Yaaayy!!

Still haven't lost my touch. 

A couple of times I've given into the temptation of watching extreme couponing, despite how angry it makes me.... and I must admit, sometimes it makes me feel like I'm not that talented at couponing. I mean how come I don't save $1000 every trip? But the reality is, the value of savings isn't what is precious, its the ability I have to help others, and spread the love and blessing of my couponing experiences. So while I don't go so extreme as to getting hundreds of candy bars for free, clearing the shelves of items because the price is right, or buying 70 bottles of mustard just because I can, I do what I need to support my family and yet, help those in need the best I can. I never want saving money and having the ability to stock up become my entire life, or my priority. My family and helping others is my priority. So I coupon to fulfill that purpose, not to make MYSELF happy, like so many of those on that TLC show. I encourage all of you who have seen the show or my blog and who plan to start couponing to save money, please don't just do it because you can. Do it because it will enable you to make a difference in this world, no matter how small that difference may seem. Before you know it, you will have an abundance of stockpile and be able to give selflessly to others. You may even find yourself going on trips specifically for other people- not even for yourself. Lets spread the love and prove to the world that there still are good people at there. That couponers are not all greedy, and that we want to make a difference in this world, one coupon at a time....

OKAY! Sorry for that whole mess of feelings.. lol. Here is my trip for this week! I did three transactions at Walgreens and 1 at Wal-Mart!

WALGREENS:

Transaction 1:

2 Cottonelle Toilet Paper 12 Roll $5 [Get $3 RR when you buy 2]

- (1) $1/1 Walgreens May Coupon [Takes off $2)

-  (2) $.50/1 Manufacturer coupon HERE

1 Gum Eeze Floss $2 get $2 Register Rewards

2 Scotch Mailers .39 [In ad coupon]

2 Head N Shoulders Shampoo/Conditioner 2/$8 get $2 RR

- (1) B1G1 Free Manufacturer 4/17 RP

- (1) $2/1 Manufacturer coupon in the mail

2 Right Guard Body Wash B1G1 Free $4.49

- (1) B1G1 Free Coupon 5/1 RP

1 Noxzema Razor $3.99 get $3 RR

- (1) $2/1 Manufacturer Coupon 5/1 RP

1 Gillette Profusion Pack $9.89 get $5 RR

- (1) $4/1 Manufacturer 5/1 P&G

2 Tylenol Precise Heat pads $7.99

- (2) $5/1 Manufacturer HERE

-(1) $3/1 Walgreens May Coupon (Takes off $6)

Then I used $15 RR from two weeks ago.

Total Spent:

$7.39 including $2.75 of tax!

Total Saved:

$64.65

And I received $15 RR back. 

Transaction 2:

[Minus the razor. Wrong picture! lol]

1 Tuf Towels $5 

[I screwed up here, it is supposed to be $3.99 with the In-Ad coupon but I forgot about the coupon and didn't have them scan it =[ So I paid $5 for it. Oh well we all mess up sometimes lol]

2 Scotch Mailers .39 In ad

2 Right Guard Deodorant get $2 RR

- (1) B1G1 Free 5/1 RP

2 Head N Shoulders Shampoo/Conditioner 2/$8 get 2 RR

- (1) B1G1 Free 4/17 RP. 

Great price in my opinion. This stuff is usually mad expensive.

I Used $11 RR from previous transaction.

Got $4 RR back.

Total Spent:

$4.16 including $1.39 tax.

Bummed I screwed up. Should have been $3.15

Total Saved:

$23.57

Transaction 3:

1 Puffs tissues .99 in ad

- (1) .50/1 coupon in mail

1 Mead envelope .99 in ad

2 Lysol Wipes B1G1 Free $3.49

- (2) $1.50/1 Manufacturer from online awhile ago. 

Not available anymore.

1 Gum Eeze Floss $2 get $2 RR

1 Noxzema $3.99 get $3 RR

- (1) $2/1 Manufacturer

Used $5 RR from previous transactions

Got $5 RR back.

Total Spent:

$1.87 including .81 tax

Total Saved:

$17.88

Wal-Mart

1 Clairol Nice N' Easy Hair Color $7.98

- (1) FREE Item Coupon in mail

3 Frank's RedHot Sauce $1.98 each

- (2) $1/1 Manufacturer online

Not available

- (1) $2/1 Manufacturer mailed to me

2 Glade Spring Candles $2.50 each

- (2) FREE ITem Coupon in mail

Total Spent:

$2.84

Total Saved:

$16.98

TODAY'S SPENDINGS:

$16.26 including $5.85 of tax!

