Today, I was finally able to use my thirteen dollars worth of Extra Bucks at CVS. A couple of weeks ago, CVS had the Oral B Vitality rechargeable toothbrush on sale for $23 with an Extra Bucks coupon for $13. We also received at the beginning of the month a $10 off of one Oral B Vitality toothbrush. Take in account the Extra Bucks and coupon, the toothbrush would be FREE! I tried to do this offer, but every CVS that I went to were out. So I got a rain check from the closest CVS. For 2 weeks, I have gone to CVS hoping to redeem my rain check, but they were still out. Today was the last straw after I was told that they will not get them in for at least 2 weeks! Considering my current $13 worth of Extra Bucks were expiring on Sunday and my coupons will expire before the toothbrushes ever come in, I decided to use my Extra Bucks on items that were not on sale that I needed.
I needed to get a refill for my Lysol no hands soap dispensor and any kind of restoring mouthwash for Rob. The Lysol refills are at CVS for $3.99 each. I had Extra Bucks coupons for $4.99 and $3.00. So I decided to get two refills. I decided to that those two coupons were enough to make the refills free. Next, I checked out the mouthwash. I did bring my coupon binder with me and knew that I had lots of coupons for Listerine, ACT, and Crest mouthwash. I checked out all the available options, and decided to go with the Listerine Total Care mouthwash since I was able to get a bigger bottle and I had a coupon to use. I had one Extra Bucks coupon for $5.50 left. The Listerine coupon was for a dollar off. I was not able to get the Listerine on sale, but that did not worry me too much since I was using Extra Bucks coupons. The regular price for the mouthwash was $7.29. I applied my coupons and only paid 75 cents for a 1 litter bottle of mouthwash! I did have to pay sales tax on all the items when I checked out, which brought my grand total to $1.19 for all three items! The receipt said I saved $14.49! Even that impressed the pharmacists as I was checking out.
The other reason I went to CVS was to get Caisa's medicine refilled. Starting September 1st, my kids are on CHIPS. CHIPS is insurance provided by the state to families that make below federal poverty levels but makes too much for Medicaid. I only had to pay a one time $35 enrollment fee and no monthly premiums. The insurance covers prescriptions, dental, eye exams, and doctor visits for free or at a very low copay. My insurance copay for prescriptions are $20 for name brand and $5 for generics. When we had insurance through Rob's old work, I was paying between $25-$85 per prescription for Caisa a month. I also did not have just one prescription for her. I always had either 3 or 4 prescriptions that she needed to use all together. When she was really bad, I had to refill a couple of those prescriptions twice a month. Caisa has Psoriasis and she has to have topical steroids, anti-itch creams, and special topical creams just for her face. She also has a special steroid foam for her scalp. Most of these prescriptions are not available in generic form. Like today, I had to refill her Luxiq prescription for her scalp. This one used to run me $65 with our old insurance, but today I only paid $20! That was even cheaper the the $25 I paid one time when the dermatologist office gave me a coupon to use on the prescription.
Since being on CHIPS, I have saved quite a bit on Caisa's medication. Every little bit helps and now I do not have to worry about how much this is going to cost me. Believe me, prescriptions for skin conditions are very expensive! Even when you have decent insurance! If I did not have insurance, just one of her medicines would cost over $300. I have one that costs $800 without insurance! Makes me appreciate the CHIPS coverage even more.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Thursday Morning
Another week has gone by, I have to say that this Thursday morning was not nearly as stressful as last weeks. Not too much were on sale that I had coupons for. I did shop at my three stores today but was in and out each store under 30 minutes. That is how few items I had on my list.
Let's start with Kroger again. They are still having the same sale as last week going on, but they did remove a couple of items and replaced them with other items. I bought my milk at Kroger since if I spent $10 or more, then the Springdale milk was 99 cents a gallon. I also picked up two Nesquiks for the boys at a dollar a piece. I did take advantage of the sale again. I was able to get four boxes of Kelloggs fruit snacks for 99 cents a box. My other items that I bought where items I needed to buy either for making school lunches or for dinner tonight. Swedish Meatballs in my new crock pot! I cannot wait to eat! All in all, I paid $26.35 and saved $25.49. A savings of 49%.
