Shopping Trip: Walmart

Please Note: Many of the coupons for these items are still good and since the items weren’t on sale, the deals should still be the same. These deals are for the Poconos region.

Saturday morning’s shopping trip to Walmart was a bit of a disappointment and still nice at the same time. The deals that I went in for were typically overpriced when compared to the deals listed by The Krazy Coupon Lady. I wish the prices had been the same because the savings would have been even sweeter, but for my area, the savings were still pretty good. I also bought part of the ingredients to make more laundry detergent since it’s been about a year and I just ran out. I love homemade detergent and it is so easy to use!

 

Here’s what I bought:

• 2 Bird’s Eye Recipe Ready Veggies: $1.96 regular price, used 2 $.75 cents/1 coupons (printable from Smart Source) = $1.21 each
• 2 Boxes 40 ct. Truvia: $3.56 regular price, used 2 $2.00/1 coupons (printable from Smart Source) = $1.56 each
• Bird’s Eye Voila Chicken Dinner Meal: $6.76 for a family size meal, used one free product coupon (received from a family member who had sent in a product review) = FREE
• 4 So Delicious Coconut Milk Cartons: $2.28 regular price, used 4 $1.00/1 coupons (SS 4/13) = $5.12 for all
• Planter’s Flavored Peanuts: $1.48 regular price, used $1.00/1 coupon (printable form Smart Source) = .48 cents
• Bayer Low Dose Chewable Aspirin: $2.17 regular price, used $1.50/1 coupon (SS 5/4) = .67 cents
• 1 Carefree Liners: .94 cents regular price, used $1.00/1 coupon (printable from Carefree) = .06 cents money maker
• Box of Borax: $3.97 regular price
• 2 Fels Naptha Bars: .97 cents each
• 4 lb. Box of Baking Soda: $2.24 regular price

I spent a total of $19.90 before taxes with a total savings of $19.26 and that’s including the laundry detergent supplies!

Shopping Trip to CVS: Cheap Body Wash and Soda!

I was recently planning to buy these items and when a great sale came up, I was thrilled. I stocked up on some cheap body wash and four cases of soda which should last us awhile. It’s been great getting back into the swing of using coupons with one of my favorite places to shop, CVS. This purchase was made over two transactions: one for the initial items that had ECBs on them and a second to use up the ECBs I had just received. I love how CVS allows you to use the ECBs you get on the same day you receive them. I thought it was a pretty good day and simple enough that I didn’t want to hide from the cashier out of couponing shame.

Transaction One:

• 2 Irish Spring Body Wash: $3.00 each on sale, used 2 $1.00/1 coupons (SS 1/19/14, exp. 2/8/14) = $4.00 for both
• 2 Softsoap Body Wash: $3.00 each on sale, used $1.00/2 coupon (SS 1/19/14, exp. 2/8/14) = $ 5.00 for both

The total was $9.54 after coupons and tax. This is like getting each bottle for only $2.38. Not fantastic, but I also received $6.00 in ECBs for purchasing 4/$12.00 worth of these selected products.

Transaction Two:

• 4 12-Can Cases of Coca Cola Products: $2.50 each on sale, buy $30 in selected products and receive $10 ECBs (just FYI), and I used $6.00 ECBs from Transaction One = $4.24 for all four cases with tax

So essentially, I got all eight items for a total of $13.78, which I thought was awesome. A total savings of $30.92 after coupons and sales.

Shopping Trip: CVS and Giant

Last night, we had a quick dinner at Arby’s with free item coupons from the paper and My Arby’s Rewards and then we went out shopping. There’s nothing better than spending a night with family and then hunting for good deals. I had a couple good deals to shop for, but wasn’t feeling my best, so I didn’t get everything on my list. I’m planning on waiting until I get home to do the bulk of my shopping. These deals are no longer available.

