Toys'R'Us - Thomas The Tank Engine Play Dates

On September 13th and October 11th, Toys'R'Us will hold Thomas The Tank Engine Play Dates at locations across the US. They will be giving out free packs of Thomas the Tank Engine trading cards and coloring pages, and there will be story time and play stations set up as well. You may want to call your local store to confirm that they are participating.

CVS: heads up! Summer clearance 90% off, this week's moneymakers and freebies

Summer stuff ('Fun in the Sun' line) is 90% off at both CVS stores in our area! Not much left, but worth looking into: I got 250-pk of fancy drinking straws for $.19/pk (an our daughters go through straws like crazy! the youngest wants to drink everything through a straw, and the oldest uses them for craft projects) I'm one happy mama :) There were also plates, cups, napkins, placemats, bubbles, sand and water toys on clearance. Can't beat the prices at 90% off!

Another thing to look for at CVS is Ambi soap. It costs $1.99 per bar and gives $3 ECBs back; limit is 3 per household (it's September monthly deal)

Ours had 2 varieties: Complexion Cleansing Bar and Complexion Cocoa Butter, and both worked for this deal.

Another moneymaker this week is L'Oreal Genesis, which is FREE after ECBs, and you can also use a coupon from the most recent Sunday paper, or a printable here.

ChexMix is on sale for $1 this week, and would be FREE with a $1 coupon from here. You can print two coupons per PC. Here is a printable for $.60 - not as good as free, but not bad if you have reached your print limit on $1 coupon.

Another yummy freebie is Malt-O-Meal cereal: also on sale for $1, and there are $1 coupons here, here and in the cute little widget on my side bar :)

Shopping with coupons: lessons learned

Shopping during double and triple coupon days has been quite a learning experience for me. Here are the lessons that I learned:

1) if the stores are not doing this promo often, there is a great chance that they are not prepared to handle all smart shoppers that will jump in on an extra-savings opportunity. The doubling/tripling coupons started last Thursday, and there were only 3 checkout lanes open on Thurday night. The lines were huge and it took forever to check out.

2) if this is a limited-time action (ours was 4-day only promo), it will likely attract customers who may not normally shop in the store, but have a bunch of coupons to redeem. Not only this would add to the checkout time, you would also face your competition: searching for the same items you have coupons for, sometimes beating you to them and emptying the shelves if something's a particularly good deal.

3) speaking of the deals, with double and triple coupons they are awesome! I made one more trip to Shoppers during promo days (I needed to deposit my checks from surveys and reward programs, MySurvey and InboxDollars mostly, and my bank is conveniently located in Shoppers) and matched my coupons more carefully that time. Got a few products free or better:

• Crab Classics imitation crabmeat (on sale for $1.99 each, free with doubled $1 coupon from here, limit 2 printouts per PC);
  
• Easy Mac (on sale 10/$10 - 2 pks free with doubled $1/2 coupon from the most recent paper)
• Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta (reg. $1.59/lb - better than free with doubled $1 coupon from the most recent paper)
• Mt.Olive relish (2/$3 - free with tripled $.50 coupon from the paper)
• French's mustard (priced between $1.20 and $1.34 - better than free with tripled $.50 coupon from the paper)
• Rice-a-Roni or Pasta-Roni (10/$10 or 8/$10 - better than free with tripled $.50 coupon from here)
• I also got a loaf of French bread free for a survey that printed at the bottom of my receipt last time around.

4) although it may be very tempting, next lesson is: do not try to redeem each and every coupon that you have. Just because it can be doubled or tripled doesn't mean you're getting the best deal: the product may be on sale at a competitor's store and you can get a better deal with the coupon redeemed for the face value there.

5) don't get discouraged if you can't redeem all the coupons you have! :) I have observed a couple trying to find ALL the items for ALL the coupons and getting very upset if they couldn't. It's not the end of the world. Seriously.

