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Archive for the ‘Walgreens’ Category
Monday, December 29th, 2008
Last Monday, I hobbled through the snow and ice to do my Christmas shopping. This year, I decided to put together gift bags full of homemade goodies for everyone on my list. These are the items I bought to make presents with – keep in mind, while this was expensive for a grocery run, these supplies provided Christmas gifts for all our friends and family in addition to filling the pantry.
First stop, Walgreens:
Total spent: Put $27.96 on two gift cards, spent $4.94 out of pocket. And I’m getting $2.20 back in rebates!
Total before coupons: $36.70
View receipt
Got:
1 package of red & green tissue paper
1 jar of instant coffee – used a coupon from the sales flier to bring the price down from $7.79 to $3.99
1 bottle of vegetable oil
1 8 oz bag of cheese
2 lbs. of margarine
2 boxes of ziploc bags – 50 altogether
2 packages of tape – 6 rolls altogether, 2 for $5. And I will get $2.20 back in Easysaver rebates for purchasing two packages.
2 bags of tortilla chips
1 big roll of cling film
1 roll of foil
I was able to use my $25 prescription gift card and my 10% bonus gift card to pay for almost all of this, which was nice. When I handed the cashier my one coupon, he said, “Is that it? You usually have a lot more than that!” I told him that I had gift cards, and that I use those to pay for things that I don’t have coupons for. He said, “That makes sense. I though you were getting lazy!” My reputation precedes me!
Next stop, Fred Meyer:
Total spent: $37.46
Total before coupons: $41.59
View receipt
Got:
1 2 pound bag of confectioner’s sugar – used an in-store coupon to save .24 cents
1 25 pound bag of sugar
4 bags of flour – 20 pounds altogether
1 bottle of Odwalla Juice – used a free coupon that I received in the mail
1 Odwalla bar – used a “Buy one Odwalla juice, get one Odwalla bar free” coupon that I got in a trade ages ago
2 cans of refried beans
1 can of black olives
1 8 oz bottle of powdered coffee mate
1 jar of salsa
1 Avocado
2 dozen cage-free eggs
1 Pledge duster – The only reason I bought this was because my feather duster wore out, and I could not find a regular feather duster anywhere! When did this become such a hard to find item? I limped up and down the store looking for one, and all I could find was this for $2.79. Well, I take that back; I did finally locate a regular feather duster by Mr. Clean that they wanted $8.00 for! I was bummed, because I knew I had Pledge coupons at home that would have made this cheaper, but I wasn’t about to drive half and hour to go home and get them. But I’m glad that I bought it, because it actually works much better than my old duster.
While $37 is unusually high for me, I bought these supplies specifically to make Christmas presents with. And since this left me with very full cupboards as well as taking care of all my gifts, I think I did OK. I definitely overbought, but the store was such a nightmare to navigate with the holiday rush and I didn’t want to go back!
Next stop, Costco:
Total spent: $15.99 – no coupons
View receipt
Got:
1 box of makeup removers – 120 altogether
We got a Costco membership as a gift last year, and while the prices are very competitive, I don’t shop there that often because they don’t accept manufacturer’s coupons. However, there were no good sales on this makeup remover anywhere else, so it was cheaper for me to get it here – usually, a box of 30 runs about $5.99 at other stores. I’m not a “brand loyal” person, but I always get this kind because it is the only makeup remover I’ve tried that can effectively remove my makeup without giving my sensitive skin a huge rash.
And finally, I needed gift bags to put all my presents in, so I stopped by the Paper Factory party store:
Total spent: $10.96 – no coupons
View receipt
Got:
2 bags of bows – 50 altogether. These were only .39 cents each, so I had to buy some!
1 Christmas card
2 packages of party favor bags – 40 altogether
1 package of 10 gift bags
9 individual gift bags
I usually stock up on gift wrap during after-holiday clearance (I still have rolls and rolls of wrapping paper that was .77 cents last year), but I was almost out of gift bags. And these worked out so well that I went back the next day and bought another 20-pack of favor bags and a spool of holiday ribbon for $2.98.
