One last time- diapers.

Leave a comment- we ALL want to know how many packages of diapers you took home from Walgreen's during last week's sale. How many did your friends and family add to their stockpile? It'll be fun to know how everyone saved!

I'll go first, so don't be shy! Let us see how you did!

Coupon links- some good ones!

If you've already printed off coupons from these sites, odds are you won't be able to print off more for a while- companies tend to "reset" their coupons monthly. Most will require a very short registration in order to get to the coupon, but that's not bad, because next month when you go in to get more, you'll just have to log in. I use the same log in and password information for ALL of them, that way I won't forget!

Are any of you able to print off coupons from SmartSource? For some reason, no matter what I try, I can't do it.

Here you go!

Get $30 in coupons from Right@Home. These are great-wish I could get more! Ex. of products: scrubbing bubbles, shout, windex, pledge....

Here's one for $1 off V-8 Fusion

Save $2 on 2 boxes of Kellogg's cereal (selected varieties) here.

Carnation Instant Breakfast is offering a $2 coupon- limit 2

Save $1.50 on any Spice Islands spice

Are you gellin'? Save $2.00 On Dr. Scholl's Massaging Gel Insoles

I was quick to print this one off! Midol- Save $2- ya never know!

Save $1.00 on Pert Plus Shampoo here.

Click on this link for a booklet of coupons from Proctor & Gamble cleaning products- for over $27 in savings. (Booklet will be mailed)

Ziploc BOGO coupon- found here.

Save $2 on Excedrin Express Gels by going here.

If you're going to be near Target....

Do you have a bunch of GLADE coupons that you wondered how to use? Now through 12/15 Target is running a special on the Glade Holiday Collection- from what I understand, if you buy 4 of the following items, you receive a $5 Target Gift Card. With the right coupons, this is a money maker for you! Let's hope Target keeps their shelves stocked so we can all run out and use those coupons! We should have plenty of time between now and 12/15...and our houses should smell so good! :)

Glade Scented Oil Candles
Glade Scented Oil Refills
Glade Jar Candles
Glade Plug-in Oil Refills
Glade Wisp Flameless Candles

Just a few notes/observations to help you figure this one out:

If you have purchased any of the scented oil candles/refills/wisp in the recent past during the Walgreen's sales, check your packages...I'm hearing there are coupons inside.

You can find coupons for some of these products on coupons.com and the Glade website.

The November issue of All You (found at check-out stands at WalMart with lots of coupons inside) has $2 off Scented Oil Holder

The free $5 Gift Card only applies to the Holiday Collection scents.

Although Febreze Holiday scents may be right next to the Glade, they don't work to get the gift card.

There are no signs advertising this.

If you're unsure if the item you're interested in buying qualifies for the gift card, scan it using one of the self-scanners. If it qualifies, it should say "gift card eligible". Or if in doubt, ask an associate.

Only 1 gift card per transaction. If you are trying to buy several sets of these, have them rung up in multiple transactions.

Look for items priced $2.50 and in these scents: Apple Cinnamon, Glistening Snow, Evergreen. Other scents may not work- let us know if they work for you!

You can roll one Target gift card into the next purchase. Not like Walgreen's where you have to bounce between deals due to manufacturer.

Here's how it worked out for me:

I bought 4 jar candles (glistening snow) @ 2.50 ea.- $10.00
I used 4 $2.00 coupons- $8.00 off
Paid $2.00
Received a $5.00 gift card.

I also had BOGO free coupons printed from glade.com. When I have more time, I'll go back and use those along with my $5.00 gift card to pay my out-of-pocket.

Not too shabby...I have nice-smellin' stuff for the house that Target PAID me $3.00 to take off their hands.

Just think! Do this enough times at $3 profit- buy a Christmas present with the extra cash you've made!

Fillers- like it or lump it! That's just the way it is.

Good morning! I received lots of email yesterday about the use of "fillers" by those of you who are anxious to hit the stores and need to know just why in the world I needed to throw purse packs of kleenex in with my purchases! Let me explain.

Coupon usage, although we consider it a beautiful thing, is actually quite complex! All stores in all chains (Walgreen's, Target, CVS, K-Mart, WalMart, etc.)have their registers set up to accept ONE manufacturer's coupon for EACH item purchased. If you exceed one coupon per item, the register goes completely haywire and begins to spit, sputter and in most cases, start beeping at you like a rabid beast.

If the one coupon per item rule was as simple as it seems, life for all would be far-less complicated.....albeit not nearly as fun (for those of us who are seeking super-cheap or free products!). The exceptions to this rule are Walgreen's and Target....especially Walgreen's.

As you know, Walgreen's puts out all sorts of their own STORE coupons (Target does too, just not as many as Wags) that seem to be hidden throughout the store. It's almost like a treasure hunt sometimes- finding coupons hidden in the pharmacy area, at the cosmetics counter, tear-off pads, etc. Sometimes Walgreen's issues coupons found in the Sunday newspaper inserts that are marked "to be used exclusively at Walgreen's"- which is considered a STORE coupon- one of their own. Of course, they also have coupons in the weekly circular and Easy Saver booklet, too.

Walgreen's rule about using manufacturer's coupons along with their own store-issued coupons is: you can use ONE manufacturer's coupon per item, and as many of their different store coupons as apply to the item being purchased as long as the store coupons have differing bar codes. For example: you might find Tylenol cough and cold on sale in their weekly ad for $4.99. Say you have a manufacturer's coupon for Tylenol cough and cold for $1.00 off. Of course, that can be used. But then you notice there's an Easy Saver coupon for $1.00 off Tylenol cough and cold. That can be used in conjunction with your manufacturer-issued coupon. So now you have 2 coupons to use on the one product. Additionally, you discover ANOTHER coupon for $1.50 off any Tylenol product back at the pharmacy department in one of Walgreen's fliers. You can use that one, too! Yes, you can use all three (1 manufacturer's coupon and BOTH store coupons) for a total coupon discount of $3.50 off of the price of $4.99. By knowing about all of the secret coupon sources, you can save big!

But what does this do to the cash register that's programmed to accept one coupon per item purchased? In Walgreen's case, (Target, too) nothing. The cash registers recognize their own coupons, take off the discount and don't freak out when multiples are used. That's why you're able to use coupons out of their booklets and keep them to use again and again- the registers recognize them as their own store discount.

At this point, just to summarize, we know that an unlimited amount of store coupons can be used along with 1 manufacturer's coupon, right? Read on.

Using the Tylenol example above, let's say you have a sick child at home, you're in a hurry, you left supper in the oven and you're husband is cranky about having to watch the kids for 10 minutes while you run to grab some medicine for the night. You're not there to browse around the store sniffing out the bargains. You need Tylenol, you needed it an hour ago, so you grab it and head to the register. Now we all know that once this couponing business gets in your blood, it's hard to ignore the fact that you've got that $1 coupon in your purse! No matter how rushed you are, you still want to get the product as cheaply as possible, right? Being the savvy shopper you are, you also know you can save extra cash by pointing out the coupon in the ES booklet, which you do- and you've saved even more. So, after all of your store coupons and your 1 manufacturer's coupon have been used- you remember you have that $2.00 Register Reward left over from buying Kellogg's cereal the day before. You think, "Hey, well, now's just as good as any other time to use it!" So you hand it over to the cashier. Guess what?! The register is going to beep.

How do I know the register is going to beep? You're buying 1 item. You're using 1 manufacturer's coupon. You're using 1 or 2 store coupons. The store coupons don't count toward your item/coupon ratio- you could use 50 store coupons (if they had 50 different barcodes!) and it wouldn't count against the item/coupon ratio. But your register reward DOES count.