6) shop on Saturday. Our crazy sale run Thursday thru Sunday. All the early birds flew in on Thursday, and most of the folks I know were going to shop there on Sunday: they had to take the advantage of the promo, but needed to find/clip/organize their coupons. That leaves Friday when a lot of folks stock up for the upcoming weekend, and Saturday... when it was nice: some of the stuff that was sold out on Thursday got re-stocked and there were very few people in the store :)

7) it helps to organize the coupons by aisles. After the first trial run, I had a pretty good idea what is located where, and when I put my coupons in the order I'd expect to see the products in the store, it was a breeze to find what I needed.

8) if the coupon says "do not double" it doesn't mean it won't double at the register. This is something that I learned from comments to my earlier post, but haven't tried this time around. All the coupons I had doubled and tripled correctly (but none said "do not double" as I had separated and left those at home)

This was fun! :)
I hope Shoppers (or any other grocery store in our area) does it again!

Staples: last week of school supplies freebies

Staples has 3 instant freebies this week: 12-pk erasers (limit 2 per customer), pencil sharpeners (limit 2 per customer), pocket folders (limit 10 per customer). No tax charged in MD, so 14 items per person are 100% FREE :)

Victoria's folders always get messy after a while so it was nice to pick up some extras for free. Our Staples had 7 colors to choose from.

Shoppers

So, this was true: Shoppers triples coupons up to $.50 and doubles up to $1! I spent some time clipping all and every coupon up to a $1 that didn't say "do not double" and went on a Shopper's quest last night. The store was buzzing with the couponers all looking for the same items, comparing prices and waiting patiently at checkout lanes... that seemed to take forever!

I got a lot of stuff and learned a few lessons along the way.

I will not list everything individually (and I most certainly won't remember every coupon I used), but it's over $99 worth of stuff that I paid less than $28 for! Granted, I got some items that I wouldn't normally purchase or got multiples of something only because of the coupon requirements, but I bought NOTHING that we wouldn't use, and our fridge is full, so I'm happy (and as an added bonus we'll get to try some things that we don't usually buy).

I got 4-pk Scott toilet paper (ultra mega rolls!) and Scott paper towels, Marcal napkins (that's my favorite find - only $.19 after doubled coupon!), Quacker granola bars, 4-pk of Dannon yougurt, Warm Delights dessert bowl, Glade candle, huge bag of Malt-O-Meal cereal, 3 boxes of Yogos for Victoria (she's been asking for them forever and this is the first time I actually bought them... @$.50 each after coupons and sent the UPCs for Yogos Notebook Offer too :)), Ronzoni dinner kit, Pasta-Roni, Rice-a-Roni, 4 boxes of Success Rice, Daisy Sour Cream, French's mustard (regular and 2 gourmet), 2 jars of Mt.Olive relish, 4 cans of new Campbell's Select Harvest soup, 6-pk of Fiber One yogurt, Smart Balance omega oil and buttery spread, Crisco omega oil, 2 tubs of Hilshire Farm deli meats, deli sliced Sargento cheese, Bob Evans fresh sausages, Philly Cheesecake filling (huge tub!), Hilshire Farm smoked sausage (the only item I didn't use coupon for - this is something DH asked for) and Crab Classic crab meat. (Phew, I think that's it!).

Most of my coupons came from recent papers, but here are the printables that are worth mentioning:

1) Crab Classic is on sale this week for $1.99, there's a $1 printable here, that doubles to $2 = your crab meat is FREE

2) Rice-a-Roni are on sale 10/$10, there's a $.50 printable here, that triples to $1.50, so you are actually getting $.50 overage!

3) Pasta Roni are on sale 8/$10 and 10/$10 (depending on variety), use the same coupon to get it better than free! [you can print 2 coupons per computer]

4) Malt-o-Meal cereal: HUGE bag is $2.69 (and they have great varieties too), there's a $1 printable here (or print it from the widget on the right side of my page or below), that doubles to $2 = your final price is $.69!

