Pasta Overboard

FYI - almost forgot, there will be four coupon inserts this Sunday - two SS's, one RP and one P&G.
Pathmark - today was the last day of this sale, sorry for posting so late

• 6 Kraft barbeque sauces $0.77 each, used four $1 coupons and got back $3 catalina for buying six (this deal will probably show up in various supermarkets soon so keep an eye out) = $2.38 profit
• 4 Softsoap hand washes $0.77 each, used four $0.35 coupons (4/26 SS) = $0.28 or $0.07 each
• Total was $0.92

Second order

• 8 boxes San Giorgio pasta $0.77 each
• 2 Softsoap hand washes $0.77 each, used two $0.35 coupons (4/26 SS) = $0.14 or $0.07 each
• Used $3 cat from first order, total was $3.24

What a mess! When I picked up the pasta, one box was not sealed shut, so ALL the pasta came pouring out all over the shelves and floor. Spaghetti everywhere! I was so embarassed! A store employee was right there stocking the shelves and he chuckled, said it wasn't a problem and cleaned it up. I thanked him profusely and walked away, cheeks a-flaming with embarassment.

Walgreens

• 2 packages canvas totes $5 each
• Used $10 RR, total was $0.70

Did you buy these monitors last month too? There's a rebate inside the box. I didn't bother sending away for it because the companies usually won't honor the rebate when there are promos like this one (they were free after EB's at CVS). I read on HCW that someone did send the rebate in and got it back! So I'm going to root around for these receipts and send these off (one rebate in my name, second in DBF's). Worse case scenario, I'm out two stamps. Best case, I'll profit about $20.

A Bunch of Random Stuff

CVS - my card

• 2 Bayer Contour meters $14.99 each, use two freebie coupons (10/26 or 2/1 RP or 3/22 SS) and got back $10 EB ($5 each, Limit 2) = $10 profit

Different store - DBF's card

• Bayer Contour meter $14.99, use freebie coupon (10/26 or 2/1 RP or 3/22 SS) and got back $5 EB (Limit 2) = $5 profit

Rite Aid

• 3 Renuzit Super Odor Neutralizers $0.99 each, used three $1 coupons (3/22 SS) = FREE/$0.03 profit
• M&M cookies (filler) $0.59
• Total was $0.77
• Got a raincheck for 4 more

Walgreens - on a whim, I tried a store outside of my normal route and they had the Roots of Nature in stock. I also passed a construction site with a big ol' sign saying "Coming Soon - Walgreens." Sounds good to me! Now there will be five Walgreens by work that I could hit on my lunch break. :)

• Roots of Nature $6, used $1 coupon and got back $6 RR = $1 profit
• Ramen noodles $0.29
• Used $4.50 RR, total was $1.21

Rinse and repeat 3 more times (this store and another store)

ShopRite - ran into my sister! She bought three more Chinets for me and then we watched the amazing finale of Lost together.

• Eggs $0.97
• 4 Chinet Lunch plates $1.99 each, used four $2 coupons (5/3 SS) = FREE
• 2 Keebler's Cookies $1.99 each, used two $0.55 coupons = $1.78 or $0.89 each
• 2 Heluva Good cheeses $1.99 each
• 4 Marcal tp's $0.99 each, used four freebie coupons (4/5 or 5/3 SS) = FREE
• Total was $6.63

Another Week, Another Freebie 5/17 - 5/23

Photo courtesy of loldogs. As always, my deals all come from the wonderful folks at HCW, Slick Deals and Erica at iheartcvs.com, iheartriteaid.com and iheartwags.com. Here we go...

FYI - there will be four coupon inserts this Sunday - two SS's, one RP and one P&G.

CVS

• Hershey's Extra Large Bar $1.99 BOGO sale, use two $1 coupons (4/19 SS) = FREE
• Right Guard or Dry Idea Deodorant $2.50, buy two and use two $2 coupons and get back $2 EB (WYB 2, Limit 3 = 6 deodorants) = $1 profit for every 2 that you buy
• Spend $10, get back $5 EB (Limit 1) - includes ACT II Popcorn four for $5 or $1.25 each, Chef Boyardee four for $5 or $1.25 each ($1 off 4 coupon 5/3 SS or May All You mag), David Sunflower Kernels four for $5 or $1.25 each, Hunt's Snack pack four for $5 or $1.25 each, Poppycock two for $5 or $2.50 each ($1 off 2 coupon 3/29 SS) and Orville Popcorn two for $5 or $2.50 each
• Spend $15 on Reese's or Hershey products, get back $5 EB (Limit ?)

