Weekly Round-up #4 - January 25-31

This week I again achieved my goal of staying under $50.00 for food and toiletries and even eating out!

Purchases

Food                                                     

-Lemon (1)

-Bananas (2 lb)

-Egglands Best Eggs, dozen (2)

-White Milk, gallon (2)

-Chocolate Milk, gallon (1)

-Loaf of Bread (1)

-Sugar, 5 lb bag (11)

-Bar-S Hot Dogs (1)

-Hormel Party Tray (1)        

-Kashi Go Lean Cereal (1)
-Kelloggs Crunchy Nut cereal (1)
-Zone Perfect bars (18)
-Kelloggs Raisin Bran Cinnamon Almond Cereal (5)
-Pom Bars (9)
-Ritz Crackers (2)
-Nissin Cup Noodles (30)
-Hannaford Wheat Elbow Macaroni (1)
-Fleischmann's Homemade Bread Kit (3)       Household 
-Mariani Dried Pineapple (2)                         - Brawny Paper Towel, single roll (1)
-Pie Shell (2)                                                 - Purina One Beyond dog food, 3.5 lb bag (2)
-Ground Mustard (1)                                                              
-Hershey's Chocolate Bars (16)
-Twizzlers (4)
-Skittles (3)
                                              Other

 - 5 Free Hot Chocolates at Dunkin Donuts

 - 2 Free ice cream cones at McDonalds

 - Dozen Donuts at Dunkin Donuts

                                                          

Refunds

Coors Deli Party Platter, NBPR rebate for $8.00

Expenditures
 Rite Aid - $1.01
 Giant - $1.65
 Bloom - $30.30
 Safeway - $5.05
                                                Dunkin Donuts - $7.58

                                                               Total: $45.59

Monthly Total for January: $182.43

I averaged about $45 per week for the month of January. We had plenty of good meals by combining these purchases with items already in my stockpile, and we have a good supply of cereal to last us until the next great deal comes along.

My Super Bloom Shopping Trips!

Here is a photo of my son, Jake, with the deals that he helped me to "hunt down" on Saturday morning:

On our visit to the Bloom in Purcellville, VA for Super Doubles we spent $5.33 on noodle soup cups, a pack of hot dogs, a box of elbow noodles, a bag of sugar, 3 homemade bread kits, and a Hormel party tray from the deli. I'll be getting an $8.00 rebate on the party tray.

Next we visited the Bloom in Leesburg that is closing where we picked up ten 5-lb bags of sugar, two frozen pie crusts, a canister of dried mustard, and two big tubs of ice cream. The sugar was only $1.50 per bag, so I stocked up. Our total there came to $24.62.

Finally, we visited the other Bloom in Leesburg for a few more noodle cups, 2 lbs of bananas, and a roll of paper towels. My total receipt there came to 35 cents!

As Jake was loading the noodle cups into the cart for me, I asked how many were left on the shelf. He replied that he wanted to leave some for other shoppers, since clearing the shelf would be like "camping" in a video game. When I asked what he meant by that, he replied that it meant hiding in a corner with a gun and waiting for someone to walk into the room to shoot them. It isn't illegal, but it is sort of unethical and takes the fun out of the game.

Bloom will be holding ANOTHER Super Doubles event this Saturday, February 4, 2012!

Drugstore Deals - Jan 29 to Feb 4, 2012

*
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bunny, Cadbury's Egg, Reese's Single Egg -  .87 each
Get an ECB for .87 -  limit 1
 *
Hallmark Cards -  .99 each
Get a $3.00 ECB when you buy 3, limit 1*

*

RA TRUEresult Meter
 FREE after Mail In Rebate
*

*

St Joseph Enteric Aspirin - $2.00
Get a $2 RR
*
Pur-Absorb Iron Supplement - $10.00
Get a $10 RR
*
Blink Tears Eye Care - $8.00
 $1.00 coupon: here or in Smart Source insert of 1/15/12
Get an $8 RR
*
Snicker's Creme Hearts - 2 for $1.00
Use the $1.00/2 coupon the Red Plum 1/29/12
*
TRUE2go Blood Glucose Monitor - $9.99
- $9.99 rebate in package

Free Pet Food at Target!

