Some Free, some cheap- Walgreens & CVS

I had a hard time today at CVS and Walgreens, but I had anticipated that since some of the deals are a little complicated. I stopped at CVS first. I did the gillette buy $25 get $10 ECB with the Gillette deodorants and Body washes. Two of the deodorants were $4.49 and one was $5.49. (There were only 2 left of the cheaper ones.) The Body washes were $4.99 each. I used 3 of the buy Gillette deodorant, get body wash free coupons-from the 11/1 P&G and 3 of the $1 Gillette body wash or deodorant coupons. Total after coupons would be $11.47 and then I get back $10 ECB's. I also got 2 more of the Revlon eye shadows which are buy one get one free and I used 2- $2 coupons making them $.99 for both, and a Zooth toothbrush- on sale for $2.49, used a $1 coupon from 11/1 PG and got $2 ECB back. I used a $5/$30 coupon from the medicare quiz and a $2 ECB and a $10 ECB I got from taking a survey.

I had also tried to get the Covergirl makeup that was buy one get one half off and use the buy one foundation, get one face product free coupon (11/1 PG), but the cashier couldn't get the coupon to work an the manager said I couldn't do it with the b1g1 sale. The cashier said she had actually done that before too and it should work, but they had updated their registers making a lot of coupons harder to get through. I had them void off the makeup, but that screwed up my order, so they re-rang the whole thing. With the re-ring, we all forgot to scan my green bag tag again, since it was scanned on the voided order. They just printed me out a $1 ECB for that. With the second order, I was under after all my coupons, so I had to grab a $.99 nail clipper by the register to add in. I paid $.14 oop and got back the $10 and $2 ECB's.




I went to Walgreens next and I got a gillette razor $4.99 after $4 coupon from today's PG and got a $4 RR back. Glade sense & spray is $5.99 and I used a $4 coupon to make it $1.99 and got a $2 RR back. I got my covergirl makeup here with no problem- the foundation was $11.99 and the blush was $11.49. The sale took off $5.75 for the half price item and my coupon took off $11.49 for the blush. I was also able to use a $1 coupon for the foundation making my total $5.24 for both.

Then I got 3 ecotrin which are $3.49 regular price. I used a $10/3 coupon from 10/11 RP leaving me with $.47 for all three. But there is also a coupon in the ad for the ecotrin for $1.99 which will take off $1.50 for each one. Since I gave the $10 coupon first, the walgreens coupon takes off $4.50 for the 3 boxes giving me overage! For this deal, make sure you have something in your order to use the overage on, and give the walgreens coupon last. The $10 coupon will beep like a free item coupon and ask for the price. This will confuse some of your cashiers, so make sure they type in $10 for the price to take off. (Mine put in $3.49 at first.)

I got some covergirl nail polish that was on clearance for $2.19 each and they also rang up on the buy one get one 50% off sale. I used a $2.50/2 Covergirl coupon for these and paid $.78 for both or $.39 each.

Then the olay deal is pretty complicated, but it works. There is a coupon in today's insert for a free Olay lotion when you buy a bodywash. There are also $1 coupons for the bodywash from 11/1 PG. The bodywash is on sale for $2.99, so $1.99 after coupon. Then if you get the big pump bottle of Olay quench lotion that is on sale for $7.99, you get an in-shower lotion (I found this by the bodywash) for free. Your coupon for the free lotion will take off the $7.99 for the big lotion as there's no price limit on it. So, for all 3, you pay $1.99! (Some people have used a $1 coupon for the lotion too, but I didn't try that.) *The $1 coupons expire 11/30, so use them fast!

When I rang this order out, I put the in-shower lotion up first and then later in the order, I put the body wash and big Lotion up together and gave her the coupon then so she could see the products and prices, and she took off the $7.99 for that lotion with no problem. I got some votive candles for fillers, but my store has changed their policy very recently to only allow one RR per order. I used one $5 RR and that's it, so I paid more oop for this order than I wanted, but I still got some great deals! I also forgot to do the Nivea lip deal, but I'll likely be going back tomorrow to sue up my 11/30 coupons, so I'll do it then.