What did you get?

Shoppers: tripling coupons up to $.50 and doubling up to $1!

My DH was so excited that we scored some free rice at Shoppers last week and said we should definitely do it again, if Shoppers would decide to make tripling coupons a standard practice. I laughed: it was the first time ever that any store in our area tripled coupons, and it was hard to believe that it would happed again any time soon.

Well, apparently I was wrong. DH has heard on the radio that this Thursday through Sunday Shoppers is tripling again - up to $.50 AND doubling coupons with values between $.51 and $1! It's even better than what they did last week (they didn't double higher value coupons). It looks like I will be going through my coupons tonight, clipping and sorting the ones that I might use at Shoppers in the next few days.

Any good coupons/deals out there?..
If your grocery stores double or triple coupons, which coupons do you use and what do you get?

in a nutshell

I haven't updated for a while: we have just bought a house and are super-duper busy right now. Excited, splattered with paint and tired. But happy :)

I still manage to carve some time for bargain shopping - mostly CVS (I had a lot of ECBs expiring this weekend, so I had to go and spend them even though I didn't really need anything), but also Staples and Office Depot for school supplies, and our local Shoppers tripled coupons up to $.50 - for the first time ever! - so we got some freebies there too. We've found Success Rice with was on sale 2/$3 with $.50 peelies on them (that when tripled, made the rice free), and here's a printable coupon for $.50 off any Rice-a-Roni or Pasta Roni (Rice-a-Roni is on sale 10/$10, so you're $.50 ahead when the coupon triples). You can print two coupons per computer I think, and you may need to register (it's free) and then click on "Printable grocery coupons", it was on the first page for me.

I can't count how many times we've been to Home Depot and Lowes this week, and I imagine this may become another part of our daily routine... We got a 10% HD coupon (that we're holding until we buy something big... which will probably happen tomorrow: we need to replace the doord) and a Lowes Bonus card, but other than that I'm not sure if there any other current offers for home imptrovement stores... Anyone?

Anyway, I'm going to pick the winner of my first giveaway and call it a night...

School supplies: money maker @Office Depot (in-store)

Starting Sunday, August 3rd, Office Depot is having 10-pk Paper Mate pens on sale for $.25/pack; there's a printable coupon for $1 off any 2 PaperMate products here (you can print 2 coupons per PC). There are a few other penny deals advertized (pencil sharpeners, pencil cases, rulers, folders, crayons), so (hopefully) you'll be able to apply the overage towards some other school supplies that you might need. And, on top of that PaperMate contributes some %% to your Upromise account (they base it on pre-coupon price)! If you are not registered with Upromise, you might want to consider doing so (it's free!) and they help you save for college, by putting some %% of stuff you buy into your special college savings account - it doesn't cost you anything more than you pay in the store for the products you buy (and they don't care if you used coupons - as long as you pay with your registered credit card or scan your store loyalty card /for grocery stores and pharmacies/ you'll get what you're entitled to). It may be pennies, but they add up: my CVS shopping alone helped put aside over $20 into Upromise account! I hope the amount grows by the time my girls start college. :)

CVS - 7/27 -8/2

I got lazy and didn't post about my other 2 transactions last week, and now I can't find all the goodies and/or receipts, so no detailed breakdown. I finished the baby deal (got $5 ECBs) and did Veet ($5 ECBs), and Clean&Clear one more time (another $5 ECBs), got Trident gum (buy 1 get 1 free + $1 ECB) and Pepsi 20 oz (had a buy 1 get 1 free bottle cap, and it's also giving $1 ECB w/purchase of 2 bottles)... other than that don't remember much, but who cares, right? New week is here!

