Walgreens Super Saving Deals 8/29-8/30 ONLY

Gotta love the overlapping days (August Easy Saver and Sep Easy Saver)

Anyhows...you can get lots of deals and coupons here:

My deals will be

Crest Toothpaste: $2.99 (-$1 Wag coupon, Aug booklet)

Nivea Body Wash for men: $4.99

Lip Moisturizer: $1.99

Water Filter: $6.99

L'oreal Revitalift: $16.49 (this can be for a gift)

Revlon Nail Care: $4.49 (gift)

Chemistry Shampoo/treatment: 7.99 (-$3 Wag Coupon, Aug booklet)

Milk: $3.39 (-$0.50 Tuscan coupon online)

Cottonelle Wipes: $1.99 (-$0.50 Internet coupon)

-$10 off $40 coupon (in the email, you can get the coupon from here)

Total: $36.31 Out of pocket. Will get back rebate: $50.55. Earnings: $14.23

I'm doing the deals about twice because I have my MIL's card to spend for her too! Cool!

FHD Menu: Aug 16-22

Forgot all about taking photos of my meals. And had no time to update our menu for last week...here goes a quick one (no time to calculate costs either, but I'm sure they're not too bad)

1. The pic above is of Black Beans and Quinoa. And salad. Very good stuff!

2. Hot Dogs and Sauerkraut, soup

3. Fried Rice (Super simple and mighty cheap)

4. Pork with spring beans. Stir fry Cabbage and carrots. Rice.

5. Chicken with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and spring beans. Rice

6. Leftover Thai pork, Stir Fry Chinese Vegetables, Fried Eggs with mixed vegetables. Rice

7. Homemade Pizza

8. Slow-cooked chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots and onions, with bread.

This week's giveaways

I've been entering some free giveaways from moneysavingmom. No prize yet for me, but maybe some day! =)

You can try too!

$150 worth of free coupons at Oikology (I love the definition of this)

$100 worth of free coupons at saving and giving

Frugalrimama having her first giveaway. All You coupons. Real good stuff.

And Coupon Coup has some great deals to share. Aside from my Suddenly Salad turning from $1 to $0.20, I'm sure she has more deals!

This is what I REALLY hope to get: Couponizer!! from Frugal Mommy of 2 girls

Staples Freebies

Get your free...

Manual Pencil Sharpeners (limit 3)
Paper folders (limit 10)
Cap erasers (a pack of 12)

this week at Staples!

Drugstore Deals Aug 24

Our trips to the drugstores does not bring back a whole wagon full of stuff but very fruitful! Mostly because the stuff we get are stuff we need and at really good value!

WALGREENS:
Puffs Tissue - 3 for $0.89 each, $1 Q off
Dawn Dishliquid - 2 for $0.99 each, $1 Q off
Shredded Cheese - $1.50
Ivory Soaps - $2, $1 Q off
Zest Soaps - $2, $1 Q off
Newspapers (My newspapers still didn't come today. They are just ridiculous with my subscription)
Milk - $3.39, $0.50 Q off
Paper plates - $0.99
$1.50 RR off
We went to Wag again in afternoon, cos I forgot the milk and to use my Register Reward (Cash for Wag). Then I realized I have 2 coupons for the milk, which won't work, so I have to grab a "filler", I got the paper plates, cos I'll need them anyway and they're on sale (almost forgot to ask the cashier to scan the Wag coupon, good thing I checked)

CVS:
Carefree Pantiliners & O.B tampons - $9, $5 ECB back, and I have $0.50 Q
Kotex Lightdays, $1.49, $1.49 ECB back, and I have $1 Q
Playtex Sport tampons, $4.99, $3 ECB back, and I have $1 Q
Then I have CVS $2 off $10 coupons and $8 ECB from last week.
OOP (Out of pocket): $3.44, ECB back: $9.49 (for next week)

RITE-AID
Pert Shampoo - $2.99, $2 single check rebate, $2 Q off (money maker: $1.01!)
Conair clipper set - $19.99 (to save money cutting my son's hair)
Baking soda (not in the pics) - $1.29 for 2, I have $1 Q off, so $0.29 for 2 boxes! yeh!

And oh! We got the Johnson's Buddies Soap at Target $1.09, $1 coupon, so cost us $0.12 after tax.

Total spent: $37.08, $9.49 ECB, $2 rebate
OR $25.59 after ECB and rebate.

Grocery Aug Week 4

This is a way cool grocery week.

We bought ALL these things...for $43.75 (actually we accidentally bought 1 more Suddenly Salad and 2 more Chex for no coupons!...So, we might return them tomorrow, for $5 back!...that's $38.75, record week) We got these at 3 different grocery: Stop & Shop, C-Town and a Chinese supermarket.