* I have been waiting for a b1g1 free sale on covergirl to use my b1g1 free coupons, but since they expire tomorrow, I settled for the b1g1 50% off sale. This is my favorite foundation, so I'm willing to pay a little oop for it, but not too much! You could do this deal a lot cheaper with the $5.99 foundation and a cheaper face product too, but only through tomorrow!

CVS Green bag tag

I looked at the boards and found I am behind the times here, but in case anyone else is like me and didn't know this yet, I'm going to post this anyway.

At Cvs today I found this cool little tag by the register. It is $.99 and once you buy it, you scan it every time you shop and bring your own bag. On the 4th scan, you will get a $1 ECB. You can only scan it once a day, so for those of us who do multiple transactions, that makes a difference, and you have to make a purchase when you scan it.

So, scan it every day that you shop at CVS, bring your own bag for your items and get free ECB's during the year just for bringing your own bags. The bag does not have to be a CVS bag. The guy at the register said I could even bring back the plastic bag, just as long as they don't have to give me a new bag for my purchases. I bought mine with a gift card I had from a return- so free!

"Black Friday" at the drug stores

Though the deals were fairly disappointing this year, I still went shopping today for CVS and Walgreens Black Friday/Thanksgiving sales. At Walgreens, I found everything I wanted, but when I got to the checkout with my order worked out just right, I was informed that they can now only take one RR per order. I have always been able to use as many as I wanted there in one order as long as I had enough items to match. Luckily the BA was super nice about it and didn't have a problem with me splitting all my orders up. I did end up paying more oop than I wanted, but I'm satisfied with what I got. All the items shown are the free after RR items, except the eyeliners and bags. With my coupons, the Johnson's body wash, Dove deodorant, and Nivea shave gel were $1 MM's, the aquafresh was a $.50 MM, and the Infusium was a $2 MM. The Neutrogena eyeliners were b1g1 free and were $6.36 each. I used 2-$2 coupons, so I paid $2.36 (with RR) for both and the bags were fillers at $.10 each (with WG coupon)to allow me to use the RR on each order.
I also picked up some of the 50% toys for my little girl's birthday tomorrow and for Christmas. These cannot be pictured since someone might see them who shouldn't. I used RR for these too. Total oop was @ $5.



I was surprised to also find almost everything in stock at CVS since I didn't go out until almost noon and hit Walgreens first. The only thing they were out of was the Bic Soleil razors. All the items pictured were free after coupons and ECB, some were MM, except the eye shadows. Those were b1g1 free and used $2 coupons on each paying $.99 for each two. I broke up my orders here to be able to use mostly ECB's and spend less cash. I paid @ $4 oop here and I also got 2 more toys that were b1g1 free. I used up the last of my ECB's on the toys, but i forgot my free coupon for Herbal Essences at home, so I will be going back tomorrow to use that and get a $2 ECB to start over with for next week's ad.

Line Switching Etiquette

As any seasoned couponer knows, picking your cashier is integral to your couponing strategies. You've gone over all the ads with a fine tooth comb. You've browsed all the online boards for any deals you might have missed. You've made your list and cut your coupons. You've filled your shopping cart, stopping to whip out your calculator and adjust your attack plan when you find a bare shelf. You've counted, added, and rechecked your shopping cart and coupons to make sure everything is right before you get to the register. With coupons in hand, you approach the checkout lines. You take a quick stroll along the whole length of registers evaluating each cashier available to you. The cashier is the only thing left between you and your cart full of shiny freebies and deals. You must choose carefully to avoid any hassles or problems.

