Uninsured and taking prescription medications?

That's the boat I've found myself in. Sure, you can pay $30 a year to Walgreens and get their overpriced drugs brought town to just slightly more than everywhere else.

Or I can give you another reason to join Swagbucks.

I take a brand-name thyroid medication. I can't take generics on this medication for multiple reasons, so the $4 generics at the major chains won't work for me. We are currently uninsured, so I've been eating the whole cost of this medication - ranging from $18-23 a month depending on where you fill it. I've been filling it at Wal-Mart (and, coincidentally, I paid $23 one month and $18 the next without changing a thing). This month, through tomorrow, there was a coupon at coupons.com for a free $25 gift card to Rite Aid if you transferred a prescription to them that you have never filled at Rite Aid before. So I decided to give it a go if the price was similar to Wal-Mart. It's quite a drive out to Rite Aid for me - about 40 minutes - but I was going to be in that area today anyway.

Their cost was $19.99 for 30 pills. I brought in this printout from the Swagbucks HealthAdvantage Program. I'm gonna be honest here: I figured for something that was free on the internet, it probably wouldn't be worth all that much. But in today's economy, every penny counts - I'll give it a shot.

I brought my prescription, my coupon, and my print out. I said, "I've never used this before - I don't know if it will even do anything for this prescription, but if you'd try, I'd really appreciate it." They said no problem - they had never seen it before, but they'll try running it at check-out.

It saved me $8.37!

I almost fell over when I saw that! I figured it might knock off $.50 - maybe a buck. But over $8 was HUGE to us. In the end, I got my $20 prescription for $11.62 - and got a $25 gift card!

I don't know if you even have to sign up for Swagbucks to use the discount card. I don't think you do. But I don't understand why you wouldn't want to. I have never paid them a cent of money, and in return for doing my internet searching through them, I've received $130 in Amazon gift certificates - and I'm not that far off from another $5 certificate.

I'll be really honest - I don't know if I'll keep going out to Rite Aid for this prescription or not. I went for the $25 gift card to get more supplies for our container garden (and spoil my kids a little). But with as great of a discount as I got there for this HealthAdvantage Program card, I just might go back if the discounts aren't as great at other stores. Where can you use it? It says it's is accepted at over 50,000 pharmacies nationwide. Here are a few of the "most recognizable" stores they list:

Albertsons
Bi-Lo
Costco
CVS
Duane Reade
Eckerd
Fred’s Stores
Giant Eagle
HY-Vee
Kerr
Kmart
Kroger
Longs
Meijer
Osco
Pamida
Publix
Rite Aid
Safeway
Sav-on
Schnucks
Supervalu
Target
Tops
Walgreens
Walmart
Wegmans

So get out there, save some money through Swagbucks and their HealthAdvantage Program. I'm not sponsored by Swagbucks or anything - this is just a really happy user and fan spreading the word about a great free service offered by Swagbucks.com.

Great Just1 deals at Rite Aid this week

Are you participating in Just1 and looking for inexpensive ways you can help?

Utah Deal Diva has a great Rite Aid list this week! Lots of scenarios. And I still have my $20 gift of savings certificate to use. I think I'll be heading there tomorrow before my moms' night out (that's right - no kids, no hubbies... I can't wait!)

How I saved $239.97 and earned $10

I wish I would have seen this earlier than 2 hours ago because I would have posted it for others. The Bayer Contour Blood Sugar Monitors were on sale at Rite Aid for $14.99. I had 3 coupons from a few weeks back for up to $30 off each monitor, limit one per person per transaction... so I brought my kids with me for the other purchases (though she let me use all three). Then Rite Aid has a rebate this month where you purchase 3 of any of a handful of heart-protecting products and you get a $10 Rite Aid gift card in the mail. You got it - this monitor was on the list.

So, the monitors retail for $79.99 each ($239.97). They were on sale under the coupon limit - so I paid nothing out of pocket. And I'm submitting my receipt for the $10 gift card.