So are you wondering what kind of things I made to stuff these gift bags with? Check back tomorrow for a special holiday edition of the Coupon Funded Menu Corner!
Posted in Costco, Fred Meyer, Holidays, Walgreens | No Comments »
Saturday, December 20th, 2008
Click here to get a free 8×10 photo print at Walgreens. Just upload your photo online, use coupon code FREEGIFT and select in-store pickup to get your print totally free of charge! Offer runs through tomorrow, December 20th. This could be handy for those holiday snaps! Thanks to “Deal”ectible Mommies for the heads-up on this deal.
Posted in Free coupons, Walgreens | No Comments »
Friday, December 12th, 2008
I was down for the count yesterday, because I paid a visit to the podiatrist and had a minor toe surgery done. But I still managed to squeeze in one coupon deal – I actually made a profit at Walgreens filling a prescription for my foot! I would have never thought it was possible to come out ahead on prescriptions (especially since I don’t have health insurance), but such is the magic of coupons.
To start with, I was very fortunate that my prescription only came to a little over $13. That would have been enough of a relief in and of itself, but I was able to use two deals to save me even more. First, I handed over my Together RX card. This is a free discount card for people without prescription coverage, and it saved me about $3. Then, I redeemed this printable coupon for a free $25 Walgreens gift card with a transferred prescription – so I only paid $10.84, and got a $25 gift card back! Click here to view my receipt.
Thanks to Hot Coupon World for both of these deals. They have a special forum just for prescription deals which is a must read if you’re about to fill one yourself. I’ve been able to do similar gift card deals at Rite Aid and Safeway this year, which has been fantastic.
I’ll have to console myself with my gift card, since I’ll be missing out on the free lipstick this weekend. I can barely walk around the house, let alone hobble through Walgreens. But those of you who will be a little more mobile this weekend should check it out!
Posted in Prescription Deals, Walgreens | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
I goofed up on my Walgreens EasySaver Rebates for November. I forgot to log in at the end of the month and request my rebate, but I figured it was no big deal, since they process them automatically at the end of the rebate period. I’ve always requested my rebates on a gift card, because I earn a 10% bonus for doing so, which enables me to make a profit every time I get an item that is free after rebate. I just assumed that it would reload onto my gift card automatically – not true. I logged on to the EasySaver website last week and saw that it was processed as a check, so no 10% bonus. Since it was still processing, I thought it was worth giving the customer service hotline a call, to see if there was still time to put it on to a gift card instead. The 10% was only $2.69, so it wouldn’t have been a huge loss, but hey – every penny counts.
The customer service rep said that I could definitely get my rebate on a gift card, but he said that I would need to call back in a week. Once they had processed more information regarding the rebate, they would be able to switch it over to a gift card for me. Well, I guess they processed it much faster than the rep had anticipated, because I received a check a few days later! But the rep had also mentioned that even if the check got issued, they could put a stop on it and re-issue it on a card. So I called the hotline again this afternoon to see if it would still be possible to do that, or if it was too late. The rep I spoke with today told me to go ahead and cash the check, and they will send me a gift card with the 10% bonus amount of $2.69 on it! How awesome is that? I really appreciate them doing that, since it was my mistake in the first place.
Bonus: The rebate check came with a coupon for Skittles!
Posted in Walgreens | No Comments »
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
Total spent: $26.34. But I will get back $27.47 in rebates, making it all free plus $1.13 in profit!
Total before coupons: $35.34
View receipt
Got:
1 gallon of milk
1 tube of Bald Guyz moisturizer – free after rebate
1 bottle of L’Oreal moisturizer – free after rebate, for the second time – more details on this below. I used a $1/1 coupon from the 9/21 Red Plum newspaper inserts, netting me $1 in profit.
1 package of first aid gauze
1 first aid kit – used one $3/2 J&J Red Cross first aid products printable – thanks again to the SCG reader who mentioned this coupon!