Any time you use a register reward to pay toward your purchase, you must keep in mind that it is counted by the cash register as a manufacturer's coupon!!! Just look at one- it will say something like, "Compliment's of Dr. Pepper" or something like that- and along the top, it will read, "manufacturer's coupon". So, you'll have to throw something tiny on the counter to add to your item count. I don't care if that item costs a penny! The cash register will now recognize that you are purchasing 2 items and using 2 manufacturer's coupons. All will be right. The register won't start to blow steam, hiss, or eventually blow up.

So, the key point to remember is you can't have more manufacturer's coupons than the number of items you're buying. If you're like me (remember yesterday's post and the sample shopping scenario with rolling the register rewards?) this situation will happen often- using a RR to pay for another purchase, but the items ALL have a manufacturer's coupon applied....just make sure you add a super cheap "filler" to tell the register that everything is okay.

One more thing...Walgreen's doesn't give cash back if you're using a RR worth more than your total purchase. Be sure to pay with the lowest value RR possible to keep your out-of-pocket expense as close to $0 as you can.

I hope this helps clear up the "filler" mystery! Feel free to ask any questions that you come up with!

This week at Wags

Anyone but me finding Walgreen's shopping a bit dreary recently? Where are all of the great register rewards finds? If Walgreen's is changing their marketing strategy, let me be the first to say, "Boo! Hiss! Bad idea!" It was recently reported that Walgreen's third quarter earnings were up- and company execs credited coupon-ers and bargain shoppers for the higher-than-expected numbers. Note to Walgreen's: Don't start gettin' stingy with us....we'll find our deals somewhere else! Even if I have to make a weekly trip to Springfield to "play around" in CVS stores all day!

(Okay, I just slapped myself! Time to shake this funky attitude I seem to have today. Now I'm trying to be optimistic and thankful for the specials they DO have this week, although there aren't a lot of "gotta run out this second and grab it before they're gone" offerings. Darn it. **another slap/other cheek!** I'm better now.)

Here's my list for this week:

Jif Peanut Butter- sale 3 for $5.00
Buy 6 for $10.00
Use 3 $1.00 off 2 jars (-$3.00)
New price- $7.00 for 6 jars of Jif.

Coffee Mate Creamer (liquid) - sale $2.49 (BOGOfree)
Use 2 .55 cent coupons (-$1.10)
New price- $1.39 for 2 bottles of creamer.

Quaker Oats (cooking oats, not instant)- sale $2.79 (BOGOfree)
Use 2 $1.00 coupons (-$2.00)
Use IVC (coupon from ad to get sale price)
New price- .79 cents for 2.

Progresso Soup- sale 4 cans for $5.00
Buy 2 @ $2.50
Use IVC (coupon from ad to get sale price)
Use 2 $1.10 coupons (printed) (-$2.20)
New price- .30 for 2 cans of soup
*if you don't have the link to this printable, email me or leave a comment- I'll get it to you. You are allowed to print 2 per computer.*

Clabber Girl Corn Starch and/or Baking Powder- sale 2/$1.00
Use IVC (coupon from ad to get sale price)
Use .50 cent coupon for each (-$1.00)
New price- Free!

Kellogg's Cereal (Raisin Bran, Special K, Smart Start, Frosted Mini Wheats)
Sale- 4 boxes for $10.00...gives a $2.00 Register Reward
Buy 4 boxes @ $10.00
Use 4 $1.00 coupons for various qualifying cereals (-$4.00)
New price- 4 boxes for $6.00
Receive RR- $2.00
In the end, 4 boxes of cereal for $4.00 or $1.00 each!

Kleenex Tissues- sale $2.19 (BOGOfree)
Buy 2 @ $2.19
Use 2 .40 cent coupons (-.80 cents)
New price- $1.39/2 boxes

Glade Freshening Spray- sale .99 cents
Buy 2 @ $1.98
Use IVC (ad coupon to get sale price)
Use BOGOfree coupon (-.99cents off)
New price- .99 cents/2 bottles

SoftSoap Bodywash- sale $3.99 ea. receive $4.00 RR when you buy 2
Buy 2 @ $7.98
Use 2 $1.00 internet coupons (-$2.00)
New price $5.98
Receive $4.00 Register Reward
In the end, pay $1.98 for 2 bottles

Colgate Toothpaste- sale $2.49
Use Easy Saver coupon- $1.00 off
Use manufacturer's coupon for $1.50 off
New price- +. 01 overage/free!

Venus Intuition Razors (Only if you got in on the VocalPoint survey a while back)
Sale- $6.99
Use Easy Saver coupon ($-3.00)
Use $4.00 off coupon from VocalPoint (-$4.00)
New price- +.01 overage/free!
*If you would like information on VocalPoint, let me know! They keep sending me all kinds of free stuff- (really good stuff!) and lots of high value coupons!)*

Kotex products- sale 2/$6.00
Use $1.00 Easy Saver coupon
Use 2 $1.00 manufacturer coupons
New price- 2/$3.00

Sudafed PE 10-24 count or Sudacare 3 pack shower soothers- sale $3.99 ea.
Buy 3, get $5 RR
Buy 3 at $3.99- $11.97
Use 3 $1.50 coupons (-$4.50)
New price- $7.47
Receive $5 register reward
End up paying $2.47/3 products

To roll the register rewards from one product to another, I will probably do this:
(Remember, you can't use your RR from say, SoftSoap to buy more SoftSoap or else the register won't print off another RR. You need to alternate between products with differing manufacturer's for this to work right!)

Upon arriving at Walgreen's, I'll grab my buggy and locate the following: (by the way, I have lots of other items listed above that I will be purchasing during this week. If you're just starting this, don't confuse yourself and try to buy it all at once! Break it down in small transactions like I'm about to illustrate.)

Locate in the store: 2 bottles of SoftSoap, 3 boxes of Sudafed, and 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereal. I'm going to be doing 3 different transactions. Before going to the register, find a cheap "filler" item, such as a purse-size pack of kleenex, a single pencil- something super cheap that you're not using a coupon for! You will need one for a couple of the transactions below. I will be doing a "lesson" on fillers in an upcoming blog very soon. Until then, just trust me. This item can range from a value of a penny to whatever, but obviously, the cheaper the better. It can be a .15 cent pack of kleenex or a box of jello- something you will put to use later- just make sure it's cheap! Again, you need 2. I'll get the kleenex.

First place the SoftSoap on the counter
After using coupons my total will be $5.98 plus tax. I will have to pay this out of pocket. But I will receive a $4 RR at the end of the transaction. I will then use the $4 RR on......

In my basket, I will have 3 boxes of Sudafed ready for my next transaction. I'll place these on the counter along with a "filler"....my little pack of kleenex for .15 cents. I'll use my coupons and the total will be somewhere around $7.62 for the 3 boxes. Then I'll hand over the $4 RR I received from the SoftSoap. The register will deduct that $4 and my new total out of pocket will be $3.62 for the 3 boxes of sudafed and my kleenex. I will receive a new register reward of $5.00 at the end of this transaction.

Then, I'll put the cereal on the counter and my "filler" (kleenex) for the 3rd transaction. I'll use my coupons and my total will be $6.15. I will then hand over the $5 RR from the Sudafed, and my balance will be $1.15 for 4 boxes of cereal and a package of kleenex. I'll pay the $1.15 out of pocket, but then receive another register reward for $2 to use next time.

So, all in all: I'm leaving the store with 2 softsoap, 3 sudafed, 4 boxes of cereal and 2 packs of kleenex for my purse. My total out of pocket will be around $10.75, but don't forget about the $2.00 RR I still have from the cereal.....so it makes it a new total of $8.75 for all.

Email me with questions! Gotta go start cooking a roast in my crockpot!

A special thanks to my husband...and to many others.

I'd just like to take a minute to publicly thank my husband for his former military service: for all he had to do, had to endure, had to sacrifice, had to cope with, had to witness, and had to lose while serving our country. You are and always will be My Hero.