Oh oh, in case you can't see it, that's SEVEN packs of Ronzoni pasta there (enough to last many pasta meals) and we even bought two packs of meat (chicken and minced pork)

I cannot believe I used a total of $18.20 on coupons this week. Gosh. I've never used such an amount of coupon before. Thanks to double-couponing at Stop & Shop, I love them!

For eg, without coupon Suddenly Pasta Salad (Betty Crocker) is $1 at S&S this week. Pretty good deal, but with $0.40 coupon (that doubles to $0.80), each box is $0.20. $0.20!!!! That's amazing to me!!

Other things, after coupons, frosting is $0.40, Chex is $0.80, Pop corn is $1.40 per box (that's $0.46 per pack), and check this out...Ronzoni's new pasta (with extra calcium and fiber) is $1.50 without coupon (it's on sale!) I have $1, so it's $0.50 per pack! I collected a lot of coupons from the coupon/circular pack we get every Wed. We even asked an old uncle if he can spare those. Usually people throw them away. I collected 7 and happily used them.

My adrenalin is HIGH HIGH. But we were at the self check out, and it's kinda embarrassing to hear "Scan another coupon" like 17 times. But hey, we saved the money!

Free Birthday Treats

Here you find a list of places that'll give you free treats on your birthday (and for kids too!)

I'm definitely taking note of the places!!

Thanks, couponcravings!

Body Shop: Free Shave Cream!

I found a $10 off anything more than $10 coupon of Body Shop online (from couponcravings. Thought of trying it.

Only things (that I want to buy) that's $10 in that place is the shave cream, body butter (the mini version), some tea-tree blemish stick and some small stuff. Thought I could get my favorite Vit E Cream and top up some money, but it's a bit too much (it used to be $13!!). SO, I decided to get my hubby the shave cream.

Thought I'll have to pay tax. NO! I paid $0! And got 2 little samples (adorable containers huh?). My.

A pity, the link to the coupon is not working anymore. =(

Try it Free

I found links from couponcravings to try stuff for free (basically they'll send a full rebate after you mail in receipts and UPC code).

These 2 I'm trying:

Kelloggs Cereal!! (Smart Start Strawberry Oat Bites or Frosted Mini Wheats Blueberry muffin, which sound absolutely tasty) The rebate form is here.

Great deal: Buy 1 (and get 1 free) at CVS this week, use 2 coupons from here (that'll take $2 off) and get a full refund of 1 box from the rebate. Is that sweet or what? I hope it'll work! It should.

BUN-dinos. No idea what they are or where I can find them. But if I do, at my grocery store, I'll love to try! Rebate form here. (This gotta be bfore 30 Aug, so hurry!)

Our First "C"

Started our clutter-cleaning project little by little. The boxes under the sink are filled with free/cheap stuff from our drugstores escapades. And I made a little bookshelf (expandable) for my kids (using diaper boxes! I'm so proud of myself) It's not enough. I have more to do. Need to get boxes to put in things that are hoarding space and not doing much.

But I have to start thinking what to do with them.

Garage Sale? A lot of work. And I have to get permission from landlady.

Craiglist? Do they sell these?

EBay? More work.

Donate? (to who?)

Anyhows...start cleaning first! Decluttering is so free-ing, but A LOT OF WORK.

Free Rulers and Pencils (Staples)

More free stuff at Staples.

Planning to put the pencils in the Christmas Shoe Box this year.

Arms and Hammer Essentials Kit: Free!

Get this cleaner free after rebate. Ends Nov 15, 2008. Use this rebate and this coupon and you actually earn some money after the rebate!

Got this from moneysavingmom of course.

Giveaways

There are lots of giveaway opportunities at Moneysavingmom's weekly giveaway links.

This is one of them.(newlyweds) You stand to win a CVS $25 Card. Just comment or link for an entry!

This is another. (Savin'Maven) to win a CVS $25 card.

Merrimom has coupons valued at $60 to give away. Ends Wed (tomorrow!)

Free Scotts Toilet paper sample

Get your free Scotts Toilet paper sample from Walmart!

I always had good experience getting samples from them.

Free Coupons

I decided to do some cleaning of my small coupon collection. Since it'll be such a waste to throw away expired coupons (that can be well-used by someone else before they actually expire), I'll love to give them away.

No catch. Go to http://picasaweb.google.com/anncsu/FreeCoupons

Pick out any (or all) that you like, give me your email on the comments and I'll contact you for the method of retrieval, whether via a pre-stamped envelope or you pay normal first-class postage (via paypal) plus $0.20 for envelope and efforts.