Here's what I got tonight:

• Dasani water 1/2 liter bottles x 24 pk - reg. $5.99, on sale $3.99 (-$1 coupon)
• Intuition Plus Razor Bonus pack (includes 2 extra cartridges and Dove shampoo & conditioner) - reg. $9.99, on sale $3.99 (-$2 coupon; some regions got $4 and $3 coupons so they can get a better deal on this)
• 2 x Palmolive OXY dish soap 11 oz - reg. $1.59 each, on sale $1.39, Buy One Get One Free (-$1 off 2 coupon from this week's paper)
• Revlon compact - reg. $11.99, on sale $9.99 + gives $9.99 ECBs (-$2 coupon from last week's paper, -$3 CRT)
• Royal gelatin (DD asked for it) - reg. $.50, on sale $.25
• BandAid variety pack 30 ct - reg. $3.99, on sale $2.99 + gives $2ECB (-$1 coupon)
• 2 x Kelloggs Special K bars - reg. $3.49 each, on sale 2/$5 (- buy 1 get 1 free coupon from VocalPoint, -$1 coupon from VocalPoint)

Paid with ECBs + $.69 OOP, got $9.99 ECBs for Revlon + $2 ECBs for BandAids = $11.99 in ECBs. Also found $5/$30 stationery coupons in the school supplies aisle.

More CVS goodies - week 7/20-7/26

I had some ECBs expiring, so I had to go to CVS again in order to spend them. This is what I got:

• All Free Clear 2x concentrated, 32 loads - reg. $6.49, Buy One Get One Free sale (-$1 coupon from here)
• All Small & Mighty 3x concentrated, 32 loads - reg. $6.49, Buy One Get One Free sale (-$1 coupon from here)
• 2 x Clean and Clear Daily Pore cleansers 5.5 oz (bonus packs, include trial size tubes of Clean and Clear Soft oil-free moisturizer) - reg. $5.69, on sale for $4.69, part of this week's Clean and Clear deal (spend $15, get $5ECBs), I had $2 coupons for each Clean and Clear item, printed from here. (it only allows to print 2 coupons per computer, so I had to ask DH to print the other 2 for me)
• 2 x Clean and Clear Blackhead Clearing Scrub 5. oz (bonus packs, include trial size tubes of Clean and Clear Soft oil-free moisturizer) - reg. $5.49, on sale for $4.49, part of this week's Clean and Clear deal (spend $15, get $5ECBs) - I got over $15 so got my extra bucks + $3.36 more towards this deal if I decide to buy more Clean and Clear this week. I'd only need to spend $11.64 to get another $5... I might do it if I can find a way to print more coupons.
• 2 x Johnson's Buddies soap - reg. $.99 ea, free with this $2 off any 2 Johnson's Buddies coupon
• 2 x Taster's Choice To Go packs - reg. $1 (- Buy One Get One Free from TastersChoice.com - need to login and answer a few questions to get the coupon)
• CVS Night Time Baby lotion 15 fl oz - reg. $3.99, on sale for $2, counts towards this week's CVS brand baby deal (spend $15 on CVS brand baby products, get $5 ECBs); I used $2 CVS brand skincare coupon from the Beauty Book for this.

Also used $3/$15 skincare purchase (CRT), paid mostly with ECBs, and 2.xx out of pocket; received $5 ECBs for Clean and Clear + the following CRT coupons: $5 off in store Photo Books 6x8 or larger; $3 off any Lumene Time Freeze Skin Care or Cosmetics (I'm pretty sure I saw small jars of these for $2.99); $1 off any 2 Viva single roll paper towels.

CVS - 7/20 - 7/26

This week doesn't look very exciting, but today was the last day to take advantage of $3 off $15 coupon, so I tried to put it to good use... twice :)

Transaction #1:

- Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaning Kit (includes the power sprayer, two refills and batteries) - reg. $24.99, on clearance for $12.50; I had a $5 off coupon for it (we needed some refills for ours and found that it's cheaper to buy a new kit with $5 coupon than 2 refills @$5.19 each - $1.50/2 coupon from the paper)