Happy Veteran's Day
to all who have served- both former and active-duty You make me so proud, and I am forever indebted to you. Your sacrifices have not gone unnoticed.

Thank you, BJ.
Thank you, Grandpa.
Thank you, Trent.
Thank you, Tye.
Thank you, Dave.
Thank you, Marden.
Thank you, Chris.
Thank you, Bobby- for what you're about to do.

BJ and I are in the process of adopting a soldier to send care packages to- we feel as if we've been given a blessing with our "stockpile" and want to share items we have in excess to those who are overseas- those who may not have all they need, who could use a little bit of comfort from home, who could use a friend. I encourage everyone to do the same. Countless men and women are sacrificing everyday....for us.

Jodie against Wal-Mart or is it Wal-Mart against Jodie?

Well, BLECKH. (Bleckh= a word used to describe disgust...irritation...agitation. One uses said word when more common words fall short of expressing true disgust. It should be noted that when attempting to pronounce the word "Bleckh", one must try sounding as if they are coughing nasty substances from the bottom of their lungs.)

Figured out my mood? Well, here's a good one for you. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do about it. Any advice?

Sunday evening, I went to WalMart to ad-match and use coupons. I had my plan perfectly planned out. It was beautiful. It looked like I was going to buy enough groceries (and stock up on some other things) to last at least a week- and the only items I was paying much for at all was going to be milk, bread, eggs, bananas, etc. (Anyone ever seen any banana coupons? Wouldn't that be great?)

At the register I was told by a CSR (customer service rep) after scanning everything in twice at two different registers and having problems with my coupons....that I had saved enough money with the ad-match that she would not take my coupons off my total. The register would require an override, and she wouldn't do it because SHE thought I had saved enough already!

Is this legal? When all of my ad-matches were legit to deny me the use of my coupons because I was saving TOO MUCH money? When I explained to her that WalMart's policies clearly state how happy they are to match their competitor's ads....and how their coupon policy reads that they are supposedly coupon-friendly....and how I don't recall reading anywhere how a CSR had the authority to deny a customer the right to use coupons at her own discretion. She wouldn't budge.

I asked to speak to the manager on duty- all the while keeping my cool but RAGING on the inside. She supposedly called for a manager, but after about 20 minutes of waiting, the manager never arrived. My phone rang- my hubby was wondering if I had gotten lost- and he was starving! I told the CSR to just forget it. To have fun putting away the buggy-full of groceries, because I wasn't waiting any longer. I'd just go over her head, her manager's head and call the corporate office the next morning. She acted as if that didn't phase her at all.

I left empty handed, so frustrated and so very disappointed. How can an employee so blatantly refuse to adhere to her own company's written policy? She acted as if my savings were actually coming out of her paycheck or something ridiculous like that. You'd think she'd be glad to see someone come in and save money for their family- quite the contrary.

I've cooled down enough now to call corporate. I'll be doing just that when they open- and I'll let you know how it turns out. It's JODIE against WALMART...let's see who wins. Wish me luck!

WooHoo! I have next week's Walgreen's ad!!

Yipeeeee! I love it when this happens! Look through the following information and try to match any coupons you have with these upcoming deals- especially the ones with Register Rewards. Who DOESN'T love it when a store PAYS you to shop? Hmm?

So here's what you need to know.....as always, please either send me an email or leave a comment here on the blog if you find out any extra information in the way of coupon match-ups, etc- I'll be sure to pass the information along to everyone! On to the sales:

My hunch was right- SoftSoap and Irish Spring is on sale this week with a Register Reward (hereby known as RR)! Here are the specifics:

$4 RR when you buy 2
Sale price- $3.99
This will work for SoftSoap body wash- 15 ounce
and for Irish Spring body wash- 15 ounces or 8 pack bars.

I THINK there are coupons online for the SoftSoap for at least $1.00 off. Try here.
If I remember correctly when I printed this before, the system would only let me print one. If that's the case, ask your friends and neighbors if they'd mind grabbing one for you. The more you get your hands on, the more you'll be able to take advantage of the RR's- meaning more cheap/free products!

We'll have to do some checking around to see what we can find in the way of the Irish Spring coupons....I'll let you know if I find any.

Even without coupons, here's how it would break down with the math:

2 x $3.99- $7.98
get $4 RR- $3.98/2

WITH $1.00 coupons:
2 x $3.99- $7.98
use 2 $1 coupons- $5.98
get $4 RR- $1.98/2

Gillette Fusion Phenom Gift Set
*These are REALLY NICE sets including a Gillette Razor that sells by itself for over $9.00. The set also includes several full-size Gillette products for men like: body wash, deodorant, shave gel, and I think a shampoo. They're boxed and would make a nice add-on gift for Dad, Grandpa, etc.*

Sale price: $12.99
Use coupon from a couple of weeks back- $4.00 (if you have it)
New price- $8.99
Receive $3 RR
Total- $5.99

Sudafed/Sudacare- $5.00 RR when you buy 3 or more
Sale price: $3.99 ea.
Buy 3- $11.97
Use 3 printable coupons @ $1.50 ea.- $4.50 off (I'm hoping these are still avail.)
New price- $7.47/3
Receive $5 RR making it work out to $2.47/3 boxes

Kellogg's Cereal- $2 RR when you buy 4
Sale price- $2.50 (4/$10)
Use 4 $1 coupons- $7.50 (new total)
Earn $2 RR making it work out to $5.50 for 4 boxes of cereal.

Glade Room Freshening Spray- Free after sale & coupons PLUS it's a money maker!

(I have 2 different scenarios for you, depending on whether you have the coupons or not)

These are going to be on sale using a coupon from the Sunday circular (known as IVC- instant value coupon) It will have to be shown to the cashier and scanned to get the sale price of $1.79 ea.

Buy 2- $3.58
use $1 off 2 cans coupon found in 11/2 Sunday paper- $2.58 (new price)
scan IVC coupon deducting .80 cents each ($1.60)- .98 cents/2 cans

OR

Buy 2- $3.58
Use BOGOFree coupon from a few weeks ago deducting $1.79 for the free one
(BOGO coupon) - $1.79-- new price $1.79/2
Use $1.00 coupon from last Sunday- $.79/2
Scan IVC taking off $1.60-- new price of .81 cent overage!

Betty Crocker Brownies or Frosting
On sale for .99 cents (in ad coupon)
Have been told there's a printable out there making these .50 cents each, or less.

These are the highlights. I'll add more if I go over it again and it looks like I've missed something. I'll also put a pen to paper and see what I can come up with in the way of "ROLLING" the RR's from one product to the next to keep from spending very much money out of pocket. (Ex: use RR earned from SoftSoap to pay for Sudafed. Take RR earned from Sudafed, apply to razor gift set, pay .99 cents for this nice gift. Use RR from razor set to buy more SoftSoap, etc.... you can make it go on and on and on!) It looks promising for a few of these- I just have to set my brain to "thinking" mode, and I know that will have to come later! I promise to let you know what I come up with in the way of a plan. Meanwhile, dig around to see what coupons you can come up with!

I received an email from Walgreen's yesterday. If you haven't already, go to www.walgreens.com and sign up for an account so they'll send you emails of specials. Click here to see the email I received for a free 8x10 photo reprint. There are no strings attached, nothing else to buy- just submit your photo to them online and go to the store and pick it up for free! This is only available through tomorrow (Saturday). I'm sure you have a photo that you'd love to have a free reprint of! Take advantage of it today!

And last but not least, here's a heads up from Sarah, one of my readers that may be of interest to everyone! Here's part of an email she sent yesterday....