You find the one that looks the most promising or your favorite cashier and you pull your cart into their line. You stand in line patiently trying to pretend you are checking out the cover of one of the more respectable magazines like Home and Garden.
You might even say something aloud about the cute flower bench that would look great on your porch, while you are secretly wondering what evil thing Angelina has done to Jen now that is splashed all over the tabloids in front of you. You don't dare pick it up and let any of these strangers catch you actually reading that stuff.

Then as luck would have it, a new line opens up right next to yours. The new cashier comes over and says you are the next person in line and invites you to move over and join their line. You panic. You have two seconds to evaluate this new cashier and decide if you want to make the move. Your rushed evaluation tells you this cashier might be trouble, but that could be just because you are already comfortable where you are. You try to plan an exit strategy quick. The person in front of you has already unloaded half their cart onto the conveyor belt.

Then brilliance hits. You can still get out of this and look good doing it. You will look like the nice customer by telling the person behind you in line that they can move over instead since you are not in a hurry. With a smile on your face, you turn around and... there's no one there. Apparently the person behind you had already switched lines while you were wrapped up in Brad's girls' rivalry. Panic again sets in as you realize you are out of ideas and out of options as the cashier is standing there waiting for you to make your move.

You reluctantly move over. The results of your switch can be good or it can be bad.
In my latest occurrence, it was not so good for me. The cashier was friendly and efficient, but I held my breath as I handed over my stack of coupons. Most of them were no problem, but a few were questioned. Some were allowed to pass while a phone call was made on some others. Those that required a phone call were ultimately denied for this visit. (I was allowed 3 of 10 coupons) Of course, those were the ones that would have paid for most of my order and of course they expire that day!

At this point, I should have taken off some of my higher priced items- like my ham so that I could rebuy them later with the coupons I still needed to spend. Unfortunately, my mind was still back on the line switch trying to figure out a way I could have gotten out of it. That's the way my mind works, you give it a problem or a puzzle and it wants to solve it. So I pay for my stuff- with actual money!

Later that night, I go to a different store since I still have those coupons to use.
I have decided to rebuy some of the items I had bought earlier in the day and then I could return those items from the first trip for a refund of my money. No problems on this order at all. The only problem now is I hate returns and now I have to muster up the strength to take this extra stuff back to the store and explain to them that I didn't want to pay cash for it in the first place.

Well, that's my story, some of you might be able to relate. I'm wondering if Miss Manners has any rules of etiquette for declining a line switch at the grocery store?

Last day of sales=Slim pickings and Rain Checks!

Tuesdays are the last day for the grocery sales around here and that means rain check day! I will get rain checks during the week if they are out of stuff I want, but Tuesday's I expect to get more rain checks. That's ok with me, because the rain check just extends the sale and allows me more time to collect coupons!


I didn't get much at Fry's, but I did get more free potatoes and toothpaste. Thanks to "Grateful Guest" on PYP, I learned that the small cans (11 oz) of Dole oranges were part of the mega sale, even though they were not marked. They are $.99 before sale and $.49 after. So with the $.55/2 coupon from Sunday, these were free! The hormel pepperoni was $1.50, so $.50 after coupon, of course my store only had one left. (Thanks Annabeth for reminding me of this deal!)
For the gold medal flour and Nestle chocolate chips, I used the Bashas coupons along with manufacturer coupons at Fry's. Make sure you alert them to coupons like these before they ring the items so they can price adjust the items. The flour was $1.28 with Bashas coupon and $.28 after a printable $.50 coupon. The nestle chocolate chips were $1.48 with the bashas coupon and these are part of the mega sale too. So, you get an extra $.50 off for the sale making them $.98 and the $.50 manufacturer coupon makes them free! (You actually make $.02 on those.) These two items are a limit 1 for the Bashas coupon and with an additional $25 purchase. For most cashiers, that is $25 before other coupons since you have to hand these coupons over first to be price adjusted.
I also used a $2 meat winetag and 2 of the $2 catalinas from Albertsons and I paid $1.38 after tax. (Tax was $.85 of that total!) I saved $83.34.