Rite Aid

• Bausch & Lomb Alaway Eye Drops (10 mL) $7.99, use $4 coupon (or 3/15, 4/26 or 5/3 SS) and get back $7.99 SCR = $4 profit
• Bayer Aspirin Quick Release Crystals (10 count) $3.99, use $1.50 coupon and get back $3.99 SCR = $1.50 profit
• Wound Wash Saline (210 mL) $5.49, get back $5.49 SCR = FREE *Check for peelie coupons on product
• Kraft barbeque sauce $0.99, use $1 coupon = FREE

Walgreens

• Coke 12 packs three for $10.92 and get a case of caffeine free Diet Coke WYB 3 = four for $10.92 or $2.73 a case. Even better if you use coupons from My Coke Rewards
• Colgate Visible White Toothpaste (4 oz.) $4.49, use $1 coupon and get back $4.50 RR = $1 profit or FREE without coupon
• Right Guard or Dry Idea Clinical Strength Deodorant $5.99, use $2 Dry Idea coupon or $1 Right Guard coupon (4/19 SS) get $5 RR = $1 profit or FREE
• Skintimate or Edge Shave Gel $1.99, use $0.75 Skintimate coupon (4/26 SS) and get back $1 RR = $0.24
• Bic Bonus Pack Utility Lighter $2.99, use $1 coupon (or 5/17 SS) and get back $1 RR = $0.99
• Ball Park Franks $3.29 BOGO sale, use $1 off 2 coupon **Expires 5/17! (4/26 RP) = $2.29 or $1.14 each
• Carefree Pantyliners (18 - 22 pack) $0.99 with in-circular coupon (give second!), use $1 coupon (June "Good Housekeeping" mag, March "Cosmo," "Shape" or "Parents" mags or February "Seventeen" mag) = FREE *Also look for $1 peelies
• Deerfield Shredded Cheese, Cream Cheese or Cheese Singles $1.50 with in-circular coupon

Walgreens Month-Long RR Deals - good until 5/30

• Dr. Scholls Shoe Insoles $10, get back $10 RR (WYB 2), $10 coupons in the 4/26 SS = $10 profit
• Bayer Breeze 2 or Contour Meter $14.99, use freebie coupon (10/26 or 2/1 RP or 3/22 SS) and get back $5 RR = $5 profit
• Bayer Quick Release Crystals (4 ct.) $2.49, get back $2.49 RR = FREE
• Conagra Products - spend $10, get back $3 RR. Spend $25, get $34 in coupons rebate is also available. Includes Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers $3 ($1 coupon), Hunt's Snack Pack Pudding 4/$5, Poppycock $2, Healthy Choice Frozen Entrees $2.50 ($1 off 2 coupon 4/5 SS), Hunt's Tomato Sauce $0.50, Van Camps Pork & Beans $0.50, Butterball Chicken Broth $0.50, Healthy Choice Soup $1.50 and Chef Boyardee $1.50

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
• Everyday with Rachael Ray - free reusable bag WYB Kraft products Exp. 5/31/09
• Febreze Noticeables Satisfaction Guarantee Exp. 6/30/09
• Ghirardelli Luxe Chocolates Bag (SKU 787681) Rebate up to $3.99 at Staples Exp. 6/27/09 (rebate receipt will print at register)
• Herbal Essences - free haircut when you buy 2 specially marked bottles Exp. 6/31/09
• Kellogg's Smart Start Strawberry Oat Bites Cereal Exp. 7/31/09
• Kraft Mac n Cheese Crackers TMF Exp. 12/31/09
• Pert Plus for Men TMF (has to have sticker on bottle) Exp. 12/31/09
• Peter Pan satisfaction guarantee Exp. 5/31/09
• Physician's Formula - three separate rebates *have to find products with TMF peelies on them Exp. 12/31/09
• Precious Kitty Litter - One request per lifetime
• Ronzoni Pasta (or other food items) and Bolt DVD $4 rebate Exp. 7/31/09
• Starkist SeaSations Money Back Guarantee Exp. 12/31/09
• Sure - several available - must have Try Me Free sticker on product Exp. 11/15/09
• Tombstone Pizza - credit towards utility bills Postmark by 1/15/10

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is one of my favorite hobbies. Its one of the few things that actually turns out as I picture it in my head. For anyone who is interested in scrapbooking, I thought I'd share some things I've learned. I love to hear some of your tips too! There are so many things out there that I don't know what to do with. For example, what's the deal with brads? I just don't get it! What's their purpose? How do they work? Its all a big mystery to me. I bought some tonight just to figure it all out. :p