From coupon surfer.com i printed 3 cereal coupons: $1 off 2 CHEX brands, $.75 off Cookie Crisp, and $.55 off Reese's Puffs cereal. I also printed off a wheaties coupon from coupons.com for $.75 off. These are all General Mills cereals, which are listed at dillons for $1.50 each (when you buy 10) now thru next Tuesday, Nov. 11th. Now, I'm waiting to think it thru more and see if there's a better deal or more coupons, but so far, if WalMart ad matches and accepts the coupons, 10 boxes of cereal will be $1.20 each, again, Aldi prices......but I'm supposed to be getting 6 $1 coupons for Cheerios also, making it a better deal. Ever tried this? I think it all depends on my cashier and my sticking to my guns and knowing what I need.....we go thru the cereal, so this is a needed item. One more coupon I just found---they are included in the 10 for $15 items, viva large paper towels $.50 off 2 rolls. IF I GET MY CHEERIOS $1 coupons, I can get 10 items (8 cereal and 2 paper towels) for $8.90, $.89 each............8 coupons and dillons ad.

The big thing I want you to get out of this is that Dillon's in Joplin is having a fantastic sale. If you don't have a Dillon's, you probably have a Kroger- same company. The sale works like this...they call it the MegaSaver sale, and you purchase 10 items (can mix and match) and get $5 off your total. There are different price levels making things as cheap as .50 cents after your discount, but BEFORE coupons!

Example from the $1 price level:
Buy 10 for $10- get $5 off transaction

Swiss Miss Cocoa- $1
Carnation Evaporated Milk- $1
There are many other products, these are the two I'm focusing on because I have the right coupons to match...
I have .50 cents off Swiss Miss (doubled to $1.00)- these will be FREE
I have .50 cents off 2 carnation evap. milk (doubled to $1.00)- these will be .50 ea.

Example from the $1.50 price level:
Buy 10 for $15- get $5 off transaction

Hefty One Zip Bags- $1.50 (using coupons will bring these down to about .60 cents per box, after the $5 discount)
Duncan Hines Frosting- free after coupons


Example from the $2.50 price level
Buy 10 items for $20.00, get $5 off transaction

Advil Pain Reliever- $2.50 (I'll use $2 coupons, buy 10 items, get the $5 off- these will be free)

Anyway, it goes on and on from there.....it's a great way to save some money- lasts until next Tuesday night, and you could possibly match more coupons with the sales using THIS Sunday's inserts. Be sure to check it out!

One final thought- Sarah told me she is able to get our WalMart to ad-match the Dillon's ad. Genius! I've always been afraid to try, since we're in another town. I've always made the trip to Joplin to get the Dillon's sales. I'm thrilled to know I can take care of it all right here! Thanks a bunch, Sarah!

Update: Live Active Cereal/Malt-O-Meal

One of our group did some internet research on the Live Active cereal and Malt-O-Meal coupons that were supposedly available online to print in order to get a great deal at Wal-Mart. Sadly, I report these are not working as planned.

The Live Active is a dead deal. Strike it from your list.

The Malt-O-Meal coupon is only for .75 cents, so they must have changed the value of the coupon.

Just wanted to let everyone know!

Next blog coming up: "I've got next week's Walgreen's ad!!" and information about a GREAT sale currently going on at Dillon's in Joplin- or Kroger if you have that chain. Stay tuned!

Goodie Goodie Gumdrops! Good News on Goody!

If you haven't printed out your Goody Ouchless coupons from a post or two back- do it! I just found out that at Walgreen's you can combine this coupon with a store coupon located in the November Easy Saver Catalog (displayed on a rack by the front door along with the current sale ads) on page 12! This will take off an extra $2.00 per item, making it far easier to get your total down to FREE or close to it- on a wider variety of products other than just pony tail holders!



Sweet!



This Easy Saver coupon (aka known as ESC) will be good through 11/22- but I'd go ahead and print off several of the online coupons from the link, because you never know when they'll decide to take the link down.

New stockpile possibilities- utilizing printable coupons!

For the most part, Walgreen's and Target shopping this week has been rather dull....that is, unless you've been stocking up on diapers! I think my count is at 40 packages, but I'm not positive- they've been flying out of the house as quickly as I bring them in! It's not too late to jump in on the action!

It has been reported that some of you have had trouble getting the pharmacy employees to let go of their precious coupons. If this has been the case for you, print this and follow the instructions below.


Print off the page and highlight the bullet which states, "$50 in coupons just for asking your pharmacist how much you can save!" And take it with you to the store. Poof! Like magic, they will instantly find this coupon booklet in a stack underneath the cash register. I don't know why they are giving people such grief over their own store's coupons!

FYI- the booklet looks like this:



Hope this helps everyone get their hands on this beloved little jewel! There's no reason why they shouldn't be passing these out, especially when you do your part and inquire about the prescription plan they offer. I actually bought into the plan last weekend so I could be reimbursed the extra .90 cents for every two packs of diapers I end up purchasing. This alone will add up to almost the price of the plan- and it's good for an entire year!

~~~~~

Moving right along....

Here's a link I loved coming across! Anyone with long hair or little girls with long hair know what a great deal this is! You can print off a coupon (link below) from the Goody website for Goody's Ouchless ponytail holders, headbands, brushes, etc. The coupon is for $2.00 off any Goody Ouchless product.... I was at Wal-Mart today and found packs of these for $2.28- and picked up several. I used a $2.00 coupon for each pack I bought and paid .28 cents each! Yay! The good news about this coupon is it's in pdf format, and you can print it out as many times as you want! These are also great for stocking stuffers or little gift baskets. Buy lots! I can't seem to keep up with all of my ponytail holders- they disappear, so this was a good find for me!

Goody Ouchless coupon

Bookmark it for future reference!

~~~~~

Here's another:

go to: www.gladepromotion.com and fill out your information (I think you have to give them permission to send you things from time to time via email like coupons, special offers, etc.) and click to print out coupon(s) for BOGO free Glade Scented Oil Candle (retail up to $7.99). You should be able to print off 2 per registered computer. When you get the coupons, just save them. If I'm not mistaken, Walgreen's has an upcoming Glade deal including register rewards! Oh, I cannot WAIT to get you guys started on the register rewards!! That's where the real fun begins! BOGO free's are a wonderful thing, indeed! There's a way you can actually use a BOGO coupon and a regular "cents/dollars off" coupon from the manu. and take 2 items home for FREE!! Match this up with a sale, and you get paid to use the product!

~~~~~

In case anyone DID get the coupons from last Sunday's paper (11-2-08), there's a nice sale you can take advantage of on Bic Soliel razors.... Our Walgreen's has them priced at $6.99/package. There was a coupon in the inserts for $3.00 off (disposables). Pick up a Walgreen's November Easy Saver booklet (located at the very front of the store on a rack with copies of the weekly ad) and turn to the page that shows $3.00 off Bic Soliel. When you pay, hand over your manufacturer's coupon and then hold the Easy Saver coupon out and ask the cashier to scan it for you. (This is another example where they don't have to keep your coupon- you can use it over and over again) In the end, the register will have taken $6.00 off of $6.99- leaving your total at .99 cents for some really good razors! Since you are allowed to use one manu. coupon per item (which you did) and ANY/ALL store coupons they have out at the time, you have some big savings! (Not trying to tease here, but just wait until you can find a deal like this that ALSO pays you register rewards! You'll be as hooked as me!) NOW do you see why it's good to have multiples of the Sunday coupons?? It's too good to just do once!

