A Table Full of Groceries...and a $82.22 Profit to Boot

Acme - they are running a fabulous deal this week. Spend $30, get back $15 in cats (on items listed on back page of the circular). Like they've done in the past, your total is calculated based on shelf prices, not sale prices so its pretty easy to come up with some freebies or even moneymakers. Just be careful to check shelf prices carefully as they can vary from store to store. And you can double or triple the deal in one transaction, ie. spend $60, get back $30 in cats or spend $90, get back $60 in cats. Since Acme's sales start on Fridays, I had some catching up to do.

TIP - if your store has self checkout, check out there. Ring up all your items and THEN scan your Acme card. This will show your pre-sale total, so you can make sure you hit the right amount.

First store

• 3 Viva paper towels $1.99 each (shelf price $2.69), used three $0.85 coupons (10/11 SS) = $0.87
• 3 Kleenex tissues 110 count $0.99 each (shelf price $1.59), used $0.50 off 3 coupon (9/13, 10/4 or 11/1 SS) = $1.97
• 4 Scott Mega Single Roll paper towels $0.99 each (shelf price $1.99), used $1 off $4 coupon (11/1 SS) = $2.96
• 6 Cheerios $1.88 each (shelf price $3.79), used three $1 off 2 coupons (11/1 or 11/8 SS) = $8.28
• 4 Betty Crocker frostings $1.69 each (shelf price $2.19), used four $0.50 coupons (10/25 SS) = $2.76
• 4 Betty Crocker cookie mixes $1.69 each (shelf price $2.49), used four $0.40 coupons (10/25 SS) = $3.56
• Total was $20.40 (shelf price total $62.26), got back $30 in catalinas (three $10 cats), overall profit $9.60

Second store

• 3 Betty Crocker cookie mixes $1.69 each (shelf price $2.29), used three $0.40 coupons (10/25 SS) = $2.67
• 6 Kleenex tissues 110 count $0.99 each (shelf price $1.59), used two $0.50 off 3 coupons (9/13, 10/4 or 11/1 SS) = $3.94
• 9 Scott Mega Single Roll paper towels $0.99 each (shelf price $1.99), used two $1 off $4 coupons (11/1 SS) = $6.91 *Only needed to buy 8 here but I wasn't 100% sure about my math so I bought an extra just in case I was a little under for the $60 mark
• 6 Cheerios $1.88 each (shelf price $3.79), used three $1 off 2 coupons (11/1 or 11/8 SS) = $8.28
• 4 Betty Crocker frostings $1.69 each (shelf price $2.29), used three $0.50 coupons (only had three left, 10/25 SS) = $3.76
• Used two $10 cats from order one, total was $5.56 (shelf price total $63.93), overall profit $4.44

You can break up your orders to just hit the $30 mark. There are only a couple Acme's in my area, and I didn't want to mess around with multiple transactions so I just went for $60 all at once. I'm going to work out some more transactions and head back for another round tomorrow.

Rite Aid

• 3 Herbal Essences shampoos and 3 stylers $4.49 each, BOGO sale and used three BOGO coupons (10/11 P&G) = FREE
• Total was $0.94 (tax)

Walgreens *Bought the meters all separately but I'm listing them all at once to keep this post from going 40 pages long. I went to seven different Walgreens to buy all these goodies and almost all the stores were really well stocked on the meters. That's quite a change from the last time they ran this deal and they were so hard to find.

• 14 Bayer Contour or Breeze meters $14.99 each, used fourteen freebie coupons (10/25 RP) and got back $5 RR for each = $5 profit for each, overall profit $70
• 6 Ocean Spray Cranberry Pomegranate juices $1.99 each, used six $1 peelie coupons (found on bottles) and $1 WAG coupon (takes off $1 for each bottle automatically, found inside green November coupon booklet - located by circulars) = $0.06 profit
• Baking soda and baking powder $0.50 each with in-circular coupon *Bought to cover overage from juice
• Total overall was $0.94

Rainbows, Battlefields and Wolves, What a Weekend!