1 package of coffee filters – I was all out!
So I had read on My Shopping Addiction that the L’Oreal moisturizer was free after rebate during December, even though it was already a free rebate item in November. Sometimes Walgreens will carryover a popular rebate item to the next month, as a sort of rain check. I looked on the EasySaver website but didn’t see it, so I called the customer service hotline. I told the rep that I had heard that this item was free again this month, but couldn’t see it on the rebate list. She confirmed that yes, it is indeed free after rebate during December, as well! I mentioned that I had already gotten this for free during last month’s rebate, and asked if I would be eligible to claim it this month or not. She said absolutely, if I got it free in November I can get it free again this month! How awesome is that?!
So, I got another bottle of the moisturizer, and also picked up the Bald Guyz product, which put my total over $20. This way, I was able to use the Walgreens $5 off a $25 purchase coupon that was valid on the 1st and 2nd, and get another $5 worth of stuff for free! The other items that I picked up came to more than $5, but because I used a coupon on the L’Oreal and will get a 10% bonus for having my rebates loaded onto a gift card, I still made a profit!
And since no one in my house is bald, I’ll put this freebie in a box with the Just For Men and donate it!
Posted in Walgreens | No Comments »
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Total spent: $4.99 – but I will get that back in a rebate, making it free. Plus, I got a $7 Register Reward for purchasing it!
Total before coupons: $6.99
View receipt
Got:
1 box of Just For Men haircolor
I used a $2/1 printable to bring the price down, and I will also mail in this “Try Me Free” rebate form . The form just says “Get an $8 refund”, but I don’t know if they’ll send me $8 or the $4.99 that I paid for it. Either way, it’s free, with possible profit. I definitely don’t need any Just For Men, but I can always use a $7 Register Reward, and I figured that was a pretty good deal for the .42 cent stamp it will cost me to mail the rebate in.
If anyone has any suggestions as to where I can donate this product, I’m all ears!
Then I went through the line again to spend my Register Reward:
Total spent: .48 cents
Total before coupons: $8.86
View receipt
Got:
1 pound of butter
1 gallon of milk – I checked the expiration date very carefully!
1 can of mushrooms
1 can of mandarin oranges – the canned items were two for $1 with a coupon from the Walgreens sales flier.
Then I made a quick stop at Fred Meyer:
Total spent: $6.18. This was the full price, as I didn’t have any coupons for these items.
View receipt
Got:
1 package of first aid gauze
1 roll of first aid tape
I had just gotten through with an appointment at the podiatrist, because of a toe problem. She advised that I bandage it up in a certain way after she treated it, and I didn’t have any first aid coupons, so I had to pay full price. I had gotten my fill of hobbling through the stores at this point, and I just wanted to get the items and get out of there.
Posted in Fred Meyer, Walgreens | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Total spent: $6.80 out of pocket, and put $9.61 on a gift card. And I will get back $7.68 in rebates!
Total before coupons: $33.51
View receipt
Got:
4 bottles of Coffee-Mate – Used one .50/1 coupon from the 11/2 Red Plum newspaper inserts, one $1.00/2 Coffee-Mate catalina that I got at Walgreens recently, and the “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon that was in last week’s Walgreens sales flier.
1 Almay Mascara – Free after rebate. I used a $1/1 Almay coupon from the 8/3 Smart Source newspaper inserts to gain me a dollar profit.
1 box of Olay makeup removers
2 cans of Carnation Evaporated Milk – used a coupon from the Walgreens sales flier to make them .99 cents each, and then used a $1/2 printable to make them .49 cents each.
2 cans of Libby’s Pumpkin – used another coupon from the Walgreens sales flier to make them .99 cents each, and used another $1/2 printable to make the final price .49 cents each.
1 box of trash bags
1 8×10 photo print – Got it developed for free using the (now expired) deal I mentioned a little while back.
I also used the $5 off a $20 purchase coupon that was valid last Friday and Saturday.