• Its more than just photos. For me, scrapbooking is also about remembering that event or trip or time or whatever. I like to include ticket stubs, brochures, memorabilia, etc. Usually I'll write a little blurb about what was going on that day. Its great to look back through an older book, read what I had written and think "oh that's right, I remember that now!" That's what makes it different than paging through a photo album.
• Its so individualized. There's no right or wrong way to scrapbook, its all up to you and what you like.
• I tend to pick up paper, stickers and little bits and pieces here and there, rather than going to the store looking for something in particular. I also keep an eye out for clearanced items. I've found a bunch of albums really cheap at Target. Michaels, AC Moore and Joann's all have great supplies. You can even find stuff at Walmart. This hobby can get to be VERY expensive, so I've found it helps to buy a little here and there, as my budget allows. When I feel the urge to scrapbook, I go through my supplies and pick items that will work for that project. I often forget what I've bought previously, so its like shopping all over again. This is my super messy scrapbooking drawer where I store all my supplies.
  
• I love starter kits, because they often have little stickers or bits of paper that I wouldn't normally buy on their own. But since everything comes as a collection, I find that it all "works" when put together. They often have sample pages which give me some great ideas. This is a kit I got for Christmas and its got lots of goodies.
• If I go on a trip or have some pictures that I want to put together into an album, I'll try and do it sooner rather than later. Its amazing how much you forget as time goes by.
• Scrapbooking doesn't have to be just about photos. You can do scrapbooks on recipes, kids' school projects or anything your little heart desires.
• As with so many things, it helps to be organized. I have some plastic shelving containers where I sort my goodies. Ribbons in one drawer, bits of paper in another, markers and glue in another. I also have a folding accordian thingie for stickers and I "try" to keep them sorted by theme. And obviously you want to keep all your paper nice and straight.

• I LOVE this little guy - he makes stickers! You put your item in the one end, crank the handle and it attaches a glue to the back so you can just adhere your item to your page without messing with glue. Its awesome, and pretty inexpensive.

Here are some pages I've created. I don't post pictures of myself or family here, so these are some non-people pages I've made.

DBF and my first vacation together. Shadow came along too.
Sometimes I like to let the picture speak for itself. I thought this was so pretty.

The Frank Lloyd Wright house in AZ - I included an informational card that I got on the tour.

I took this shot from inside a car and I love it! I really like the US road marker stickers, its 3-D and adds a special touch to the page.

These were taken at the botanical gardens in Phoenix, AZ. Look familiar Precious? :)

Grand Canyon...

I love this picture. I have about a hundred shots of partial butterfly wings, but this was the one shot that came out so well.

This paper was so cute. It had those butterflies on the side, so it was perfect for these photos. It came out a little dark, its actually a very cheerful yellow.

Sorry about the glare here. This was from one of my first books before I really started journaling about the pictures. That's a little puddle-jumper that I flew in on a tour of the Grand Canyon! Never again, never again. Oh the nausea...

Oops, I Did It Again

Walgreens

• Colgate Max Fresh or Max White toothpaste (or toothbrush) $2.99, used $1 coupon (4/26 SS) and get back $2 RR = FREE/$0.01 profit
• Ramen noodles $0.29
• Used $2 RR (from Right Guard last week), total was $0.38

Then I bought:

• Roots of Nature Reconstructing Deep Treatment (different than the one pictured in the circular but it worked) $6, used $1 coupon and got back $6 RR = $1 profit
• Ramen noodles $0.29
• Used $5 RR (from Bayer), total was $0.50

Then I went to another store and splurged a little:

• Colgate Max Fresh or Max White toothpaste (or toothbrush) $2.99, used $1 coupon (4/26 SS) and get back $2 RR = FREE/$0.01 profit
• Sure for Men deodorant $1.99, used $1.50 coupon (5/3 SS) and will submit for Try Me Free rebate = $1.50 profit
• Two 4x6 photo frames $5.99 each
• 5x7 photo frame $6.99
• Used two $5 RR's (Bayer) and $10 RR (Dr. Scholls), total was $3.13

After work I went to another store:

• Gillette razors $26.99
• Wicker basket $5
• 2 Walgreens pocket pack of tissues $0.29 each
• Used $2 RR and three $10 RR's, total was $2.81

I'm hoping these cartridges will hold DBF over until there's another Gillette sale. Since I used Dr. Scholls RR's to pay and those were a pure profit, I really don't mind spending the money on them.