To make the deal sweeter, I'll be donating these monitors to some organization that needs them - a homeless shelter, woman's shelter, food pantry, etc - which will be a tax break for us next year =)

Incoming mail

RA Jan - 16.98
Chevron $5 gas card
G - $50 unclaimed assets from MO
free kidvantage (boost for kids) coupon
3 coupons from kraft (free Planters nuts, free cheese and free Nabisco crackers)
2 coupon books
sample soyjoy apple bar (and coupon)
sample quaker natural granola bar
sample bare naked granola
Touch of Gray $8
Amazon/Coinstar $10
Baby Orajel - $1.5
Sucrets - $2

1/13
Safeway: Store Sale $2.47

Target: Store Sale (clearance and repackage) $8.45

Winco: Coupons $4.84
Bag Discount $.09

1/14
Perfect Look: Coupon $1.50

Grocery Outlet: Store Sale $7.00

1/16
Safeway: Bottle Deposit Return $4.25
Coupon $2.85 *free tall Starbucks tea beverage coupons - in store ad through 1/20!

Joann: Store Sale $5.10
Coupons $8.00

Rite Aid: Store Sale $6.00
Coupons $29.00 (!!!)

(Rite Aid has a sale on Huggies diapers right now. Coupled with wipes, coupons from Sunday and additional rebates and coupons, you end up with 2 packs of diaper and 2 tubs of wipes for $3.96! More details HERE - but my wipes were $3.49, not $3.69)

Wal-Mart (1/8): Coupons $1.50

Fred Meyer (1/8):Bag Credit $.05
Store Sale: (2 $1 lettuce bags - find receipt for regular price)

Rite Aid (1/9): Store Sale $8.90
Coupons $3.00
(OOP $2 with $5 ECR!)

Safeway (1/10): Bag credit $.03

Target (1/10): Store Sale $22.19
Coupons: $7.50

Wal-Mart (1/10): Store Sale $1.20

Walgreens (1/10): Store Sale $3.00

Safeway (1/11) Store Sale: $8.72
Bag Credit $.03
Coupons $2.00

Walgreens (1/11)
(Check regular price on Mt. Dew 12 pk - sale 7x$3.00=$21 plus $4.20 deposit)
[received $10 RR exp 1/23]

In today's (e)mail

Incoming:
*Set of straps for my daughter's booster seat. Her's were accidentally buried in the bottom of the hamper and got mold spotty, so I emailed them and they sent a new set free of charge! I was so thankful - way to go Learning Curve!

Outgoing:
*Single Check Rebate submission to Rite Aid for December (I thought I had already submitted it?) for $16.98
*Wall-E/Minute Maid rebate for $5.00
*Zantac Guarantee $5.00 rebate
*Orajel Overnight Cold Sore Patch rebate for $8.00 (see note)
*Circuit City digital photo caribeaner for $10.00... I paid $9.99.

Note - the Orajel rebate is a great money maker this month. Both the 8 ct overnight patches and the cold sore brush are FAR at Walgreens this month. Add to it the $8.00 Orajel mail in rebate (and the $1.00 off coupon that was next to it - but I used it for my kids' toothpaste), and you've got a GREAT deal!
$8.49
-$1.00 coupon
$7.49 out of pocket
-$8.49 ESR
-$.85 10% gift card bonus
-$8.00 MIR

$9.85 PROFIT! ($8.85 in my case, but I'm still happy with it!)

If you're interested in the MIR details:

To receive up to an $8.00 cash refund, send:
1. Your name, address, city, state, and zip code
2. The UPC code proof of purchase from the Orajel Overnight Cold Sore Patch, or Orajel Cold Sore Brush [the following are good for this rebate, but NOT Walgreens, or Orajel Plaque Revealing Rinse, or Orajel Plaque Revealing Pre-Brush Gel].
3. Dated cash register receipt with the Orajel product's item price circled. The refund will not exceed the purchase price. Receipt must be dated after 10/26/08. Postmark must be before 1/31/09.

Mail to: Orajel October 2008 $8.00 Rebate Offer, c/o Best Marketing Inc., P.O. Box 189779, Casselberry, FL 32718

Limit one refund per name, family, address, group, or organization. Offer void where taxed, restricted, or prohibited by law. Offer good only in the USA, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. No facsimiles accepted. EXPIRES 1/31/09.

Rite Aid Sunday and Wags Monday

Only one thing at RA this week (so far - we don't get the ads until Tuesday, and I don't like trying to page through them online). We got one of the coupons for the Digital TV converter boxes from the government (dtv2009.gov). We currently have digital cable, but we aren't sure that we'll be able to keep it, so I figured better safe than sorry. RA has had the boxes for months, but they were always still $20 after the coupon/card for them. Last week, though, they were selling them for $40 - or $0 after the card. So, that's when I got ours. Geof's going to call the company tomorrow, though, because according to the box it should have a universal remote in it and it has the other kind of remote (dedicated?) instead.

