$.58 at Rite Aid!

I still had a bunch of Up Rewards to spend in store, and here is how I used them:

Crest toothpaste was on sale for $3 and generating a $3 Up Reward.  I bought 4 (on 2 cards) and used 4 $.75 off coupons.  Deodorant was on sale 2/$8 generating $3 Up Reward on 2, and I bought 4 and used 2 $2/2 coupons.  The rulers were on sale for $.29.

My first transaction was 2 toothpaste and 2 deodorant.  The total after coupons was $10.50, but I had $11 in Up Rewards to use, so I bought the 2 rulers to bring up the total.  After rewards my total before tax was $.08.  I also earned $9 in Up Rewards (3 for each of the toothpaste and $3 for 2 deodorants).

My second transaction was 2 toothpaste.  I had $7 in rewards for this card.  After coupons the total was $4.50, so I used $4 in rewards to get to $.50.  I got 2 more $3 Up Rewards.

My final transaction was 2 more deodorant.  They were $6 after coupons, and I used the remaining $3 Up Rewards from last week plus one $3 reward from the toothpaste purchase.  My total before tax was $0!!  And I was left with $3 more Up Rewards from the deodorant.

So the grand total was $.58, and I left with another $15 in Rewards.  Great deal!!

Week 3 totals are in!

Week 3 was awesome!  Tons of straight up freebies, and lots of rolling rewards to keep the freebies coming next week!  

TOTAL RETAIL: $145.78
TOTAL BEFORE TAX: $4.42
TOTAL AFTER TAX: $11.63

COMBINED TOTAL RETAIL FOR 3 WEEKS: $332.62
COMBINED TOTAL BEFORE TAX: $8.33
COMBINED TOTAL AFTER TAX: $24.27

$.54 at Staples!

Another great back to school sale at Staples! Both the pens and pencils were $4 with a $4 rebate, so free.  The highlighters were on sale for $.50, and the index cards and cap erasers were only $.01 each (limit 2 of each product, price was 1 cent if you spent $5 in store).  I hope this helps someone get ready for September:)

5 free deodorants at Ralphs!!

Speed stick was on sale this week for $1, and I had 5 $1/1 coupons. How great is that?

2 Kendall bandages for $.29!

While I was at Rite Aid today I also scored these 2 packs of Kendall bandages.  They are priced at $5.29, and were buy 1 get 1 free.  Rite Aid has a rebate offer this month for $5 when you buy this product.  Yay!

Crayola Clearance at Rite Aid!

Check out this awesome clearance find at Rite Aid!  Crayola products were on sale for 75% off.  Original price was $7.29 each, and sale price was $1.82.  I also used a $3 reward (remember the Samy shampoo from earlier this week?  I bought 2 bottles using rewards and earned $3 for each one).

My final price after rewards was on $.32 each.  I love being able to donate items that kids will be happy to get!!

CVS freebies :-)

Check out these freebies from CVS this week.  I only paid the tax, which was $.70!!

First I bought 2 Starbucks refreshers.  They were on sale 2/$3, and generated $3 in Extra Bucks.  I used those ECB plus $4 in ECB from the Infusium deal I posted about earlier in the week.

The Re-Nu contact lens solution was on sale for $7.99, and I used a $2/1 coupon.  The cereal was on sale for $1.99, and I used a $1/1 coupon.  So the total for both items was $6.98, and I had $7 in ECB.

Also, the contact lens solution generated another $4 in ECB!  So I can combine that with the remaining $4 from the Infusium deal for some more freebies next week.

$20 in Free Gas!!!

My very first post was about 4 free Physician's Formula cosmetics for the donation stockpile.  Well, if those free eyeliners and eye shadows weren't great enough, there was an added perk to my purchase that day.

CVS often runs promotions where you get a $10 store or gas card when you spend $30 on participating products.  The week that I bought the make-up, Physician's Formula was part of a gas card promotion.  All products were $7 off (as long as the retail was above $7), so I bought these 4 items and stocked up on some more for me (without coupons - it was still a great deal!).  I bought $30 worth of product, and got this $10 gas card.

A few weeks later I bought a cooler to use for my son's birthday party.  All seasonal summer products were generating the $10 gas card, so I earned another one.