At Albertsons, I really wanted the puffs tissues which would be free after coupons, but they were all out. I got my rain check, so I can still get them free as long as Albertsons continues to double and quadruple coupons. I also got two 5lb bags of pillsbury flour for $1 each. I had no coupons for these and I could have used a bashas coupon here too with MFR coupon for another bag of Gold medal flour for $.28, but I wasn't buying $25 worth even before coupons. But $ for 5lbs of flour is still a good deal and we bake a lot! I was finally able to use my rain check for the warm delights. They have been out of these since the sale almost a month ago. But they were fully stocked this time, so I got my 12 for free. The Green giant steamers were also free, but I had already used all my coupons with a rain check last week. I used one of the $2 catalinas from last week and paid $.22 which was all tax. I saved $37.86. I might go back this evening to get another rain check for the vegetables so I can get some more coupons together. I don't know why I didn't think of checking them while I was in the store earlier to get another rain check.

Fry's deals and free stuff.

I went shopping at Fry's today and I paid $.30 for all this. I also got back $4 in coupons to use on anything! I was very excited about the Uncle Ben's coupon in today's paper that makes the Long grain and wild rice free! But when I got done checking out, I was even more excited to see I had received a $1 OYNO coupon for every 4 boxes I had bought.
The betty crocker potatoes were free as were the toothpastes after coupons. (I found colgate coupons good on any toothpaste at my commsissary.) The can milk was also free with coupons for $.50/2. We did not get these coupons in our area, but had I ordered some online.
The playtex gloves are a money maker- I made $.50 on each one for a total of $4.50 off my other groceries. I also used a $3/$30 Fresh & Easy coupon to get $7.50 total off my other groceries.
The Hamburger was $1.25 a lb and the taco shells were $1.19 each. After all coupons, tax and the $5/10 deal, I paid $.30. I saved $152.10!

Last call for Albertsons!

Last day for this sale at Albertsons. I used the last of my $1/2 cereal coupons, got more free yougurt, and granola bars,and used a rain check for the pizzas which were also free after coupons. I also got rain checks for the hot dogs and apples since they were out of those. I am sad to see this sale end, but I'll be waiting for the next great sale to come along.

Fry's mega sale continues next week, so I'm not even shopping there today so I can focus on ALbertsons and Walgreens.

Free Lubriderm lotion and another way to do the free Almay deal

I went back to Walgreens today to see if the Almay was still bogo free and it was! But I already have a ton of mascara, so I did the deal a little differently. I had a $5 and a $10 RR from the previous Almay Pure naturals deal. I had heard that these would roll into each other, so I gave it a try. I also found out that for the $5 RR you can get the pure naturals mascara, eyeshadow, or lipgloss. The mascara is the cheapest, but I have enough of that, so I got an eyeshadow.

I did two different transactions. I started with the pure naturals foundation at $9.99 and got a one coat mascara @ $6.99 with it. The $6.99 mascara came off as the free item and I used the $4 coupon which came off once for that mascara. So, I had $9.99- $4 coupon=$5.99. Then I used the $5 RR from the pure naturals mascara I bought yesterday to bring my total down to $.99 plus tax. I got the $10 rr back rom this transaction.

My next transaction I got the Pure naturals eyeshadow at $7.49 and a double pack one coat mascara at $7.99. The $7.49 one came off for the free item and again I used the $4 coupon and it came off once. So it was $7.99-$4= $3.99. I wanted to use the $10 RR, so I bought some eggs and some candles and a candle holder from the fall clearance. And then I added 3- 6oz. Lubriderm lotions. These are $3.99 each and we have $2 coupons from 10/11 rp. There is also a diabetes booklet in the pharmacy area with a $1 Lubriderm walgreens coupon that takes off $1 for each one you buy. So these were $3.99-$2-$1=$.99 eachx3= $2.97 total. When you buy 3 Lubriderm lotions, you get an $8 RR! My total before tax was now $10.35 and so I used the $10 RR from te foundation and paid $.35 plus tax. I got back the $5 Almay RR and the $8 Lubriderm RR!