In talking to my lovely SM at Wags today, I revised my shopping trip and took full advantage of the RRs I had (and received).

1
Grape Pedialyte $4.50
Citrus Pedialyte $4.50
York Mints $.99
Sunbeam Cuddle-Up Throw $34.99
$44.98
-$10 RR
-$5 RR
-$5 RR
-$4.50 RR
Total $20.48 (off the gift card)
Received $5 RR for throw and $2 RR for Pedialyte, and throw has a $5 MIR

2
5 Cases Dr. Pepper $11.00
Bottle deposits $3.00
$14
-$5 RR
-$2 RR
Total $7 (off the gift card)
Will receive the $3 in deposits back

5 12-packs of Dr. Pepper for $4. That's less than $.07 a can! And it will tide G over until a good sale on Coke at Safeway... =)

I've been busy at the computer

But I haven't had a lot of time for "fun stuff" this week. Sorry you've been neglected =)

I took advantage of the $5/$25 coupon Saturday at Walgreens. I can't really list all of what was purchased since some will be Christmas gifts for family. But, the gift that (so far) I think will be the biggest hit of the year... and the next 4 years... for my FIL was on clearance from $15 down to $3.74! So I picked up 4 of those (I had already gotten one earlier in the week and then kicked myself for not picking up the rest - glad they still had some). They had exactly TWO Blues Clues nighttime glow in the dark Handy Dandy Notebooks with a clock face and write-on-wipe-off pages, also on clearance for $2.49 each. I got 4 Bonnie Bell Lip Smacker sticks and 2 of the tubes (the ones my friend, Meli, would call lip thur-APP-y) - they were all 40% off and I had a handful of BOGO coupons for Lip Smackers and Bonnie Bell products. They'll make great stocking stuffers, too! I bought 2 Lindt dark chocolate with orange bars that came out to free plus a tiny overage after coupons. And, fearing that I wouldn't quite make it to $25 (I was right - it was something like $24.78 after coupons), I picked up two 3-packs of these little rubber bracelets that you're supposed to put the croc-charms in. Only, my kids are two small for the charms (also on clearance) - but the bracelets will go in the dress-up box as well. I ended up spending just over $20 after the coupon - and I'll post details when I have it in front of me.

In other shopping news...

2 bottles of Arbor Mist - on sale at Bi-Mart for $3.49 each. I have a MIR for $4 off 2 from their website a couple months ago. It ends at the end of this month - but it has already been pulled from their site. Those will end up being about $1.50 each!

I found a clay baker at Goodwill for $7.99. I have already passed on it a couple times and I have been wanting to one since reading THIS post. That, coupled with chickens on sale at Fred Meyer this week for $.79/pound... I decided to go for it.

Walgreens again. Oh my beautiful Walgreens! They have Pert on sale this week for $3.49 - I think I mentioned that before. Their coupon for $2.50 off, coupled with my coupons for $1/1 (and one $2/1) left me with 7 more bottles of Pert... and $1.07 in my pocket for buying it! I added in a Triaminic ($4.99 - $2/1 q), a Theraflu ($4.99 - $1/1) and an 80 ct Excedrin express gels ($4.99 - $2/1) to the order. The Theraflu has a MIR for purchase price (though some at HCW are saying the fine print says they deduct your coupon from it.) And purchasing those last 3 together earned me an $8 RR. Second order was a 20 ct Excedrin express gels (also a full MIR - maybe minus coupon... but I didn't use the coupon on this one) and 2 6-packs of Joint Juice. I've heard great things about Joint Juice... and they were BOGO with the first one on sale for $.50 off regular price... and I had 2 $1/1 coupons. So between the Excedrin and the 2 things of Joint Juice, the total came out to $8.98 - minus my $8 RR was $.98 - and I have a a MIR for the Excedrin which will put money back in my pocket.

Apples were a REALLY good price at Grocery Outlet this week. I found out when I was there it was because some of the apples in bags were rotting, but I was careful to choose bags that were good. Only, when I got home, I noticed that one of my 3# bags wasn't as full as the other - so they had been removing rotting apples from the bags and selling them for the same price ($1.99/3lbs). Whatever - I know it's a gamble buying produce at my store. But, that "6 pounds" of apples made 4.5 pints of apple sauce - which I canned for the first time this week! So I went back and carefully looked through the 5 remaining bags of apples yesterday - got 3 of those ($5.97) and 2 5lb bags of WAY better looking apples for $5 each ($10). For just under $16, I have enough apples to fill the rest of the canning jars with apple sauce - and have warm applesauce with dinner! Plus, I'm borrowing canning equipment from a friend... but found the ones I was given and had forgotten about while cleaning out the garage. So I can do this at any time now! I plan to pick up a bunch of acorn squash and pumpkins and can those, too!