I just cashed in the vouchers today, and I am so excited to add these to the stockpile!  With gas prices these days everyone could use a little help:)

Week 2 Summary

So I'm still learning how to best organize all these donations, and this week I made the mistake of putting all my purchases into the category bags before I took the summary picture!  So now I know to keep the week separate until I have done the summary.  So, with no picture, here is what I bought:

2 boxes of cereal
5 cosmetic items
7 personal care items
4 cleaning/household items

TOTAL RETAIL COST - $53.96
TOTAL COST BEFORE TAX - $.89
TOTAL AFTER TAX - $4.08

TOTALS - 2 Weeks of purchases

COMBINED TOTAL RETAIL - $186.84
COMBINED BEFORE TAX - $3.91
COMBINED COST AFTER TAX - $12.64

Serious Moneymaker at Rite Aid!!

I love getting paid to shop for UBH!  Makes me happy:)

So last week I was so excited to get $20 in rewards for buying 4 packs of Huggies for my daughter.  I used $10 of those today, and bought all this for only $.47.  But the best part is I can submit for a $2.99 Single Check Rebate through Rite Aid.  So I will actually make money on this purchase, even after paying the tax. Oh wait - it gets better!  I also left with another $3 in Up Rewards to use on my next purchase. Here's how it worked out:

Easy Ups were on sale for $9.49.  I had a $2/1 catalina coupon from Rite Aid (these are the coupons that print after your receipt). I also got a manufacturer coupon in the mail for $3/1.  I combined these to get the diapers for $4.49.  I got $2 in rewards for this purchase.

The Playtex tampons were on sale for $3.99.  I used a $1/1 coupon from the paper, and also earned $1 in Up Rewards.

Crest was on sale for $2.99, and I can submit for the full value rebate through Rite Aid's SIngle Check Rebate program.

I used the $10 in rewards, and my subtotal before tax was $.47.  I will get the $2.99 back by check and have the $3 to spend in store.  That was a great haul:)

4 packs totally free!

I mentioned before that I buy 4 papers each week for the coupons. This week we got coupons for $2 off Stayfree, and they are on sale at CVS for only $2!  That means I got all 4 completely free. This is a perfect example of the good we can do with your coupons. The more we have the more free supplies we can donate!

Paid $2.48 to earn $8!

<p>Infusium moisture replenisher is on clearance for half price, but still generates the ECB deal this week. The sale is buy one for $5.99 and get $4 ECB.  I got 2 of these for $3.74 each and used a $5 CVS money card, so I paid $2.48 and got $8 ECB. Perfect timing too, because I was all out of rewards:-)

$.24 at Target!

I was back at Target today for some party supplies and scored some household items for a steal.

Comet cleaner was $1.99. I used $1 target coupon and $1 printed coupon. These just reset a few days ago, meaning I could print more.

Finish dishwasher cleaner had a try me free rebate, so it was free too.

Febreeze was on clearance for $2.62 each. I bought 5 and used a $5/5. I could say they were $1.62 each, but for my purposes here I will calculate that the coupon applied $2.50 to 2, and I paid regular clearance for the ones I am keeping. I had to buy 5 to use the coupon:-)

So my total was only $.24 before tax! So excited for a new week of deals tomorrow!

2 boxes for $.32!

Rice Krispies were on sale this week at CVS for $1.99. I bought 3, and used a $1/3 coupon.  That made each box $1.66. Then I used the $3 in ECB from the colgate purchase. I applied it to the 2 boxes I am donating, which made them only $.16 each! I am keeping the third box for my own kiddos:-)

CVS strikes again!

Another great thing about CVS is the quarterly Extra Care Bucks pay out.  Every 3 months, the Magic Coupon Machine at CVS will give you ECB (credit that you can use in store) based on your spending.  A few weeks ago I got $5 in ECB, and here is what I bought today to use it:

2 colgate toothpaste.  These were on sale 2/$5 and I used 2 $.50/1 coupons. Cost $4.
2 Nivea lotion tins.  The coupon machine printed a coupon for $3/2 nivea products. I bought 2 of these tins for $.99 each, so I actually MADE $1 to buy them!!!
1 pack of Scunci hair elastics.  The machine also gave me a $2 off any hair accessory coupon (again!).  These were $2.99, and I used the $2/1 coupon plus the $1 overage from the nivea to make them free.
1 Lady Mitchum deodorant.  This was on sale for $1.99, and I had a $1 off coupon, making it $.99.