- L'Oreal VivePro shampoo 13 fl oz - reg. $4.99; I had BOGO free coupon

- L'Oreal VivePro shampoo 13 fl oz - on sale Buy One Get One free; the cashier let me use $1 off coupon from the paper on this

Used $3/$15 coupon; paid with ECBs and under $1 out of pocket; no ECBs earned, no CRT coupons printed

Transaction #2:

- Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaning Kit with bonus shower caddy - reg. $24.99, on clearance for $12.50; - $5 off coupon from the paper

- CVS Night-Time Baby Lotion 18 oz - reg. $3.99, on sale for $2 (+ part of the CVS brand baby deal: spend $15, get $5 ECBs); used $2 CVS brand skincare coupon from the Beauty Book

- CVS brand unscented baby wipes 80 ct - reg. $2.99, on sale for $2 (+ part of the CVS brand baby deal: spend $15, get $5 ECBs) - these are very nice quality wipes, we like to keep a tub in the car for unexpected messes ;)

- Trident XtraCare gum 18-ct x 2 - reg. $1.49, on sale Buy One Get One Free (also earns $1 ECB with a purchase of two, limit 5 per household/per ExtraCare card); I had a $1 off 2 coupon (some areas have gotten BOGO coupon for even better deal)

Used $3/$15 coupon; paid with ECBs and under $1 out of pocket; earned $1 ECB for Trident gum.

More CVS shopping (week 7/13-7/19)

It looks I will be going back to CVS yet one more time: I have only made one photobook and it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r because of the couple in front of me - I spent almost an hour just waiting :(

Most of the other weekly deals are sold out in our store, so my actual 'shopping' took about 5 minutes... I did notice that 8-ct Lipreve was 75% off (originally $14.99, now $3.59) and that's a monthly deal earning $3 ECBs, so I got that as well even though I didn't plan to.

This is what I got in 2 transactions tonight:

Transaction #1:
- Brita filters 3-pk. (orig. $21.99, on sale for $14.99, gives $5ECB)
- Taster's choice to go (orig. $1, on sale for $.49)
- 2 x Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear nail polish (orig. $2.79, on sale for $.99); had a coupon for $3 off 2
- Neutrogena Healthy Volume mascara (orig. $7.99, on sale for $5.99 + gives $4ECB); had a $1 coupon from Neutrogena.com
- Colgate toothbrush $.99 (from the travel section); used the $1 off any Colgate toothbrush CRT received earlier this week
- Lipreve 8 ct (orig. $14.99, on clearance for $3.59)
Also used $3/$15; paid with ECBs and under $1 out of pocket, earned $5 ECBs for Brita + $4 ECB for Neutrogena + $3 ECB for Lipreve = $12 ECBs to spend!

Transaction#2:
- Photobook 6x8 (orig. $12.99, on sale for $7.99, gives $7.99ECB); had a $3 coupon from the paper; it beeped but cashier was nice enough to push it through
-2 x Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear nail polish (orig. $2.79, on sale for $.99); had a coupon for $3 off 2
- Neutrogena Healthy Volume mascara (orig. $7.99, on sale for $5.99 + gives $4ECB); had a $1 coupon from Neutrogena.com
- Lipreve 8 ct (orig. $14.99, on clearance for $3.59)
-3 x PaperMate pencils 10-pk (orig. $1.69 ea, on sale 3 for $1)
- LifeFitness patch (orig. $1.99); had CRT for $3 off ANY LifeFitness product, that I got earlier this week
- Excedrin Back and Body 24 ct ($4.69, counts towards Benefiber deal that I don't think I'll do); had $2 coupon from the paper and will send the receipt and UPC for MIR that was in the recent paper
Also used $3/$15; paid with ECBs and under $1 out of pocket, earned $7.99 ECBs Photo Book + $4 ECB for Neutrogena + $3 ECB for Lipreve = $14.99 ECBs to spend!

Target: Back-to-School deal alert - FREE pens!