Today's paper (Sunday, January 29, 2012) has a coupon in the Proctor & Gamble insert to save $3.00 on one Iams dry dog or cat food. This coupon has no size restrictions. Take it to Target where you can find a 1.5 lb bag of Iams dog food or a 12 oz. bag of dry cat food for $3.00.  These packages also have a $3.00 coupon inside good on a larger size for a future purchase!

Bloom Super Double Matchups for January 28, 2012

Here are Match-Ups for the best deals at the Bloom Super Doubles event on Saturday, January 28, 2012.

Rules for Super Doubles at Bloom:
- Scan your Breeze card to get sale price and double coupons.
- Bloom will double a maximum of 20 coupons in the same transaction, up to $1.99 each.
- You may not use more than 10 identical coupons per transaction. 
- Get to the store early if you want to find any freebies!

Key:

SS - Smart Source insert

RP - Red Plum insert

BOGO - Buy One, Get One Free (really means 1/2 price)

 

Beech Nut Baby Food - .65
- $1/3 IP: HERE

= 3 FREE
*

Muir Glen Tomato Paste - $1.85
- $1/1 IP: HERE (must register)
= FREE
*

Nissan Big Cup Noodles - 2/$1.00
- $1/3 Nissan Big Cup Noodles (SS 11/06)
= FREE
*
Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade Bread Starter Kit - $2.49
- $1.50/1 Fleishchmann’s Bread (SS 11/13)
= FREE
*

Bic Pens, 10 ct. - $1.99
- $1/1 Bic Stationary Item (SS 1/08)
This coupon has the new bar code and may not double automatically
= FREE
*
Bounty Napkins, 50 ct. -  .89
- $1/2 Bounty Napkins (PG 1/01)
= FREE
*
Activia Yogurt, 4 pack - 2/$4.00
- $1/1 Activia Yogurt, ALL YOU magazine, February Issue,  pg. 88
- $1/1 Activia Yogurt (SS 1/15)
= FREE 
*
Reynold’s Slow Cooker Liners - $2.50
$1/1 Reynold’s Slow Cooker Liners (SS 1/22)
or $1/1 Reynold’s Liner IP: HERE
= .50 each
*
Alpo Dog Food -  .75
- $1.50/10 (SS1/8)
= .45 each when you buy 10- $1/8 IP: HERE
= .50 each when you buy 8
*
Aunt Jemima Pancakes or French Toast (BOGO @ $2.89) -  $1.49
- $1/2 IP: HERE
= .49 each, WYB2

Mueller's Elbow Macaroni - $1.69
- $1.00 off 2 Mueller’s Whole Grain Pasta (SS 1/08)
= .19 each AND get Hannaford Whole Grain Elbow Macaroni FREE with coupon from ad!

The two Bloom stores in Loudoun County that are closing (Leesburg/Ft. Evans Rd. and Ashburn) will be discounting all merchandise by 75% on Saturday, January 28th!
Your coupons will not double there but will be accepted at face value.*

Get a $25.00 Coupon for Safeway

I rarely fill prescriptions, but I know that is not the case for a lot of people. Many stores will give you an incentive for transferring your prescription to them. I know of some couponers who routinely transfer their prescriptions monthly according to whomever has the best offer.

Safeway is currently offering a $25 Reward Coupon when you transfer a prescription to their Pharmacy.  The coupon saves you $25.00 on your next $50.00 purchase of qualifying items (no beer or alcohol). This promotion runs through March 31, 2012 and you can read the details of the offer here.

Bloom Stores Markdown to 50% Off

The two Bloom supermarkets that are closing in Loudoun County - in Ashburn (on Farmwell Rd.) and in Leesburg (on Fort Evans Rd across from the Outlet Malls) - discounted their entire stock of merchandise by 50% today!