~~~~~

I'm just guessing here, but I think there's something coming up really soon at Walgreen's involving a register reward when you buy Softsoap body wash or Irish Spring body wash or bar soap. Here's why- yesterday, at the end of a transaction, I received a catalina (Remember? A "catalina" is what the Catalina machine that sits next to the cash register sometimes "spits" out at the end of certain transaction- sometimes the reason for receiving one is shrouded in mystery!) that read, "Buy 2 18 oz. Softsoap or Irish Spring Body Wash or 8 pack of Irish Spring bars between 11-9-08 and 11-15-08 & save up to $4.00 with coupon on your next order." THIS tells me that during that above-mentioned timeframe, Walgreen's is probably going to be running these items on sale and offering a $4.00 Register Reward when you buy 2. When I come across something like this, I almost immediately go to my binder to see what kinds of coupons I can find to match with this potential sale. If I don't find any, I begin searching the company websites to see if they are offering any online printables. If I STILL don't find any, I've discovered that it sometimes works out really well to take a moment and dash a little email off to the company and tell them how much I enjoy using their product, and wonder if they have any links to any online coupons to make it a little easier on my budget to make a purchase in the near future. This has proven very lucrative! So, just a heads up- you may want to start seeing what you can find out there for Softsoap and Irish Spring! With only having to buy 2 and receiving a register reward at the end, I'm guessing these (with a decent coupon) will be either free or almost free!!

~~~~~

Here's a random tidbit of information just to tuck away for future use! Just because you may come across coupons with a rather low face value, keep them anyway! I always love finding coupons that are over a dollar in value, but I've learned that .50 cent coupons are valuable in their own way. How? Don't forget that MOST grocery stores DOUBLE coupons with a face value of .50 cents and lower. Save these smaller value coupons for the grocery store and match them with a sale! You'll often find bathroom tissue (Lots and lots out there right now for Cottonelle) and Kleenex coupons for .50 cents. Doubled, they're worth $1.00 and that means a free 4 pack of T.P. in a lot of cases! I've brought home several this way- when Cottonelle was on sale for .99 for 4- they paid me .01 cents for every pack!

~~~~~

And now, here's a little more homework for ya! A friend just sent me an email telling she'd found coupons online for the following 3 products. I have yet to check for myself because I wanted to hurry up and get this posted! It would be worth checking out to see what you can come up with!

Live Active Cereal- $3 internet printable coupon which would make this FREE at Wal-Mart!

Malt-O-Meal- $1.50 internet printable coupon from www.malt-o-meal.com and again, this would be FREE at Wal-Mart if you picked up the small box!

Muir Glen diced tomatoes- $1.00 internet printable coupon which would make these .28 cents per can at Wal-Mart! Go to www.eatbetteramerica.com

If you have luck with finding these coupons online, please share! Just leave a comment or send me an email, and I'll post it for all to see!

Coupon "Harvesting"....Time to start!

Attention New Members!
If you haven't started yet, it's time to begin collecting coupons
NOW!

In order to maximize your stockpiling efforts, it's important to have a nice supply of coupons ready when a sale begins. In this blog, I'll quickly share with you a few ideas that have helped me greatly in this new journey.


WHERE TO GET COUPONS

Clearly, we all know that most Sunday newspapers have at least 2 coupon inserts included inside each week. These are a must-have! Purchase as many newspapers each Sunday as you can justify spending the money on. Here in my area, my local city paper is actually quite lame in the way of coupon inserts- most of the time there is a flimsy little "few page" insert that usually contains more "Fingerhut-ish" type item ads than actual coupons. This is a waste of my time and I've learned not to buy them. We have the Joplin Globe (next largest town) which has more in the way of coupons- and they have the store circulars (Walgreen's & Target) that I need each week, so I purchase 1 (one) copy of the Globe. Better still is the Kansas City Star. This paper has more coupons, better coupons- and I've never purchased one that had missing inserts. They are more costly than my other options, but I MORE THAN make up the money in my weekly savings. I always buy 5 Kansas City papers which cost me $10.00. I bring them home, quickly retrieve the inserts, MAYBE glance at a section or two of the news (not local, so I don't spend much time on it) then stack the papers aside. These will be donated later to the humane society who is always needing newspapers for the kennels.

It's so important to have multiple sets of the weekly coupon inserts- that way, when a teriffic deal comes around, you'll have several coupons to use and can buy more than one of that item. If you're planning on starting a stockpile, this is just a FACT. Analyze your situation. Ask yourself how serious you are about buying in bulk. Decide how many newspapers you can afford to buy. Commit to it.

The next step is to get creative! I recently read an article that stated only 6% of all printed coupons from newspaper inserts are actually redeemed! Now that I've been doing this, I just can't imagine the percentage being so low! That means 94% of all of those lovely (and extremely valuable!) coupons are filling our landfills- and wasted. Now, this article was dated a few months ago, and I wouldn't be surprised to find the percentage of redeemed coupons is on the upswing- but still! There are SO MANY out there just begging to be rescued and used! What to do? Ask friends who don't use them if you can have theirs, ask neighbors, ask people from church! People are usually more than glad to pass them on to someone who will take the time to use them. If you have a recycling center nearby, the chances are excellent that you'd be able to grab quite a few. I was lucky enough to find a convenience store in my town (Casey's in Carthage- all you locals better back off!!! :) whose manager and I have struck up a friendly relationship. I go in on Monday afternoon and he allows me to have all of the inserts from the unsold Sunday papers. (In order for the store to get credit for the unsold issues, all he has to do is tear off the front page and turn them in to the newspaper carrier.) This week, I was given 45 inserts from the left-over KC and Joplin papers! I was positively giddy! Combined with the 5 papers I'd bought the day before, I now have 50 full sets of coupons. Plenty to share! With a little "digging", you can find your source, too.


WHICH COUPONS TO CLIP

Honestly- my recommendation is to save every coupon you can get your hands on! You never know when one of our "savings stores" is going to run something on special for a week that includes the register rewards. You may be like me and have tons of coupons for Robitussin cough syrup or Maalox, see an opportunity where utilizing your manufacturer's coupon along with store coupons and sales will result in a profit for you in the end! Even if it's not necessarily a product you or your family use or would regularly purchase, you could always donate the item(s) or save it back to have a big garage sale in the spring- all the while, pocketing the excess money the store GAVE you for taking the item off their hands!

Here's a little tip I've found out: the coupons you get from your newspaper most generally will not match up with a sale for about 3 or 4 weeks later. The psychology behind this (especially for brand-new products just released on the market) is that the manufacturer releases a coupon hoping to generate interest in their product to get the consumer to run out and buy it because it's: A. a new product you may have been noticing advertised on TV commercials, now you have a coupon and you're just DYING to try it; and B. it's seasonally-timed just right and it's a type of product you may be needing during that particular time of the year. Usually, about 3 or 4 weeks after the release of the coupon in which the manufacturer hopes you've already used, the item goes on sale. SINCE you've supposedly already bought it, tried it, loved it....they are hoping that now you see it's on sale, you'll buy it a second time. It's proven that once a consumer buys twice, they're more than likely to then be "hooked" on the product and will then be a loyal, repeat buyer. Moral of this story? Get your coupons, hold on to them for a few weeks to wait for a coordinating sale, THEN use the coupons! Any time you can match coupons with a sale, you're going to come out ahead of the game!

ORGANIZATION

This whole couponing experience can easily turn into a huge mess! You may wonder: what's the best way to keep organized, how do I keep it all straight, and how do I match coupons with weekly sales? Simple answer- GET ORGANIZED! The best way I've found is by using what others have referred to as the Binder Method. At first I was using a 1" 3-ring binder and after the first or second week, I realized it wasn't big enough. I've switched to a 3" 3-ring binder, and that's working out a lot better. I bought a package of the plastic pages used by baseball/trading card collectors that are 9 pockets per page. Then I bought some self-stick tabs to be able to easily flip to the page in my binder I'm looking for. This works out nicely, as I'm not having to flip through a small accordion-type organizer typically used for coupons, because it allows me to view 9 coupons at a time instead of only one, and keeps all "like" coupons together. Some coupons need to be folded to fit into the pockets, but I just fold it so that I either see the product name or a picture of the product while flipping through the book. This method of organization is also nice, because binders have pockets to keep my sale ads (circulars) or other items I may need while out shopping. My sister-in-law, Nicki, uses a zippered binder, and has reported how much she likes it. Some people keep a pencil case inside that attaches to the rings of the binder to keep pens, a small pair of scissors, a notepad and maybe a calculator.