Target has BIC pens on sale this week for $.50, and there's a printable coupon for $1 off any 2 BIC stationery products here, making two packages of pens FREE! There are also bonus packs that include 2 free pens (so you're getting 12 pens for the price of 10), that are also on sale for $.50. I printed 2 coupons and got 4 packs (48 pens total!) free. There was a ton of them left in my store, but my oldest daughter is in the second grade, so there are more pensils than pens on her school supplies list. I'm planning to keep one package (that's plenty for us!) and donate the other three to her school.

CVS shopping - 7/13-7/19

I haven't selected my pictures for the photo books (you can get up to 3 per ExtraCare card FREE after ECB), so I will be going back this week, but knowing how fast all the deals sell out in our closest store, I decided to stop by today anyway.

Here's what I got:

• Charmin UltraStrong (that's our favorite TP) 9pk - originally $6.99, on sale for $5.49 (had a $1 off coupon for P&G insert)
• Airwick Mini Fresh Matic kit - reg. price $9.99, on sale for $4.99 (had $4 off coupon, printed from here)
• 2 x Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear nail color - reg. price $2.79 each, on sale for $.99 each (had a $3 off 2 coupon from CVS beauty book)
• Gain detergent 50 fl.oz - reg. price $7.49, on sale for $4.99 (generates $2ECB/limit 1 per card + I had a $1 off coupon that I received along with a sample a while back)
• Hallmark gift box (the cutest one I've ever seen!) - reg. price $3.99, on clearance for $.39 (I wish they had more!)

Used my $3 off $15 coupon, paid with ECBs and under $1 out of pocket, received $2 ECB for Gain, $3 off ANY Life Fitness purchase (I remember being able to use it on $1.99 Life Fitness pain relief patch in the past - this is something we use, and it would be a moneymaker!), $3 off ANY Revlon cosmetics (I'm sure this would be a moneymaker too, combined with their frequent sales and manufacturer's coupons), $1 off ANY Colgate toothbrush (excludes Etra Clean), $1 off Colgate Total or MaxFresh toothpaste (I guess I'll use it along with manufacturer's coupons for this week's BOGO Colgate toothpaste deal) = at least $9 in ECB/coupons that I would use! (not sure about the toothbrush)

I'm planning to get 3 photobooks (one 4x6 and two 6x8 that are free after ECB + I have $3 off photobooks from the recent papers), more Sally Hansen nailpolish (I have a few more $3/2 coupons), Colgate toothpaste (BOGO + coupons and CRT), LifeFitness patch (moneymaker w/CRT), 10 free prints with CRT I got last week, and Brita 3-pk filters (on sale for $14.99 and gives $5ECB)

CVS shopping - week of 7/6-7/12

I did not take the picture after my trip to CVS, and it's hard to remember everything... Here's what I got along with the prices and coupons used -

• Venus Mailbu razors bonus pack 3+1 (reg. price $8.99), on sale $4.99 (had $4 coupon from home mailer, but there were also $2 coupons for these in the P&G insert last week)
• Always ultra thin pads 18 ct. regular w/wings (reg. price $3.69), on sale $2.99 (had BOGO coupon from latest P&G insert)
• Always ultra thin pads 18 ct. regular w/wings (reg. price $3.69), on sale $2.99 (-$2 coupon)
• Pantene shampoo 13 oz on sale $3.33 (BOGO home mailer coupon)
• Pantene 2-in-1 shampoo 13 oz on sale $3.33 (-$2 coupon from the P&G insert)
• Duracell AAA 4-pk on sale $2.99 (-$1 coupon from the Sunday paper; -$.50 CVS coupon on the pack)
• CVS drinking water 24 pk (reg. 4.99) - FREE with $20 of P&G items above
• Coke 2L x 2 (BOGO sale), $1 off 2 coupon
• CVS sunscreen 30 SPF 2 oz $2.39 (-$2 CVS skincare coupon)
• CVS sunscreen 30 SPF 2 oz $1.20 (BOGO sale) (-$1 CVS brand sunscreen coupon)
• Pringles original, on sale $1
• Pringles cheese, on sale $1 (-$.20 off 2 coupon from P&G insert); earns 1ECB
• Dawn botanicals 11 oz x 2, on sale 2/$2 (-$1 coupon from P&G insert); earns 1 ECB
• Dawn orange 11 oz x 2, on sale 2/$2 (-$.20 coupon... don't remember from where); earns 1ECB
• Sure deodorant x 2; reg. $2.60 (- BOGO coupon purchased on ebay; - $1 coupon); earns 3ECB (July monthly deal)
• CVS pantyliners, reg. $.99 - earns .99ECB (July monthly deal)

