Still going!

So I haven't bought laundry detergent or toilet paper in FOREVER. :)

It's going to be a sad day when my supplies run out!!

P.S. I haven't Q'd in forever, and I feel bad, but I really want to get back to the grind...so be patient with me! :)

Fry's Sale 10/21 - 10/27

Here's a few of the good deals that I saw going on at Fry's this week. For a complete list, click HERE!

*Don't forget - Fry's is taking all coupons up to $1.00!
($0.75 Q = $1, $.50 Q = $1, $0.25 Q = $1)


Beef Chuck Roast, Boneless - Buy One Get One FREE (first 2!)

Cottage Cheese, Kroger, 16oz
FINAL PRICE: $1.18 ea

Sour Cream, Kroger, 16oz
FINAL PRICE: $1.18 ea

Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta with Meat, Bowls, 7.5oz - $1.00 ea
USE: Chef Boyardee 14.5 oz Microwave Cups .40/1 (11-30-09) SS-10/4
Chef Boyardee 7.5 oz Microwave Cups .40/2 (11-30-09) SS-10/4
FINAL PRICE: FREE - $0.50

Hershey's Jumbo Snack Size Bags, 16.3-31oz - $4.50 ea
USE: Hersheys, Reeses or Kit Kat Snack Size Bags, any 9-22 oz. Buy 3 Get 1 FREE, max. value $3.00 (10-31-09) SS-10/18
FINAL PRICE: 4 / $13.50

Hershey's Snack Size Candy, 10.29-11.06oz - $2.47 ea
USE: Hersheys, Reeses or Kit Kat Snack Size Bags, any 9-22 oz. Buy 3 Get 1 FREE, max. value $3.00 (10-31-09) SS-10/18
FINAL PRICE: 2 / $7.41

Aquafresh Toothpaste, 4.5-6.4oz - $1.25 ea
USE: Aquafresh Premium Toothpastes, any 5.6 oz. or larger Advanced, Extreme Clean, White and Shine, or Sensitive .50/1 (11-30-09) RP-9/20
FINAL PRICE: $0.25 each

Bounty Paper Towels, 6-8 roll - $5.99 ea
USE: Bounty Towels or Napkins, any size .25/1 (10-31-09) PG-9/27
FINAL PRICE: $4.99 each

Fiber Plus Bars, 5-8.9oz - 2.57/1.57 ea (Part of the buy 4, get $4 off promo!)
USE: General Mills Fiber One Chewy Bars, any flavor box .40/1 (11-7-09) SS3-9/13 and (11-28-09) SS2-10/4
FINAL PRICE: $0.57 each

Spam singles - $1.00
USE: Spam Singles, any .35/1 (10-31-09) SS-9/20
FINAL PRICE: FREE

Betty Crocker Potato Pouches are $1,
USE: Betty Crocker Box or Pouch Potatoes any except Potato Buds .25/1 (11-7-09) SS3-9/13 Betty Crocker Potatoes Box or Pouch (except Potato Buds) .25/1 (11-28-09) SS2-10/4
FINAL PRICE: FREE

More Halloween candy Q's HERE & HERE :)

Thanks PYP!

More Chicken!

Did you catch the $0.99 cent sale on the boneless/skinless chicken breasts in the Phoenix Ranch Market ad this past week? If you still have the ad, take it to Walmart & ad match!! I got about 20 pounds of chicken for around $20.00! Seriously can't beat that kind of deal!

We eat chicken like it's going out of style.

My trip to Fry's!

I was at Fry's late last night. I don't get much time to myself, so I enjoyed my shopping trip. Here's how it went!

I bought:
1 - CoverGirl blush
3 - Suave body wash
3 - Snuggle Fabric sheets
7 - Quaker Oatmeal
3 - Spam pouches (great for 72-hour kit)
24 - Boxes of Barilla pasta
1 - Nestles morsals, big 24oz
10 - Green Giant frozen boxed veggies
33 - Beech-Nut baby food jars

Spent: $34.98
Saved: $131.96
80% savings :D

Lovey Dovey!

So, I love Dove. My awesome hair responds well to Dove conditioner; it's not weighed down with wax like Pantene and I LOVE that it's affordable! I used to use Redken, but then I joined reality and started spending my money more wisely! Anyways, check out this rockin' deal on Dove hair care going on this week at Walgreens! Click HERE to see the ad and variety (pg. 11)!

Buy: Dove shampoo or conditioner (12oz) or styling product (7 or 9.25oz)
Buy 8 or more, get $10 RR (Walgreens Register Rewards; prints out as coupon after purchase)
Buy 6, get $6 RR
Buy 4, get $2 RR

So here's what I did...

I bought 8 conditioners (I told you, I seriously love the stuff)
=Sale price 2/$6.00 ($3.00 each) - I bought 8 = $24.00

I get 3 Sunday papers, so I used my (3) $1.50/1 Dove conditioner Q from yesterday's paper (10/04/09 RedPlum)
and also used (5) $1.00/1 Dove hair product Q's from HERE (9/20 LV).
=$9.50 coupon savings

$24 - $9.50 Q's = $14.50

I got $10.00 RR back for buying 8!

So 8 bottles of the conditioner that I love for $4.50?! I can so handle that!

If you can get your hands on (8) $1.50 Q's, that'll cost you just $2.00 for 8 bottles! NICE!

You want some too? If you didn't get 8 Sunday papers (not many people do, and those that do are a little freaky), you can go to eBay.com and buy yourself some Q's (they'll definitely arrive before the sale ends on Saturday) and you'll be able to get yourself a smokin' price too! :) Just click HERE or HERE! You better hurry up and buy them, cuz I just might buy some...wouldn't hurt to get 8 more bottles...would it? :D

Photos to DVD for only $1.00!

You better believe that I'm going to be ALL.OVER.THIS. :)

LaVoz Newspaper Coupon List

Click HERE and HERE for info and locations of the

LaVoz newspapers.

(To find a specific Q, hit Ctrl+F and enter keyword)

{This list will stay current; I will delete coupons as they expire}

9/27/2009 SmartSource Insert

Science Diet Treats $2.00/1 [10/31/09]

Kid Cuisine $1.00/2 [11/7/09]

Marie Callenders Pot Pies $1.00/3 [11/15/09]

Hershey's, Reese's or Kit Kat $1.00/3 [10/17/09] trickortreats.com

TombStone Original Pizzas $1.50/2 [10/31/09]

Mocha Mix $0.55/1 [10/31/09]

Visine $2.00/1 (see Q) [12/31/09]

Visine $1.00/1 any [12/31/09]

California Pizza Kitchen $1.00/1 [10/31/09]

Jolly Time popcorn $1.00/2 any [11/30/09]

Clearasil $2.00/any [12/20/09]

Little Debbie Chocolate Cupcakes $1.00/1 (see Q) [12/31/09]

Seattle's Best Coffee $1.00/1 [12/31/09]

Jennie-O turkey breast, turkey ham, turkey pastrami or So Easy Entree $0.75/1 [11/29/09]

Jennie-O turkey bacon or smoked sausage $0.55/1 [11/29/09]

Air Wick scented, $1.00/(1) oil refill twin pack or (2) single refills [11/08/09]

Air Wick Warmer Unit, FREE when y ou buy Air Wick scented oil refill fragrance (see Q)

Air Wick aqua essences aerosol $0.50/1 [11/01/09]

Schick $1.00/1 any Schick disposable razor package

L'Oreal, $2.00/any EverPure shampoo, conditioner or treatment

Rachel Ray Nutrish $2.00/any 6lb. bag or larger

PetCareRx.com - $10.00 off + free shipping orders over $35.00 (code: SMART583)