Then I just had to go back to Michael's to poke around some more:

• 2 packages Bead Heaven beads (clearanced) $1.99 each
• Glass beads $2.99
• Strand of beads $5.99, used 40% off coupon so I paid $3.59
• 2 packages Mums stickers (clearanced) $2.99
• Package of brads $2.99
• Total was $20.90

I really have to stay out of this store for a while, its very dangerous for me!

Just because they're so cute, let's take a closer look at the mums. Its a little hard to tell, but they're 3-D. Love 'em!

Easy Money

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! My wonderful boyfriend, youngest sister and I cooked a yummy dinner for my mom today. Thankfully DBF did the majority of the cooking, so I was sure I wouldn't give my mom a case of food poisoning. My sister made a delicious ice cream cake to go along with dinner. We went shopping at A&P beforehand to get supplies.
A&P - only some things are pictured. I took the pic after dinner was made.

• 16 Breyers Yo Crunch yogurts ten for $4 or $0.40 each, used three $0.50 off 4 coupons (4/5 SS - could use four but I ran out) and got back $3 catalina = $0.40 (moneymaker with fourth coupon)
• 2 packages Oreos $4.19 each (man, I wish I'd bought some at Walgreens last week!), used $1 coupon (when you also buy milk, from store display) = $7.38 or $3.69 each
• 3 Turkey Hill ice creams $2.49, $2.49 and $5.79 (yikes! a non-sale variety snuck in there), used three $1 coupons (5/3 RP) = $7.77 or $2.59 each
• Cool Whip $1.99
• America's Choice milk $2.49
• Fudge topping $1.94
• Cabot cheddar $1.99
• 7 papers $14
• 4 loaves Arnold bread $1.99 each
• America's Choice heavy cream $2.99
• Asparagus $7.33
• Onion $1.93
• Garlic $0.80
• Got $4.32 employee discount, used seven $0.75 cats and ten $4 cats and paid $11.90 balance on gift cards, total OOP = ZERO

$11.90 was the exact amount of money I had on my gift cards, isn't that weird? I now have a couple more handwritten rainchecks/cats that won't expire for a while, so there's no rush to use those up.

Walgreens - I had ordered twenty $10 Dr. Scholls coupons from ebay and they arrived on Saturday. I used them all in one day, doing two transactions each time at five different stores. I went back to ebay and ordered another 40 coupons. Since the deal runs all month long, I should be able to use them all (fingers crossed) before 5/30. Here's what I bought:

• 2 Dr. Scholls inserts $10 each, used two $10 coupons (4/26 SS) and got back $10 RR = $10 profit

Rinse and repeat 10 more times = $100 profit. Mixed in there, I also bought:

• Right Guard Deodorant $2.99, used $1 coupon (4/19 SS) and got back $2 RR = FREE
• Sure for Men deodorant $1.99, used $1 coupon (from Pert Plus rebate, just remembered there are $1.50 coupons in the 5/3 SS) and will submit for Try Me Free rebate = $1 profit
• Snickers bar $0.95 - for my chauffeur aka wonderful boyfriend

New Hobby

After reading Annie's post, I decided that I'd really like to try my hand at some jewelery making. I've been thinking about this for a while and decided today's the day to start. I also did quite a bit of reading today on The Nienie Dialogues. If you've never ventured over there, please do. Stephanie and her husband Christian were in a very serious plane accident last August and are dealing with the difficult and painful recovery process. Stephanie had burns on over 80% of her body, and you would think she might be bitter or angry. But that's not the case at all. Her amazing spirit and positive outlook on life shine through every one of her posts. I love how she appreciates and is grateful for her family and all the little things in life. Reading her posts is so inspiring. And she's so creative! Even her posts have the look and feel of scrapbook pages. I definitely had her in mind as I poked around Michaels tonight.

If you'd like to read more about Stephanie and Christian, Stephanie's sister Courtney chronicled their recovery process during the time they were both in the hospital (start off in August/Sept 2008 on the Blog Archive).

Michaels

• Jewelery Starter Kit $14.99
• How to book $19.95
• Tools Starter Kit/Plastic Case for beads $9.99
• All these were from the dollar bins: scrapbook paper $1, ribbon $1, 2 packs stickers $2, cardboard cut-outs $1 and journaling tags $1
• Total was $54.50

Staples

• 2 Casio KL-60L Label Makers $19.99 each, will get back $19.99 each as Easy Rebate (Limit 2) = FREE
• Total was $42.78 so I'll end up just paying the tax for these - $2.80