I hate tax. 

TODAY'S SAVINGS:

$123.08

Donation Deals:

My trip! 

Stephani's Saturday spotlight

Hey guys! I feel like its been ages since I last posted. But again, it was for good reason- Finals week! But now I am officially finished with my Spring semester and can get back to work on the blog and couponing. We're running low on stuff at home and I feel like I've been couponing so slowly lately. But I know this summer will get me moving again!

Here are a couple of life updates for you lol. I'll be heading to Tampa next weekend so that I can visit family for a few days, and I start a couple of online classes. Hopefully these classes will be simple and won't take up much of my time so I can focus on the blog again..

Sorry for my absence!! But I really hope you guys can get back into following the blog and spreading the word about it... So here are the details for this week!

Publix AD and Match Ups 4/25-5/4 CLICK HERE


Walgreens AD 5/1-5/7 CLICK HERE

Walgreens Match-Ups CLICK HERE

CVS AD 5/1-5/7 CLICK HERE
CVS Match-Ups CLICK HERE

CVS Scenarios CLICK HERE


Target AD Preview CLICK HERE

So I already see some amazing deals this week!  Free Baby formula at CVS, Money making razors and free floss at Walgreens, plus the great grocery deals at Publix. With the coupons from this Sunday's paper, the Soleil Razors at Publix are moneymakers! Or at least free...


Be sure to buy at least 2 sunday papers this week! The coupons are fabulous.
I'll be making my shopping trip sometime this week since I have Register rewards expiring. But its also my husbands birthday week so I'm focusing on doing some really awesome things for him!

What $50 can get you at Walgreens...

I thought I'd just give a short little post to encourage you guys that savings at Walgreens are truly worth the time and effort it takes to get them. In the beginning of March, I bought a $50 Walgreens gift card. I knew I'd spend it eventually and it makes checking out at the register really quick and simple. But it soon became a short little mission of mine to find out how far I could make the $50 go. And the results are spectacular. Since my calculations may be off by a few pennies or so, I'll just round.... 

So for $50 at Walgreens, I was able to get $395 worth of stuff. 

To make it even more interesting, I figured I'd show pictures of everything I got with this $50. So here we go!!!!

Long Overdue...

Wow its been awhile since I posted... again. Lol. But again, I just haven't been on many trips. Usually when I have a bad shopping experience, it makes me not want to shop again for awhile.  So I waited until today, the day my rewards expired, to make a trip to Walgreens and use them up. In this case, I did want to have at least a few rewards left, but I was mainly focused on buying stuff that I needed. So I stocked up [A lot] on sponges. We like to wash our dishes off before we put then in the dishwasher, and we tend to go through sponges really fast. I had a stock of about 10, but we're down to the last one. So like I said, I stocked up a lot lol. I did multiple transactions to make my savings even bigger, but mainly because I don't like doing huge transactions. The cashiers tend to get annoyed. So I  split them up at different store or at different times to make it easy and I don't feel too rushed. I'll do my best to give all the details but I did 5 transactions so it starts to get confusing.
On a side note, I feel like I've been slacking on the whole "Saturday Spotlight" thing but I promise things will get better. This week and next are my last weeks of this semester. Then I'm sure the blog will be my number 1 priority lol. Thanks for your patience!

Transaction 1:

1 Carrots .99

1 Nasogel $4.99 get $5 RR

- (1) $3/1 Peelie from a month ago 

= $2.98

Got $5 RR

Saved: $5.00

Transaction 2:

6 Easter cups @ 6/$1

1 Betty Crocker Cake mix .89 [in ad price]

1 Betty Crocker frosting $1.50 [in ad price]

- (1) .75/2 betty crocker 4/3 SS

- (1) .50/2 WAGS coupon 4/17    [This makes them only .50 each! Amazing price]

6 Scotch Brite Sponges 3 pack $3.99 B1G1 Free

- (1) $1/2 PDF Welcome letter [Limits only one coupon per day]

1 Nasogel $4.99

- (1) $3/1 peelie

Used $4, $3, $3, $2 RR's

Got back $5 RR

Total: 