9/20/2009 SmartSource Insert
Yoplait Yogurt $0.50/1 [11/14/90]
Oscar Mayer Deli Creations $1.00/2 [11/15/09]
Wolf Brand Chili $0.50/1 [11/14/09]
Rhodes Warm-N-Serv Rolls $1.00/1 [12/31/09] (2 Q's)
Red Baron $1.00/1 [12/31/09 DND]
Land O Lakes Omega 3 eggs $0.55/1 [11/15/09 DND]
L'Oreal eye product $1.00/1 [12/13/09]
Star olive oil $0.50/1 [12/31/09]
Star vinegar $0.50/1 [12/31/09]
Star Spanish olives, 7oz or larger $0.50/1 [12/31/09]
Infusium 23 $2.00/any 1 [10/31/09]
Similasan $2.00/any [12/31/09]
L'Oreal Preference $2.00/1 [12/13/09]
*Also in newspaper, seperate from insert:
Dove $1.00/any 1 shampoo or conditioner [12/31/09 DND]

9/13/2009 SmartSource Insert

Yoplait Go-Gurt $0.75/2 [11/07/09]

Genral Mills cereals $1.00/3 [10/24/09]

Nature Valley granola bars $0.40/1 [11/07/09]

Fiber One chewy bars $0.40/1 [11/07/09]

Chex Mix bars $0.50/1 [11/07/09]

Pillsbury sweet rolls or Grands sweet rolls $0.50/2 [12/04/09]

Pillsbury Crescent dinner rolls $0.50/2 [12/05/09]

Pillsbury Italian meal breads (see Q) $0.40/2 [12/05/09]

Chex Mix or Chex 100 calorie snack $0.50/2 [11/07/09]

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks (see Q) $0.50/2 [11/07/09]

Betty Crocker Warm Delights (see Q) $0.50/1 [11/07/09]

Pillsbury Simple, refrigerated cookie dough $1.00/1 [12/05/09]

Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough $1.00/2 [12/05/09]

Pillsbury Special Edition Cinnabon cookie $0.50/1 [12/05/09]

Pillsbury Toaster Strudel $0.55/2 [12/05/09]

Totino's pizza rolls $0.40/2 [12/05/09]

Pillsbury Savorings products $0.55/1 [12/05/09]

Betty Crocker cookie mix $0.40/1 [11/07/09]

Nature Valley Nut Clusters $1.00/1 [11/07/09]

Hamburger Helper varieties (see Q) $0.75/3 [11/07/09]

Betty Crocker box or pouch potatoes $0.25/1 [11/07/09]

Green Giant frozen vegetables $0.50/2 [11/07/09]

Green Giant Fresh Steamers $0.50/1 [11/07/09]

Ortega $0.75/2 [11/30/09]

Las Palmas $0.50/1 [12/31/09]

Mentos gum $0.55/1 bottle [12/31/09]

Natures Bounty (see Q's) $2.00/1, $1.00/1 [10/28/09]

Schick Quattro $3.00/1 disposable razor package [10/25/09]

Air Wick i-Motion starter kit $4.00/1 [10/25/09]

Air Wick Freshmatic compact i-Motion starter kit $4.00/1 [10/25/09]

Air Wick Freshmatic Ultra i-Motion starter kit $6.00/1 [10/25/09]

Freschetta (see Q) $1.00/1 [11/15/09]

Crystal Light $2.00/2 [10/10/09]

FreshPet Select Homestyle product, ANY FREE (up to $2.50, DND) [12/31/09]

I'll be posting more Q's from prior weeks soon - stay tuned!

Pinching Your Pennies Funnies

You know you're a PYPer when...

....nothing in your house has UPC's

....you grab a snack out of the pantry your wife proudly tells you how much it cost. "That granola bar was only 4 cents, honey!"

....you can't remember a single birthday, but you know how much you paid for every item in your pantry.

....you have food stashed under your bed, in your closet, or taking over a room in your house.

....your wife flies out of bed at 4am- jumps into her clothes- throws makeup on & styles her hair- just to run to the store for FREE cereal, but she can't seem to wake up every Sunday @ 9 a.m. to get ready for church on time!

.... your kids come home from the neighbors (another PYP'er) and ask why they have all the same toys and snacks that you do!

....your coupons weigh more than your purse.

....your kids introduce you to their friends using your screen name instead of your real name!

....you ask your daughter what she wants for her birthday and she replies, "I dunno. What ya' got coupons for!"

....you gasp at the shopper in line behind you and exclaim, "You should NEVER pay for gum, EVER!"

....you come home from a shopping trip and lay out your groceries on the table with the reciept and your before/after totals circled, take pictures of it, and post it on your blog

....when nobody has to ask who put 27 full-size tubes of name-brand toothpaste in the church donation bin for the needy.

….it's 6:08 AM and you're on your 2nd transaction at Albertsons.

….you reschedule your wedding because that’s the day the Target markdown is 90%.

….'Penny for your Thoughts' is your only source of information.

....you think the zebra at the zoo looks like a bar code.

.…your husband has ever had to ask you to move the cases of toilet paper so he could take a shower.

….you own more tubes of toothpaste than pairs of underwear.

….the local Disaster Preparedness Class instructor asks permission to hold a field trip in your basement.

.…your idea of a "quiet, romantic evening at home" involves scissors and inserts. (This one made me laugh so hard I wet myself. Sad, but true!)

….your kids take a 6 ft register receipt to "Show and Tell."

….Betty Crocker makes your list of most admired people.

....you get an adrenaline rush from reading next week’s printable shopping lists.

….you did all your Christmas shopping online…. in February.

….you’ve ever woken up from a nightmare screaming “I lost my Binder!“

....you know what "Guru math" is

....you feel naked without your binder

....men send their wives up to you in the store asking "how did you do that?"

....you no longer write out your own shopping lists, you just print it off right off the site

....you leave the hospital a day early after giving birth because the Quaker sale starts in the morning.

....your daughter's classroom always wins the pizza party for the most boxtops.

....your cashier has to have a manager over-ride the register because you have so many coupons.

Who likes chicken?

So this weeks sales aren't as fun as the past couple of weeks have been so there's not much to report...

BUT -

In this weeks Food City ad, they're advertising boneless chicken for $1.39/lb. I took the ad to my local Walmart and price matched it to their value pack and got me some fresh yummy boneless/skinless chicken for cheap! Seriously, I got like 18 lbs. of chicken for like $25. I let them defost a little and then split them up, putting 4 breast in a gallon baggy (we usually cook 4 at a time, that's why). That'll make it easier for me to pull out, defrost & cook instead of dealing with the whole heaping value pack, which had about 12 breasts in each of them (I got 3, but might go back next week to get more!).

So if you like chicken, and nice-priced chicken at that, then go & do the same! :)

My trip to Fry's!

So that you can get an idea, here's how my shopping trip went. I bought...

12 - Jenni-O Turkey Franks (had a raincheck for them, they were on sale a few weeks ago 10/$10 and there was a $0.55 cent Q out, and after the coupon doubled, they were all FREE)

4 - Bar-S Jumbo Hotdogs

1 - French's mustard

4 - Bounty paper towels (single rolls)

4 - Dial hand soap

4 - Hefty storage bags

2 - Mentos Gum
USED: Mentos Gum, any bottle .55/1 DND (11-30-09) SS-8/16
Mentos Gum, any flavor .55/1 DND (9-30-09) SS-6/21
Final Price: FREE

2 - Comfort diapers ($3 printable Q, and got one in the mail)

6 - Mission soft taco tortillas (10 ct)

For everything else, I used the coupons described in THIS post.

And because my grand total before scanning my Fry's VIP card or coupons was just under $100.00, I was able to use 3 of THESE $5/$25 Q's.

Spent $5.08
Saved: $94.55

Fry's Sale 9/2 - 9/8

Here's a few great deals that I spotted on sale at Fry's this week! For a complete list of what's on sale with the coupon match-ups, click HERE.

**Don't forget that Fry's is double/triple/quadrupling coupons this week, as well as accepting competitor coupons! Gets me all kinds of excited!

If you don't get the Arizona Republic or you didn't save it to get your $/$$ coupons out, you'll find a $5/$25 Q (?) HERE.** You'll want to print the whole page in color so that the cashier doesn't think you photocopied it.

TIP OF THE DAY: To get the most out of your $/$$ Q, you'll want to give it to the cashier BEFORE you hand them all of your other coupons. That way you can use the Q before your total falls below $25.00 (if you're using a $/$$ Q, your total will vary depending on your Q).