Sadly, my store didn’t have any baking powder in stock, so no cheap baking powder for me.
There were no coupons for the trash bags or makeup removers, but they were things I needed. I’m brand loyal to the Olay because it’s the only makeup remover I’ve found that doesn’t give me a horrible rash.
After Walgreens, I stopped by Ross:
This cute little black dress was on clearance for $2.99!
Then it was on to Fred Meyer:
Total spent: $9.94
Total before coupons: $12.09
View receipt
Got:
1 gallon of milk
2 strips of Fleischmann’s yeast – on sale for $1.50 each, used one .65/1 coupon from the 11/2 Smart Source newspaper inserts, and one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 10/5 Smart Source newspaper inserts. And I got two .50 catalinas back for purchasing them!
.86 pounds of broccoli
.86 pounds of fair trade coffee
I splurged on the coffee! For the last few months, I’ve been using catalinas or overage at Safeway to pay for it. This month is pretty blah at Safeway, so I figured I’d just pick it up at Fred Meyer, since it’s only $6.99 per pound, as opposed to $9.99 at Safeway.
Last month’s $20 budget challenge was a lot of fun, but I think for November I’ll be spending closer to $25 or $30, since the sales aren’t as fantastic this month. It’s still amazing to me that I consider $30 for all our monthly food & supplies to be “expensive”.
Then I went through the line to roll my $1 in catalinas:
Total spent: Zero
Total before coupons: $3.15
View receipt
Got:
2 strips of yeast – used the .65/1 and “Buy One, Get One Free” coupons mentioned above
1 package of Ramen
After coupons, my total cost for the yeast was .85 cents. In order to use my $1 in catalinas, I knew I would need a small filler item. Lucky for me, the ramen was only .15 cents, which brought my total to exactly one dollar! I used my catalinas to make the purchase free, and got another $1 in catalinas back!
I always need yeast for my breadmaker, so this is a great catalina deal for me! I read about this originally on Hot Coupon World. I believe other stores may be running this deal as well. I had heard that it was supposed to be going on at Safeway, but apparently my Safeway has stopped carrying Fleischmann’s. I’m not sure how long this deal is going on for, but when I get more yeast coupons, I’ll try it again.
Then I went through one last time to use up my catalinas:
Total spent: .10 cents
Total before coupons: $1.10
View receipt
Got:
.83 pounds of carrots
.89 pounds of onion
Posted in Fred Meyer, Ross, Walgreens | No Comments »
Friday, November 14th, 2008
Gina at Mommy Making Money has a rundown of some sale prices and coupon matchups at Safeway this week; she also has a “Home For The Holidays” scenario that may be of interest. There are still no freebies or dirt cheap items with this promo, but there are good prices if you were going to buy these items anyway.
I’m going to head over to Walgreens tomorrow to check out some of this week’s sales, and possibly take advantage of the new $5/20 coupon that just came out. Check out Hot Coupon World and Southern Savers for a list of prices and matchups. I’m excited for all the sales on baking supplies! Sadly, my region did not get the Clabber Girl coupons that came out recently, so I won’t be able to score any free baking powder – still, 2 for $1 is the lowest price I have ever seen for baking powder so I’m still going to pick some up.
Can you believe that I’ve only been shopping twice so far this month? There haven’t been any hot deals around here, and my immediate needs have been few because I have so much food in the house as it is. Stockpiling really helps you save money when the sales aren’t great.
Posted in Safeway, Walgreens | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Every year, I throw a huge Halloween bash, and spend a lot of time cooking loads of food for it. Here’s the grocery run that I made the day before the party:
Total spent: $7.65 cash out of pocket, put 64.66 on 2 different gift cards
Total before coupons: $96.45
View receipt #1
View receipt #2
View receipt #3
View receipt #4 – one of my items rang up twice, so they had to return $1 to my gift card
View receipt #5
View receipt #6
View receipt #7
View receipt #8
I didn’t use as many coupons as I might have normally, because I was in such a rush to get everything done for the party in time. But that’s okay, because I had a backup plan – my gift cards. I had one gift card that I earned for free for filling a prescription at Rite Aid, and a gift card for Walgreens that had my rebates loaded onto it. I’ve been able to slowly grow the amount on my Walgreens gift card and turn a profit by using coupons on rebate items, and by receiving a 10% bonus each time for opting to receive the rebates in gift card form.