Those two stores are no longer doubling coupons, but will accept manufacturer's coupon at face value. They will not accept Bloom store coupons. They are open seven days a week, from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Next week the stores will discount merchandise to 75% and the percentage will continue to drop weekly until they close around February 12, 2012.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are some HOT store coupons you can use at the stores that are remaining open:

• $1.00 off any purchase of $1.00 or more from Meat Department
• $2.00 off purchase of $2.00 or more from Deli department
• $3.00 off any  purchase of $40 or more (Entire store)

You can print these coupons from your computer at Coupons.com. Plug in your zip code, then click on "local coupons" on the left hand side of the page. Then look for the coupon that says: Bloom - Football Frenzy - Save $6 with an all-star lineup of coupon savings! These coupons do not expire until February 7, 2012.

Weekly Roundup #3 - January 18-24

I went a bit over budget this week because there were some really great catalina deals that I wanted to take advantage of, but I am still under budget overall for the month of January.

Here are the results for this week:

Purchases

Food
- Bloom whole wheat bread (1)

- Fleischmann's Homemade Bread Kits (7)
- Pepperidge Farm cinnamon Bread (2)

- 5 lb bag of sugar (1)
- Quaker Oats (2)
- Quaker Grits (1)

- Campbell's Soup at Hand (18)

- Can chicken broth (1)
- Kelloggs Raisin Bran Cinnamon Almond cereal (7)
- Activia Yogurt 6-packs (8)
- Gallon white milk (3)
- Gallon chocolate milk (1)
- Pepsi 6-packs (6)
- V8 Fusion Smoothie (1)
- V8 vegetable juice, 6-pack (1)
- Coke Zero, 2-liter bottles (2)

- Hatfield ham steaks (2)

- Marie Callender's frozen dinners (2)
- Totino's pizza rolls (12)
- Fig bars (1)
- Goldfish crackers (6)
- Quaker chewy granola bars (3)
- Zone Perfect bars (2)
- Jello Mixchief (3)
- UP2U gum (18)
- Chocolate covered cherry (1)

Health and Beauty
- Ricola cough drops (9 )
- K-Y Jelly (2)

Household 
- Hartz Hamster food (1)
- Purina One Beyond dog food, 3.5 lb bag (5)
- Reynolds slow cooker liners (2)
- Finish Powerball dishwasher detergent (2)

                                                          
                    Refunds
                    Activia Yogurt
                    Novartis Recall


                     Expenditures
                     Rite Aid - $4.44
                     Giant - $47.36
                     Bloom - $5.12

                 Total: $56.92

Monthly Total to date for January: $136.84

I have quite a few catalinas left over for next week's shopping, so I should easily stay under the $200 mark this month!

Novartis OTC Recall

                                                  

Earlier this month Novartis, a company that produces many over-the-counter medications, announced a recall of  Excedrin^® and NoDoz^® products with expiry dates of December 20, 2014 or earlier as well as Bufferin^® and Gas-X Prevention^® products with expiry dates of December 20, 2013 or earlier. These products may contain stray tablets, capsules, or caplets from other Novartis products, or contain broken or chipped tablets. You can read the full press release here.
    

                                 

If you have any of the recalled items in your medicine chest (open or not) you may be able to take them to a local supermarket or drugstore for a refund or store credit. If you prefer, you can mail the bottles back to Novartis and receive a check for the suggested retail price plus $2.00 to cover your postage. For instructions on which products to return and how to return them, click here.

 

I had four boxes in my stockpile that I got for free with coupons, and which I will be returning for a profit!

Lots of Harris Teeter Freebies!

 Harris Teeter has nice freebies with coupons through tomorrow, January 24th:

Coke Zero, 2 liter ~ $1.67
FREE with the .99 Facebook coupon that I posted earlier here 

Ken's Dressing, 9 oz - $1.00
FREE with the $1.00 from the Smart Source insert of 1/8/12

(This coupon was regional, you may have $1.00 off two)

Franks Redhot Sauce, 4.5OZ - $1.39

FREE with the $.75 coupon from the Smart Source insert of 1/22/12 doubled
 

Starkist Tuna Pouches, 2.6-3oz - $1.00

FREE with the .50 coupon in the Red Plum insert of 1/1/12 doubled

 or the .50 coupon on Facebook

Band-Aid Adhesive Bandages, 8 ct ~ $1.00
FREE with the $1.00 coupon on Facebook

Colgate Toothbrush

on sale Buy One Get One Free

Regular Price $1.49 - Sale Price .75
FREE with the  .75 coupon in the Smart Source of 1/1/12