Albertsons was my next stop. I needed to get some pasta for tonight's dinner. Albertsons has the Barilla Whole Grain Pasta on sale for $1.25 a box. I still had the 55 cents off of one Barilla Whole Grain Pasta coupons from last month. I used all three and paid 75 cents per box. I also used all three of my 50 cents off of one Yakisoba meals. Since Albertsons still doubles all three of my coupons, I got them all for FREE! Nice, quick lunch for me today. I did take advantage of the buy one get one free sale on the Irish Spring soap bar packs. I still had my two 50 cents off of any one Irish Spring coupons. They were expiring on the 23rd, so I saw this as my opportunity to use them. I am used to getting Irish Soap free, but it has been awhile since Kroger had them on sale for a dollar a 3 pack. Albertsons did take and double my two coupons to drop the price from $2.99 to 99 cents for both packs! I ended up paying $14.69 and saving $15. A savings of just over 50%.
Tom Thumb was my last stop today. I needed to get cereal. Tom Thumb as selected General Mills cereals for $1.88. Tom Thumb also had a coupon that makes the price of Multi-grain Cheerios and Banana Nut Cheerios $1.99 a box, with a limit of 4 boxes. I had two coupons for $1 off of two Banana Nut Cheerios coupons and a Cellfire coupon for 75 cents off of one box of Banana Nut Cheerios. I ended up getting 3 boxes for $1.49 and one for 74 cents. I also used two different $1 off of any two Cheerios coupons for get some Honey Nut Cheerios for $1.38 a box. My best find was the Progresso Vegetable Classic soups for 88 cents each with a limit of 8 cans. I still had several $1 off of any four Progresso soups coupon. I decided to only use one coupon, since I really do not have room in my pantry to get all 8. I checked Cellfire and Shortcuts for electronic coupons. I had a 50 cents off of two Progresso soups coupons on both websites. Tom Thumb did take both of the electronic coupons and this brought my total to $1.52 for all four cans! If you do the math, then that is 38 cents a can! I spent $17.31 and saved $30.25! A savings of 64%! I love having big savings at Tom Thumb!
In the end I spent $58.35 for $129.09 worth of groceries, and I saved $70.74! I did better than I thought I was going to do. Definitely going to enjoy my Swedish Meatballs tonight after doing a good job saving money this morning.
Let's start with Kroger again. They are still having the same sale as last week going on, but they did remove a couple of items and replaced them with other items. I bought my milk at Kroger since if I spent $10 or more, then the Springdale milk was 99 cents a gallon. I also picked up two Nesquiks for the boys at a dollar a piece. I did take advantage of the sale again. I was able to get four boxes of Kelloggs fruit snacks for 99 cents a box. My other items that I bought where items I needed to buy either for making school lunches or for dinner tonight. Swedish Meatballs in my new crock pot! I cannot wait to eat! All in all, I paid $26.35 and saved $25.49. A savings of 49%.
Albertsons was my next stop. I needed to get some pasta for tonight's dinner. Albertsons has the Barilla Whole Grain Pasta on sale for $1.25 a box. I still had the 55 cents off of one Barilla Whole Grain Pasta coupons from last month. I used all three and paid 75 cents per box. I also used all three of my 50 cents off of one Yakisoba meals. Since Albertsons still doubles all three of my coupons, I got them all for FREE! Nice, quick lunch for me today. I did take advantage of the buy one get one free sale on the Irish Spring soap bar packs. I still had my two 50 cents off of any one Irish Spring coupons. They were expiring on the 23rd, so I saw this as my opportunity to use them. I am used to getting Irish Soap free, but it has been awhile since Kroger had them on sale for a dollar a 3 pack. Albertsons did take and double my two coupons to drop the price from $2.99 to 99 cents for both packs! I ended up paying $14.69 and saving $15. A savings of just over 50%.