I'm hoping this blog helps you discover the best way (that works for YOU!) to accumulate multiple sets of weekly coupons as well as provide assistance in helping you get organized! Please, if you have other ideas that could help someone else, please leave a comment we can all read!

Next blog: a "Diaper Update" and a few links to some free (or really cheap) goodies you can take advantage of NOW! I'll post again later this afternoon......

Diapers: What you need to know!

This weekend, I took advantage of the Walgreen's diaper sale on Saturday evening and a couple of times Sunday (yesterday). Just wanted to post a quick blog to let everyone know what to expect when you go in to get you own supply!

There was speculation as to exactly how this would all play out and whether or not an advertised discount would apply to this particular transaction. So, I've done some diaper shopping myself and have the following to report....

The most important thing to remember is YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE COUPON FROM THE PHARMACY!! This lowers your total amount due by $4.00, so be sure to get your hands on one of these! You should be able to keep the coupon to use repeatedly. They've never taken mine, so I've been working with the same coupon for ALL of the packages I've purchased. So, I cannot stress this point enough: get the coupon booklet from the pharmacy before anything else! And another thing: leave the coupon booklet intact. Don't remove the diaper coupon, just fold the booklet over to the page the coupon is on to show the cashier.

IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE GETTING THE BOOKLET, PLEASE CONTACT ME, AND I'LL HELP YOU! I DO HAVE SOME EXTRAS, AND IF YOU NEED ME TO, I'LL GET ONE TO YOU- EVEN IF YOU'RE IN ANOTHER AREA!

After you have that coupon in your hot little hands, go to the diaper aisle. Buy 4 packages. These are the Walgreen's brand of diapers- usually found around here in Missouri in red packages. Sometimes you'll find a white package and sometimes a light green package. ANY Walgreen's diapers will work. They ring up $7.99 for the first, $1.00 for the second. They are advertised as being on sale at $8.99- BOGO free.

After your cashier scans the 4 packages, show him/her your coupon from the pharmacy. They can either scan the coupon with their little scanner gun, or they can type in the last four digits of the coupon from the barcode. This is a Walgreen's STORE coupon, the register will deduct $2.00 off for EACH package you have- even the FREE ones. And since it's a store coupon, it doesn't need to be collected and put into the register like manufacturer's coupons. You should be able to keep it. If they insist, hand it over. Just go get another one from the pharmacy for your next transaction.

So, after the diapers have been rung up, your coupon has been scanned, the cashier will tell you your total. With tax, it's been $10.72 at my store. I've had register rewards to use, as well as a rebate card from last month, so I've used those to pay, and have spent nothing out of pocket thus far. After each trip, I come home and enter my receipts into the Walgreen's website for the "W" card (Prescription Savings plan) which gives 10% back for all Walgreen's HOUSE brand items. This is giving me .90 cents back for every 2 packages.

Bottom line: $20.45 (plus tax) will get you 10 packages of diapers!!!

There are 2 more points to consider....the first: as I mentioned in the previous post, there's a possibility there will be a $5.00 of $20.00 purchase coupon come out for this upcoming weekend. If it does, it will probably be on Thursday late afternoon. (I will immediately post this information as soon as I find out, if it happens!) If so, you will be able to purchase 10 packs of diapers for $15.45. This would be in effect for Friday and Saturday only. Sweet!

Second: If you don't have any of your family's prescriptions filled at Walgreen's, you could transfer a prescription and get diapers for free. Here's how: Walgreen's is offering (through January sometime) a $25.00 gift card for a transferred script. I've found they will do this once for every person in the household. We've done two. That was an easy $50 bucks- which I used toward diapers, of course!

So far, I've come home with 28 packages, and not a penny has come out of my wallet!

Get out there and buy some diapers! Even if they are currently out of the size you need...get whatever size you can and exchange them later for the correct size. You just can't go wrong with these prices!

Happy hunting!

Oh, baby baby!!! GREAT diaper sale next week!

It's time to stock up on diapers!!!
Amazing sale begins 11/2 through 11/8
You WILL NOT get them any cheaper than this!!!

If you have a little one in diapers or know someone who could benefit by knowing about this sale, please read the following information! This will be a great opportunity to plan ahead and buy what you think you'll use until your child is out of diapers, if you have the room to store them! If you don't have a diaper-aged child to buy for, you should still take advantage of this opportunity! How many baby showers do you go to? Could your church or favorite charity use a nice donation? Read on.....

This sale is for all sizes of diapers and training pants!!

Here's how the deal will work:

Walgreen's will have the jumbo packs of diapers/training pants on sale next week for $8.99/BOGO (buy one, get one free) so....

2 packs x $8.99 = $17.97
BOGO offer -8.99
Total = $8.99/2 packages
Or $4.49 per package

This, in itself, is a pretty good buy.

BUT WAIT!!! THERE'S MORE!!!

This is the KEY to make these diapers a STEAL:

There's a "secret" little coupon that you can find in the pharmacy at Walgreen's. You have to ask for it. Details are: Go to the pharmacy. Ask an associate to explain the new prescription savings plan to you. You don't have to participate in the plan. Once they tell you about it....it just takes a minute...they will give you a coupon tri-fold leaflet that is mostly red, white lettering, has a pic of Walgreen's on the cover, and has a big $50 Savings on the top. This is free. They are obligated to give you one when you listen to their spiel about the new prescription program. (Which isn't a bad program, by the way. It costs $20, you get a savings card called a "W" card, and then you earn 10% back on every Walgreen's brand product you buy- which by the way would apply to this diaper deal, since the diapers are Walgreen's diapers. You can do it if you want, but just keep in mind, you don't have to in order to get the coupons!)

The great thing about Walgreen's coupons (their OWN coupons, not the kind you get out of the Sunday paper), is that since they are STORE coupons, they don't have to keep them and put them into their registers. All they have to do is scan the barcode on the coupon or type in the last four digits of the coupon, and you get the savings AND get to keep the coupon for future use. These don't expire until 12/31/08.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT TEAR THE COUPON OUT OF THE BOOK!

So, in the middle of this coupon booklet, towards the bottom, there's a coupon for $2.00 Walgreen's diapers or training pants. The registers are programmed to accept the coupon for as many packages of diapers you buy, not just one package. So, here's the way the deal looks now:

2 packs x $8.99 = $17.97
BOGO offer -8.99
Use Rx coupon -4.00
Total = $4.99/2 packages
Or $2.49 per package


If (and remember this is YOUR choice) you decide to sign up for the "W" card when you listen to their prescription savings plan, you will earn 10% back for all of your diapers you purchase....and that's the PRE coupon price. It's not instant savings, but it works like this: you register as a user on Walgreens.com and enter your receipt numbers after you get home. You earn 10% for every purchase of Walgreen's items.

THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THE DEAL COULD BE EVEN SWEETER THAN THIS!

At least a couple of times per month, Walgreen's puts out a coupon (online) that states $5.00 of a $20.00 purchase. Next week (probably Thursday) would be about the right time of the month for them to do this, but they may not. If they do, the packs of diapers will be about $1.88 each! I'll keep my eyes open for the coupon and let you know...and I'll do the math on my end so you can see exactly how that would work.

If you've read my other posting on stockpiling, you may remember that there are other deals you can take advantage of (they're different each week) that actually earn "store credit", aka: Register Rewards to be used toward your next purchase. If you are interested in doing any of these, let me know, and I'll help you. If you DO decide to take advantage of the register reward program, you can use the register rewards (RR's) earned from another item to pay for your diapers. Then you would be bringing home free diapers and say, free shampoo- or something like that.