So my total cost was $5, and I used $5 ECB making it all free!  And to top it off I earned $3 ECB for the toothpaste purchase.  My next post will show you how I used it!

$20 in Rewards for buying diapers

I needed to pick up diapers today for my daughter, so I headed to Rite Aid to take advantage of a great Up Rewards offer.  Up Rewards print on your receipt and can be used like cash on any purchase in the store.

Huggies jumbo packs were on sale for $10 each.  I bought four (using 2 cards because the limit is 2), and used 4 $1.50/1 coupons from the paper.  I buy 4 Sunday papers every week for the coupons:)

Each pack I bought gave me $5 in Up Rewards, so I made $20 on 4 packs.  So great, considering diapers are something I need to buy anyway!  I am excited to see what sales are on next week to use these for Upward Bound House.

Rolling Rewards at Rite Aid

Remember the Zest body wash purchase I made last week?  That purchase left me with $8 in Up Rewards. I also had $2 more in Rewards from a previous toothbrush purchase.  Here's what I scored using those rewards. 

Samy hair products were on sale for $3.99, and giving back a $3 reward.  I bought 2.
NYC makeup was 40% off, and giving back a $1 reward when you buy 2.  The items I chose were $.99 eyeliners, and the sale price was $.59.  I bought 4.

So my total was $10.34 before tax, and I used $10 in rewards, making the price $.32!  But the best part was that I earned another $8 in Rewards to spend next week.  Using Rewards to purchase items that print more Rewards is the best way to shop for free:)

Week 1

Check out the haul from Week 1! Here is the summary:

13 personal care items including soap, bath scrub, and hand sanitizer
6 cosmetics items, including eyeliner, make up remover, and nail files
7 baby items, including diapers, bottles, and pacifiers
6 office supply items, including pencils, crayons, and printer paper
1 cleaning item

TOTAL RETAIL = $132.88
TOTAL BEFORE TAX = $3.02
TOTAL AFTER TAX = $8.56

PERCENTAGE SAVINGS = 98%

This week there were a lot of try me free rebates on high value items, and I was able to use store rewards to make a lot of purchases.  Let's see how we do next week!!

Free Diapers, Baby Food and more!

Check out this great haul of baby stuff I scored for free!  It took a few trips to different stores - here is the breakdown:

Target:
Pacifiers had a Try Me Free rebate tag, so I will get a full value refund and these will be free!
Gerber Organics baby food pouches - Target had an online coupon to buy 4 of these and get one free.  I also had a Try Me Free rebate for this product, so I got 2 for free!

Vons:
O Organics baby food jar - I had a catalina coupon (they print with your receipt) for a free jar.

CVS:
CVS has had some great clearance items the past few weeks!  I picked up 7 packs of diapers on clearance for only $2.32 a pack.  I also used a $5 off $15 CVS coupon, so 2 packs were free with a few cents left over.  I also bought this pack of bottles on clearance for $1.12, and used a $1 Extra Care Bucks plus the overage from the other coupon to make this item free too!

Garnier shampoo free with Extra Bucks!

CVS and Rite Aid both had great deals on Garnier hair products this week.  CVS was offering all kinds of Garnier hair products (including stylers) for $2.99.  They were also offering $5 in Extra Bucks (ECB) when you spend $15 on Garnier products.  I bought 5 items to get the $5 ECB (it was only $14.95 but CVS rounds up if the item ends in .99).  I also used 5 $1/1 coupons from the paper and online sites, making each item $1.99, and $4 in previous ECB making 2 items free:) 

Stay tuned for an amazing free haul of baby supplies, which includes diapers, pacifiers, and baby food!  I will post on Sunday.  I can't wait to post totals on Sunday as well to see how much we saved and spent in week 1.

$.34 thanks to the CVS coupon machine

One of my favorite things about CVS is the "magic" coupon machine in each store.  When you scan your CVS card it prints out in-store coupons.  CVS allows you to stack coupons, meaning you can use a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon on the same item.  So, the machine coupons can often turn into great deals. 

This trip I didn't need any manufacturer coupons!  Here is what the machine printed and what I purchased:

$2 off any hair accessory item
Bought Connair hair elastics priced at $2.34, paid only $.34 plus tax

$1 off any Nivea hand or body lotion product
Bought the blue Nivea Creme tin priced at $.99, item was free.

