September Summary

September was a good month. I got $555.09 worth of products (that's the sale price - worth way more!) for $124.20 cash out of pocket. I will be getting back $114.33 in rebates, making my cost just $9.87.

My biggest "budget buster" this month was Walmart - I spent $35 there this month. But, about half of that was Christmas presents.

CVS gets the prize for getting the least of my money this month - I paid just $1.96 for almost $100 worth of (sale) merchandise.

Target ranks right up there with CVS this month - thanks to their awesome gift card deals lately, I spent under $5 there for $50+ worth of groceries.

Kraft Rebate - Walgreens

I'd been saving my free coupons from the August All You magazine (I have 3 copies) to see if I could work out a deal. I think I may have - I'll test it tomorrow. Here's my plan at Walgreens:

Get 2 Wheat Thins (or Crystal Light) @ $2.50 each
Buy 4 South Beach bars @ $2.50 each
Buy 2 boxes of Jello @ 3/$1
Total: $15.66 ($15 of which is the qualifying items for the rebate)

Coupons:
2 Free Wheat Thins from All You -$5
4 $2/1 South Beach Printable coupons (use 2 computers) -$4
(thanks to From Wags to Riches for the coupon link)
OOP: $2.66 + tax

Submit for $5 Kraft rebate, add to gift card to get $5.50 back.

Profit of $2.84 (less counting tax)

**** EDIT ***

I had read the price of the Jello wrong. They're actually 3/$3 or $1.19 each. I went ahead and did it since I was there and didn't have other coupons with me. Also, the Crystal Light is also $2.50 and can be used with or instead of Wheat Thins.

Mail Call

The following is from an email to a friend earlier today. I was uh - quite hyper. What a glorious thing a Rt. 44 Diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic is after a long hard day with no breaks. Seriously - I think I only got to use the restroom ONE time. And then I had basically less than 30 minutes for lunch.

Ok, the email:

I'm so excited. You wanna know why? Please don't laugh at me. I got the mail today. Yes, that's pretty much a non-event except that I do get lots of freebies (samples), coupons, and rebates. So it's actually more fun than what the mail used to consist of - just bills. So anyway, I got the mail. Oh, which reminds me, I got Leslie's wedding invitation today as well. I'm going to RSVP that I can't come. haha I'm so evil. Oh, yeah, so the EXCITING mail............ it was a coupon. But not just any coupon mind ya. It was a CVS coupon. And this little postcard sized coupon is the most amazing coupon I think I've seen from CVS. It's for 25% off the entire purchase. Not just one item. An ENTIRE PURCHASE. And if it's like their other coupons, it can be used before all the other coupons to take off the true 25% - not just the post coupon total. Considering my total before coupons is usually in the $40+ range, that will pack a nice punch. It's good Sept. 13-14 only. Oh I can't wait to use this little beauty. Getting the coupon was a perfect end to a long day. And I thought a student bringing me a Diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic's Happy Hour was an awesome end. Well the coupon tops that. It's one exciting day in this house!

I can't believe I just waxed eloquent for a whole paragraph about a coupon. But it's a thing of beauty I tell ya! It should be made of gold.

August Summary

I never got around to doing a July summary because I was gone about half of July due to my sister's wedding. I did a few deals while gone, but never got a chance to log them. I did however update my rebates.

August was a pretty good month for me. I spent more out of pocket than I'd have liked thanks to some awesome rebates at Walgreens this month and little to no rebates in the past few months which equals no gift card. :( Here's a breakdown though:

Kroger:
$69.74 worth of groceries for $31.94. Note that that $69.74 is taking the sale price before coupons. I never log the actual price.

CVS:
$122.57 worth of products for $11.84 cash out of pocket. I have $17.49 in ECB's remaining for September.

Walgreens:
$165.68 worth of products for $58.77 cash out of pocket plus $20.60 from gift cards. Will receive back $78.51 in Walgreens rebates, plus around $20 in manufacture's rebates.