If you're serious about wanting to stockpile a SERIOUS amount of diapers, the above mentioned RR way of shopping is the way to go. You could literally take home 100 plus packages........

FOR FREE!!!

So who wants to save a bundle of money?!?

As promised, this blog is my story about something new I started just 6 short weeks ago. I will update regularly, post many photos, and gladly answer any question you may have! I mentioned in my previous "teaser post" that this is not a sales pitch! It's just a new way of looking at shopping. I paid nothing for this information, I just learned how to do it by lots of research and by trial and error. This is just my way of sharing with my family and friends how you can save money, too! If you're interested in learning the tricks of the trade, I'm more than willing to help!! It's FREE!! You don't have to buy anything, there is no book, nothing to order- just information- from me....because I love ya....and want you to have a big fat bank account!

Background- Purex Laundry Detergent!

I've always loved finding a bargain...I think everyone does! There's a certain thrill attached to paying less-than-retail prices for items you use and need in your home. I remember back in the early '90's, I was shopping at a grocery store and noticed a display for laundry detergent (if I remember correctly, it was Purex powder- and before it was all the rage to buy liquid detergent) that had a large sign announcing the sale price as .99 cents each. As I walked past the display, my eyes quickly focused on a little yellow "peelie" (a sticker attached to each box which was actually a coupon) that said .50 cents off. It didn't take but a second or two to remember that the grocery store I was in doubled their coupons.

Before I could think twice, I placed several boxes in my shopping cart and went to the register to pay. The cashier rang them up, scanned the coupons (which doubled at the register) and I made a penny for each box! All I had to pay for was tax, which I think was around .05 cents each. I practically skipped out to my car...not believing the marvelous deal I'd just stumbled upon! But before I left the parking lot, I thought to myself, "You'd better go back in and get some more! Laundry detergent doesn't go bad! When are you going to find another deal like this?" So, back into the store I went- grabbed another 10 boxes or so, just paid the tax, put them in my car...and went back in AGAIN! I can't tell you how many times I did that over the course of the next several days. All I remember is how I ended up with a gigantic stash of Purex powder and didn't have to buy more for at least a year...and the best part was it was practically FREE!

That Purex experience has stayed with me all these years, and I've often found myself looking for a bargain that could compare. I don't think I've come across such a sweet deal since then. That is, until now.

Our economy today

Let's see a show of hands. Who's worried about finances? How many of you are facing tough times and trying to figure out just how you're going to make it? Anybody worried about not having enough money to even cover the basics to care for your family? As I'm writing this, I just heard the heat kick on. Every single time I feel the cozy goodness of warmth on my skin, I begin to wonder how high will the price of natural gas be this winter...and can I afford to have my thermostat set at 70 degrees or should I scale it back to 65 and put on some extra clothes?

We're all worried. I've had stuff like this on my mind for several months now, but just didn't have many ideas as to what to do about it. Thank God we have a roof over our heads, food in the fridge, cars to drive, a steady paycheck, a retirement account (at least what's left of it after recent turmoil on Wall Street, right?).....but it's scary to think that none of these things are "a sure thing". All it takes is the loss of a job and most of us are sunk. I recently read that the majority of middle class Americans are just a paycheck away from being homeless. Does this scare you as much as it does me?

What I "accidentally" decided to do about it.

In September, I was browsing the internet for a recipe I'd once seen on how to make apple butter in your crockpot and then can it in jars. You know how it goes....you're looking for something in particular, but something else catches your attention and the next thing you know, you're off in left-field somewhere reading about something completely unrelated! That's what happened to me that day, and I found myself reading stories and looking at photographs of "stockpiles" of groceries and household products that people were claiming to have paid just pennies on the dollar for or in some cases, the items were free! This interested me so much, and I poured over all of the information I could find. I thought to myself, "Jodie, you can do this. You NEED to be doing this." So I started by writing everything down in a notebook. Armed with all the information I felt I could absorb, I headed off to the store. This was my first "purchase".





Here's how it breaks down:

2 Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash
2 bottles laundry detergent
3 bags of Chex Mix
6 bottles of Robitussin cough syrup
2 packages of razors
2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste

My original subtotal for all products: $58.96
After discounts I paid out-of-pocket: $8.15
$ earned back at end of transaction: $14.50 (to use as cash)

Subtract $8.15 from $14.50: $6.35 profit

I WAS PAID $6.35 TO TAKE THESE ITEMS FROM THE STORE!

Here's a photo taken a few days later. (Notice how the pile is growing)



Now there's body wash, dishwasher tablets, Kashi granola bars, Oust spray, shower cleaners, several bottles of Windex, more toothpaste, mouthwash and razors...and probably more I can't see in the photo...all this IN ADDITION to the first photo. See how the "stash" is growing? Looking back at my notes from my first few shopping excursions, I wanted to mention that at this point I was out of pocket (total for all trips) $11.57. The merchandise total was $133.48 and I had a stack of "to be used as cash" slips that were given to me by the store amounting to $44.00 that I could spend on anything I wanted/needed to spend them on. The reason my out-of-pocket expense is so low is because these "cash slips" were used to "buy" more items. I focused on picking up items that would PAY me more "cash slips". So in essence, I was rolling this store cash from one purchase to the next, paying with their money instead of my own- and earning more store money with each purchase....so the "cash slip" value was accumulating, even when I was coming home with more and more merchandise. Clear as mud? I know it's a concept that takes a bit to wrap your mind around. Just trust me...it works.

Let's take a minute to answer a few questions I know you must have after reading this blog thus far. I anticipate being asked the following:

1. Jodie, what in the world are you going to do with so much "excess"?

When I first started, I wondered, "How much is enough?". After giving it a lot of thought and consideration, I decided it would be great if I could "purchase" enough of the products to last a year. The key point to remember is that WE don't have any control whatsoever over what the stores choose to place on sale on any given week. The important thing to keep in mind is, no matter what the product is, if it's something you and your family will use, buy enough of it to last through YOUR predetermined time. (As mentioned earlier, I chose to buy for a year, if possible. You may only want to do 6 months, or you may choose to look ahead for TWO years. Whatever the case, the choice is yours.)
Since we have no control over what's on sale from week to week, sometimes you're going to come home with the oddest-looking "haul". My husband looked at me as if I were insane when I kept bringing home bottle after bottle of Robitussin. When all was said and done, I had over 30 bottles! Now before you think I'm insane, too....let me tell you why I had that many. One of the sales of the week was Robitussin for $3.99 per bottle. I found a coupon online that I could print off over and over as many times as I wanted to- for $3 off any Robitussin product. Yay! This made each bottle .99 cents. The store I shopped at had a little "bonus" going on during that particular week. For every 3 bottles of Robitussin you buy, receive $10 "cash slip" to be used on your next purchase. So, 3 bottles @ .99 ea. = $2.97. The store GAVE ME $10.00 at the end of the transaction which was a profit of $7.03! I would have been crazy not to have purchased as many as I did! We kept what we felt we could use and then made a donation to The Carthage Crisis Center who were delighted to receive them since the cold and flu season will be here before we realize it.
I was able to take the $10 from the Robitussin transaction and "roll" it into one of the OTHER store's bonus deals which also gave me "cash" back at the end of the transaction. (So, use the Robitussin money to pay for, say, mouthwash- get the mouthwash free plus "bonus money" for buying the mouthwash. Use the mouthwash money to buy more Robitussin, get more free money, buy more mouthwash...you get the idea. It can go on forever!)
In summary, sometimes I buy MORE than I need in order to cash in on the "free money" the store gives me for buying a particular product. In the end, we keep what we think we need for a year and donate the rest.