First come first serve. If this works well, I might do this periodically.

Grocery Aug Week 3

Mental Note: Take pic of grocery.

We spent $43 this week. That's including some "indulgences"...like seltzer water, breakfast meat, individually packed yogurt (two of them is one serving of a meal!!) But we saved on cereal and veg (cos some good veg on sale). I still need to get eggs and pepper...so I might go slightly beyond $45.

Let's see how CVS, Wag and Rite-Aid will treat us this week. ;P

More Cereal

Stop and Shop has sale of 4 boxes for $6 ($1.50, cheap enough?)
But we have coupons $1 off cheerios, and we have $0.55 off cinnamon toast crunch (which can be doubled...that means $1.10 off each one).

SO...we had $3.60 for 8 boxes. $0.45 each box. How about that.

We'll no longer buy cereal more expensive than $0.75 per box.

SO, more cereal for our breakfast and Ian's favorite cheerios.

FHD Menu: 8/9-8/15

We had a "Try It New" week.

Sat

Hummus
Home-Made Pita Bread
Tomato Soup
Salad
$0.75 per serving

Sun Lunch

Thai Pork(A dish learnt from R & N)
Minced pork, garlic, tomato and red curry paste (that's the main ingredient!)
Rice
Fresh greens
$1.08 per serving

Sun Dinner

Buffalo Wings
Homemade Vegetable Soup
(Broccoli, carrots, celery, corn in chicken stock)
$1.19 per serving

Mon














Stir Fry Diced Chicken, mushrooms and tofu
Stir Fry bok-choy in oyster sauce
Rice
$1.44 per serving (I cannot believe this is the most expensive meal of the week)

Tue














Corned Beef Hash Casserole

My own concoction: Stir Corn beef, julienned potatoes, cream of celery soup, corn, frozen mixed veg, eggs, milk together. Bake at 375 deg, top with cheese and corn flakes.

$1.14 per serving


Wed














Sardines with onions and fresh cucumber
Slow Cook Bitter melon with pork rib, fermented black beans and tofu (a real yum)
Rice
$1.14 per serving


Thu














Cabbage Soup with Quinoa
(Cabbage, celery, carrots, bacon, corn, chicken stock, quinoa all boil together, simmer for 1 h)

Home made Foccacia
$0.63 per serving

Fri (Dinner at the park)


BBQ Pork sandwiches
Steamed Corn
$1.44 per serving (So expensive because we got expensive rolls)

Free pens

Alright, how's this. First we get free glue. Then we get free pens.

Bic pens on sale at Walgreens for 2 at $1. I have a coupon for $1 off 2. So, it's free (sort of) I pay $0.08 for tax.

Sweet.

CVS Aug 10-16

Here's our CVS trip this week. We learnt from some websites that people actually EARN money from shopping at drugstores. This is a completely out-of-the-world concept to us. Cos things at drugstores are SUPERDUPEREXPENSIVE. Yet, we learn. We already got some good stuff from Walgreens, and then Rite-Aid and now CVS, the king of drugstores. Why I say that? cos everyone doing drugstore shopping stands by CVS. People even do not need to spend a cent on household stuff, because they use great strategies at CVS!

Here's our first "official" trip. (we got a couple of toothpastes, toothbrushes before...big deal...look at this one)

That's how we did it.

Transaction 1 (hubby got them near his work, which has horrible sales since it's in the city):

2 Infant's Advil (no, we do not use this, but it's a money-saver for future use and we can donate/sell this) - $11.58

Coupons used:
$2 out of $10 CVS coupon
2 $1 Advil MC (Manufacturer's coupons)
$5 ECB from last week (ECB is like CVS cash voucher)

Paid out-of-pocket: $2.58, but gained back $11.58 ECB.

Transaction 2 (this is a little more complicated):
3 Johnson's head-to-toe wash
1 Johnson's buddies (which we're returning today, cos it's a wrong deal)
1 playskool wipes
1 alavert (medicine for allergy, which we don't use either)
1 Skin effects facial cleanser

Coupons used:
$2 out of $10 CVS coupon
3 $1 JJ Coupons
$2 CVS Skin effects coupon
$4 Alavert MC
$11.58 ECB from last transaction

Paid out of pocket: $5.75 (after our return of JJ buddies, maybe less), gained back $8 ECB.

We were trying to get towards buying $25 worth of baby products and get $5 ECB back, but that will not work after a lengthy discussion with hubby (and what I will write in detail later). And also this particular CVS is horrible at taking internet coupons (though legitimate), so we are stopping here for this week.