As another note, if you have more than one $/$$ Q, you just have to make sure that your pre-Q grand total is equal to or more than the total of your $/$$ Q's.
*For example, if you have (3) $5/25 Q's that you want to use, your grand total before other Q's must be equal or greater than $75.00 in order to use all 3 Q's - and if it is, then you can get the extra $15.00 off!

{BIG BREATH} Here we go!

Chicken Breast, Boneless and Skinless, Kroger Value - First 4
Final Price: $1.67 lb. (per pound)

Dole Salad Blends or Kits, 5-12oz bag
Final Price: .97 each

Cheese, Shredded, Bar or Deli Thin, Kroger, 6-8oz - First 6
Final Price: .97 each

Dannon Activa, 4-6pk or 32oz
USE: Dannon Activia, Activia Light, Activia Fiber or Activia Drinks, any 4-pack $1.00/1
(10-31-09) SS-8/30
(10-30-09) SS-7/26
(11-30-09) SS1-8/9
Final Price: $0.88 each

Bar-S Jumbo Meat Franks - First 4, sale price $0.57 each
USE: Bar-S Printable - $1.00/2 (Print twice!)
Final Price: $0.07 cents each
(Print 2 coupons, buy 4 packs = $0.28 cents for 4 packs)

Fry's Water, 24pk, 16.9oz bottles - First 2
Final Price: $1.88 each

French's Mustard, 12-14oz, sale price $0.88 each
USE: French's Mustard any .50/1 (9-10-09) SS-6/21
Or printable coupon HERE
Final Price: FREE

Hunt's Ketchup, 24oz
Final Price: $0.88 each

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, 6.6-8oz
Final Price: $1.00 each

Bounty Paper Towels, 1 roll, sale price $0.88 each
USE: Bounty Towel or Napkin, any .25/1 (9-30-09) PG-8/30
Final Price: FREE

Dial Hand Soap, 7.5-11.25oz, sale price $1.00 each
USE: Dial Foaming Hand Wash Liquid Hand Soap or Multi-bar pack, any .35/1 (10-31-09) SS-8/16
Final Price: FREE

Hefty Storage Bags, 13-22ct, sale price $0.88 each
USE: Hefty OneZip any $1/2 (10-31-09) RP-8/30
Final Price: $0.38 each

Softsoap Elements Hand Soap, 7.5oz, sale price $1.00 each
USE: Softsoap Ensembles Replacement Base FREE (up to $4.00) when you buy any Softsoap Ensembles Liquid Hand Soap Pump (9-19-09) SS-8/30
Final Price: $1.00 each + Base

CoverGirl cosmetics 33% off!
USE: CoverGirl Face product FREE when you buy one CoverGirl Foundation (9-30-09) PG-8/30
CoverGirl Product, any $1/1 (9-30-09) PG-8/30

Mission Soft Taco Tortillas -10 ct., B1G1, Regularly $2.69 each
USE: Any Mission tortillas $1/1 (10-31-09) SS-8/9 (I have this Q)
You might have this Q: Mission Flour or Corn Tortillas, any .75/1 DND (9-20-09) SS1-8/9
Final Price: $0.69 cents for 2 (buy 2!)

If you see any other great deals going on that I missed, please let me know!

And as always, if you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask!

Thanks PYP for some of this info!

Chick-fil-A Freebie!

Labor Day only (Sept. 7th), wear your sports team logo

to Chick-fil-A from 10:30am to close and get a

FREE Chick-fil-A Original chicken sandwich!

Snack Attack!

There's been some good grocery deals going on around town and today we took advantage of them! Thanks to the LaVoz newspaper, I got some smokin' deals, and a lot of them! Here's the breakdown...

3 - Sally Hansen Hard as Nails nail polish

20 - Fiber One Chewy Bars

3 - Nature Valley dark chocolate & nut bars (for my dad-in-law :) )

3 - Nature Valley Granola Clusters

10 - Chex mix bars

23 - Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks (my son is excited about the Transformer & Spiderman!)

6 - Old El Paso taco shells

3 - Nursery water (1 gal.)

1 - SoBe Lifewater

1 - Dial hand soap

9 - Hamburger Helper (I wasn't sure about these, but they have some flavors I'm willing to try!)

16 - Betty Crocker cookie mixes

2 - Betty Crocker brownie mixes

1 - Betty Crocker warm delight

5 - Wonder white bread loaves

10 - Pillsbury Grands! biscuits

5 - Pillsbury sweet rolls

2 - Yoplait Go-Gurt

The promotion going on is that when you buy 10 participating items, they'll take $5.00 off. All in all, I got {11} - $5.00 rewards taken off.

I also used {5} $3/$30 Fresh 'n Easy coupons from the Sunday newspaper. I love when Fry's accepts competitor coupons!

Total spent: $47.10

Total SAVED: $318.28

The reason(s) that I got so many snacks is that 1) I don't enjoy paying full price for anything, and 2) my snack goal is 6 snack for under $1.00. I have a youngster in school that I pack lunches for and he enjoys snacks and the rest of us like snacks too! And when I can get them at rock bottom prices, I stock up. And stock up I did. :)

Usually, Fry's will only double/triple/quadruple 3 like coupons per transaction. So if you had more than 3 of the same coupons that you wanted to use, you would have to do seperate transactions, and make sure that you had 10 participating products in your transaction to get the extra $5.00 off. It's kinda tricky, but it's possible. But I owe a big thank you to the cashier that didn't make me do seperate transactions! I REALLY appreciate it! :D

Tomorrow (Wednesday) brings all new sales at the grocery stores, so stay tuned!

And as always, let me know if you have any questions!

Save Your Receipts!

Have you ever noticed that on the back of your receipts that there's special offers on there? Pay closer attention to them and you'll be pleasantly surprised at what you can get for FREE! Here's a few things that I've found out . . .

Burger King - One FREE Whopper sandwich or Original Chicken sandwich with purchase of any size drink and fries after completing a brief survey.

Panda Express - FREE entree item with the purchase of any 2-entree plate after completing a guest survey.

Arby's - FREE regular Roast Beef or Beef 'n Cheddar after completing a short survey.
*After you get your first FREE sandwich, you'll get another receipt and you can keep rolling them, meaning that you can do the deal over and over again - Never pay for another roast beef sandwich ever again!
**You can also sign up for the Arby's newsletter and they will weekly email you free food coupons!

Jack-in-the-Box - Sign up for Jack's Secret Society of Cool People and you'll be emailed special coupons!

If you know of anymore, please let me know so that we can spread the word!!

Where, oh where are the LaVoz?

Here's a question from one of my fans . . . (haha, kidding):

Have you been able to find these [LaVoz newspapers]? I looked EVERYWHERE and didn't spot one :( My baby is just starting on these so, this would be PERFECT! :) Thanks!

Depends on where you live. If you live in the east valley, I'm really not sure, but I would suspect downtown Mesa or any part of town where there's a larger spanish community. I live in the west valley (west of Phoenix) and find them on Van Buren between 99th Ave & 83rd Ave. They're in blue newspaper stands. They're located along the street, on the shopping center sidewalks and at the post office, near the street entrance.

Remember, new newspapers are put in every Friday, that's when I take 3. But if there's still a ton left on Thursday, I help myself. I'd rather take them and put the coupons to good use than see all of those coupons be recycled!!

Good luck!!

Money Saving Mom

I {heart} Money Saving Mom (aka: MSM)

She always posts great deals that are going on at Target, CVS and Walgreens. Here's some of the current posts that I found.

Target Freebies

Walgreens Freebies

More Walgreens

CVS Deals

Thanks MSM!!

Ohhh, shopping!

I love Fry's. Mostly because they're almost always the cheapest around.

Right now they're having a sale on Kellogg stuff.

If you buy 4 participating items (see store flyer), they'll automatically take $4.00 off of your total - limit 2 rewards per transaction, that means that you can buy 8 participating things and they'll take the $4.00 off twice, but no more than twice per transaction.