Tom Thumb was my last stop today. I needed to get cereal. Tom Thumb as selected General Mills cereals for $1.88. Tom Thumb also had a coupon that makes the price of Multi-grain Cheerios and Banana Nut Cheerios $1.99 a box, with a limit of 4 boxes. I had two coupons for $1 off of two Banana Nut Cheerios coupons and a Cellfire coupon for 75 cents off of one box of Banana Nut Cheerios. I ended up getting 3 boxes for $1.49 and one for 74 cents. I also used two different $1 off of any two Cheerios coupons for get some Honey Nut Cheerios for $1.38 a box. My best find was the Progresso Vegetable Classic soups for 88 cents each with a limit of 8 cans. I still had several $1 off of any four Progresso soups coupon. I decided to only use one coupon, since I really do not have room in my pantry to get all 8. I checked Cellfire and Shortcuts for electronic coupons. I had a 50 cents off of two Progresso soups coupons on both websites. Tom Thumb did take both of the electronic coupons and this brought my total to $1.52 for all four cans! If you do the math, then that is 38 cents a can! I spent $17.31 and saved $30.25! A savings of 64%! I love having big savings at Tom Thumb!
In the end I spent $58.35 for $129.09 worth of groceries, and I saved $70.74! I did better than I thought I was going to do. Definitely going to enjoy my Swedish Meatballs tonight after doing a good job saving money this morning.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
What's best at destressing your morning?
What is best at turning a rather stressful morning around? Why saving huge, and I do mean huge, at the grocery store! This morning started like any other, get the kids up and ready for school. Dropped the girls off and headed to Kroger for some grocery shopping. About half way through my shopping at Kroger, my phone rings. It was Rob and he needed me to help him out asap. His car ran out of gas and he was stranded not too far from home. I hung up on him and raced around the store to finish my shopping. Took me longer to check out because I had to go through the self check out line since before 8:30am those are the only lanes open. They guy who scans my coupons was having a difficult time scanning and I had to verify with most of my coupons that yes I have the exact item that the coupon is for.
After paying, loading up kids and food, I rushed home to get the full gas can in the garage. I made it home and back to Rob with 30 minutes till his class starts. Too bad he was about 20 minute away from school and still had to fill up and find a parking space at TCU. Good luck with that one Rob. I was able to get Rob back on the road. Now time to take a deep breath and continue on with my shopping. So Albertsons here I come.
I got my groceries from Albertsons, loaded up the kids and food, and headed home. After I got home and unloaded my groceries, I noticed that my iphone was missing. Great not another crisis. I remember Aaron playing it when we were checking out, but I could not remember if he brought it into the house or not. I tried to ask him what he did with the phone, but really got no where due to the fact that he has Hyperlexia. Which is a form of high functioning Autism. I checked the car, kitchen, my room, all the places I last remember seeing Aaron. After saying a quick prayer, I loaded the kids up and headed back to Albertsons to see if he dropped it out in the parking lot. I knew the odds were great that the phone was in the house, but I still wanted to rule this out. Got back to Albertsons, and nope no one turned in a phone from the parking lot. Loaded the kids back into the car and headed home. Five minutes after we got home, Aaron yells at me that he found my phone. It was on the bathroom counter. He must of gone to the bathroom and put the phone down. I thanked him happily for finding the phone and told him next time to just give the phone to me. Hopefully he will remember that. Now both crisis adverted, I can finally sit back and enjoy the awesomeness of my savings. And they are truly Awesome!
Let's start with Kroger. Kroger still has milk for 99 cents a gallon, but they are also having another buy any 10 participating items and get $5 off sale. Checked my coupons and was able to find enough coupons to get me the 10 items for a fairly good price. If you still have your 50 cents off of 1 bag of Nerds, then you can get that bag for under a $1. I got some cream cheese for under a dollar and Capri Sun for 99 cents. But my favorite deal was for the Nestle cookie dough. If you get your ten items, the final sales price for the cookie dough will be $1.99. I did have a coupon for $1 off of any 2 Nestle cookie dough, but while I was picking out my dough, there were some that had a coupon on the package for $1 off of 1. So I tucked my $1 off of 2 coupon back into the purse and choose 2 cookie dough that had the $1 off of 1 coupon on it. So I ended up getting the cookie dough for 99 cents each! I did not spend a whole lot at Kroger. I spent $19.71 and saved $25.00. A savings of 55%.