This weekend, my boyfriend and I went on a road trip to Gettysburg, PA. We love to travel, but hate to fly so road trips are perfect for us. Time off work never hurt anyone either. :)
We left Thursday morning and stopped at the Utz Potato Chip Factory in Hanover, PA. We were hoping to go for a factory tour, but got there a little too late, so we settled for just shopping in their outlet store. I picked up these bags of cheesy popcorn for $0.75 a pop! They were clearanced because they expire in a month. We leisurely made our way to our hotel, enjoying the scenery. PA has so many beautiful farms and I wish we could stop along the highway to snap some shots. Alas, we both wanted to get to our destination in one piece rather than splattered across the grill of a semi on I-78, so we forged ahead.
As we were driving, the sky got mighty frightenin' and we knew a storm was blowing in. We looked to the side and spotted this amazing rainbow. I don't think I've ever seen one this large, other than on tv. It was gorgeous! If you look closely, you can see a second rainbow to the left of the first one. We could trace the rainbow's path up into the sky and back down to the ground on the other side.
Our hotel was surprisingly nice. Both DBF and I usually pick a hotel by price, so we're not usually staying in the classiest of joints. We stayed at a Sheritan and it was clean, spacey and so comfortable. Right next door was a Ruby Tuesday, so we mosey'd on over for grub. They have totally revamped their menu and we both had a chicken parm dish with...(wait for it)...Swiss cheese. I was a little skeptical, but it was awesome. I had a delicious margarita for only $5 and DBF had a couple beers. I was totally buzzed at that point, but luckily we only had a short stumble back to the hotel where I collapsed into a tequila-induced lump.
Our plan for Friday was to tour Gettysburg. For three days in July of 1863, more than 165,000 American soldiers fought on these grounds. President Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetary in November of that year. In addition to visiting the battlefields, we took a tour of the house that General Robert E. Lee set up headquarters in. The museum had actual uniforms, weapons and letters on display.Cannons and monuments can be found everywhere you turn. Every participating state's infantry is represented by a monument, placed in an area where those soldiers fought. I couldn't quite wrap my mind around how far these soldiers marched to get to the battle. Mississippi, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, even coming from parts of Pennsylvania would have meant quite a hike."Peace Eternal in a Nation United."

The park is beyond huge. DBF bravely climbed to the tippy-top of an observation tower to take these shots. There was something magical about standing on that ground and seeing what those soldiers saw. At the edge of the Gettysburg National Park is President Eisenhower's 180 acre farm. He purchased it from the Army when he retired and lived there with his wife until his death in 1969.

Gorgeous.

On Saturday, we had a lay-low day. We went antique-ing, drove around and appreciated the beautiful scenery and walked through some of downtown Gettysburg. We also did some outlet shopping. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so it was nice just to be outside and soak up the sunshine.

On Sunday, we took a tour of Speedwell Forge Wolf Sanctuary in Lititz. I loved how close we were able to get to the wolves. Some of the wolves are dog-wolf hybrids, and they look more dog-ish than others. They were separated into several packs, the largest comprised of around 15 wolves.

Our tour guide had a delish bucket of raw chicken that the wolves were drooling over.

"Stop yammerin' and feed us already!"

Winston is the beta of the main pack, which means he watches the alpha's back and keeps everyone in line. He was in a fight at some point which gave him that floppy ear.

This is Casper. He looked more like a big old fluffy dog to me than a wolf. I love how this picture came out. Obviously, you're separated from the wolves by fences, so its hard to get a good shot through the metal. You can still see hints of the fence in this shot, but it just looks hazy.
Just look at those eyes.

GPS Makers - Are you Listening?

Walgreens

• 4 Campbells Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soups $0.50 each, used two $1 off 2 coupon = FREE *This is one of those coupons where you may have to play with it a little before it'll print. Here's what I did to make it print.

Was looking for Lubriderm to do the following deal, but struck out at four different stores. Some other HCW'er must have read about the deal and got to the stores before me. I really don't mind, because there's always another deal around the corner. I just wish there was a way to know ahead of time if the store had the items in stock so I wouldn't waste my time driving around. Wouldn't it be cool if you could plug in "Walgreens with 6 oz Lubriderms" into your GPS? :)

• Lubriderm 6 oz bottles $3.99, buy three and use three $2 coupons (10/11 RP) and get back $8 RR (WYB 3) = $2.03 profit *Not in circular but these smaller sizes are reported to be working for the RR deal. **Look for a $1 Walgreens coupon in the "Diabetes and You" booklet found near the Pharmacy. Thanks for this tip Elle Bo!

ShopRite

• $25 AMC gift card and $25 Best Buy gift card, got back $10 catalina (good on next order) = $10 profit
• 4 Locatelli pecorino romano cheeses $3.99 each (great price for this stuff, its so good!)
• 4 Franco Rinaldi pasta sauces $0.88 each (raincheck price)
• 4 Flex-a-Min Glucosamines $5.99 (raincheck price), used four $6 coupons (adjusted to $5.99, 9/27 or 10/25 RP) = FREE
• Got $0.10 bag discount, total was $69.38

The Return of the Breeze 11/8 - 11/14

As always, my deals all come from the wonderful folks at HCW, Slick Deals and Erica at iheartcvs.com, iheartriteaid.com and iheartwags.com.