Colgate Toothpaste, 6.4 oz, original

on sale Buy One Get One Free

Regular Price $1.49 - Sale Price .75
FREE with the .75 coupon from the Smart Source of 1/1/12

Purina One Beyond Dry Dog Food, 3.5OZ

on sale Buy One Get One Free

 Regular Price - $8.48, Sale Price - $4.24
FREE with the $5.00 coupon for any size from the Smart Source insert of 1/15/12

Halls Cough Drops, 20, 25 & 30 cts (select varieties)

on sale Buy One Get One Free

Regular Price $2.29 - Sale Price $1.15

Combine a ZVR for $1.50 off two at the Harris Teeter Website

with a manufacturer's coupon from here  or here for $1 off when you buy 2

Wolfgang Puck Sauce ~ $2.49

Combine a $1.00 ZVR at the Harris Teeter website

with a $1.00 coupon from Smart Source of 1/15/12

or a .75 coupon from here
and THEN get a catalina coupon good good for .75 OYNO!

Safeway Freebies

Here are a couple of great deals at Safeway this month:

Pom Bars (in the produce section) are on sale for $1.00 each until February 28th.

Use the $1.00 off any Pom Wonderful product coupon found in the Smart Source insert of 1-8-12 to get it for FREE! Or print out a coupon for $1.00 off any Pom product here. There is also a tearpad coupon for $1.00 off any Pom product - look for it in the produce section of your supermarket.

Hallmark Cards has a catalina deal for any 3 greeting cards priced over .99 each. When you buy 3 cards, you get back a catalina worth $5.00 on your next shopping trip. You can buy 3 cards worth $1.49 each and pay $4.47 plus tax, then get back $5.00!

The catalina offer is running until February 14th.

My Bloom Super Doubles Trip

Here the results from my trip to Bloom for Super Doubles yesterday:      

• 7 Fleishmann's Homemade Bread Kits    
•  8 Activia Yogurt 4-packs
•  2 Marie Callender's Frozen meals
• 2 Reynolds Slow Cooker liners
• 1 V8 Juice 6-pack
• 1 5-lb. bag of My Essentials Sugar 

My total came to $2.74 including tax and the bag of sugar alone cost $3.19.

Definitely worth braving the icy roads yesterday!!

It has been confirmed that there will be another Super Doubles at Bloom this Saturday, January 28th. If you couldn't make it this week because of the weather or the shelves were bare of things you wanted to buy, many of the same items will be free again this weekend.

Drugstore Deals: Jan 22-28, 2012

*

Estroven Maximum Strength - $9.99
- $9.99 ECB, limit 1

*

Carmex Lip Balm - $1.50

- $1.50 coupon from the Red Machine

(Scan your card, it may or may not pop out)

*

*

GE CFL Light Bulbs, 1 pk - $3.99
-$3 +UP Reward (limit 2)
-$1.00 Energy Smart or Halogen (October All You magazine)
*
☺Mentos UP2U Gum, 14 ct - $1.00
-$1.00 +UP Reward when you buy 3 (limit 4)
-$1.00 coupon in the Jan 1, 2012 Smart Source insert

*

*

 

Renew Life Flush & Be Fit 14 Day Kit - $20.00
- $3.00 Health Magazine (Jan) or Whole Living Magazine (Jan)
- $5.00 Walgreens January coupon booklet
- $20.00 Mail In Rebate prints at checkout

*

TRUEresult Blood Glucose Monitor -  $12.99
- $12.99 Mail In Rebate on the box

*

Ultimate Flurry Protein Bar -$1.99
- $1.99 RR

Giant Bargains - January 19-25, 2012

There are more great deals at Giant this week!
     

Zone Perfect bars on sale for $1 (10/$10) and FREE with the .55 coupon doubled from the Smart Source insert of 1-22-2012.