$4.01 including tax

Saved:

$35.41

Transaction 3:

1 Carrots .99

1 Nasogel $4.99 get $5 RR

- (1) $2.50/1 Peelie

Total

$3.48

Got $5 RR

Saved:

$4.50

Transaction 4: Different store

1 Nasogel $4.99 get $5 RR

- (1) $1.50/1 Peelie

1 Easter Cup = .17

Used $2 RR

Got $5 RR

Total

 $1.68

Saved:

 $5.72

Transaction 5:

4 Scotch Brite Sponge 3 pack $3.99 B1G1 Free

1 Betty Crocker Cake Mix .89

1 Betty Crocker Icing $1.50

-(1) $.75/2

1 Easter cup .17

Used $5 RR

Total: 

$5.37

Saved:

$17.14

Total Shopping Trip:

$17.52

Saved:

$67.77

And I have $15 RR's to use in the future. Considering I got 10 packages of sponges which usually cost $4 each, I think I did awesome. I plan on going back this week to stock up on the cake mixes and icings. This is an amazing price for them and many don't expire until late this year. I love making my own cakes and we have 2 birthdays coming up!

Spontaneity Pays Off

Tonight Fernando and I went to see Soul Surfer at the movies and I must say it was incredible. I absolutely loved it. Not only was it inspirational but I definitely cried. Twice. Lol. After the movie I decided to use the last of my Almay coupons to get a great deal on makeup at Walgreens before the sale ended. I looked in advance to the upcoming ads and the only other Almay sale is Buy 1 Get 1 50% off. So the 40% off everything price was better, and I did it. 

I must say I love when unplanned trips turn out even better than I imagined. I originally planned on only buying the makeup, but ended up getting an awesome deal on paper towels. In my opinion, a great price for paper towels with coupons is between $.50-$.80 per roll. Without coupons you can find them for about $1 a roll. Well, I ended up getting mine for $.25 per roll. Thats amazing. So this is how it happened.

1 Almay Eyeliner 40% off for $5.27

1 Almay Makeup Remover Wipes $4.19

- (1) $2/1 Almay Cosmetics Walgreens coupon [Takes off $4]

- (2) $2/1 Almay Cosmetics Manufacturer coupon 

= $2.13 including tax! That's only $1.50 for both before tax.

Saved: $14.32

Then for some weird reason, a catalina coupon printed for $2.50 Scott naturals paper towels. Manufacturer coupon. It caught me off guard since all I bought was makeup, but then I remembered the April Walgreens coupon for $1. So then I bought....

1 Scott Naturals Paper Towels 6 rolls $5

- (1) $2.50/1 Catalina

- (1) $1/1 Walgreens April Book

= $1.85 including tax

Saved: $3.50.

These specific paper towels are made from recycled paper and tend to be a little rough. That's why I prefer using these for cleaning instead of for use in the kitchen for hands and stuff. So these are absolutely perfect for our home. And for $.25 a piece, an amazing deal.

So my totals for my simple, yet exciting trip are...

Spent: $3.98

Saved: $17.82

Considering I got makeup... this is awesome. I love coupons.

My trip was a nightmare.

Wow. It's been awhile since I last posted.. But I have good reasons! Lol. My bestie Kelli came to visit me all last week =] We had a blastttt!! It was the most amazing week I've had in a long time. My favorite part? Seeing Wicked the Musical ! It was an indescribable experience. Thank you Kelli for making my life that much more wonderful =]...  

So yea! Obviously we were really busy enjoying Miami that I didn't have the chance to do a blog update, even though I made one trip. However I misplaced the receipt and it was a crappy experience anyways, so I won't share it with you. Basically I just used my Extrabucks that were expiring at CVS to buy some water bottles...

NOW! For the update of my most recent trip. I officially had the absolute worst couponing experience of my life on Sunday.

First, I'll complain about it, then share the details about spending and saving.

Basically, I had about $23 in Register Rewards about to expire at Walgreens on Sunday. So I planned a quick, easy trip to use them up and get some rewards back. I started in one register and then the computer just froze, so they moved me to a different register. I'm all for working at any age, but this older lady was the cashier, and she couldn't even read the coupons because her vision was so bad. So she had to go one item at a time, scanning the coupon after each item. This took a good 20 minutes... for 15 items. But I'm a patient person so I was okay. But then.... NONE of my register rewards printed. Hmmmm.