Giant: Here, I bought ten large cans of Furmano’s tomatoes. The price came down to thirty cents and I was very pleased. I bought:

• 10 Cans Furmano’s Tomatoes: 5 for $4 on sale, used 5 $1/2 coupons (SS 9/29, exp. 11/30) = .30 cents each or $3.00 total

CVS: I bought a great deal on Folger’s coffee here. I like coffee but caffeinated coffee is often too strong for me. I plan to mix these half and half. I bought:

• 2 Canisters Folger’s Coffee: 2 for $5 on sale, used a $1/2 (RP 9/29, exp. 10/31) got back $1 ECBs = 2/$3 after sale, coupon, and ECB’s

Tell Me: What awesome deals have you found lately?

Shopping Trip: CVS

Yesterday’s shopping trip was a quick run into CVS for some candy sales and some bug spray. These deals are available and expire at closing time on Saturday May 4th. Check your local sales flier and the Magic Coupon Machine in stores for your possible free single serve candy coupon!

Here’s what I got:

• 2 Bags of Life Savers: 2 for $3.00 sale price, used $1.50/2 coupon (printable, no longer available) = .75 cents each
• M&M’s Single Serve Candies: .99 cents on sale, used one .99 cent coupon form Magic Coupon Machine = FREE
• Off! Bug Spray: $4.99 regular price, save $1.00 in store and used $1.50/1 coupon (from magazine insert) = $2.49 after coupons

My total was $4.04 after coupons!

A Guide to Earning Gas Rewards Points at Giant

Have you ever wondered how people fill up their cars at Giant’s gas stations and claim to have saved more than they spent? Look no further than the circular itself, which can be a little tricky to navigate. Here is your guide to earning the most rewards while saving money and buying great products.

Learn the system: As a general rule and using their loyalty card, for every $100 you spend you get .10 cents off per gallon in rewards points. To make it a little more complicated, Giant offers special deals, which means you can spend well under that amount and still get major rewards points.

Look for boxes: On the Giant circulars, you’ll see color coded boxes with the gas rewards symbol, and usually with a bar at the top that says “buy X amount of products get Y amount of points”. These boxes have great products you can purchase at sale prices. Oftentimes, many of the items have a coupon associated with them. For example, purchasing four items in a box might give you 200 extra gas points. This means you pay for four items you want or need from that box and you get .20 cents off per gallon at the gas station.

Add your coupons: Add matching manufacturer’s coupons to the sale items in the boxes on the circulars. You will still get the points listed and the amount you pay drops further.

Bring it all home: The best part about any transaction is the rush that comes from bringing home a great deal. Bring your items and coupons to the register and watch as the savings add up. Most importantly, check your receipt before you leave to make sure your points have been added to your loyalty card. If you have a cashier, he or she will most likely tell you how many points you have saved up.

At the station: Swipe your loyalty card first to see the prices drop. Make sure the prices have dropped before you pay. I have found that using my debit/credit card is the easiest way to pay, but there is sometimes an attendant there who will take other forms of payment. Also note that you must redeem your points between the dates listed on your grocery receipt.

Top image from Giant’s weekly circular page.

Making Printable Coupons Affordable

There are a lot of printable coupons out there, and I really do mean A LOT! But with the price of ink and paper as high as it is, how do you minimize the cost? There are several things you can do to help you cut costs and there is no reason why printable coupons can’t be the affordable money savers they are meant to be.