I saved the best for last. Albertsons has some killer sales going on this week. Eggs for 79 cents, Quaker products on sale and we also have a coupon from the flier too, plus the Conagra promo sale. Frozen bags of Tilapia are buy one get 2 free, so for $8.99 you get 3 one pound bags of fish. Evaporated milk is on sale for a dollar and we have coupons for 50 cents off of 2. I know it's not free, but since I'm low I went ahead and paid the 50 cents per can for some evaporated milk. I use it in almost everything from Mac and Cheese to soups. The Conagra sale was selected Conagra products were on sale for $1 and if you buy 10 of those items, then you get 3 free. Act II popcorn, Hunts canned tomatoes, Wolf brand chili, Chef Boyardee pasta, and Hunts pasta sauce were some items that were on the sale. Since I had coupons for only the popcorn, canned tomatoes, and chili, those were the ones that I bought. I had 2 coupons for 40 cents off of any Act II popcorn, two 45 cents off of any 3 Hunts canned tomatoes, and one 75 cents off of 3 Wolf brand chili. That saves on 11 sale items. I still had 2 more to go. I did not have any other coupons to use, so I decided to get 2 more boxes of popcorn since we will need it for Family Movie Night on Friday. Albertsons double the popcorn and tomato coupons. After everything was taken off, I paid $5.85 for all 13 items. That is 45 cents per item!
Another item on sale are the big cans of Libby canned veggies. I still had two $1 off of any 3 Libby canned veggies. The sale price is 88 cents per can. Since these are the big cans, that is not a bad price. So I got 6 cans and used both of my coupons to pay $3.28 for all six, which if you do the math, is about 55 cents per can. Ragu past sauce is on sale for $1.88 each. I had three 30 cents off of 1 Ragu sauce coupons that are expiring on Sunday. I decided why not use them and tuck the jars away for a rainy day. Albertsons tripled all three coupons and I paid 98 cents per jar.
My absolutely favorite deal of the week was the Quaker deal going on at Albertsons. In this week's flier, there were two coupons for $3 off of any 5 Quaker items. Albertsons has Quaker items on sale this week and if you use just the coupon from the flier, you will either pay $1 or $1.50 per item. From past experiences, I know I can also put my other Quaker coupons on top of this. For example, the Quaker Chewy granola bars are for a $1 if you use your $3 off of 5 coupon. I have another coupon for $1 off of 2 Quaker Chewy granola bars. Albertsons took my coupon and I ended up paying 50 cents per box. I also did this with a 75 cents off of any 1 Quaker Delights to bring the final price down to a quarter, and a 75 cents off of any Quaker instant oatmeal to make it 75 cents a box. Too bad I did not have any Quaker cereal coupons. Life and Captain Crunch is a dollar a box using the flier coupon, still not a bad price to pay for cereal. After I got my 10 Quaker items, I got ten since there are two $3 off of 5 coupons in the flier, I ended up paying $7.30 for all 10 items. That makes each item 73 cents each! I spent $38.37 and saved $82.38. Yes that is right, $82.38 at one store! I'm thinking that the Albertsons receipt is going in my receipt hall of fame.
After it was all said and done, I spent $58.08 and got $165.46 worth of groceries! I saved $107.38 which is a HUGE savings! I have never saved that much at Wallymart in one month, let alone one week! Savings like this, just make the stress from the earlier crisis go away.
After paying, loading up kids and food, I rushed home to get the full gas can in the garage. I made it home and back to Rob with 30 minutes till his class starts. Too bad he was about 20 minute away from school and still had to fill up and find a parking space at TCU. Good luck with that one Rob. I was able to get Rob back on the road. Now time to take a deep breath and continue on with my shopping. So Albertsons here I come.
I got my groceries from Albertsons, loaded up the kids and food, and headed home. After I got home and unloaded my groceries, I noticed that my iphone was missing. Great not another crisis. I remember Aaron playing it when we were checking out, but I could not remember if he brought it into the house or not. I tried to ask him what he did with the phone, but really got no where due to the fact that he has Hyperlexia. Which is a form of high functioning Autism. I checked the car, kitchen, my room, all the places I last remember seeing Aaron. After saying a quick prayer, I loaded the kids up and headed back to Albertsons to see if he dropped it out in the parking lot. I knew the odds were great that the phone was in the house, but I still wanted to rule this out. Got back to Albertsons, and nope no one turned in a phone from the parking lot. Loaded the kids back into the car and headed home. Five minutes after we got home, Aaron yells at me that he found my phone. It was on the bathroom counter. He must of gone to the bathroom and put the phone down. I thanked him happily for finding the phone and told him next time to just give the phone to me. Hopefully he will remember that. Now both crisis adverted, I can finally sit back and enjoy the awesomeness of my savings. And they are truly Awesome!