There was one minor hitch in my plans at Fred Meyer, when I purchased 2 of the Glade plug-ins and only got one $4 catalina back. According to Common Sense With Money, the offer changed and was only printing one no matter how many you purchased. I had planned to whittle down my expenses by doing this deal a few times, but oh well!
So here’s what I picked up in anticipation of the shindig:
2 lipsticks
2 eyeliner pencils (the makeup was for my costume)
2 packages of fun sized Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
1 bag of fun sized Nestle Crunch – On sale for $1.88, used a $1/1 printable, which I believe is no longer available.
1 bag of fun sized Baby Ruth – Used same coupon as above – .38 cents a bag after coupons and doubles
A 5 pound bag of flour
4 cans of Swanson vegetable broth – used a coupon for .40 cents off four cans from the 9/28 Smart Source newspaper inserts
A 32 ounce bottle of Coffee Mate – used a .75/1 catalina that I received recently
2 Zone bars – on sale for $1, used two $1/1 coupons – free plus .50 cents of overage each after doubles
2 packages of Hot Dogs
1 Avocado
A 12 ounce bag of Starbucks coffee
1 big bag of gummy body parts
An 8 pack of Junior Mints
2 Glade Plug-Ins – used a “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 9/28 Smart Source newspaper inserts
1 pound of Broccoli
1 pound of apples
1.63 pounds of organic bananas
1 jumbo head of garlic
1 can of refried beans
6 bags of plastic utensils – 144 pieces altogether
A huge bag of paper plates (I think there were 240 plates, but I threw away the bag)
A whole bunch of paper cups (There were 60 cups, I believe – I threw away the bag for this also)
3 pounds of butter
6 pounds of sugar
2 Halloween figurines
1 gallon of milk
1 skull goblet
1 box of baking soda
An 8 ounce bag of cheese
2 bags of tortilla chips
36 skull rings
Check back tomorrow for Part II, and I’ll show you the spooky buffet I served, how many guests it fed, and how much we have left over!
Posted in Entertaining, Fred Meyer, Rite Aid, Safeway, Walgreens | No Comments »
Saturday, October 25th, 2008
Friday’s shopping trip – $162.56 worth of merchandise for .28 cents!
I started at Walgreens:
Total spent: .10 cents out of pocket, put $16.78 on my rebate gift card. But I will get back $19.99 in rebates, plus a 10% bonus for loading them onto a gift card – for a total of $21.98 in rebates. And, I got an $8 Register Reward catalina back!
Total before coupons: $73.59
View receipt – My total after the gift card was actually .11 cents, but the cashier picked a penny out of the “take-a-penny” dish and said, “Here! I’ve got a penny, just give me a dime!”. That was nice of her!
Got:
3 boxes of Benefiber mix – on sale for $7.99, used three $2/1 coupons from the 10/19 Smart Source newspaper inserts, stacked with a $5/1 coupon from the EasySaver rebate booklet. This brought the total to $2.97 for three boxes, and I earned the $8 Register Reward for purchasing them!
1 package of 10 disposable gloves
1 bottle of Pert Plus – on sale for $3.49, used a $2/1 coupon from the 10/19 Smart Source newspaper inserts, stacked with a $2.50/1 coupon from the EasySaver booklet. Free plus $1.01 in overage!
1 bottle of L’oreal moisturizer – $19.99, used a $1/1 coupon from the 8/3 Red Plum newspaper inserts. And I will get back a $21.98 rebate for this purchase!