If you got the 8/2 Arizona Republic, you'll probably be getting yourself some of this goodness, too! Check out my goodies!
(my kids helped take everything out of the bags...nice of them)

Here's all that I bought:

(coupons taken from the 8/2 Kellogg insert and the 8/2 RP)

20 - boxes of Kellogg's cereal

6 - boxes of Rice Crispy treats (8 per box)

6 - packages of Keebler cookies

6 - boxes of Nutri-Grain bars (8 per box)

6 - boxes of 100 calorie snacks (12 per box)

7 - boxes of Kellogg's fruit snacks (10 per box)
I have a sneaky 6 y/o that threw in an extra one, I only wanted 6.

4 - 2 lb. packs of 93% ground beef

6 - Ragu

9 - Knorr Rice Sides

3 - Diet Dr. Pepper 2 liters

I spent $79.28 OOP / after taxes

Saved: $199.64

Please note that I did 7 seperate transactions so that I could get the $4.00 taken off more than twice. I took my 3 kids (not suggested for beginners, or anyone for that matter), my cashier was cranky, but I did it, and so can you!!

Sad, empty pantry...down to only 7 boxes of cereal.

I like to keep at least 20 on hand.

Much better!

FREE Baby Food!

Remember my post about the wonderful LaVoz newspaper?


In the LaVoz that you can pick up TODAY (remember, they pick up the old and put new ones in every Friday), there's some fabulous baby food Q's in it!


Save $2 off any 16 Beech-Nut Stage 2 jars
Buy any 1 Beech-Nut Let's Grow product, get one of equal or lesser valule FREE
Try any new Beech-Nut Stage 3 Homestyle Fruit FREE


These coupons don't expire until 12/31/09.


I suggest you hunt down some LaVoz right now!!

Walgreens Huggies Wipes deal

Here's a fun deal that you can do if you get to it soon enough! HURRY, the $5/$25 coupon expires 8/8!!

At Walgreens right now, at the front of the store you will find "Back to School" coupons - pick one up. They're next to the weekly ads.

There's a $2.00 off any Huggies wipes Q in there.

Pick up 8 boxes of any Huggies wipes and take them to the register! (Yes, 8. You're going to need to kick your pre-tax total over $25.00 to use the coupon below)

The boxes are regularly $3.29 each x 8 = $26.32 (before taxes)

The coupon will take $2.00 off for each box = $2 x 8 = $16.00

$26.32 - $16.00 = $10.32

Print out THIS Walgreens coupon for $5.00 off $25.00 purchase.

Final price = $5.32 for 8 boxes of Huggies wipes!

PLUS - if you have any of the Huggies wipes coupons that came in the 7/19 SS, use them to save even more money!!

Good Luck!

(let us know if this works for you, it hasn't worked for everyone, because the Walgreens Back to School Q's (coupon) is ringing up as a Manufacturer Q's sometimes so the cashier's have to fix it, but has worked for some!)

JCPenny coupon!

Right now at JCPenny.com,
you can get $10 off any purchase of $10 or more

Use promo code G E T 4 B T S (no spaces).

I went to the women's clearance and found some tops for just $5.99 each.

Buy 2 of them for $11.98 - $10 coupon code = just $1.98 for 2 cute shirts!

Standard shipping is just $5.95 + tax, but just over $8.00 is great if you're needing some new clothes! That's a savings of over $30.
Worth checking out!

New Blogs to Check Out

I woke up this morning to the sound of roaring thunder - I hope it's going to be a great rainy day!

Here's a few of my favorite websites, as well as ones that some friends have recently introduced me to :) Enjoy!

15 dinners under $1.50 - includes recipes!

Being Frugal is Fabulous

Deal Seeking Mom

Wet 'N Wild Giveaway!

Want to win 2 season tickets ($70 value!) to Arizona's new water park, Wet N' Wild?!

Click HERE to enter this giveaway!

Free RedBox Movie Rental

Here's today's code for your FREE RedBox movie rental!

2 7 H Z 4 K T

FREE ShamWOW

You can get yourself 2 free ShamWow towels by completing this short survey! Just click HERE!

Thanks BargainMoms!

Dang, if I had known I could get these free, I would have ordered them for my hubby's birthday...bummer.

And while searching for a picture of the ShamWow, I came across this funny...

LaVoz

Have you heard of the LaVoz newspaper? It's a newspaper primarily for the Spanish community. I live in the West valley and we have LaVoz newspaper stands ALL.OVER.THE.PLACE.

What's so blog-worthy about the LaVoz newspaper? COUPONS!

The LaVoz newspaper stands are re-stocked every Friday. In them, they have a SmartSource insert, which is usually very similar to the one that comes in the Arizona Republic newspaper the Sunday prior.

For example...the LaVoz newspaper that you can pick-up TODAY has a great coupon in it.

$3.00 off when you buy 2 Huggies Pull-Ups moist flushable wipes.

Wal-mart sells these wipes in travel size plastic wrapping in the "baby needs" section (near the other flushable wipes/toothpaste) for $1.64 each.

After using the $3/2 Q (coupon), they cost only $0.14 cents each.

Past editions have also included the Q for free Jennie-O turkey franks! They're yummy!

And the best part about the LaVoz newspaper?

THEY'RE ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Under Construction

So I've been MIA for a while, I know you've all been missing me!

I had another baby 2 1/2 months ago and am now ready to get to posting again!

Have you noticed that the grocery store deals aren't as fabulous these days as they were about a year ago? I guess they're feeling the effects of the crappy economy as well.

I will post the great deals as I come across them so that you can take advantage of them as well! Please feel free to read some of the older posts to get some good ideas of what all of this coupon shopping is all about!

Stay tuned! . . .

Cheap Diapers

If you missed out on the Huggies diaper deal last week, try this!

Walgreens has their diapers on sale 2/$9.00

If you go to the pharmacy and simply "ask" about their prescription program, they're supposed to give you a tri-fold paper full of coupons! If they don't give you one, simply ask about the coupon flyer. One of the coupons on the paper is $2.00 off any pack of diapers. Some of the coupon flyers that I have gotten have been different and not had the diaper coupon in it. Sorry if you get some bogus ones, but hopefully you'll get the diaper Q!

Present that coupon to your cashier when you check-out and it'll take off $2.00 for each pack. Here's the math:

2 packs of diapers = $9.00
Coupon taking $2.00 off EACH pack
$9.00 - $4.00 = $5.00 for 2 packs of diapers

Each pack of diapers being $2.50...not bad!!

Hopefully you can still find some diapers at your Walgreens!

Here I am!

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is having fun getting ready for Christmas!

We went on vacation, had a fabulous time, got moved, got totally sick and am now ready to get shopping again! Did I mention that I am now within a 4 mile radius of 2 CVS', 2 Walgreens, 2 Fry's and a Walmart? Ohh yah, shopping is going to be wicked awesome! Stay tuned!

So did you take advantage of the Arm & Hammer laundry detergent deal at Walgreens? (12/10 - 12/13)

I DID!

Walgreens also had a fab deal going on when you spent $25.00 (subtotal, meaning before all coupons), you got a $5.00 Register Reward (RR) back to use on your next purchase!

The deal went like this . . .

Arm & Hammer Liquid Detergent - 26 or 32 load
$1.99 after in ad-coupon (Reg. Price $6.99-$7.49)
(this specific in-ad Q came in the Wednesday (12/10) newspaper, so if you don't get the Wed. paper, you might not have known about this unless you keep up with other $$ saving blogs. Most Walgreens also had this Q at the front of their stores with their regular weekly fliers).

Buy 4 Arm & Hammer Liquid Detergent = $27.96 ($6.99 x 4)
Use 4 printable $1/1 coupons
Then give in-ad coupon (took off $5 for each, $20 for 4)
Spend $3.96 plus tax out of pocket,
Get $5 in Register Rewards back!

Since I didn't have the printable Q's (cuz my internet wasn't up yet), I spent $7.96 + tax for my first transaction, got my $5 RR, and then on subsequent transactions, I gave them the $5.00 RR that I earned previously, so I only paid $3.21 for 4 bottles, and got another $5.00 RR back each time because my subtotal went over $25.00!

That's only $0.80 cents per bottle and 2 1/2 cents per load. WOOT WOOT! Costco can't even come close to that kind of savings . . . I've tried.

We had a bunch of errands to run all over town, so needless to say, we hit up quite a few Walgreens and now have an abundance of laundry detergent. My hubby even got into it and had a great time. Great for our year supply! Thank you Walgreens for being so good to me!