My instant reaction was just a sort of confusion. I figured the machine must have been broken because NONE of the rewards printed. So the cashier told me to talk to the manager. Well, this sepcific assitant manager already didn't like me so much because a couple weeks before, he had challenged one of my coupons, but the manager told him he was wrong and I was right. So I guess he didn't feel so inclined to help me out this time...

I went to see him and he told me, firmly, that if you use a coupon on an item, you CANNOT receive Register rewards in return. Of course I know this to be 100% untrue, so I disagreed with him. I admit I got a little aggravated too quickly but he was so rude! He didn't offer to check if the machine was broken, or if the rewards would print at another register. Instead, he swore that if I use coupons, I don't deserve rewards because I'm already saving money. He told me that I get rewards for my cash, so if I only spend a little bit of money I don't deserve rewards. This was completely unnecessary. Its not like Walgreens Policy says "Couponers don't deserve rewards". But this is the point he insisted on. So I asked to speak to the manager and he told me she would be in tomorrow. So I left. Sure my trip was a success in the amount I saved, but I was supposed to get about $14 in Register rewards BACK from this trip. And I had none.

So when I got home, I made a complaint on Walgreens.com. I usually let things slide but this was ridiculous. This man was absolutely unfair to me. I explained the situation, and felt better. Then on Monday, I received a call from the manager. She apologized for the assistant managers behavior and told me flat out that I was right. That coupons don't affect Register rewards. Sure it made me feel better, but I still felt disrespected. However she told me to come in the next day and she would print the rewards for me. She was very sweet and understanding, which I appreciated. So the next day I went in and got everything worked out. When I asked her if they found out why they didn't print, she said it was because the machine was in fact, broken. I can admit I did feel a sort of satisfaction at the news. But the whole experience still left a bad taste in my mouth. I've decided that for my Sunday trips, I'll go to a different Walgreens where I know the staff is super friendly. Then if I need a second trip during the week, I'll go to the Walgreens I just told you about on a day where the lady manager is working. This way I know I will be defended if anything goes wrong again. So.... in the end I got my rewards, but again, I'm sort of upset with the store. But on the bright side, my trip was a success! Since she needed my receipt to print the rewards, she had to keep it. So I'm gonna tell you guys my trip from memory. 

Here is what I got!

AND

And here is how I got it:

1 Herbal Essence and 1 Aussie Product @ 2/$7 get $2 RR's

- (1) B1G1 styler Free 3/13 SS

- (1) $1/1 Herbal essence product

= $2.50 for both and $2 RR back.

2 Olay bars 2 pack @ B1G1 50% off  ($3.49)

- (2) $2/1 Olay Bar 4/3 P&G

= $1.24 for both.

1 Gillette Profusion Pack

 (Includes battery powered razor, shave gel, and more) $9.99 get $4 RR's

- (1) $5/1 Gillette Profusion [in mail]

5 Mr. Clean Magic Erasers $2.99 Each. Buy $10 get $3 RR's

- (4) $1/1 3/6 RP

- (1) $.75/1 in mail

= $9.20 for all. I really wanted to try these!

1 Colgate Maxfresh toothpaste $2.99 get $3 RR

- (1) $.75/1 3/20 SS

= $2.24 plus $3 RR!

2 Colgate 360 toothbrushes 2/$5 get $2 RR

- (2) $1/1 3/27 SS

= $1.50 each plus $2 RR

1 Almay Eyeliner ($4.79)

1 Almay Makeup Remover ($3.59)

40% off

- (1) $2/1 Walgreens coupon [took off $4]

- (1) $2/1 Manufacturer 3/6 SS

= $2.38 for both!

6 Pencils 4/$1 in ad.

Filler items. Plus these are nice to give away!


1 Scott Naturals Paper Towels 6 rolls $5
- (1) $1/1 Walgreens 
- (1) $1.50/1 internet printable
= $2.50!
Amazing price for paper towels. Plus we can use these for cleaning since they are not so soft. They are perfect for cleaning.

Used $10, $5, $4, $2, $2 RRs.

EVENTUALLY got back $2, $4, $3, $3, $2. 

 I hate tax. Almost $5 of what I paid was tax. 

Spent: $13.72

Saved: $78.00