Was nearly free worth the last minute trip?

I say yes!!  I have no shame. I will show the world me free underwear score. Go me!! But what was more interesting was the conversation at the register at J.C Penney between myself, the cashier, and the woman in front of me.

I chimed in when they were talking about how easy it is to shop clearance and get deals for less than $5, but if you go to Goodwill or other thrift stores, it seems like the price keeps going up. If anyone has an opinion or theory about this, I would love the conjecture. It is the strangest thing.

I digress. I was cleaning out my kitchen and found a mail coupon that expired tonight for the Victoria’s Secret underwear. Who can say no to a free $8 product? Thank you Vicky!! So I made a last minute decision to print the J.C. Penney coupon and see what was there. Cutest T-Shirt, $3.36. Totally worth the diversion, and less money than a coffee and bagel combo. I’ll make that trade off any day. 

Obscure coupons and deals 10/10

Old Navy Fall Haul up to 75% in stores and 50% online. Details at:

http://oldnavy.gap.com/?tid=onaff3706744&ap=2&siteID=onafcid233

Free Burger Mini’s at Ruby Tuesday’s with purchase.

http://offers.rubytuesday.com/Offer/Splash?utm_source=status&utm_medium=viral&FromWho=1a2af499-38d4-4401-9d5b-1872a2f2b9a6

$10 off 2 entrees at Ruby Tuesday’s email coupon with registration.

http://pages.rubytuesdayrestaurants.com/page.aspx?QS=330c754b5e92df74c5001a21711e171204a64d8b8f9cfa5519d03d3ba221e1a1&utm_source=promotion

Gold Peak $1/1 coupon for 18.5 oz beverage. Use zip code 90210 and go to beverage section. This will make this product pennies at some locations, like Target.

www.coupons.com

New coupons at Red Plum.com including Baskin Robins $.99 cone (Manchester)

http://coupons.redplum.com/offers/default.aspx?Id=MySavings&SubHostId=CD4622

J.C. Penney 20% off coupon includes sale and clearance items. Expires today.

http://f.chtah.com/i/2/95827765/vip_red_base.html

My response to an unhappy camper.

I had a viewer admit this morning that the only reason she read my blog was to criticize me, claiming that I am no better than the average couponer. Guess what, she is absolutely right.

It is not my purpose to be the best. The best is already out there.  It is my purpose to do two things. The first of which is to teach the willing how to coupon appropriately so that they can save legitimate and noticeable monies on their weekly personal needs. And the second would be to consolidate freebies and obscure coupons that are not advertised on the major coupon sites. I am just trying to make it easier for the average reader who does not want to spend hours searching for these deals.

See, many people regard couponing as a game. Whoever scores the most wins! Many people coupon to make money, using the cash back policies of the minimal stores that allow it. They stock up on things that have an overage in favor of the coupon, solely to collect the overage, not really needing the product to begin with.  Umm, if this is the mentality of any viewer, you are on the wrong page. It is not my intention to direct anyone to multiple sales so that they can hoard any particular item, not caring what it is, as long as it is free. This is what gives couponing a bad name, in my humble opinion.

If anyone would like to direct a newbie my way so that they can be taught how to save money ethically on items they need and will actually use, please send them my way. If they want to learn how to shelf clear, please direct them somewhere else.

Thank you sincerely for you continuing support in my venture of self employment. Slowly but surely this is working out for me. I also want to say that just because the title is “Concord”, I do parties in other towns, as store policies are the same. The philosophy does not change, just the geography of what is available to the consumer. This is what I work with, the stores that are immediately available to your location.

Thank you again,

Samantha  ;)

Rite Aid this morning Oct. 9th

With the exception of the CDR’s on clearance, everything in this picture had a coupon or reward (or both) that made the item between 75% off to free, if not a money maker. In fact there was a third pack of CDR’s that I gave to a neighbor. 

Call me a hypochondriac. Winter is DONE!! And if we do not use some of this stuff when another amazing deal comes along, I will simply rotate what we did not use by giving it to a food pantry or a friend. Free is free baby. And the Comtrex has already been opened. Both of my kids have had colds this early in the season. (Not me though. Ssssshhhh... Be vewy vewy qwiet...)

If you can not see everything in the picture, I will list it below. Just so it is noted, the retail value is over $132. I paid $16.52 and I have $16.50 in Up+ Rewards for next week. The only thing that is not represented on the receipt is the Scope, because the Up+ Reward did not print when I bought the appropriate Crest toothpaste, thus the circled return and exchange.