I'll be back!

Hey!! Sorry that I haven't updated lately, but I've been packing up my house frantically getting ready to move! We move in the morning and I will be back to my bargain-shopping self sometime next week. Until then, be sure to keep up with the Bargain Mom's blog! :)

Reminder!

I'm on vaca this week, so if you don't hear from me, don't fret!

Ohhh, and remember all of that TP that I bought? Yes, 78 4-packs!! I paid about $6.50 for the Q's on Ebay, and then paid $0.81 cents tax for all 78 packs! Super score!

Be sure to keep up with the Bargain Mom's blog for super deals that are going on!!

Walgreens Rebate

I got my rebate! In THIS post, I bought the L'oreal face wash simply because it was free after rebate! My rebate only took three weeks to be processed and get back to me, I'm pretty impressed! Most rebates take anywhere from 6-10 weeks. AND, because I chose to have them mail me my rebate back in the form of a Walgreens gift card, they tapped on an extra 10% onto my rebate! The item I bought was $7.99, and my gift card has a current balance of $8.79.

I submitted my rebate online, which was quick and simple. Simply save the receipt you got when you bought your rebate items to refer to when your submitting rebate.
Click HERE for more info!

Walgreens November Free After Rebate (FAR):

L'oreal age perfect pro-calcium radiance perfector 1.7 oz.
Up to $19.99, limit 1
Use: $2/1 from 10/5 SS
Final: FREE + overage after rebate

Almay one coat mascara
Up to $6.99, limit 1
Use: $1/1 from 8/3 or 9/14 SS
Final: FREE + overage after rebate

Ebay Q's - worth checking out!!

Did a little shopping today and it went like this:

8 - Beech-Nut baby cereal (see pic) - $1.29 each, on sale!
*Used 8 - $1/1 Q that I bought on Ebay
Paid: $2.47
Saved: $13.16
85% savings

8 - Beech-Nut Juice Blends
*Used 8 - $0.75 cents/1 Q, also bought on Ebay
Paid: ZERO!
Saved: $10.32
100% savings

If you have favorite products that you constantly buy, I suggest going to Ebay and searching for them!! Since I knew that the Beech-Nut baby stuff was on sale at Fry's the past couple of weeks (thanks to a heads up from D!), I jumped on Ebay and bought some coupons! For example...

On Ebay, I ordered a set of:
15 - $1/1 Beech-Nut baby cereal Q's
15 - $0.75 Beech-Nut Juice Blends Q's
15 - $1.50/8 Beech-Nut baby food jars Q's
For 45 coupons, which comes to a savings of $52.50 (Fry's will double the $0.75 Q up to $1.00)
I paid only $5.50! SO worth it.

I also bought a LOAD of Cottonelle toilet paper Q's. I have 78, yes 78, $0.25 Cottonelle toilet paper Q's. Since Fry's is quadrupling coupons right now, I will be getting (78) 4-packs FREE, minus what I'll need to pay in tax.

I asked myself "what am I going to do with 78 packs of TP?" Go TPing? Tempting... But no. Of the 78 packs, I'm donating a good hunk of them to a charity organization that I know is in need. I will also give some to a few friends and family and keep some for our little family as well. How much did 78 TP Q's cost me?

Ebay price + shipping = $6.46.
That comes to about $0.08 cents per 4-pack or $0.02 cents per roll.

How am I getting so much TP from Fry's? Since every Fry's is COMPLETELY out of that TP right now (because of the sale & the Q's that came out on Sunday), I talked with the manager and asked her to please order me 78 packs. I was sure to explain to her that I had that many coupons and that most of the order was going to charity. She was happy to help and I will be picking up my order Thursday morning. I've heard of people special ordering large quantities just for themselves, but this is a new things for me. I'll report on it later! :)

On second thought, who wants to go TPing? hehehe

Better, but still frusterated!

Today I went to Fry's to use the Q's that we all got in Sunday's newspaper. Because I get 3 copies of the Sunday paper, I got 3 sets of Q's, so here's what I got!

3 - Kellogg's Pop Tarts
*Used (1) 3/$3 Q from Safeway Sunday ad
*Used (3) $0.55/1 from 11/9 RP
*Q doubled to $1.00 = FREE

3 - Puff's Tissue
*Used $0.99 cents each - Walgreens Q from this weeks ad
*Used Puffs $0.25/1 from 11/2 PG&E Sunday coupon insert
*Q quadrupled to $1.00 = FREE

3 - Skippy Peanut Butter
*Used 2/$3 - Walgreens Q from this weeks ad
*Used $0.60/1 from 11/16 RP
*Q doubled to $1.00, paid $0.50 each. ($1.50)

3 - Del Monte veggies - $0.88 each, VIP price
*Used $0.30/1 from 11/16 RP
*Q tripled to $1.00 = FREE

3 - Betty Crocker potato pouches - $1.00 each WYB 10
*Used $0.35/1 from 11/16 SS
*Q tripled up to $1.00 = FREE

3 - Betty Crocker cookie mixes - $1.50 each WYB 10
*Used $0.40/1 from 11/16 SS
*Q tripled to $1.00 = FREE

1 - Nestle Morsels - $1.50 each WYB 10
*Used $0.50/1 from 9/14 RP (or 11/2 SS)
*Q doubled to $1.00, paid $0.50

2 - Beech-Nut baby cereal - $1.29 each, VIP price
*Used $1/1 from 10/26 SS, and I bought more from EBAY!
*Paid $0.29 each ($0.58)

3 - Beech-Nut Juice Blends
*Used $0.75/1 from 10/26 SS, also bought these from EBAY!
*Q doubled to $1.00 = FREE

3 - Powerade - $0.38 each WYB 10
*Had to use these as a "filler" to get the $5.00 off; I wanted more sugar, but it was ALL GONE.
*Paid $1.14 for all 3

1 - Fry's bread - $0.88

1 - Fry's tortillas - $1.99

2 - Fry's bleach - 1.39 each
*Paid $2.78 for both.

**Got $5.00 off for buying 10 participating items.

I paid: About $5.00
I saved: About $49.00
About 90% savings

Basically I paid for my bread, tortillas and bleach :)

I had Q's from Safeway and Walgreens that required my cashier to price adjust the items down...

Example: Puff's tissue is Fry's priced $1.79 each. I had the Walgreens Q which should have brought the price down to $0.99 each.

...Well, even though I explained my Q's to the cashier dude super carefully so that he wouldn't screw up, he still totally did. After all my Q's and everything, my total came to $19.74. WTHeck? I looked at him like "WTH did you just do?!" I paid the unimaginable $19.74 only cuz there was tons of people behind me in line and took my stuff over to customer service where the customer service lady there was so totally helpful in getting my money back. I went through my receipt and showed her where the dude didn't price adjust and I got about $15.00 back. Thanks nice CS lady! :) Seriously, that's one of the reasons I do self-checkout, so that I can take my time and fix any mistakes that might happen, right then and there. So, that's why my post says I paid & saved about. The End :)

If you're now getting the Sunday paper, click HERE to see all of the great deals that you can get with just this past Sunday's Q's!!

AND be sure to use this NEW $6/30 Fresh & Easy Q !! HURRY, it expires 11/23! I didn't use it tonite cuz I didn't know about it until I got home! Bummer!

Lesson Learned

The Mr. and I hauled our kids to Fry's to buy some more stuff before the sale ends on Tuesday. I had written out everything that I wanted so that I could take advantage of not only the $5/10 deal going on, but also the $5 off $20 Walgreens Q that was floating around and/or this $6/$30 (only good thru today!). But when I handed the Walgreens Q to the cashier, she said they were told not to take it because Walgreens isn't a "food grocery store". DUH. I was pretty bummed. I'll survive. Here's how we did!