2. Is this legal? Are you cheating the system?


YES!! This is absolutely legal! NO!! You're not cheating the system, just being a smart shopper! As you know, all major chains have a marketing division. This marketing division within a company decides (based on lots of consumer data) what they're going to place on sale from week to week. Then they create the sale ad/circular that you generally get in your Sunday paper. These marketing agents/reps are very smart people! They work hand-in-hand with manufacturer's of the products we all buy to decide what KIND of sales and discounts will be offered on their products.
When the ads come out- you'll usually find the best buys strategically placed where your eye is naturally drawn to them. Photo enhancements, special lettering, attention-grabbing wording...all these are used to get you to notice that THIS particular product is on sale- and a really good sale at that. Stores expect there will be great turn-out from customers to purchase mass volumes of these super advertised sales. They have studied consumer spending habits and know that in most cases, all they have to do is get you to walk in the store...the rest will happen automatically. If they can get you to walk into their store to buy the current "hot" item, they think they've got you hooked! They think you'll see other things you need or want- and spend more money in the store. And they LOVE it when you bring children into the store!! Nothing screams "impulsive buyer" like a mom dragging 2 or 3 sleepy/cranky/whiney little ones in the store who "want" everything they see. Especially when you're waiting in line for the cashier. It's no mystery why so many items are placed in the check-out line that appeal to children!
If you can discipline yourself to purchase ONLY the items that are going to be free, almost free, or items they PAY you to take....you'll be well on the way to building your wealth!
By stacking the store's sale items along with a manufacturer's coupon, you save more. Additionally, many stores offer their OWN coupons that can be used ALONG WITH the sale, AND a manufacturer's coupon. I've had instances where I can use 4 coupons on one item! In most cases, it doesn't get any sweeter than that! Usually you end up with an overage where they OWE YOU!!!
Yep, it's legal! The manufacturers and stores wouldn't run the specials they do if they didn't want you to take advantage of the deal they're offering. They just count on you purchasing LOTS more other things while you're in there- not just "cherry-picking" the best they have to offer- are you getting it?


3. Since you are concerned about your family's finances and the downward spiral of our nation's economy, why so much in the way of "cleaners" and not very much in the way of food?


Like I mentioned earlier... you've got to take advantage of the specials the stores have advertised from week to week. Sometimes buying cleaners is all you'll be able to do during a particular week. The next week may be a big "grocery" week where you'll hit the jackpot on canned veggies or pop! Like I said, in the beginning you may be bringing home bags of rather unusual items- but in the long run, you'll be glad you took advantage of the Ziploc freezer bag sale, because you're now stocked up for months and won't even have to THINK about buying more for a long time! Buy enough for a year (or more if you have someone/someplace to donate to) and wait for the next sale to see what you're going to bring home next week! In the short time I've been doing this, I've brought home everything from stacks of Quilted Northern bathroom tissue to loads of shampoos and conditioners to a year's supply of Hamburger Helper. I've noticed a CONSIDERABLE decrease in the amount I spend weekly during my normal grocery trips- because I'm not having to purchase the types of items I've already began to stockpile. As time goes on, I'll notice more and more savings weekly. I know I'll always have to buy fresh produce, milk, bread....you know, the perishable items that need replenished on a regular basis.

4. How much time does it take to do this?

At first, it seemed to take me a LONG time to get it figured out and to get my game-plan down on paper before even making it to the store! I wondered if it was really even worth it. But, I quickly figured out how to cut the time spent on "preparing" for the shopping, and now spend more time in the stores. Some weeks are more complicated than others to be truthful. The good thing is, I will help you!! If you want, I could email a list to you when I figure out what I'm going to focus on for the week...a list you can duplicate where you don't have to spend the time figuring it all out! Just let me know! If you live in another area- it doesn't matter. If you have a Walgreen's, Target, or Wal-Mart nearby- you can make this work for you!! Even better, but sadly I cannot take advantage of it, if you have a CVS pharmacy- you've got it made in the shade. Unfortunately we don't have CVS here.


5. How do you know what deals to take advantage of that make your out-of-pocket so low?


Research! I have a "contact" (Oooohhhh that sounds kinds scary, doesn't it?!) that provides me with ads well in advance of the sales. Now I find I can prepare several days before a sale begins and be ready when the doors open! I've subscribed to a few message boards which have members who give great tips on upcoming bargains, sales and bonuses. Some are store employees in other areas who don't mind sharing their "secret information"!!

6. We've been friends for years! Will you teach me how to do this for my family?


YES, of COURSE I will!!! Nothing would make me happier! Just ask me!



I cannot tell you what a sense of satisfaction I have received regarding taking these steps to do something this positive to provide plenty for my family. The savings has been GINORMOUS!!

Here are a few photos I took yesterday of my "pantry". At first I wondered what to do with all of the stuff...where I was going to put it. But then I decided to just use a spare bedroom that was only being used for storage anyway. My husband didn't mind letting me use some shelving from the garage that wasn't really being utilized, and I've purchased another large shelving unit. I can see that I'm going to have to buy even more shelves as time goes on, because the stockpile is growing by leaps and bounds! Remember when looking at these pics, I've only been doing this for about 6 weeks! At the end of the photos, I'll tell you how much I've spent and how much I've saved.

Peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, Hamburger/Tuna Helper, potatoes, Easy Mac, cereal,
canned items, cake/brownie mixes, chocolate chips, etc.
The two bins on the bottom right are full of FREE Halloween candy for the
Trick-or-Treaters!

These Gillette Fusion Razors (for men) regularly rang up $10.49
I ended up paying .49 cents each! But paid with "free" store money!
I brought home 29 of them.
I've given several away to family members, and most of the rest are going to be donated.

This is the shampoo, body wash, soap, facial cleansers, make-up shelf, which seems to be
the most popular with my daughter, Emilee. She likes to "shop" here regularly!

Various drinks, drink mixes, etc. I actually brought more 12 packs home yesterday, so add 5 more to the count!

Toothbrushes/Mouthwash
I had more of the mouthwash- have given a lot away
This is probably a lifetime supply of toothbrushes for 1 person, right?!
There's someone who can use them, I know. I was paid .75 cents for each toothbrush I took out of the store!

Hard to tell, but there are actually 14 tubes of toothpaste- just have some stacked behind.
And the Maalox! Geez, I know that's a lot- and BJ doesn't even have heartburn anymore!
For every 3 bottles I brought home, I made money- couldn't refuse!
It'll be another good item to donate.

Ahhh- Dove bars! Free, of course!

Paper towels & trash bags

Candles & Chocolate!

Laundry detergent, disinfecting sprays

Lots of dishwasher tablets

And this isn't even all of the T.P! It's a good feeling to know we won't
run out anytime soon!

T.P. & various cleaners

So there are the pictures...I'll update from time to time for the whole room- but more often, I'll just snap a pic of the weekly items I'm adding to the stockpile, and how to do them yourself. I'm in the market for a deep freeze, as there are a lot of frozen items I haven't been able to max out on yet, because I just don't have the freezer space. I've been kinda picky about the freezer I buy, so it's taking longer than I would like to get one home and installed!

On a side note, I've read where a lot of people who do this kind of shopping have a couple of "garage sales" per year and rather than donate their excess items, they sell them. I was recently reading about a woman who just had a sale, and she MADE $4,900.00 on items she brought home for nothing. Sound unreal? I believe it, knowing what I know now!

For everything I've shown you I've brought home, here are the numbers:

Total Out-of-Pocket expense:

$78.22

Total saved (at sale prices, not even full retail!!):

$2,768.58

I hope you've enjoyed this information and give some consideration to starting your own stockpile for you and your family. You won't be sorry you did, especially when you begin to see the savings add up. The numbers above show I saved 97.17 % on all of the products...in my wildest dreams I never imagined this would be possible.

Have a great day!