Let's start with Kroger. Kroger still has milk for 99 cents a gallon, but they are also having another buy any 10 participating items and get $5 off sale. Checked my coupons and was able to find enough coupons to get me the 10 items for a fairly good price. If you still have your 50 cents off of 1 bag of Nerds, then you can get that bag for under a $1. I got some cream cheese for under a dollar and Capri Sun for 99 cents. But my favorite deal was for the Nestle cookie dough. If you get your ten items, the final sales price for the cookie dough will be $1.99. I did have a coupon for $1 off of any 2 Nestle cookie dough, but while I was picking out my dough, there were some that had a coupon on the package for $1 off of 1. So I tucked my $1 off of 2 coupon back into the purse and choose 2 cookie dough that had the $1 off of 1 coupon on it. So I ended up getting the cookie dough for 99 cents each! I did not spend a whole lot at Kroger. I spent $19.71 and saved $25.00. A savings of 55%.
I saved the best for last. Albertsons has some killer sales going on this week. Eggs for 79 cents, Quaker products on sale and we also have a coupon from the flier too, plus the Conagra promo sale. Frozen bags of Tilapia are buy one get 2 free, so for $8.99 you get 3 one pound bags of fish. Evaporated milk is on sale for a dollar and we have coupons for 50 cents off of 2. I know it's not free, but since I'm low I went ahead and paid the 50 cents per can for some evaporated milk. I use it in almost everything from Mac and Cheese to soups. The Conagra sale was selected Conagra products were on sale for $1 and if you buy 10 of those items, then you get 3 free. Act II popcorn, Hunts canned tomatoes, Wolf brand chili, Chef Boyardee pasta, and Hunts pasta sauce were some items that were on the sale. Since I had coupons for only the popcorn, canned tomatoes, and chili, those were the ones that I bought. I had 2 coupons for 40 cents off of any Act II popcorn, two 45 cents off of any 3 Hunts canned tomatoes, and one 75 cents off of 3 Wolf brand chili. That saves on 11 sale items. I still had 2 more to go. I did not have any other coupons to use, so I decided to get 2 more boxes of popcorn since we will need it for Family Movie Night on Friday. Albertsons double the popcorn and tomato coupons. After everything was taken off, I paid $5.85 for all 13 items. That is 45 cents per item!
Another item on sale are the big cans of Libby canned veggies. I still had two $1 off of any 3 Libby canned veggies. The sale price is 88 cents per can. Since these are the big cans, that is not a bad price. So I got 6 cans and used both of my coupons to pay $3.28 for all six, which if you do the math, is about 55 cents per can. Ragu past sauce is on sale for $1.88 each. I had three 30 cents off of 1 Ragu sauce coupons that are expiring on Sunday. I decided why not use them and tuck the jars away for a rainy day. Albertsons tripled all three coupons and I paid 98 cents per jar.
My absolutely favorite deal of the week was the Quaker deal going on at Albertsons. In this week's flier, there were two coupons for $3 off of any 5 Quaker items. Albertsons has Quaker items on sale this week and if you use just the coupon from the flier, you will either pay $1 or $1.50 per item. From past experiences, I know I can also put my other Quaker coupons on top of this. For example, the Quaker Chewy granola bars are for a $1 if you use your $3 off of 5 coupon. I have another coupon for $1 off of 2 Quaker Chewy granola bars. Albertsons took my coupon and I ended up paying 50 cents per box. I also did this with a 75 cents off of any 1 Quaker Delights to bring the final price down to a quarter, and a 75 cents off of any Quaker instant oatmeal to make it 75 cents a box. Too bad I did not have any Quaker cereal coupons. Life and Captain Crunch is a dollar a box using the flier coupon, still not a bad price to pay for cereal. After I got my 10 Quaker items, I got ten since there are two $3 off of 5 coupons in the flier, I ended up paying $7.30 for all 10 items. That makes each item 73 cents each! I spent $38.37 and saved $82.38. Yes that is right, $82.38 at one store! I'm thinking that the Albertsons receipt is going in my receipt hall of fame.
After it was all said and done, I spent $58.08 and got $165.46 worth of groceries! I saved $107.38 which is a HUGE savings! I have never saved that much at Wallymart in one month, let alone one week! Savings like this, just make the stress from the earlier crisis go away.
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