Transaction # 1:

We bought:
2 - Beechnut Juice Blends
1 - Land O'Lakes butter
1 - Betty Crocker potato pouch*
3 - Nestle morsels*
3 - Betty Crocker cookie mixes*

Paid: $6.10 (see where that extra $5.00 off would have come in handy?!)
Saved: $20.30
76% savings (BOOOO for me)

I so totally screwed up. I'm not sure how it happened, but in this transaction there's only 7 qualifying products when I had 10 written down on my list, therefore I didn't get my extra $5.00 off. I dunno, my hubby was helping me, and we had the kids, AND I REALLY had to go to the restroom and was in a little bit of a rush...$6.10 isn't bad for all that stuff, but still, I know better!!

LESSON LEARNED - PAY MORE ATTENTION!

Transaction # 2:

We bought:
3 - BeechNut Juice Blends
3 - Philadelphia cream cheese
3 - BeechNut baby cereal
3 - Pillsbury crescent rolls
2 - Betty Crocker cookie mixes
3 - Nestles morsels
3 - Powerade
3 - Arrowhead waters, 3L
Got the $5.00 off for buying 10 qualifying products.

I paid: $8.26
I saved: $44.01
84% savings

FYI - if you haven't already, click HERE & register your Fry's card! You can upload coupons to your VIP card! When you add, say a Betty Crocker potato pouch Q to your card, and then when you buy it at Fry's, the coupon amount will automatically come off of your total, you will see it on your receipt as a manufacturers coupon, and it'll look something like this:
Scuts - BCpotato
I got $1.40 taken off of my transactions using these uploadable Q's. :)

FYI # 2 - In the Albertson's weekly ad, there's a coupon for Philadelphia cream cheese, buy 1, get 2 free. Take this coupon to Fry's!! This week, they have PCC 4/$5 ($1.25 each), so you'll end up paying $1.25 for 3 PCC! :D I love bagels & CC, and CC is great in crock pot meals. :)

FYI # 3 - When I finally did make it to the restroom, they had all of next weeks flyers in a cart and I jacked one. I'll check it out & post the good deals I see for next week, like a gallon milk will be $1.87, yay!

TGFF - Thank goodness for Fry's!

Disclosure: I may be moving as soon as this weekend, as well as heading out of town on Thankgiving vacation next week so forgive me if I'm MIA quite a bit the next couple of weeks. We will be heading to a town where they're not as into couponing as we here in AZ are, AND they don't double coupons! I'm going to attempt to figure out some ways to help my sisters save money - I'll report on that while I'm at it! In the meantime...

Fry's still has their "buy 10, get $5 off" deal going on this week so be sure to take full advantage of it! Check out the deal details HERE!!! Here's a couple of transactions that the hubby and I did on our usual Wednesday coupon shopping trip. Sorry, I still don't have a camera to grace this fine post with a pic, but hopefully will soon!

Transaction # 1:
3 - Nestle morsels
3 - C&H sugar, 5 lbs.
3 - Arrowhead 3L waters
1 - Quaker oatmeal
Had Q's for it all, and got my $5 off!

I paid: $3.60
I saved: $24.60
87% savings. Not shabby!

Transaction # 2:
3 - Arrowhead 3L waters
3 - Nestle morsels
1 - C&H Sugar, 5 lbs.
3 - Powerade (which I used as a "filler", I'll explain this at the end of this post)
Had Q's for all, except the Powerade, and I got the $5 off.

I paid: $3.64
I saved: $18.36
83% savings. I tried to hit my 90% today, but I was willing to pay a little more out of pocket for this stuff.

YTD:
Paid: $104.50 OOP
Saved: $867.27

"FILLER"
. . . try to follow me . . . if you have questions, please let me know!!

Because the deal going on right now is "buy 10 participating items, get $5 off", I had to buy 10 participating items. The list of their participating items is on their weekly ad, which you can pick up at the front of the store, or check out online.

For T2 (transaction # 2), I had 7 things that I knew that I wanted to buy, and I had my Q's ready for them. but 7 wasn't going to get me the $5 off, (the deal is to buy 10 to get $5 off) so I needed to "fill in" (filler) with 3 more participating items. By looking at the weekly ad, I knew that the Powerade was $0.38 cents when I bought 10 participating items, so that's why I chose the Powerade, it was the cheapest (and my hubby wanted some). That brought my total items up to 10 and I got the $5.00 off my order. YAY!

Also, remember, I had to do 2 seperate transactions because Fry's will only double/triple 3 LIKE coupons at a time (hence my buying 3 water, 3 Nestles, 3 sugars, etc. at a time). If you have more of the same coupons, they will accept them, but only at face value. If you want them to double/triple your Q's, do more transactions!

Let me know how you did this week! Happy shopping!

F * Y * I

My current blog address is: http://pennyearnedpennysaved.blogspot.com/

but when people ask me questions about my savings

and I tell them to check out my blog, that address is a bit long & hard to remember.

Therefore, I wanted to let y'all know that in a couple of days I'm going to change it to:

http://PenniesSavedAZ.blogspot.com/

I think/hope that will be easier for people to remember :)

I don't know if that will effect the links that you have to my blog in your favorites

(where my blog better be! ha!),

but just in case it does, I'll post it on the Bargain Mom's Blog too. :)

Or if you'd rather, I'd be happy to email you when I do change it!

Just leave me a comment with your email addy and I'll email you when it happens!

Happy Saving!

Where's the proof?

The proof is in my savings! Do you really need a picture to show you all the cool stuff I bought / got for free? Well, it'd be fantastic if I could get you a pic, but unfortunately, my camera died and I'm totally devistated. Y'all will just have to wait until I can get another. :( Until then, I'll just tell you what I bought today :D Are you ready!?!

20 - Carnation evaporated milk (cans, great for holiday baking.)
{FREE with Q}
36 - 3L Arrowhead bottled water (these alone are picture worthy)
{$0.17 cents each with Q}
9 - Quaker Oats, 18oz
{FREE with Q}
8 - Hefty OneZip gallon storage bags, 13 ct.
{FREE with Q}
3 - Colgate toothpastes
{FREE with Q}
7 - Dial antibacterial liquid soaps
{$0.10 cents each with Q}
10 - Tylenol PM, 24 ct.
{FREE with Q}
4 - Family Size On-Cor frozen dinners (I splurged; I haven't been feeling well and these are really tasty and easy to cook.)
{I had Q's, but they were still $3 each = $12.00! ouch!}
3 - 4 pack Cottonelle toilet paper
{FREE with Q}
3 - Beech-Nut baby cereal (for the future little one, it's good til 2010!)
{$0.29 cents each with Q}
1 - Johnson's baby conditioner (another splurge, for my daughter.)
{$3.39}
+ we all have to pay the sales tax for EVERYTHING, free or not.

I paid $30.70 (half of that is due to my urge to splurge!)

I saved: $208.38 - an average of 89.2% savings!

Convinced yet? Are you ready to get started couponing? I had coupons for everything but the Johnson's baby conditioner. My hubby went with the kids and I this time, and it was much easier to do 6 transactions with his help! Thanks babe! And a big thank you to the cashier lady that was so patient with me, my kids and my coupons!

*I did 6 seperate transactions to have all of my Q's doubled/tripled. Don't forget that Fry's will only double/triple the first 3 same Q's, the rest will be honored at face value!

**I also did 6 seperate transactions so that I could get 10 participating items in one transaction so that I would get the $5.00 off my order! Click HERE to see all of the deals going on at Fry's right now and the corresponding Q's!

UPDATE:
In the past 24 days since my starting this blog, I have:
Spent: $97.26
Saved: $824.31
88.2% savings!

So do you think my Arizona Republic newspaper subscription pays for itself?

Yes, yes, I believe it does.

Great read!

Allison, of Allison's Arizona Grocery Deals (one of my favs), wrote an awesome post on getting started couponing. If you get the chance, click HERE to check it out, it's a great read! And then after reading it, if you have questions, PLEASE e-mail me or leave me a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP! :)

I'm BACK!

Sorry I've been MIA from the blogging world - I've been nasty sick the past few days, but I'm getting ready to do some shopping tomorrow, so be prepared to witness some rockin' deals!

And you want to check out those screaming deals that I'm about to partake of, click HERE!

Because I have been given much, I too must give. . .

THE BOX

"But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted."
Jacob 2:18-19

I packed up this box with about 12 boxes of cereal, deodorants, body wash, toothbrushes, toothpaste, baby wash, kids toothpaste, razors, other foods, etc., for a family friend that I found out is in severe need.