Campbell's Soup at Hand is on sale for $1 each (10/$10) and there are coupons for $1 off 2 cans in the Smart Source insert of January 8, 2012. While .50 per can is a decent price for soup, there is a catalina deal running that makes it work out to .17 each!

Here are the details:
Buy any Campbell's microwaveable bowls or Soup at Hand (excluding Healthy Request varieties) between 1/23/12 and 2/19/12 and save on a future order.

Buy 4 and get $1.25 OYNO
Buy 5 and get $1.50 OYNO
Buy 6 and get $2.00 OYNO

You can buy 6 Campbell's Soup at Hand for $6.00 and use 3 coupons to pay $3.00 out of pocket. Then get back a catalina for $2.00 making your total purchase cost $1.00!

There is also a catalina deal on Kleenex tissues (50 ct. or larger) running from 1/23/12 to 2/19/12. Kleenex is on sale this week for $1.50 (2/$3.00). There were coupons in the Smart Source insert of the January 1, 2012 issue of the Washington Post for $1.00 off when you buy two boxes. The catalina details are:

Buy 5 and get $1.00 OYNO

Buy 6 and get $1.50 OYNO
Buy 7 or more and get $2.00 OYNO

If you bought 6 boxes for $9.00 and used 3 coupons for $3.00 off, you would pay $6.00 out of pocket, then get back $1.50 for a total cost of $4.50 or .75 a box. Other newspapers got a coupon for .50/1 box, that would double to $1.00, making your final cost .25 per box.


You can save $5.00 instantly when you buy 7 specified Kellogg's products.

Here is what I plan to do:
Buy 6 Kellogg's Raisin Bran Cinnamon @ $2.50 each = $15.00
1 Kashi Go Lean cereal =  $3.00
Total = $18.00

Use 1 Recyclebank  coupon off the Kashi cereal -   $2.00
Use 6 coupons for .70 Kelloggs Raisin Bran Cinnamon from Kelloggs.com  = $8.40 when doubled
Get Instant Savings - $5.00
Total discounts = $15.40
Pay $2.60
Get $1.00 from  Saving Star  wyb any 3 Kellogg's cereals

Total = $1.60 for 7 boxes of cereal or .23 a box!

Barilla Whole Grain Pasta is on sale for $1.00 (10/$10).  The Washington Post had coupons in the Smart Source insert of 1-8-2012 for $1 off when you buy that would make it .50. However, other newspapers carried a coupon for .55 off that would make it FREE when doubled!



Still on sale this week:
(see my last Giant post for details)
- Ricola Dual Action -  2/$3.00 - .75 coupon doubled = FREE
- UP2U Gum - 10/$10 - use $1 coupon - FREE
- Purina One Beyond Dog Food - $6.00 - use $5.00 coupon = $1.00

Best Deals for Bloom Super Doubles

Rules for Super Doubles at Bloom on Saturday, 1-21-12:
- Scan your Breeze card to get sale price and double coupons.
- Bloom will double a maximum of 20 coupons in the same transaction, up to $1.99 each.
- You may not use more than 10 identical coupons per transaction. 
- You can do multiple transactions in one day.
- Get to the store early if you want to find any freebies!

Key:

SS - Smart Source insert

RP - Red Plum insert

PG - Proctor & Gamble insert

Nissan Big Cup Noodles - 2/$1.00
- $1/3 Nissan Big Cup Noodles (SS 11/06)
= FREE
*
Fleishchmann’s Simply Homemade Bread Starter Kit - $2.99
- $1.50/1 Fleishchmann’s Bread (SS 11/13)
= FREE
*

Bic Pens, 10 ct. $1.99
- $1/1 Bic Stationary Item (SS 1/08)
= FREE
*
Bounty Napkins, 50 ct., $0.89
- $1/2 Bounty Napkins (PG 1/01)
= FREE
*
Activia Yogurt, 4 pack - 2/$4
- $1/1 Activia Yogurt, ALL YOU magazine, February Issue,  pg. 88
or
-  $1/1 Activia Yogurt (SS 1/15)
= FREE 
*
Aquafresh premium toothpaste - 2/$5.00
 - $1.00/1 (RP 1/1)
= .50 each
*
Grande Chips - $2.50
- $1/1 Grande Chips (SS 1/15)
= .50
*
Reynold’s Slow Cooker Liners - $2.50
$1/1 Reynold’s Slow Cooker Liners (SS 1/22)
or $1/1 Reynold’s Liner IP: HERE
= .50

Rumor has it that Bloom will be holding another Super Doubles event on January 28, 2012. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Get Your Forever Stamps Now!

