4/5/09 coupons

here

The Queen of cheap/free

I took a shower tonight. I used my free softsoap bodywash, my free garnier shampoo and conditioner. I shaved my legs with a razor I got cheap, I used my deodorant (that Walmart paid me to take!), I used my free leave in Garnier conditioner, I brushed my teeth with a free toothbrush and used toothpaste that I got paid to buy from Walgreens and before I go to bed I will use my lotion that I got paid to buy from Walgreens. It is really gratifying to me to get all this stuff so cheap or free. On the otherhand there needs to be a line drawn. When does one stop collecting/stockpiling items? This leads me to a gripe of sorts. There are some people that will completely take advantage of a deal like the one at Walgreens and abuse the shit out of it getting 50+ bottles of whatever and only paying tax on each one. That is FINE because it is working that way. I am sure these people donate or whatever but still 50+ bottles. I understand a great deal is just that, a GREAT deal but where do you draw the line? I draw MY line at what I can use within 12-18 months (for shampoo and the like) and what I can give to family and friends (without causing a lack of whatever for my family). I would not be able to use 50+ bottles of ANYTHING (well except maybe ketchup and soda...the kids will eat ketchup on ANYTHING...including green beans....and R and I drink a lot of soda) in this time frame so I do not buy more than that even if it is free.

My giving has a limit too. For instance, I will not just GIVE someone something from my stockpile because they are too lazy to go work for the deals themselves. There is one lady that I know that just expects me to give her stuff because I get it free. Yeah I get it free but I work for these deals; cutting coupons, watching sales, research on some websites, trips to stores, etc. It probably takes me a couple hours a week to do everything I do. That is valuable time that I will NOT spend getting my deals to just hand over to someone who is too lazy to do it. I do not mind helping once in awhile and I am very willing to share my deals with anyone who asks but I will not go and buy the stuff for a person, or just hand over what I have gotten because they feel entitled. I am a giving person but not that giving. I am ranting about this because I was sharing a deal with someone today and she says to me "since you have so many, could you spare one for me?" I said this ONE time I will but that is it. If you want in on the deals I will help you and she says "it just seems like so much work." I said it is but it is worth it.

And the other thing and makes me soooo mad! People that get this stuff, clearing the shelves so others cannot get in on the deal, and sell it at a garage sale. OMG that makes me so mad. It is a good idea, don't get me wrong, but please leave stuff on the shelves for others. That is all I am saying. There is no need to buy 50+ of whatever and then make a buck off it at your garage sale. People KNOW what you are up to. Some might not care but those that want to just get 3-4 whatevers get pissed when they can't. Stockpiling is good but overkill is not. And yes, I do have 30 some bottles of Garnier in my stockpile but in my quest for free Garnier, I did not: a. clear shelves b. have any intent on selling it c. buy stuff we will not use in the next 12-18 months. We use A LOT of Garnier and I barter it with my brother so it will all get used and I still left plenty for others. It may seem hypocritical coming from a stockpiler to be ranting like this and it is....kind of. I always make sure to leave plenty for others and most of my stockpile items are not from a single sale but multiple sales over many months. What gets me is the people that get it with the sole intention of resale. THAT is what bothers me most!

oh yeah and by free I mean I pay tax on the item so yeah I pay a little for it but essentially it is free. The majority of my "free" stuff is just paying tax, so free but not free...clear as mud, right?

Softsoap deal no longer rolling

I tried again this evening. I used my last 2 free coupons and it didn't roll. That is ok I ended up with another 3 since the last time I posted. I gave 2 away.

been so consumed with the softsoap deal

That I completely forgot to write about my awesome Saturday score. For $21.45 I got a 8.5lb Beef tenderloin. It was $2.50/lb. I cut it into 18 good sized thick steaks and 1 perfect for us sized roast (about 1.5 lbs). The roast would have made 3 more steaks so it figured out to $1.02/steak and $3.06 for the roast. I have been experimenting with cutting my own meat. It is nice to be able to cut the meat to my liking and trim the fat, etc as I cut it. I can cut it to my own specifications and I want to try grinding my own ground beef next. I figured I would try to get some chuck roasts and steaks cheap and trim the fat and then use FILs grinder to make my own ground beef.