RiteAid:
$32.43 worth of product for $27.98 cash, will get back $22.98 rebate from RiteAid

Grand totals:
$390.42 worth of product
Used $179.67 in regular manufacture's coupons
Spent $130.53 cash
Will be getting back around $122 in rebates
Total spent after rebates?? $8.53

I haven't been to Walmart all month! I was just cleaning off my desk and found some receipts from Walmart from back in Jan. before I discovered the joys of couponing. I was easily spending $80-100 in there twice a month. And that was just for ME. Heather was also spending around $100 a month. I now buy everything for both of us. Amazing.

Saturday deals!

I finally got over to Walgreens today to work the Kellogg's deal that is all the rage right now. I was out of town half of July and hadn't been doing much shopping while gone. I also didn't get my Sunday papers until I got back and I spent most of this week getting my coupons back in order (along with teacher in-service). So I finally made it over today. I was worried they'd be sold out, but amazing enough, I got everything I wanted/needed for the deal!

2 boxes Frosted Flakes @ $2.50 each
2 boxes of Special K @ $2.50 each
2 boxes of Rice Krispie Treats @ $2 each
2 pacakges of cookies @ $2 each
2 boxes of Pop Tarts @ $2 each
2 Glade candles @ $1.99 each

I used the following coupons:
$1/2 Frosted Flakes
$1/2 Special K
$1/2 Rice Krispie Treats
$1/2 cookies
$1/2 Pop Tarts
(2) $1/1 Glade candle

Total spent $21.12 ($4.39 on rebate gift card, $16.73 cash)

I should have received 2 $5 RR's for the Kellogg's stuff, but only received one. The manager gave me $5.39 back in cash for the 2nd one. He "returned" 2 boxes of cereal so gave me tax back as well. I love this new manager!! I'll then submit the 2 candles for $1/1 rebates from Walgreens, and then send in for the $10 Kellogg rebate.

$21.12 - $5 RR - $5.39 cash - $2.20 (plus the 10%) candle rebate - $10 Kellogg rebate = -$1.47!!!

I guess MoneySavingMom is not doing Super Savings Saturday. But it is still DrugstoreDivas at The "Cent"sible Sawyer today!

Deals and more deals!

I did all my shopping today. Usually I space them out during the week - especially during the school year when I can make a quick stop on the way home from school. But today was pay day, so I had to at least get my paycheck and go to the bank. We headed to our nearest CVS which is 25 miles away. I needed to roll most of my ECB's before I head out of town next week since they would have all expired while I was gone for two weeks. I was mostly successful I think - and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Mainly because the coupons matched the sales so well that I had to spend very little ECB's to begin with! So I threw in some random stuff to use some ECB's. It's fun to splurge sometimes. :)

First up - CVS. I did the bulk at one store, and then went to the 2nd store just because. I got everything I wanted at the first store and without any $/$$ coupons just did one transaction. Everything is pictured in one picture:

Store 1:
3 Pringles @ $1 ea
4 Dawn @ $1 ea
2 Febreze @ $3.99 ea
2 Febreze Air Effects @ $2.50 ea
1 Playtex @ $4.99
1 Diet Dr. Pepper (consumed :)) @ $1.39
1 Pepsi (consumed :)) @ $1.39
1 Secret Clinical Strength @ $9.99
1 CVS lotion @ $1.49
1 CVS Paper towels 3 pack @ $1.99
1 CVS Pen Spray hand sanitzer @ $1.79
2 Buddy Bars @ 99 cents ea
1 Starburst @ $1.99 (as a treat for my sister who patiently puts up with my deal shopping)

Total before coupons = $46.98

Coupons:
1 Pringles @ 30 cents
4 Dawn @ 50 cents ea - $2
2 Febreze @ 50 cents ea - $1
1 Platex @ $1
1 $2 CVS skin care coupon for lotion
1 $1 3 pack CVS paper towel
1 FREE pen spray @ $1.79
1 FREE Secret @ $9.99 (got for sending in 4 receipts for buying the clincial strength)
1 Buddy Soap @ $1.98 ($2/2 - adjusted down to $1.98 by cashier)
2 Buy 1 Febreze, Get 1 Air Effects FREE, cashier did the $3.99 price twice instead of $2.50 - I'll let them know when I go back next time - $7.98 instead of $5