CVS also often prints coupons on your receipt.  This trip I got a $5 off any purchase of $15 or more, and a 25% off your next purchase (which only applies to full-price items, not sale items).  The combination of all these great coupons and a great coupon policy make CVS a really great spot to shop:)

Staples donation - Lots of Freebies!

Here is what I am adding to the donation from Staples today:

1 ream of paper $.50 after rebate
Mechanical pencils $.25
Erasers $.50
Glue sticks $1
2 Crayons $.01 each

I ended up spending over $30 before rebates (I bought some stuff for me too), and used the $5 off $30 coupon from the Staples web site, so everything that I am donating ($2.27 retail for all that!) was actually free!

Hot deals at Staples!

This week Staples has some amazing savings! When you spend at least $5 you can get up to 2 packs of crayons or 2 school glue for $.01 each! These are ideal to match up with the Easy Rebate offer on printer paper. Paper is on sale for $6.99 a ream and you can submit for a $6.49 rebate limit 2. So you can buy 2 reams of paper for $1 after rebate, and get the 2 crayons and 2 glues for $.04! You can also score a desk calendar or super glue for free after rebates, and lots of items are on sale for $1 or less around the store, like glue sticks, erasers, and mechanical pencils.
And if all this isn't enough, you can use a $5 off $30 coupon from staples.com! Amazing savings. I will show you what items I am donating later today:-)

$2.45 for all this at Target!!

This was my first Coupons for Causes trip to Target. I got all this using sale prices combined with mostly printed internet coupons and Target online coupons. Here are the details:

Ivory was on sale for $1.18 and I used $1 off newspaper coupon, so total was $.18.

Hydrogen peroxide was $.52, and I printed a target coupon for $.75. The coupon adjusted to $.52 so it was free.

Neutrogena eye makeup remover was on sale for $4.99. I used $2 off target coupon and $2 off printed coupon from a few weeks back. $.99 total.

Comet was on sale for $1.99. I used $1 off target coupon and $1 off printed coupon, so it was free.

Up and up hand soap was $.89 and I used a $.50 coupon so $.39.

Purell was on sale for $2.89. I used $1 off target coupon and $1 off from the purell website, so $.89.

This trip brings up a good point - we can make really good use of printed coupons too! If you have time each week or month to visit a few sites (coupons.com is a good one) these coupons can go a long way! I will post in the next few days with some more great sites for coupons.

Stay tuned for the grand total for Week 1, which will be posted on Sunday:-)

More freebies at Riteaid this week!

Here are 2 more items you can pick up at your local Riteaid this week.

Riteaid has printable coupons that you can access after watching a short video, like a commercial. Log in now to watch and print a coupon for $2 off any Revlon nail care item. Riteaid has lots of files for under $2 so this can even result in some overage that can come off another item.

I also picked up Zest body wash, on sale this week for $2.99. I used $1 off coupons making each one $1.99. For each body wash I earned $2 in Up Rewards. These are printed on your receipt and can be used like cash on any future purchase. So for $7.96 out of pocket I earned $8 in store rewards. I was also able to use Up Rewards I earned last week on this purchase, so I was able to get these completely free.  This is a great example of rolling rewards to get freebies.  I used $8 in rewards to get this product free and earned $8 more dollar in rewards.  Awesome!  Let's see what I can get next week for free with these rewards!  There was a limit of 2 per household so we used 2 cards and 4 coupons to get 4 for the donation stockpile.

Free bath products at Riteaid!

Check your local Riteaid for C. Booth bath products. A few varieties have Try Me Free rebate tags. They are priced at $7.99 so you will get a full value rebate by mail. Just make sure you don't use Up Rewards when you purchase or the amount will be deducted from your rebate. This is an awesome, 100% free way to donate!

Free Makeup at CVS

Cosmetics often go on sale but are rare to find as freebies.  Last week CVS was offering $7 off any Physicians Formula cosmetic priced $7 or higher. I found these 4 items priced at $7.99 each and used 4 $1 off coupons. That meant 2 eyeliners and 2 eyeshadows completely free! These will be great to add to our donation stockpile without adding to our out of pocket expense:)