• Only print out what you will use. By selecting coupons that you know have a sale associated with them, or that you are going to use, you can cut out a large portion of your ink and paper use. This is often easier said than done, but with the use of Krazy Coupon Lady or Living Rich With Coupons, you can see the good deals and print coupons accordingly. 
• Buy ink and paper when it’s on sale. Why shouldn’t you purchase your ink and paper using your mad couponing skills? Many office supply stores offer coupons on more than just big purchase items. Check the back to school sales in late summer and stock up!
• Make sure your printer is ready to go. When you print off coupons you might as well have the ability to use them. Check to make sure that your printer is on and working correctly. Make sure the ink cartridges are not running low because if the coupon doesn’t print correctly you can’t use it.
• Honor print limits. This has more to do with being ethical when it comes to coupons. Most printable coupons will allow you a limit of two printouts and sometimes, only one. If you choose to photocopy coupons you could get in some serious trouble.
• Look for options to have the coupon mailed to you. Some coupon sites have an options or help page where you can have the coupon mailed directly to you. I’ve noticed these options on some of the coupons that are linked through Facebook.
• Try printing in black and white. I would use this tip with caution. I have heard of problems using black and white only coupons. They are close to photo copy quality and may be seen as fraudulent. Sometimes stores accept them without problems and other times they don’t.
• Use the scrap ends for other tasks. To keep from wasting paper I use the scrap ends after I cut out the coupons, usually for notes or recipes that I want to try. The paper still ends up in the recycling, but at least it has been used first.

Review: Ibotta App

Update: It looks like Ibotta has lowered the amounts of savings per item that you can claim. I no longer see phenomenal deals here, but rather average savings. Still, I am not changing the rating because if these products go on sale with a paper coupon you can still claim the Ibotta savings and get some really good deals.

Recently, I signed up for and am using a new app for my android phone. I gotta tell you, I am in love with this app! Here is my review of Ibotta, a new money saver:

Ibotta is an easy to use app and I’ve never seen another app quite like it. It’s set up is attractive: with bright splashes of  pink and images of the actual products you can save money on. It has a nice tutorial the first time you use this app and Ibotta continues to guide you through its use as you go. The offers section allows you to view the product and its requirements for purchase, along with a few small tasks which will earn you the savings. For example, learning a fact about the product may save you .25 cents after you complete it. After you complete an offer, it goes into pending status which you can then redeem. You select the store you’ve shopped at (refer to Ibotta for the list of accepted stores, they are adding new ones all the time) and take a picture of the receipt, then select which offers to redeem. After submitting, they review it and get back to you fairly quickly with an answer. I’ve always gotten a response in a matter of hours though they say it can take up to a day. The money you earn can be withdrawn to a Paypal account and you can use it however you wish; you can even deposit it back to your bank account.

With Ibotta, I select offers that I can pair with coupons or a store sale. Even without a coupon or sale, you can still get a great savings because some of the Ibotta savings are a higher value than coupons. My example is the recent $1.25 off a box of Cheez-its. This is a higher savings than any coupon I’ve seen for this product. I imagine that, with a sale, this price would be even better and the exact savings is unknown.

Just to make sure this app works before I posted it on Casey’s News and Reviews, I ran through the payment process. After a minimum of $5.00 is reached, I entered my Paypal email and Ibotta password. It submitted my payment quickly and showed up in my Paypal just as fast.

Visit Ibotta’s website here

Shopping Trip: Walmart

This week’s exciting shopping trip in Walmart consisted of two price matches and several coupons. And seriously, there were some great coupons! I continued to shop with Ibotta (review to follow), a new app for Android and Iphone, and I am very happy with the results.

Here are the details:

• 1L Listerine Ultra Clean: regularly priced $4.97, used $2.00/1 coupon (printable from coupons.com), used $1.25 Ibotta savings = $1.72
• 2 Suave Body Washes: regularly priced $1.50 each, used $1.00/2 coupon (printable from Dollar General) = $1.00 each
• Speed Stick Deodorant: $2.18 regular price, used $1.25 Ibotta savings = .93
• MiO Energy: regularly priced $3.48, used $1.00/1 coupon (printable from coupons.com), used $1.00 Ibotta savings = $1.48
• 10 Yoplait Yogurt Cups: .38 sale price matched to Shur Save, used $1.00/10 coupon (SS 1/6/2013, exp. 3/2/2013) = $2.80 for all
• 5 12-packs Coca Cola Products: $2.20 each, price matched to Shop Rite = $11.00 for all
• Cheez-its: regular price $2.88, used $1.25 Ibotta savings = $1.63
• Lean Pockets: $2.00 Walmart Rollback sale
• 2 Great Value Spiral Macaroni and Cheese: regularly priced .58 = $1.16 for both
• 4 Dole Fruit Smoothie Shakers: $1.50 each, used 2 $1.00/2 coupons (printable from coupons.com) = $1.00 each
• DiGiorno Pizza: $4.98 regular price, used .50 Ibotta savings: $4.48