Total after coupons = $17.94
ECB's used = $17.94
Paid TAX ONLY on a gift card I received from mypoints.com = $1.70

ECB's received back:
$5 Febreze
$2 Dawn
$2 Secret
$1 Pringles
$3 Playtex
= $13

Store #2

2 CVS facial cleansing wipes @ $2.99 ea
1 package of straws @ $1 (just because :))
= $6.98

Used 2 $2 skin care coupons
Paid $2.50 ECB's
Paid the last 8 cents on my gift card
Paid 43 cents OOP

Received $2 ECB's for the wipes

SO - $53.96 worth of product (sale prices!) for 43 cents of my money! Spent $20.44 in ECB's and received back $15

On to RiteAid (not near as exciting!)

2 Herbal Essence Shampoos @ $2.50 ea
1 Infusium @ $4.99
2 Oral B toothbrushes @ $5.99 ea
1 Venus Vibrance @ $7.99
= $23.97

Coupons:
1 Herbal Essence $3/2
1 Infusium - $3
B1G1 Oral B - $5.99
1 Venus - $2
=$18.07 OOP (with tax)

Rebates:
Herbal Essence $2
Infusium $1.99
Venus $5
Oral B $4
= $12.99 total rebates for a cost of $5.08 for everything pictured

Final stop - Walgreens (I also call this my PMS special - the irony of pads and chocolate hit me after I got home :))


2 Stayfree @ $2.50 ea
1 Herberts Loaded candy bar @ 99 cents
2 M&M's @ $2.00 ea
= $10.99

Coupons:
1 Stayfree @ $1
B1G1 Stayfree @ $2.50
1 Walgreens IVC M&M @ $1
2 M&M @ 75 cents each

Paid $2.59 on my rebate gift card, $2.10 cash. I'll receive back $1.09 (99 cents + 10%) for the candy bar.

Summary:

$88.92 worth of stuff
for $20.60 OOP today
but will get back $14.08
making it $6.52 OOP

I did spend about $13 in gas today though.

For more great deals, check out SuperSavingsSaturday, CVS Superstars, and Drugstore Divas!

June Summary

In June, I got $623.82 worth of stuff for just $104.41 after rebates ($170ish before). I spent more at Wal-Mart this month than I have in a long time - $81 worth (for $117 worth of merchandise) - but it was mostly household/wedding (my sister Eunice's) stuff that you really can't get cheaper and is not an every month type of thing. (And I have at least $6 worth to return.)

So, remove WM, and I got $506 worth of stuff (personal care items, groceries, etc.) for just $23 after rebates ($89 before rebates).

I saved $210 in regular coupons (newspapers, printable), $7.85 in doubled coupons at Kroger, and $5.50 in ecoupons at Kroger.

Since I started using coupons, I've started buying the bulk of our groceries and other needs. I used to have Heather (my sister who lives with me) buy her own food, shampoo, etc. and take turns buying things like laundry soap, TP, etc. (Much like a roommate situation.) Now I "buy" most of the stuff we use - she only buys the occasional TV dinners for lunches or any other special snacks she wants. Before coupons, I was easily spending at least $100 a month at WM for just my stuff - Heather was spending at least $50 a month. I think most months we were both spending quite a bit more than that. Before coupons, Heather used to run out of money by the last week of the month - which meant I had to buy anything she needed and buy hers if we ate out. Now she usually has close to $100 left over at the end of the month! So she's getting to buy more fun stuff now. I spend at most $25 a week at Kroger on groceries. I sometimes get some groceries at CVS or Walgreens as well as the bulk of our cleaning supplies, paper products, and things like shampoo, body wash, etc. Of course we also have a nice stockpile so we can just "shop" at home when we run out of something.

Now if we'd just quit eating out so often I could send more money to debt. ;) Little by little. (And with it being summer we want to get out of the house so we go shopping and then eat out. So our eating out has gone up lately. I justify it because I saved so much money at the store. haha Once schools resumes and I get back on a normal schedule, I think we'll stop eating out so much.)

I'm also updating my refunds on the right........ check it out! :)