The U.S Postal Service has announced that the price of a First Class postage stamp will increase by one cent to 45-cents this Sunday, January 22, 2012.

I use stamps a lot to trade coupons through the mail and send off for refunds, so I'll be picking up several extra books of stamps today before the rate hike takes effect.

The Forever stamp will always be valid as first class postage on standard envelopes weighing one ounce or less, regardless of any subsequent postage increases.

Free Hershey Bars at Safeway

Safeway has Hershey's chocolate bars on sale, Buy 2 Get 2 Free until January 31, 2012.

At some stores (Bloom and Harris Teeter) a Buy 1 Get 1 free sale really means that the item will ring up 1/2 price and you don't even need to get two. However, at other stores (Giant, Rite Aid, and Safeway) a B1G1 free sale means that the first item will ring up full price and the second item will ring up zero.

There were coupons in the Smart Source insert of 1-8-2012 to get a free Hershey's Air Delight aerated milk chocolate bar when you buy any milk chocolate bar up to $1.19. For every two coupons that you have, you can get 4 FREE candy bars! The first two are free from Safeway because of their sale and you are "paying" for the second two with your coupon.

Here is another deal I plan to do at Safeway this week. Remember back on January 8th when I told you that MyCokeRewards had an offer to get a FREE box of Triscuits, Wheat Thins or Ritz Crackers for 165 points?  Well, my coupon has already arrived in the mail and Safeway has Ritz crackers on sale B1G1 free this week, so that means 2 FREE boxes for me!

If you would like a referral code for MyCokeRewards click here to send me an email and let me know!

Giant Deals this Week

The following items are free or cheap at Giant this week. Remember to ask for a raincheck if your store is out of something so that you can use your coupons and get the sale price when they restock! These deals are good through tomorrow, Jan 19, 2012:

Purina One Beyond dog food (3.5 lb bag)  - on sale for $6 (2/$12)
$1.00 with the $5.00 coupon off any one size or variety from the Smart Source of 1-1-2012



Mentos UP2U gum - on sale for $1
FREE with the $1 off any single pack from the Smart Source of 1-1-2012



Ricola Cough Drops - on sale for $1.50 (2/$3)
FREE with the .75 coupon from the Smart Source of 1-1-2012 doubled



Totinos Pizza Rolls - on sale for $1.00 (10/$10)
Only .30 each with the .35 coupon from the General Mills insert of 1-8-2012 doubled


Hatfield Ham - on sale for $2
Use the $1 off any Hatfield product form the Red Plum of 10-16-2011 to pay $1
My hand scanner gave me a store coupon for .75 off, so my final price was .25!



There is a deal to get a $7.00 catalina coupon when you spend $20 on Pepsi and Quaker products. You can do this:

Buy 4 Pepsi 6-packs - on sale 3 for $10
Buy 3 Quaker Chewy Granola bars - on sale 2 for $5

Use two coupons for $2 off 2 Pepsi multi-packs from the Smart Source of 1-1-2012
Use one coupon for $1 off two Quaker Granola Bars from the Red Plum of 1-8-2012

Total is $20.84 minus $5 in coupons = $15.84 - get back $7 catalina = $8.84
 

Weekly Round-Up #2 - January 11-17, 2012

This was a good week for milk and cereal at Giant - things we use a lot of. I ended up with 5 catalinas worth $3.75 each on a gallon of milk AND a catalina good for $7 on my next shopping trip!

Here are the results for this week:

Purchases

Gift Cards
Subway $25 gift card - I received a free 6" sub sandwich for buying it.