Because I've been given the desire and ability to save money for my family, I often manage to get many, many things for free. I feel like I am blessed, very blessed. And because I am able to do so much for my own family with the knowledge that I've been blessed with, I feel that I must also give to others. Outside of giving 10% of our income to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, of which we are devote members, as well as other monetary donations towards things such as fast offerings, I also give a lot of the excess stuff that I obtain to family and friends that are in need.

I honestly love doing service. My husband often tells me that I serve too much, but how can I resist when I feel so grateful for all that I've been given. I also love teaching my children to love and serve others. And because we serve, His blessings just keep on coming. . . You can't lose when you serve. We're all on this earth to help each other out. Let's all remember to serve and give, especially this special time of year.

Yes, we eat veggies too! Well, sometimes...

After I picked my son up from school, he, my daughter and I headed to Fry's to take advantage of a few things on sale that I didn't get last time I was there, only because they were completely out of what I wanted! I'm not sure what they fed my son at school today, but he was seriously hyped up, driving me nuts at the store, but I still managed to do OK. Here's what we picked up...

18 - boxes of Green Giant Immunity Boost frozen veggies
12 - boxes of Quaker cereal (10 Life, 2 more PB Crunch)
10 - packs of Fast Fixin' chicken strips
8 - 1/2 gallons of milk (only one in the pic, the others I already put away)
2 - loafs Fry's bread

I used:
18 - $0.25 cent/1 Q from 9/7 SS & 10/5 SS (?)
3 - $1/2 Life cereal Q
1 - $1/2 Cap'n Crunch Q
10 - Fast Fixin' printable Q's from HERE

I paid:
$21.50

I saved:
$116.60
An average savings of 84.7% (I usually aim for at least 90%, but I'm not complaining!)

And I say average because I did 6 transactions to get all of my Q's doubled/tripled & to get the Quaker cereal deal :) Doing all of this in the self checkout, BY MYSELF, WITH my 2 kids, was kinda tricky, but it IS possible people!! If I can do it, anyone can! :D

Here's what I've spent & saved since Oct. 12, 2008.
Yes, I mean in the past 15 days :)

Spent: $66.56
Saved: $615.93

So, you're wondering why I haven't bought any meats lately? Well, the last time I was at Safeway, they had ground beef on sale for $1.99 lb. (I think, something really cheap anyways), for the good 93/7 beef, and then, if you catch them at the right time of day, they put the ones that need to be bought by that day at 50% off! I scored like 30 pounds of meat for around $25.00. But like I said, that was a while ago and we still have like 20 pounds left in our freezer. :) We don't eat many other meats, only because they're expensive and I can do miracles with ground beef. :) Ocassionally I'll buy chicken, but only when it's $1.77 lb.! :)

What's your time worth?

My hubby is home today and I HATE just sitting around when we could be doing perfectly productive stuff together. . . husband and wife, hand-in-hand. So what did we do? He (happily) helped me gather some coupons & we went to Fry's! Here's how it went!

We bought:

12 - Cinnamon Life cereal
18 - Cap'n Crunch w/ berries (2 peanut butter)
11 - Brut deodorant
4 - Tic-Tacs
9 - Celestial Seasonings herbal teas
8 - boxes of Puff's tissues w/ lotion
(to see the Fry's sales going on right now, along with the corresponding Q's (?), click HERE)

We paid:
$6.23

We saved:
$205.65
An average of 96.8% savings!

Time spent looking up Fry's deals:
About 30 seconds, it's all RIGHT HERE, the same place it is every week!

Time spent finding (?) & cutting out Q's (?) that we used:
About 20 minutes, while watching a movie & trying to keep my 2 y/o from taking off with my scissors.

Time spent at Fry's?
About 15 minutes gathering everything, and 15 minutes at the self-checkout (so that we didn't clog a regular checkout stand with our 5 transactions)

Is your hour & a half-ish worth $205.65 to you?

*We did 5 separate transactions to get the Quaker cereal 6/$6.00 and to get all of my coupons double/tripled.
**Fry's will only double/triple 3 like coupons each transaction. If you have more than 3, the 4th & so on will be honored at face value. Do more transactions!

Free Coupon Class in Queen Creek!

Kolina, a fellow couponer & food storage diva, is planning a FREE coupon class! I'm really excited about this and hope that everyone can attend! If you have any questions or would like to attend and need directions to her home (which is near Ironwood & Ocotillo), please email her at: livingprovidently@gmail.com.

When: Saturday, November 8th
Time: 10:00 am
Where: Her home in Queen Creek
What: Learn about how to:

* Cut your grocery bill in at least half
* Maximize the benefits of using coupons
* Get stuff for FREE
* Work on building your food storage / year supply
* Utilize FREE resources
* Organizing coupons
* I am NOT selling anything. This workshop will focus on FREE services and resources (i.e. I will NOT be advocating the "subscription" coupon services). The only investment required is acquiring Sunday Paper coupons (which you could get for free from family etc.) and some time (as little or as much as you have to put into it).

The workshop is FREE. It is geared towards beginners, but anyone is welcome to attend.

There will be door prizes, and FREEBIES if you bring a friend.

See you there!

** She will be unveiling her "Best Price List, Version 1" which features the items we frequently get on sale with coupons so you know what the best prices are.

Also, be sure to visit her blog, Living Providently!

Thanks Kolina!

More Walgreens!

I actually got that oil change done this morning! So while I was waiting for them to finish, I happily walked myself over to Walgreens. Here's what I did!

I bought:

4 - Walgreens hydrogen peroxide 16 oz. (Reg. $0.69) (my FAV cleaning agent)
1 - Loreal Skin Genesis facial cleanser 8 oz. - $7.99
1 - Gillette Fusion Power Razor - $8.99
1 - Halloween treat bags - $1.50 (we're making treat bags for my sons class, hence all the candy I bought here)
1 - bag of spider rings - $0.99
Retail price: $22.23

I used:

1 - $4.00/1 Gillette Fusion Q (?) (9/28 P&G) (?)
1 - $3.00/1 Loreal Q (the checkout lady had one, thank you!)
1 - 2/$1.00 hydrogen peroxide (from weekly flyer)

I paid:

$15.91 OOP (?)

I get back:

$7.99 Walgreens mail-in rebate for the Loreal facial cleanser (FAR = free after rebate)
. . .I haven't done a Walgreens rebate before, but I've heard it works great! I'll submit it online and let you all know how long it takes to get my $$ back. For more info, click HERE.

$4.00 RR (?) for the Gillette Fusion Power Razor

Therefore, after my MIR & RR (?), the total I've paid is $3.92 OOP

Halloween Candy Deal @ Fry's

Around 6pm tonite, both my kids started getting tired and there was NO WAY I was going to have them fall asleep so early! My son would wake up at 4am, ready to start his day. I, however, would not be so happy to wake up that early in the morning. So, I quickly gathered up some coupons and we took a family trip to Fry's.

I bought:

8 - Bounty Basic single rolls ($0.88 cents each)
4 - 1/2 gallon Fry's milk ($0.97 cents each)
4 - Shamrock Rocker Refuel (10/$10.00 - $1.00 each)
9 - Hershey's halloween candy (2/$4.00 - $2.00 each)
= $32.92

Coupons I used: (?)
8 - Bounty coupons ($0.25/1 - 9/28 P&G)
*First 3 tripled to $0.75, other 5 taken at face value
4 - Shamrock Rocker Refuel Q's ($0.55/1 - 10/12 SS)
*First 3 doubled to $1.00, other one taken at face value
3 - Hershey's candy Q ($1/3 - 9/28 SS)
I also used THIS $5/$25 purchase Q
= $15.05 in Q's

I paid:
$17.91

I saved:
$41.33, a 69% savings

**Also, I got back a $5 OYNO Q (?) because I bought at least $15.00 worth of Hershey candy.

FREE RedBox Movie Rental

Since we don't have regular TV at our house, we tend to watch plenty of movies! These FREE movie rental codes allow us to watch the newest releases, without spending a penny OOP (out of pocket). We simply pick it up while we're out running errands, or my hubby does when he's on his way to work and drops it back off the next day on his way again.