Paid with ECBs and under $2 out of pocket; got .99 ECB for CVS liners, 1 ECB for Pringles, 2 ECB for Dawn, 3 ECB for Sure deodorant + a CRT for 10 free digital prints (along with a few other coupons that I will not use) = Extra $6.99 to spend + 10 free prints :)

Wanted to get Honey Bunches of Oats cereal (on BOGO sale, $4.29; there are $2 printable coupons for it here, here and here), but our store didn't have any. I forgot to take a raincheck too :(

Decided not to do the Olay deal (buy $20, get 10 ECB) even though there are plenty of coupons for it: there's nothing I really need. Same goes for Covergirl, Rimmel and Febreeze deals this week. I'm trying not to buy stuff 'just because it generates ECBs' :)

Toys'R'Us - save $10 off $50 and extra 20% off clearance!

Print this couponto save $10 off your purchase of $50 (valid 7/3-7/5, can only be printed once) + there's an EXTRA 20% off all clearance sale running now in the Toys'R'Us stores (includes toys, electronics, apparel and shoes).

To take the advantage of this offer online, go to the Clearance section- the prices are already 70% off. Use code 922848 at checkout to receive $10 off $50.

CVS: Kleenex, Kashi Cereal, CVS towelettes

I went to CVS tonight, hoping to get the 'hidden' deals: buy 2 Coppertone products get $10ECBs ($1.99 lip balm and $4.99 sticks are said to work towards this promo) and CVS towelettes that generate $2.99ECB instead of $1 that's in July's monthly flyer, and also check if Physician's Formula mascara (which is free after ECB this week) is re-stocked. I was unable to find any Coppertone - all of it (but 1 tube) was wiped out, there was no sign of mascara and I got the lonely pack of the towelettes that was $3.49 instead of $2.99 but did generate $2.99ECB, so it's all good. Also, the quarterly ECBs are printing out today, so I got the whopping... $1 for my spring CVS shopping :)

Here's what I got:

• Kleenex tissues 200 ct. x 6 (Buy One Get One Free sale)
• Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal (on sale - 2 for $5)
• CVS exfoliating cleansing towelettes (15 ct)

Coupons used:
- $1 off Kleenex (from the past papers - Buy 5, get $1 off)
- $2 off Kashi Cereal (from VocalPoint home mailer, but there's also a printable here - Thanks, Ronell!)
- $2 off CVS brand skincare (printable)

Paid with ECBs +$.08 out of pocket. ECBs received: $1 (2% of quarterly spendings) + $2.99 (for CVS towelettes) = $3.99 ECBs :)

CVS shopping, week of 6/29-7/05

I'll post the picture of all the goodies later tonight. This is what I got at CVS yesterday:

• Cottonelle toilet paper big rolls (12-pk) - on sale for $4.99 (ends today, tomorrow - $5.99)
• CVS/Gold emblem drinking water (24-pk) - on sale for $2.99 (ends today, tomorrow - $3.99)
• Accu-Check blood monitoring kit - on sale - FREE after ECB (limit 1)
• Crest toothpaste Baking soda & peroxide 6.4 oz - on sale for $1.99 + earns $1ECB (limit 1)
• Stayfree ultra thin pads 32 ct x 2 - on sale for $4.49, earns $1.50ECB (limit 1)
• Lady SpeedStick orchard blossom 3.2 oz - on sale for $1.99
• Bic Soleil razor - $6.99
• Bic Soleil cartridges - $6.99 (if purchased with razors, earns $5ECB) - this is a July monthly deal, limit 5 per card/household
  