Food
- 1 loaf of sandwich bread
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal (5 boxes)
- Multi-grain Cheerios (11 boxes)
- Beechnut stage 2 baby food (12 jars)
- Quaker Chewy granola bars (3 boxes)
- Pepsi 20-can multipack (2)
- UP2U gum (4 packs)
- 3 chocolate covered cherries (Rite Aid fillers)
- 2 candy canes filled with M&M's (Walgreens clearance - .24 each)
- 1 jumbo sized candy cane (Walgreen's clearance - .24)

Health and Beauty
- Ben Gay (4)
- Visine (2)
- Theraflu Warming Caplets (3)
- Ricola cough drops (4)

 Household
- 1 Zippo candle lighter
- 1 4 lb. bag of Kibbles & Bits dog food
- 1 scented pencil (clearanced at Walgreens for .24)
- 3 Hallmark greeting cards (CVS)

Other:
- 4 FREE Medium Hot Chocolates at Dunkin Donuts
- 2 FREE Oatmeals at McDonalds (with coupons I received from  Living Social)
- 2 lunches at Subway during my daughter's volleyball tournament with gift card

Refunds:
- Theraflu  -  $5.00 gift card
- Rite Aid  SCR #25 - $5.00

Expenditures
CVS - $1.32
Rite Aid - $13.27
Walgreens - $1.24
Giant - $27.29
Subway - $25.00
Total: $68.12

Okay, I went 18.12 over budget this week, but I don't mind because I did so well last week.
Also, I still have about $20 left on my Subway gift card!

We had plenty of good meals this week from my stockpile and freezer, so even though I didn't buy anything except for dog food, cereal, milk, soda, and candy we didn't starve! The baby food will be donated.

I did have to spring for a loaf of bread with no coupons - I hated doing that, but my kids pack sandwiches for their school lunches every day, and I didn't have enough drugstore rewards to get a free loaf this week, which is my usual strategy.

Total for January to date:  $79.92

Saving Star - Win 6 months of FREE Groceries

Saving Star  is a great program that helps you to save money effortlessly while shopping. Once you sign up and plug in your store loyalty cards, you can activate "coupons" to use.

These "coupons" do not come off your actual shopping bill, but are deposited into your Saving Star account. Once you reach a minimum of $5.00 in your account, you can cash out and transfer the money to your Paypal account.

The wonderful thing about Saving Star is that you can use it IN ADDITION to store coupons and manufacturer's coupons, and no cashier is the wiser!

Click here to enter the Saving Star contest to win 6 months of free groceries, worth up to $2500!

FREE AARP Membership!

Anyone age 50 and over who is unemployed is eligible for a free membership in AARP - the American Association of Retired People. This organization offers seniors a wealth of discounts and information to improve the quality of life.

If you are already a member, you can extend your annual membership for free. Just click here and fill out the form. Your packet will arrive in the mail after a few weeks.





One benefit of belonging to AARP is their exclusive savings program with Walgreens. Scan your AARP card every time you shop at Walgreens and receive coupons for discounts and free items. You can read more about the AARP/Walgreens partnership here.

Bloom Update - Super Doubles

Bloom is holding a Super Doubles event again on January 21, 2012!

Start clipping coupons for the last Super Doubles event before Bloom begins the conversion to Food Lion on February 15, 2012. Super Doubles will only occur at the stores in Loudoun County that are not closing.

The stores that ARE closing  - in Ashburn (on Farmwell Rd.) and Leesburg (on Fort Evans Rd.) - will begin marking down their merchandise by 25% beginning on 1-8-2012. Coupons will not be accepted for marked-down merchandise.

Mentos UP2U Gum

Mentos UP2U gum is free this week at both Giant (through Thursday) and Rite Aid (through Saturday). Both stores have it on sale for $1 and if you use the $1 coupon off any single pack in the Smart Source insert of 1-1-2011 it is FREE.

Though you may want to hang on to some coupons for next week, since it will be a "money maker" at Rite Aid. UP2U gum will be $1, and you will get a $1 UP reward when you buy 3 packs in one transaction. The limit is 4, so you could end up with 12 FREE packs of gum and a $4 profit!