I easily could have broken this transaction into 3 or 4 turns, saving an additional $6-10 depending, but the pathetic truth is that I mowed and weed wacked my mother’s ridiculous yard for 5 hours yesterday and I am sore and cranky.  I would also have significantly less Up+ rewards. I am confident I will find a use for them. 

Item list below - Prices in receipt pictures.

(3) Fuji CDR’s -Scope Dual Blast- (2) Colgate Optic White- (4) Rite Aid hand sanitizer- (2) Carefree panty liner- Bayer 81 mg. aspirin 24 ct.- Comtrex cold and sinus 24 ct.- Hyland homeopathic cough and cold-  Chloroseptic throat lozenges 15 ct.- Cepacol throat lozenges 16 ct.- (2)Ludens cough drops- Burt’s Bees cough drops- Blistex lip ointment- Neil Med saline spray- Ocean saline spray- Preparation H Totes.

Preparation H $2 Q:

 https://www.wyethallbrands.com/special_offers.aspx

Chloroseptic $1 Q: http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=UH4TZKCJKGUMO

Ludens $1/2 Q:

http://www.ludens.com/Special_Offers.aspx

Carefree (use (2) man. Q’s $.50 ea. with the $1/2 Rite Aid Q on Adperk)= FREE

http://www.carefreeliners.com/special-offers

http://riteaid.adperk.com/

Bayer 81 mg. 24 ct- Use $1/1 Q in previous RP

Colgate Optic White- Use $1/2 in last weeks SS

Rite Aid this morning

Total retail value here is $35.71. I paid $.94. There is really nothing more to say.

Yoplait Smoothies reduced for clearance...

I have a post from a friend. She says that select Yoplait Frozen smoothies are 50% off at Shaw's (freezer section under "breakfast") which makes them about $1.75 ea. If you use the $1/1 Q from the Green General Mills insert from a few weeks ago (exp. date 11/5) with a dollar doubler, this will actually give you an approximate $.25 credit towards the rest of your order. Just an FYI. She said there were plenty left at the Ft. Eddy Rd. location. So if you are making a run anyway, clip a couple of those. You just might score some free breakfast smoothies!! YUM!!


P.S. Have the cashier scan the man. Q's first then the dollar doublers.

To Stockpile or not to stockpile...

This is as close to telling on myself as it gets. While I try not to become the coupon hoarder as it were, it makes sense for me to take full advantage of certain sale prices while they are low. Without shelf clearing (I shop several times a week so that everyone gets a fair shake at sale prices) I do tend to stock up on items that have a longer shelf life. I would like to tell you how much money I typically pay for these items so you understand that by couponing properly, these kinds of things don’t need to be on my list for a while.

Cereal: I seldom pay more than $1 for any type of cereal, with the exception of Lucky Charms. They are my personal favorite (I am not sorry) and they never seem to be included in the G.M. promos at Shaw’s. So I stack Market Basket coupons with manufacturer’s coupons when I can. I paid $.38 for each box of Kix, and almost everything else was $.88, with the exception of anything Kellogg’s. Cereal is approximately $3 a box. I pay 1/3 or less.

Canned Goods: This week was awesome for me. Between the different types of applicable Progresso soups at Shaw’s and Market Basket, I scored a major variety. I love soup on a cold and dismal day. I paid no more than $1 ea. and some were $.79 because of the Shaw’s dollar doubler promo. Goya beans are on sale 2/$1 and between the 1/$5 online coupon and the dollar doubler I paid $.10 per can. These prices represent 50%-90% savings.

Snacks: Bugles, Chex (smaller size), and Nature Valley Granola bars are on sale “Buy 5 G.M. Products, get them for $1.88 ea.” After coupons double they are $.88 ea. There is also a Nature Valley promo CAT coupon for $3 off your next order (posted) when you buy 5 boxes of granola bars (does not include the thins.) I did this twice, which went towards my Chex, Bugles, and other groceries. The average retail price for these kinds of snacks is between $2.50 and $3 ea. I paid 1/3 or less, and when you configure the additional $3 bonus coupon, well, I had a great week.

Drinks: I did not score this week on drinks with the exception of Tropicana at Shaw’s 2/$6 and using the $1/2 with the dollar doubler. That made 2/$4. Usually I can do better. I forgive myself. And I used the rest of my Fuze coupons that were given to me by a gas station attendant. They were going to expire on 9/30, so when I was at Walmart I got 50% all of them.

I don’t need anything for the next three weeks. Seriously, I might run out of milk and some produce. That’s it!!

This shelf is all I allow myself to stock up on these kinds of foods. Maybe I will show you my shampoo shelf another day ;)