10 bars of Lindt chocolate – On sale for $2.29, and I used five .75/1 coupons and five “Buy One, Get One Free” coupons from the 10/5 inserts. Stacked with a $1 coupon from the EasySaver catalog, this resulted in .46 cents of overage for every 2 bars purchased.
5 Halloween bags
I also used a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $20 or more, which is valid only during the 24th and 25th. Heading to Walgreens today? Print one here!
Then I went through the line once more to spend my Register Reward:
Total spent: .18 cents
Total before coupons: $8.18
View receipt
Got:
1 gallon of milk
1 package of TP – There were several coupons that I could have used on this, but it didn’t occur to me at the time.
1 roll of foil
1 peanut butter cup
Then I headed to Fred Meyer:
Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $4.98 on the gift card I got for my birthday. And I got back $8 in catalinas!
Total before coupons: $12.76
View receipt
Got:
2 Glade Scented Oil Plug-Ins – used one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 9/28 Smart Source inserts
1 Glade Gel Plug-In – I found a catalina on the shelf for a free gel plug-in!
1 trial sized Zantac – on sale for .99 cents, used a $1 off any size Zantac coupon from the 9/7 Smart Source newspaper inserts. Free plus a cent overage!
Fred Meyer is running the Glade catalina deal as well, so I thought it would be a good investment to do the deal there a few times. Fred Meyer is a great place to spend catalinas because their prices are much lower than Safeway. Of course, Fred Meyer is also a 30 minute drive from me and they do not double coupons, so I factor all that in when determining where to get the best deal.
Then I went back through the line to roll my $8 in catalinas:
Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .47 on my birthday gift card
Total before coupons: $14.46
View receipt
Got:
2 Glade Warmers – once again, I used one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 9/28 Smart Source inserts
1 box of band-aids
1 package of Kotex – used one $1/1 coupon from the 10/12 Smart Source newspaper inserts
I then used my $8 in catalinas to bring the total down to .47 cents, and got another $8 in catalinas back!
Then I made one last trip through the line, to use up my catalinas:
Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .29 cents on my birthday gift card
Total before coupons: $47.29
View receipt
Got:
1 package of Kotex – used one $1/1 coupon from the 10/12 Smart Source newspaper inserts
A 5 pound bag of flour
A pound of onions
.41 pounds of mushrooms
A pound of tomatoes
An 8 ounce bag of cheese
38 Brut deodorants – on sale for $1, used thirty eight $1/1 coupons that I found in the store!
I then used my $8 in catalinas to bring the total down to .29 cents!
So while I was shopping, I noticed a lot of coupons hanging on the shelf for various products. One was for $1 off any size Brut deodorant or antiperspirant – and it was hanging right next to some Brut deodorant that was on sale for $1! The cashier was amazed, and so were the people in line behind me. I explained where to find the coupons – I made sure to leave product and coupons on the shelf for other customers – and the lady behind me actually got out of line and went to get some deodorant for herself!
Now, you’re probably thinking that this is excessive – why on earth would I buy 38 deodorants? How could I possibly use that much deodorant? The reason I got that many is because most of it is not for us. My aunt is involved with a local food bank, and told me a few days ago that they have a big need right now for personal products, like deodorant and toothpaste. So I put a few deodorants aside for my boyfriend, and will be taking the rest to the food bank. I hate clutter, and there is a place and purpose for everything that I purchase – even if it doesn’t always seem that way!
My final trip was to Rite Aid, to get some potting soil:
Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $6.28 on a gift card. I have yet to find coupons for potting soil, so this was the full price!
View receipt
Got: 2 bags of potting soil
I didn’t get a picture of the bags before using them, so here’s a snapshot of my planter. I want to start growing some of my own produce, and this is apparently the week to plant garlic, so that’s what I did. I thought this was a good investment towards next year’s food budget!
And in case you’re wondering how I got the gift card, I received it several months ago for filling a prescription at Rite Aid.
Posted in Fred Meyer, Produce Deals, Rite Aid, Walgreens | 1 Comment »
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