Softsoap deal

was still "rolling" as of 9:30 this morning. I got 2 of the coconut scrub and it still gave me 2 coupons for more free ones. I will be stopping after work and seeing if it is working. If not I am ok with that. I have plenty but I am going to get my last two free ones. As on right now, it works out to 36 cents a piece with the first one I had to buy and the 2nd one that I had to use a RR and my coupon for. If I just get the next two it would work out to 32.9 cents a piece, because of the tax and the original one that I had to buy. Still not a bad deal. I am currently paying just tax (22 cents on each one) which is a fantastic deal!

on a "roll" today

Walgreens trip

1st transaction:
$12.00 4 12 packs of Mountain Dew
.66 tax

____
$12.66
-10. RR (from Dove soap)
_____
2.66 got back $3 RR


2nd transaction
$3.99 soft soap
$ .22 tax
____
$4.21
-3.00 RR (from Mountain Dew)
____
$1.21 OOP got a RR for a free Soft soap bodywash

Transaction 3
$12.00 4 12 packs Mountain Dew
3.99 softsoap body wash
.96 tax
____
16.95
-3.99 free soft soap RR
-10.00 RR from dove soap
_____
2.96 OOP got another free soft soap RR and $3 from Dew

Transaction 4
$3.99 Soft soap body wash
.69 Peeps (filler item)
.24 tax
_______
4.92
-.30 Walgreens peeps in ad Q
-1.00 MFQ for Soft soap
-3.00 RR from Dew
_____
.62 OOP got RR for free soft soap

Transaction 5
3.99 soft soap
.22 tax
____
4.21
-3.99 RR for free soft soap
____
.22 OOP and ANOTHER rr for free soft soap



What I brought home for $7.67 total! Peeps not pictured because we ate them in the car :) The 2 papers are 2 more coupons for free soft soap. Total Saved today was $53.50. Percentage is 87.4% savings. WOW!

on a roll because: The soft soap coupons are "rolling" this means that when you use one coupon to get a free one it is not supposed to print one to get another free one but it is right now (it will be fixed at some point I imagine). But the way it is currently working you would just buy the original one and keep getting them for 22 cents tax (or whatever tax is where you live) and then getting another coupon. I decided to stop because 6 will last me a very long time and a couple will end up in gift baskets.

3/29 coupons

here

Thursday shopping trips

Last night K and I went to get her Easter dress. I wanted to get her a summery dress (and one for O) that she could wear for Easter but have for wearing other times too. I found the ones I liked on Sears.com. I get an employee discount at Sears (including online but ONLY if I have a Sears card :( ). In store I can get the discount as long as I use my debit card or cash. So I took Kait and she picked out a beautiful dress for her sister and an almost identical one for herself. $19 for 2 dresses. Not bad!

Then we went to Walmart. I have been checking everytime I got because I have read that some of the store were carrying the 4 lb bags of Iams pet foods for $5. I had 4 $5 off coupons, making the pet food free (well I had to pay tax). I got 4 bags last night. They had a lot of pretty good clearance stuff, almost free deodorant for R after coupons, some musical toothbrushes (which I did not buy but K wants for Easter). I had a kind of unthrifty night though as well. One of our cats has tummy issues. I have been getting whatever cat food is cheapest after coupons. This has not been sitting well with that kitty's tummy and he has been yacking everywhere. Poor thing. We have found that the Purina indoor or the Walmart brand indoor or urinary tract health food is the only kind he can stomach. So I priced it out and wow. I shoot for $1/lb or less to feed the animals. With coupons last night I was about to get a 7 lb bag of cat food for $5.27, which is good and cheaper than the Walmart brand but if I don't have coupons, even the Walmart brand is more than $1/lb. BUT if it makes my kitty not so sick, it is worth it.