For a total of $33.81. That’s after sale prices and $12.25 saved using coupons and Ibotta!

Shopping Trip: Walmart

I stopped in Walmart yesterday morning carrying two pages full of price matches. I matched a lot of items to this week’s store circulars and came out with some really good deals in the end. Nothing beats a good deal, except for a good deal with coupons! Just remember, the store allows price matching so you might as well take the opportunity if you need to.

Here are the details:

• 2 Kraft Shredded Cheeses: price matched to Shur Save = $1.88 each
• 5 Healthy Choice Completes Meals: price matched to Shur Save = $10 for all
• Philadelphia Cream Cheese: .99 sale price matched to Shop Rite
• 3 Green Giant Steamers Vegetables: $1.00 each, sale price matched to Shop Rite, used 1 $1.00/3 coupon (SS 11/11/12 exp. 1/5/13) = $2.00 for all
• Turkey Hill Ice Cream Carton: $1.99, price matched to Shop Rite
• 5 Dr. Pepper 2-Liters: $1.00 each, price matched to Shop Rite
• 2 Boxes Super Pretzels: $1.99 each, price matched to Shop Rite
• 3 lb. Yellow Onions: $1.88, price matched to Shop Rite
• Scott 12 Roll Toilet Paper: $7.99, price matched to CVS
• Peanut Butter Oreos: $2.25, price matched to Dollar General, used 1 $.50/1 coupon = $1.75
• Axe Detailer: $3.97 regular price, used 1 $2.00/1 coupon (SS 12/2/12 exp. 12/30/12) = $1.97
• Curad Hydrogen Peroxide: .68 regular price, used 1 $.50/1 coupon (printable exp. 12/31/12) = .18
• Head and Shoulders Shampoo: $6.78 regular price
• Curad Bandages: .96 regular price, used 1 .50/1 coupon (printable exp. 12/31/12) = .46
• Nivea Bodywash: $2.97 regular price, used 1 $1.00/1 coupon (from Nivea’s Facebook giveaway) = $1.97
• Bic Pens: $1.14 regular price, used 1 $1.00/1 coupon (from Bic’s Facebook giveaway) = .14

For a total of $51.32 and $5.50 saved using coupons after the sales prices came off. I love all of the under $1.00 product sales that have been around lately; all with the aid of printable coupons.

Shopping Trip: Weis

This week, I ran into Weis for some tortilla chips and soda and ended up coming out with a little more than I expected. I know, I know, always be a prepared shopper, but I couldn’t help that there were some really great deals that I had failed to notice when I went through the store circulars on Sunday. Good deals equal a win though. These deals included some sales on produce and were so good that I didn’t need coupons to get a great price. Especially, the English Muffins. These go on a Buy One Get Two Free every once in a blue moon.

These deals included:

• 2 2-liter bottles of soda: $1.00 each
• 2 Bags of Potatoes: BOGO at regular price of $4.99
• 2 Bags of Spinach: BOGO at regular price of $2.99
• 3 Bags of Thomas’ English Muffins: Buy One Get Two Free at regular price of $4.19 (I love these things!)
• 2 Boxes of Ronzoni Smart Pasta: $1.00 each
• Minute Maid Orange Juice: on sale $2.50
• Philadelphia Cream Cheese Two-Pack: $2.99 (these were on Rollback at Walmart for $2.50)

For a total of $21.66 for these deals alone.