CVS - $5 off $30 coupon available here.

• EARinse Ear Cleansing Spray (1 oz) $7.99, get back $7.99 EB (Limit 1) = FREE
• NovaMax Blood Glucose Monitoring System $9.99, get back $9.99 EB (Limit 1) = FREE

Rite Aid - print a $5 off $25 coupon or get a $5 off $20 coupon by watching a whole bunch of absolutely thrilling RA commercials here.

• Oral-B CrossAction Manual Toothbrush 40 Soft or Medium $2.99, use $0.75 coupon (10/11 P&G) and get back $2.99 (SCR #123) = $0.75 profit
• Herbal Essences sham/cond/stylers BOGO sale, buy one sham/cond and one styler, use BOGO coupon (10/11 P&G) = two for FREE
• GE Reveal Lightbulbs (4 pack) $2, buy two and use two $1 coupons (10/4 SS) and get back $2 (SCR #10, WYB 2) = FREE
• There's a coupon in the circular for $10 off select fragrances - might make for a nice Christmas present

Walgreens - $5 off $25 coupon available right in the circular!

• It's baaaack! Breeze 2 or Contour meter $14.99, use freebie coupon (10/25 RP) and get back $5 RR = $5 profit
• Some good sales on food items - dozen eggs $0.99, baking soda/salt/corn starch/baking powder $0.50, WAG cream cheese $0.89, spices $0.50 *Need circular coupon for some of these prices
• WAG gift tags or bows $0.99 each, BOGO sale using in-circular coupon
• Hallmark tissue paper $0.39 with in-circular coupon

Walgreens November Monthly Deals 11/1 - 11/28

• Lubriderm 6 oz bottles $3.99, buy three, use three $2 coupons (10/11 RP) plus $1 WAG coupon (should take off $3 automatically, found in "Diabetes and You" magazine found near pharmacy) and get back $8 RR (WYB 3) = $5.03 profit
• Dulcolax Balance 7 Day (4.1 oz) $7, use $3 coupon (found on package or here), get back $4 RR and send away for $5 rebate (found on package or here) = $5 profit *Ringing up as $8.79 in some areas so be careful
• Almay Pure Blends Foundation (1 oz) $9.99? (this was the price a couple weeks ago, not sure if its the regular or a sale price), get back $10 RR = FREE?
• Robitussin To Go (2 ct.) $2.49, get back $2.50 RR = FREE/$0.01 profit
• Ritz, Triscuits or Wheat Thins (9.5 - 16 oz) buy $10 worth, get back $3 RR and send away for a $10 rebate WYB 10 crackers - looks like you can spread out your purchases for the rebate! *RR deal good until 12/26, rebate expires 11/30

General Printable Rebate Offers

• Alouette Baby Brie Wedge Cheese TMF Exp. 12/31/09
• Caregiver's Marketplace - many rebates for a variety of items
• Ensure 6 pack use $3 coupon and Try Me Free rebate Exp. 12/31/09
• Kraft Mac n Cheese Crackers TMF Exp. 12/31/09
• McCormick Alcoholic Beverages - click on Rebate Center once you've entered your birthday. Not valid in AL, HI, IN, MS, OH, SC, TX and UT. Exp. 12/31/09
• Nabisco Crackers $10 WYB 10 Exp. 11/30/09
• Nature Valley Dark Chocolate & Nut Granola Bars TMF Exp. 1/15/2010
• Pantene ProV Satisfaction Guarantee - 2x your purchase price (up to $12) Exp. 6/30/2010
• Pert Plus for Men TMF (has to have sticker on bottle) Exp. 12/31/09
• Physician's Formula - three separate rebates *have to find products with TMF peelies on them Exp. 12/31/09
• Science Diet Light Pet Food $8 coupon and $10 rebate (must register)
• Starkist SeaSations Money Back Guarantee Exp. 12/31/09
• Tombstone Pizza - credit towards utility bills Postmark by 1/15/10

Moneymaker at Walgreens

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Walgreens

• Almay Pure Blends Foundation $9.99, got back $10 RR = FREE/$0.01 profit
• Almay Pure Blends Mascara $6.99, 50% off sale (B1G1 50% off Almay sale this week) and got back $5 RR = $1.51 profit
• Used $6 RR, total was about $8.42

Had also bought 2 Almay One Coat Mascaras for $7.99 each and used the $4 WAG coupon from the November coupon savings book (took off $4 for each). HCW had reported these were ringing up as BOGO instead of B1G1 50% off, which would have made them a moneymaker, but it didn't work. I returned these at another store later in the day. After my return, I bought:

• Almay Pure Blends Foundation $9.99, got back $10 RR = FREE/$0.01 profit
• Almay Pure Blends Mascara $6.99, 50% off sale (B1G1 50% off Almay sale this week) and got back $5 RR = $1.51 profit
• 4 bags Walgreens shredded cheese $1.50 each
• Walgreens swiss cheese $1.50 *I'm pretty sure this wasn't part of the sale but it was marked as $1.50 in the aisle so they gave it to me for this price
• $25 Walgreens gift card
• Used two $5 RR's and $10 RR, total was $26.93

When I figured out my subtotal, I was at $19.48 with the makeup and four bags of cheese, which is why I picked up the swiss (wanted to use $20 in RR's). While they were doing a price check on the swiss, I gave the cashier my RR's and they all went through. I'm not quite sure how that worked out. I would have expected the last RR to beep because it was "hitting" my gift card at that point, but it didn't. Hmm, makes me wonder if you can use RR's on gift cards! You'd have to have a lenient cashier because they say they can't be used on gift cards.

CVS

• 2 Lindt Truffles $3 each
• Used $6 EB, total was $0.38

Scanned my Green Tag - three more scans and I'll get back $1 EB. Love that! I bought the tag last week but forgot to post about it. It cost me $0.99 and will pay for itself in four uses. You can use the tag with multiple cards, but I think you can only use it once a day per card.

A&P

• 4 Dannon Activia Yogurts $2 each, used four $1 coupons (8/9, 10/4 or 11/1 SS)
• Used four doubler coupons in the circular - magically turned my $1 coupons into $2 off
• Total was ZERO!

If you don't like this yogurt, there's a satisfaction guarantee here.

October Monthly Totals

Major Accomplishment - I am so stoked about this. A couple of years ago, my net worth was around negative $100,000. (I know) It was a combination of major student loan debt, credit card debt and a car loan. I was looking at this number the other day and am beyond amazed to see that now I'm down to (up to?) negative $50,000! I've cut that number in half! If you'd asked me if that would be possible a couple years back, I would have said absolutely not. I was so in the hole that I couldn't even see the light. In those couple years, I've completely paid off every friggin penny of credit card debt that I had and finished out my five year car loan. I've also made regular payments to my student loans ($500+ a month). And even though I'd like to be paying more towards one of my loans with a 7% interest rate, saving is just a higher priority right now. Through my contributions and matching contributions from my employer, I've been able to save almost $20,000 towards my retirement. I've also been able to chunk away a couple thousand dollars for a rainy day. Things are finally looking up and it feels beyond amazing to have some breathing room in my budget.

October Monthly Totals

• Merchandise Total (before coupons): $1,115.80
• Value of Coupons & Store Sales: $472.71
• Rewards/Gift Cards/EB's Used: $405.30
• Rewards/Gift Cards/EB's Earned: $508.63
• Rebates: $110.68
• Total Cost to me (after rewards earned and rebates): $59.47 (cash spent - $273.48)
• Total Profit: $70.11
• # of Items: 309, # of Free Items: 207

Random Money Stuff

• Increased my pre-tax retirement contributions to 9% of my annual salary
• Qualified for a $45 reward on my Discover card. I redeemed this for a $45 CVS gift card and got a $5 bonus. I love Discover!

Rebates Received:

• $150 Bushnell Weather systems ($50 rebate x 3)
• $22 September RA rebates
• $20 Rite Aid Gift of Savings x 2 (my address & DBF's address) - good for in-store use
• $20 Kraft SuperValu Back to School rebate x 2 (my address & DBF's address)
• $5 Snapple rebate
• $3.39 Goody Ouchless Barrette rebate x 2 (my address & parent's address, came from Rubbermaid, no mention of Goody but I knew it had to be this one b/c of the amount)
• $2 September RA rebates DBF's name - woo-ee! Better not spend this one all in one place :)

Snuggle and Ice Scrapers - What a Combo

Pathmark

• 6 papers $0.99 - they're doing this sale again! These papers normally cost $1.50 each
• 6 Snuggle fabric softeners (DBF bought two b/c PM limits you to 4 of the same coupon, there are only 2 in the pic because we gave the rest to his mom) $2.99 each (raincheck price), used six $3 coupons (10/4 RP)
• Total was $5.61 after DBF's mom's employee discount

Walgreens

• 4 bags Walgreens shredded cheese $1.50 each
• Used $6 RR, total was zero

Kohl's - I've been finding a lot of really great clothes at Kohl's lately so I decided to open a store CC to get even more discounts. While poking around the store, I found this glove with attached ice scraper and knew my dad would love it. That's one Christmas gift done. :)