After Walmart K and I went to Walgreens in that town and found pizzas on clearance for 50 cents each. I still had some money on my gift card so I got 10 pizzas for $1.77.

300th post!

Our weekend:

Yesterday the kids, the dog and I played outside almost all day. I hung out some laundry to dry. We took a walk to the park, we cooked steaks on the grill. We went to my parents and let the girls and the dog run. It was a good day. Unfortunately last night ended with a migraine for me due to some stress from an outside problem. But we will deal with it.

coupons 3/22

here

you could win FREE shoes for a year

sign up here . Today ONLY!

Rewards of Frugality

In my quest to be frugal, I have been doing many things from scratch. Like making my own bodywash and handsoap. It is rewarding because I am the type of person that loves to see results and because I get K involved. Tonight K and I made a batch of bodywash for her. She loved it. She stood over the pot on the stove and stirred and stirred and kept asking Mom is it done? Mom is it done? She had a blast.

We hang our laundry out to dry in the summer and K enjoys helping with that. I do it not only to save money and because I like the smell, I do it because I enjoy the time with K. We do a lot of "frugal" things together. I hope that by doing this she not only sees the value of hardwork but also what mommy does to save money. I hope that I am instilling life lessons into her. Things that she will carry into adulthood and look back on fondly. I hope the smell of line dried laundry will bring her back to the simpler time, when she and I would take a basket of laundry outside and she would hand me the clothespins, one by one, like it was the most important job in the world. And maybe, just maybe, she will pass that on to her own child someday and think back about the many "gifts" I have given her even without spending a dime on them. I can hope right?

free things in the mail

A lot of the moms in some of my thrifty groups are members of this. It is a site that sends out samples and good coupons for products. Try the product, fill out a survey. Some things members have gotten include Razors, new cereals and snacks to try. To join, you just fill out a survey about how many children etc live in your house and some of your opinoins on things. It took me about 5 minutes to join. I just joined today so I will update when I get samples etc.

Homemade body wash recipe and more fun!

Ingredients

1 soap bar, small (not super size)

3 cups water

Directions

1. Take your bar of soap (we use Dove or store brand like it, because it's more moisturizing), and grate it with a cheese grater.

2. Pour the water and grated soap into a microwaveable container and cook on high for 3 min.

3. Remove and stir until all soap bits have melted (put in a bit longer, if needed).

4. Let it cool, then pour into pumps (leftover from store bought liquid soap), and the remainder in any container with a lid.



I am going to make mine on the stove but I am going to try this as soon as I have an empty bottle to put it in. Reviews are really good on it but I will review it myself after I use it. Both O and I (and now my dad) have extremely dry skin. I have psoriasis and Dad does too and O just has excema but I have found that the commericially made body washes are expensive and are not helping my psoriasis so I am going to make my own "formula" for body wash using the dove bars of soap and some tea tree oil.



Walgreens all month has Dove products on RR. This week they are 25% off so buy 8 bars of soap ($1.19 at my store's sale price) and get back $10 in RR for buying 8 Dove products. MONEY MAKER. I wanted to get some this morning but they were out. I got a text message about 3 from a friend saying the Dove was stocked so I went in and got 8 bars and some dish soap. My total cost was $10.84 but I got back $10 so for .84 I got the following:





9.52 8 bars Dove soap (1.19 each sale price)
1.99 1 Palmolive dish soap
___
11.51
.58 tax
____
12.09
-1.00 Walgreens Q for Palmolive
-0.25 MFQ for Palmolive
____
10.84 Got back $10 RR! Total Savings (excluding RR)=$4.45

********EDIT************
I made the body wash and used it tonight. I liked it. It was a bit more watery than I would like so I would back off the water to 2 cups or 2 1/2. It lathered nicely. I smell great. Between my Free Garnier Shampoo, conditioner, leave in conditioner, and mousse and now my homemade body wash I am one Hot Momma! I will let you know if the tea tree oil does anything in the body wash. I know it helps when I apply it straight from the bottle.

my coupons savings so far this year/new Walgreens week

Amount saved/retail price without coupons and sales

827.10/1225.75=67.4% not too shabby, huh?