If you have no RR to start with and want to spend as little oop as possible, start with the Lubriderm deal and pay $2.97 plus tax and get $8 back which you can then use on the $9.99 foundation. If you do his, pair the foundation with the mascara, eyeshadow, or lipgloss that also produces the RR (not the one coat that gives overage)- you will pay $9.99-$8=$1.99 and get $15 back. Or if you don't want the lubriderm, start with the Pure naturals mascara @$6.99 and pair it with the one coat @ $6.99 and use the $4 coupon. Your total will be $6.99-$4= $2.99 oop plus tax and get back the $5 RR which you can then roll into the foundation to get the $10 RR.

Well, if that doesn't confuse you, then go get yourself some free stuff!

Here's some close-up pics of the diabetes magazine and the trueblends makeup as well as the one coat mascaras so you'll know what to look for.

Super deal at Walgreens-Free makeup!

At Walgreens right now, Almay makeup is ringing up buy one get one free. It is supposed to be buy one get one 50% off. In the front of the stores, there is a new coupon book for November that has a $4 off coupon for Almay one coat mascara. The joy of this coupon is it's a Walgreens coupon and one coupon takes off $4 for every mascara you have in your order! SO, while the makeup is still ringing up bogo free, this makes for free mascara or even a money maker!
Some of the one coat mascaras are $6.99 and some are $7.99. So with the $6.99 ones, you buy 2, it takes one off then you use the $4 coupon and it takes off $8 making you $1.01 for every two you buy! (Make sure to have something else in your order to use this overage on.) If you buy 2 of the $7.99 ones, then they are basically free with bogo and the $4 coupon. But since this is probably a glitch, it is likely to be fixed soon so that they are actually ringing up bogo 50%, so hurry to get in on this one. Once fixed, if you buy 2 of the $6.99 mascaras, it would be $6.99+$3.50=$10.49 then your coupon would take off $8 leaving two mascaras for $2.49. Still a good deal, but not free!



Almay has another deal running too for the pure blends foundation and pure blends mascara. The foundation is $9.99 and will give you a $10 RR, so it's free after RR! The mascara is $6.99 and is giving a $5 RR. (The $4 coupon does not work on this mascara.) Buy both together and you will get the mascara free while it's still ringing bogo free or for $3.50 if it's fixed to bogo 50%. So you will pay either $9.99 for both or $13.49 and you will get $15 in RR back! It's a money maker either way! With the mascara deal above for the one coats, you can buy as many as you want in one transaction (but buy in 2's for the bogo deal). But remember for this deal since they are producing RR's only to do one of each in a transaction as you will only get one RR for the foundation and one for the mascara in a transaction no matter how many you buy. Also remember you cannot roll these RR to buy more Almay or you won't get another RR.
(Hint: use the MM mascaras to provide overage so you can spend less on the RR makeup.)

More Fry's free and cheap groceries!

I went out this morning to do some Walgreen's deals and stopped at Fry's also to get more of the mega sale items.
I paid $3.55 oop for all this. I forgot the clorox wipes catalina deal ended yesterday, so I did not get another catalina for those, but they were still free with the coupons and previous catalina.
The Betty Crocker potatoes were free.
The kotex pads were 2/$1 since I had $1 coupons on each and a cellfire coupon for $1.
The Keebler cookies were $.25 each with printable coupon (these have reset and you can print more now-look on the side bar for coupons.)
The sausages were a moneymaker- I made $.11 each package.
The gloves were also a money maker- making $.50 each package (paying for most of my groceries).
The kleenexes were about $.50 a box with the $.50/3 coupon and a free box wyb 3 coupon.
The frozen vegetables were $.49 each after coupons.

There was still no tuna avaiable at my fry's, but I will try again tomorrow.
Total spent: $3.55
Total saved: $115.49 (98%)