Either way, it's FREE! Enjoy!

Your FREE RedBox rental promo code :

P K 6 6 H 8

Expires tonight (Mon, Oct 20) at midnight, EST!

I receive these codes via email.

If you'd like to receive your own, click HERE or visit InsideRedbox.com.

FREE Pert Plus @ Walgreens!

Walgreens has Pert Plus on sale for $3.49 this week!

In their October Easy Saver Catalog (the little catalog in the front of the store), there's a $2.50 coupon on page 10.

Also, click HERE for more $1.00 printable coupons!

Combine the $2.50 Q (?) with a $1.00 Q to get free shampoo!

I have plenty of shampoo for my family at home, but will pick up a couple of these to donate to charity. I encourage you to do the same with some of the free things you get!

EXPIRED - Omaha dessert & 6-piece cutlery set for $3.98!

This is an awesome deal where you can get a few Free Gifts and a delicious dessert for you from Omaha steaks & Geico Priveleges!

Just order any dessert priced at $14.99 and receive a free 6-piece cutlery set and cutting board with promotion. Use a coupon code from Geico Privelages (which will be emailed to you), and you’ll only pay $3.98 total to have all items shipped to your door!

Here’s how to get yours:

1.) Click HERE to register with GEICO Privileges (you don’t have to be a GEICO customer to use their privileges!)

2.) Within an hour or two, you’ll receive an email from GEICO Privileges (the Subject line reads: ENJOY Your Omaha Steaks e-Certificate from GEICO Privileges!).
Within that email is a link which will direct you to the GEICO site displaying your $25 coupon code (these are unique codes and may only be used once).

3.) Make note of the coupon code, and then click HERE to access Omaha Steaks (not all Omaha links have the same prices and offer the same freebies…I already tried going through Ebates, but it didn’t work!)

4.) From the Appetizers/Sides/Desserts category, select Desserts.
(I've been hearing reports that you don't have to necessarily choose a dessert, so try choosing some steak burgers instead if you'd like! See how it goes at check-out!)

5.) Scroll to the Sweet Treats category and add 1 Dessert that is $14.99

6.) Select Checkout (the free 6-piece cutlery set and cutting board will be displayed on the Checkout page).

7.) Select Checkout again (via either Paypal or standard checkout)

8.) Enter your billing information and select Continue Checkout

9.) Enter shipping information (or select “Ship to Myself”), then select Continue Checkout

10.) From the Payment page, your initial balance of $28.98 will be displayed. Enter your $25 gift code from Geico Privileges (PIN is not required) and click Apply. Once the code has been applied, your balance will change to $3.98.

11.) Enter your payment information and scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Place Order. (I ordered today and the approximate arrival date is scheduled for “on or before October 29, 2008.)

(I paid $8.98, $5.00 more, because I REALLY wanted the brownie cheesecake. I'm pregnant, I can have what I want.) :)

Thank you, Sisterly Savings!!

Once A Month Cooking - OAMC

I really enjoyed THIS post on Once A Month Cooking. This lady is amazing! She's a single mom of 3 girls and has set a food budget goal of only $800.00 for the year. And she's kept to it! AMAZING. Totally inspirational. I just might adopt this idea, both the financial goal and the OAMC goal - I'll keep you updated on my thoughts. :) Enjoy the post!

More FREE stuff @ Fry's

Here's a few more things that you can get FREE right now at Fry's!

Tic Tacs: $.50 each
Use: $.55/2 from 9/21 RP
Final: FREE (YMMV)

Shamrock Rockin Refuel Milk: $1
Use: $.55/1 from 10/12 SS
Final: FREE

Softsoap: $.99
Use: $.35/1 from 9/28 SS
Final: FREE

Wacky Mac: $1.00
Use: $.50/1 DND from 6/22 RP (YMMV)
Final: FREE-$.50
(also on sale at Safeway)

Thanks for the additions, Kolina!

(DND = Do Not Double)
(YMMV = Your Milage May Vary - item might not be on sale at your local store)

Money Saving Tip

When I first got into couponing, my hubby thought it was the biggest waste of time & money. He never in a million years would have believed that I would learn how to save us hundreds of dollars each week. Alas, he has been converted.

Click here to enjoy a short video of him basking in his I-get-free-stuff glory. :)

Case lot shopping!

After I took my son to school this morning, I headed to Fry's and did a little case lot shopping. If you're not aware, case lots are food items that you can buy in bulk (kinda like Costco), for a discounted price. Click HERE for info on the sale that Fry's has going on right now!

*Note: To use THIS $6.00 off $30.00 purchase, I did my math ahead of time, so that my grand total would come to barely over $30.00 to get the $6.00 off.

Transaction 1:

I bought:

1 case Hunts pasta sauce (12 cans) = $9.24

1 case Fry's mac & cheese (48 boxes) = 17.76

10 cans of Speghetti-O's - $0.49 cents each = $4.90

= $31.90

I used:

1 - $6/$30 Q (?) from HERE

5 - $0.40 cents off 2 Speghetti-O's Q's (9/21 SS)

*Fry's tripled this coupon, taking $1.00 off for each.

I paid:

$21.00 (I put it on my giftcard, so I paid $0 OOP)

Transaction 2:

I bought:

1 case Hunts pasta sauce (12 cans) = $9.24

1 case Libby's vegetables (24 cans) = $11.76

4 - Fry's 1/2 gallon milk - $0.97 cents each = $3.88

12 cans of Speghetti-O's - $0.49 cents each = $5.88

= $30.76

I used:

1 - $6/$30 Q from HERE
5 - $0.40 cents off 2 Speghetti-O's Q's (9/21 SS)
*Fry's tripled this coupon, taking $1.00 off for each.

2 - $0.50/3 Libby's vegetable printable Q from HERE

I paid:
$16.88 (I put it on my giftcard, so again, I paid $0 OOP)

Summary:

I bought:

24 cans of Hunts pasta sauce

24 cans of sweet corn

48 boxes of Mac & Cheese

22 cans of Speghetti-O's

4 half-gallons of milk (not pictured, it's in the fridge)

I spent $37.88 - ($0 OOP)

I saved: $103.10

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear"

We all know that hard times have hit a lot of people. My friend Deanna wrote an awesome post about being prepared and how to go about it without going bankrupt or losing your mind. Please read her post HERE. You'll be glad you did!

Question - Ordering the Newspaper

"I don't want the newspaper for Monday through Saturday and was looking into an East Valley Tribune subscription. Does the Tribune have the same coupons as the Republic?" ~M

Great question!

The East Valley Tribune is a fantastic newspaper for information, but not so great on the coupon end. It usually only has one or the other when it comes to weekly inserts . . . either a Smart Source or Red Plum insert. I, along with most other coupon-aholics, as well as Coupon$ense and Pinching Your Pennies, promote the Arizona Republic simply because their Sunday newspaper supplies the most coupons weekly for your buck. And the more coupons you have, the more money you're going to save.

My subscription delivers the paper to me Monday - Sunday, and I get 2 extra Sunday papers. I have 2 little kids at home, with one on the way and I have neither the time nor desire to sit down & read the newspaper everyday. Especially since the birth of the internet. So what do I do with the other newspapers? All of the grocery ads come on Wednesday, so I will usually keep that paper in case I want to ad-match something at Walmart. Otherwise, I have a box in my garage that I throw the other papers in and when it gets full, I either take it to be recycled, or donate it to my sons school, for art projects & such.

If finding an extra $20.00 each month is an issue, another alternative is to split your subscription with a coupon-ing friend of yours! The subscription price to get 3 Sunday papers is $20.58/month. But if you subscribe to get 6 Sunday papers for $27.08/mo. and split it, that's just $13.54 each, making each Sunday paper just over $1.00 for each Sunday paper. I have a few friends that do this and it works out great for them.

I'd say, go head & subscribe to the AR, and after giving it an honest shot for at least a full month and if you really don't feel like you're getting your $$ worth, just call & cancel. :) But rest assured . . . you'll definitely save much, much more than than the subscription price. I do - and my posts prove it.

Happy saving!