My percentage for today is 96.7%

I went this morning to get Pullups for K and a paper:

4.50 pullups
4.50 pullups
4.50 pullups
2.25 paper
.69 Peeps (needed something to bring my total up to the amount of the RR I wanted to use)
____
16.44
.76 tax
____
17.20
-.30 Walgreens Peeps coupons (in ad Q)
-3.00 RR from Coke
-3.00 RR from Coke
-10.00 RR from Huggies
____
0.90 OOP cost... savings of 96.7%

so it seems

that my local Walgreens does not even follow their own signs. LOL. I went in today to get my last 2 free Garnier and had to get a filler so I got a $1 bottle of PM pain reliever. Total cost was $1.36. LOVE THAT!

Can I just say...

I love Jon Stewart! Not even because of this. I have always enjoyed the Daily Show. I find it very amusing. I like the Colbert Report as well but The Daily Show is my fav!

How observant is a 3 year old?

VERY! Tonight we picked up Pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner because:
A. We never eat out as a family-if we have to pay for it. We have been out as a family once since O was born and we did not have to pay for that meal.
B. We were celebrating R's new job
C. R had a ton of running around to do today so the kids went to the sitter's house while I was at work and I didn't have anything started for dinner

Anyway, we stopped to pick up the pizza and I grabbed my little wallet thing and K says "mom. don't forget your coupons. You have a coupon for the pizza right?" Yeah...LOL guess she has gone shopping with me and my coupons enough that she notices but nope no coupon for the pizza but I did get a special deal they had going so that was alright. LOL. We got home and she tells R "mom paid full price for the pizza. Is that bad?" Wow just wow...guess she is learning a lot huh?

1 more Walgreens trip this week

I decided to try my luck getting the Garnier again. I still had 4 coupons left. I decided to not push my luck too far and only got 2. That leaves me 1 day left of the sale, 2 shifts so I can get my last 2 FREE bottles of conditioner. UGH! This has been a PITA week for sure. Luckily tonight the cashier let me get 2 bottles. My Walgreens is limiting Garnier to one per person per day but when they do that I know that the last day or two of the sale they don't follow the limits.

My receipt looks like this:

3.25 diet coke
3.25 diet coke
3.25 diet coke
3.25 diet coke
2.99 Garnier
2.99 Garnier
____
18.98
1.04 tax
____
20.02
-1.00 Garnier Fructis Q
-1.00 Garnier Fructis Q
-4.00 Walgreens Garnier Q
-10.00 Register Reward from Huggies deal
_____
4.02 OOP

26.96 total savings! and got another $3 RR for buying the 4 12 packs of coke.

So this week so far...still have to get the last 2 Garnier tommorrow....
total savings: $180.29
total spent: $102.60
Register Rewards earned: $66

I have $16 in RR left as of right now. If I get the Garnier and 4 coke one more time I will have $9 in RR and will use that for 2 packs of pullups for K and will have to get a filler (you must have as many items in the transaction as RR or it will not go through. The RR needs something to "attach" to at the register. RR is consider a coupon so anything I get that I already have a MFQ for I need to have a "filler" for each RR I intend to use.) and I think I will get a pack of diapers for my new niece as a filler. Yeah it is kind of an expensive filler but that will make my Walgreens shopping done and I can use the diapers for part of the baby shower gift.

O M G

He got the job! R got the job he interviewed for today. He starts Monday. We are truly blessed!