coupons over the past couple weeks and now have a good supply to choose from. Below are some deals I got today:

CVS

Lots of great deals this week, I was planning on building up my Extra Care Bucks this trip but it didn’t quite work out. One deal I was trying to get was with a $7 purchase of misc bandaid and Neosporin products, gets $3 ECB; it was perfect because the Neosporin spray was priced online for 7.29.. however at the register it rang up at 6.99 so I didn’t get the ECB and there was like 7 people behind me so I wasn’t about to make them wait. Even so, I still managed to save a bunch!

I spent $10.87 for $27.76 worth of merchandise for a savings of 61% and $3 toward a future purchase!

Schick Hydro 5 razor: $12.99

$8.99 with CVS ExtraCare Card

-$4.00 off any 1 Schick Hydro Power Select or Schick Hydro 3 or 5 blade razor

Final price: $4.99

(Got $3 ECB for future transaction)

Softsoap: $3.89

CVS deal B1G1 free = 2/$3.89

-$1.00 off any 1 softsoap pump (x2)

Final price: $1.89 for 2 or ~$0.95 each

Neosporin Neo To Go spray: $6.99

-$3.00 off any 1 Neosporin antibiotic product

Final price: $3.99

Walgreens

The deals this week at Walgreens were kind of lacking, so I only got something that was on sale and still a great deal, no register rewards this trip

I spent $1.98 for $7.98 worth of merchandise for a savings of 75%!

Schick Hydro Shave Gel: $3.99

$1.99 with CVS ExtraCare Card

-$1.00 off any 1 Schick shaving prep (x2)

Final price: $1.98 for 2 or $0.99 each

Rite Aid

When living in my last apartment, we didn’t live very close to a Rite Aid, though I had one close to work. Therefore I didn’t shop much there, but I’ve heard they have really great deals. My first experience here was great and I’m exciting to use my Up Rewards.

I spent $7.46 for $15.46 worth of merchandise for a savings of 52% and $5 toward a future purchase!

Sour Patch Kids: $3.99

$1.99 with Up Rewards card

-$0.50 off 1 bag sour patch kids (Ride Aid video coupon)

Final price: $0.99

(Received $1 Up Reward)

Twizzlers: $2.99

$1.99 with Up Rewards card

-$1.00 off 2 bags twizzlers (Rite Aid video coupon)

Final price: $2.98

(Received $1 Up Reward x2)

Always Radiant Infinity Pads 16ct: $5.49

$3.99 with Up Rewards card

-$1.00 off 1 Always Infinity products (manufacturers)

Final price: $2.99

(Received $2 Up Reward)

Yay coupons! 

New place. New life. New blog.

My fiancée Dan and I have recently moved from the Boston area to Connecticut about 100 miles away, which means complete life changes. New car, new job, new furniture, it's all so overwhelming. I am blessed to have been able to take the past month to move in and get settled while Dan is adjusting to now working in an office after working from home for about 3 years. As a physical therapist too, it was quick to find work and for that I feel lucky. With my start date being July 9th, I am now looking at another month off which means I have to keep myself occupied without going crazy. Hence the blog. I hope to craft more (I tend to focus on card and paper crafts but would like to branch out more) and hopefully knock a few things off my to do list. I also plan on sharing books I’ve read/am reading, decorating/organizing ideas, recipes, and other random life things. Enjoy!