SOOO...if we get to return the buddies,

We paid out of pocket total: $3.99 and have $8 ECB back for next purchase. So we actually "earn" $4.01 this week at CVS with all the items above. Not too bad for a newbie.

Grocery Aug Week 2

We spent $45 on groceries this week, that's including two big packs of MEAT. Chicken wings for my hubby's favorite buffalo wings and a huge piece of pork shoulder which I put in slow cooker, shred them and prep for 2 to 3 other meals.

Very nice.

Deals 8/10-8/16

Alright, this week's deals started with Rite Aid. We got some personal items (a lot of them) for $1.99 (because of their rebate and coupons) We would have spent...$28.96. Saved $26.97. KEWL.

Then the Staples glue with hubby got. We even got some for my FIL. ha.

We started our CVS deal today. Will talk about the deal with it's all done.

And CVS gave us a free gift. ANOTHER toothbrush.

Elmer's Glue at Staples

Stationaries are suppose to be cheap, but definitly not at Staples. My perspective has changed a bit today though. They are having a sale this week. Most of the "more useful" sale items (pen, index cards...etc.) are out of stock which is really annoying, but the Elmer's Glue is a funny one.
You walk in the store and there's a whole basket of Elmer's Glue. The are regularly priced at $0.99 each and with the current sale, you get $0.99 instant savings, which means it's free.

I get two of them, walk to the cashier, hand them the glues (thinking... FREE? really?). They scan it, and the receipt prints out. "Thank you for shopping at Staples. Have a good day!".

Now, I have never ever gotten a reciept like this in my whole life!!!

Meal Plan 8/2-8/8

I thought of putting up my FHD Menu so you can see we are not starving while cutting costs! But I kept forgetting to take pictures. Will remember next week.

Sat
Cornflaked Chicken (Chicken breasts coated with cornflakes and baked)
Oven Fried Fries
Steamed Peas/Carrots
$1.33 per serving

Sun
Cold Noodles (with grated cucumber, carrots and peanut sauce)
$0.45 per serving

Mon
Celery Chicken
Stir Fry Shanghai You Cai 油菜
Rice
$0.84 per serving

Tue
Thai Gourmet (by R)

Wed
Chicken Broccoli
Mixed Vegetables Omelet
Rice
$0.90 per serving

Thu
Mashed Tofu with pork, carrots and zucchini
Rice
$0.96 per serving

Fri
Eat Out

Update on Before Aug Compilation

So, to cut the complicated story short, I had more savings.

Rebate came through for the OneTouch at Walgreens and So, we saved $35.42 for pre-Aug. Actually more. Cos I went to buy more papers at $5 and this is going to come back. We would have spent $6 on them. So, that's a total of $41.42 for pre-Aug.

Sweet.

Free Stuff!

Today is a "free" day.

First, I have been having soured milk which is maybe 5 or 6 days away from expiration and it's real frustrating. I wrote in to the milk company and guess what? I got coupons for 2 gallons of free milk. Never hurt to write huh?

Then, we had coupons for free pizzas (from Kraft, so that we can try out the pizzas and give review). We had been having problems locating these pizzas and I found them in Target today. Yoo-Hoo!!

Then, never thought we'll do Rite-Aid too. Rite-Aid has free-after-rebate stuff every week (you buy, then they refund you in a check). Hey, man, free shampoo and this really cool shaver for my hubby? Cheap is good, free is better!

Hair Cut

Finally...borrowed a hair-cutter from F and P (those razor-like thingey for guys?) and I cut Ian's hair!!! With A LOT of persuasion and 2 bowls of ice-cream, we did it without screaming cries. And I think I did a really good job!

Saved...$10. WOH!

Grocery Aug Wk 1

This week, after very careful planning, we went to 2 grocery stores and spent $33.46 for our weekly meals (6 meals, including 2 meals with others in our meals)!!

Then we bought 2 boxes of blueberries on sale for $1.79 per lb.

Then we bought CEREALS!!!!! Wag has cereal sale: 4 for $10 (but you get back $5 Register Rewards, almost like Wag cash, which you can use at Wag) and with 2 manufacturers' coupons (that I got by buying a $1 paper, totally worth it), I saved $2 more per 4 boxes.... Then I did that one more round in the afternoon.

So...we have 8 boxes of cereal (not including 3 that we got from another supermarket onsale for $1 each) at...$0.70 per box! Usually, even at a sale, I'll have to spend anywhere from $1.50 to $3 per box!

Just on cereal alone, we saved $6.42 today. And these boxes are going to last us quite a while.

This week for groceries and household, we spent (+some deals at CVS tomorrow, more stock up on colgate and toothbrush!!)...$45.20

Usually we would have spent $60 just on grocery alone. Happy Happy.