Coupons used:
- $1 off Cottonelle TP (from the paper, but there's also a printable here)
- $1 off Crest (from the paper a few weeks back)
- Stayfree - buy one get one free (from yesterday's paper)
- $2 off Stayfree (home mailer); there's also a $1 printable coupon here
- $1.50 CVS coupon for Lady SpeedStick (printed on receipt)
- Buy Soleil razor, get 4 pk. cartridges free
- $4 off Soleil razor or cartridges (from yesterday's paper) ; there's also a $2 printable coupon here.

Paid with ECBs (+ less than $3 out of pocket), ECBs earned: $9.99 (for Accu-Check) + $5 (for Soleil) + $1.50 (for Stayfree) + $1 (for Crest toothpaste) = $17.49 ECBs :)

There's also a Physician's formula mascara that's free after ECBs this week, but our store didn't have any in stock :( I'll check back later to see if I can get it. I may also get Gold Emblem Premium Nuts that are on 2-day sale for $2.99 - their dark chocolate covered almonds are the best I've tried lately.

Wet Seal: FREE tank top 6/26-7/3

Print this coupon to get your CHILOSA tank absolutely free, no purchase required, at participating Wet Seal stores 6/26 - 7/3 or while supplies last.

CVS shopping 6/22-6/28 - continued

I've been to CVS twice since the last update. To my surprise both girls liked the SoyJoy bars, so I was glad to find some more while they are free after ECBs (limit for this deal is 5, so you can get 20 bars free). I also bought Colgate toothpaste (which is a money maker this week with coupon), some more Charmin and also Bounty and Duracell - to finish off the weekly deal (spend $20 get 10ECBs) and also CVS cotton swabs which are a monthly deal (buy 1 get 2ECBs, and to make the deal sweeter, I could also use $.50 coupons that were in the packages with cotton balls purchased earlier this week). Huggies baby wash is another monthly deal (get 2ECBs and there was a coupon in last week's paper), I had coupons for free Barilla (from a survey several months ago) that were about to expire, and Johnson's buddies soap was free with this coupon (and I had 3 more clipped from parenting magazines).

Transaction# 1:

- Charmin UltraSoft toilet paper 12 big rolls
- Johnson's Buddies soap x 4
- CVS tissues - family size
- Duracell coppertop AA batteries - 8 pk
- Bounty Basic paper towels 8 rolls
- Barilla elbow macaroni 1 lb box x 2
- Huggies baby wash 15 fl oz
- Colgate Total Advanced 4 oz
- Colgate Total Whitening 4.2 oz
- CVS cotton swabs 500 ct x 2
- SoyJoy bars berry x 4
- SoyJoy bars raisin & almond x 4

Used coupons for free Barilla, 4 x $1 off Johnson's buddies, $.50 off Duracell (peelie on the package), 2 x $1.50 off Colgate, 2 x $.50 off CVS cotton swabs, $1 off Huggies baby wash, $.25 off Bounty (found on the shelf); paid with existing ECBs (and under $3 out of pocket).

ECBs earned: $10 for Charmin/Bounty/Duracell + $8 for SoyJoy bars + $4 for Colgate + $4 for CVS cotton swabs + $2 for Huggies = $28 ECBs to spend :)

Transaction# 2:

- All small & mighty 3x concentrated, 32 loads x 2 (BOGO sale)
- SoyJoy bars (assorted flavors) x 8
Coupons used: 2 x $1 off All small & mighty (one from last weeks paper, one printable); paid with existing ECBs (and under $1 out of pocket).

ECBs earned: $8 for SoyJoy bars.