Because of all this canning goodness, I actually had to expand our pantry out in our garage! This is SUCH a blessing to us! In the midst of everything else we have going on, I know for a fact that my family can eat - and eat healthfully - should our unemployment situation continue on... or should the power go out for too long. One of these days I'll have to do a post with a photo of our pantry. You can see how stockpiling on frequently used items when they're on sale works for us and helps keep our grocery spending WAY down.

Final great deal of the week. Rite Aid had SoyJoy bars on sale $5/10 ($.50/1). I have grown to really like them - even though soy, for the most part, still scares the bugeezus out of me. I miss granola bars, though, and I like having something that I can safely grab when we're on a long car trip. I had a few coupons for them - one B2GO and two $2/10. The cheapest I've been able to find this has been $.96 at Walmart, so I went and got myself 23 SoyJoy bars for $7 - or about $.30 each!

Everything was in stock!!!!

Everything was there, and one of the products (the Pediatric Sinus Rinse) had an additional $1.00 off NOW coupon on it! There was a $1.50 rebate coupon attached to my Sucrets, but it's good well into 2009 and I have a $2.00 rebate on that one for now. So, I'll hang on to that one. Also, the BOGO on the throat coolers was only up to $2.50 and mine were $2.99. But, seriously, $.49 for a second box - I'm FINE with that!

This was such a great deal because not only will things come back FAR, but the out of pocket up front was so much lower because most of them were on sale, too. I don't usually do the regular price/sale price listing, but for this deal I really want to. If nothing else, just another reminder of how God has blessed us in a time when money is tight. And I'm thankful.

*Sucrets Herbal Berry $4.49/$2.99
*Chapstick Nat Lip Btr $2.99
Theraflu Warming Cough and Cold $6.29/$3.99
Lizard Lips $1.99/$.99
Triaminic Daytime Cough and Cold strips $6.99/$3.99
NeilMed Neti Pot w/ 50 Pkts $14.99/$10.99
Sinus Rinse Pedi Kit $7.99/$4.99
Soft Lips Pomegranate $3.99/$2.99
Little Colds Cough $5.99/$3.99
LypSyl $2.99/$1.99
Throat Cooler Grape $3.99/$2.99
Throat Cooler Strawberry $3.99/$2.99
Hyland's Sniffles and Sneezes Kids $6.49/$3.99
Simply Saline Baby $5.99/$3.99
Simply Saline Sinus Kit $9.99/$6.99
Bee MD Honey Lemon Cough Drops $2.99/$2.49
Children's Advil Blue Raspberry $6.99/$3.99
Excedrin Extra Strength Express Gels $4.69/$3.99

Coupons (links here):
-$2.50 (throat cooler BOGO)
-$1.00 Sinus Rinse Pediatric
-$2.00 Excedrin
-$2.00 Triaminic
-$3.00 Neti Pot
-$1.00 Theraflu
-$1.00 Children's Advil

Totals:
Regular $103.82
Sale $71.32
After coupons/gift card (OOP) $48.82

Single Check Rebate -$71.32
Additional MIRs (-$7.99)

FINAL -$30.49

Between the Robitussin deal from Walgreens last month and this AWESOME deal from RA, we are set to tackle whatever this winter throws at us! Plus, I left there today with all those things above and an additional $30.49 soon to be in my pocket! What a great way to start the day!

Time to ready the medicine cabinets!

Rite Aid has 30 different products for cold and flu season FREE AFTER REBATE this week! If free isn't good enough for you, I've also found some additional coupons that I'll be using at my RA tomorrow. Many were from this post by Money Saving Mom, but a few I hunted out on my own (as you'll see in the comment section of her post).

I admit it - I'm not in RA often enough yet to know the layout of the store, so I made the decision to go there this week simply to case out where the items for this sale are located. I even made notes in my rebate booklet =) So I've got my "map" drawn up, and I'm heading there as soon as they open tomorrow (8 AM) to get my products for this rebate. I'm doubly excited that my $10 RA gift card arrived this week - so that will be even less out of pocket!

Here's my list:
NeilMed Nasalflo Neti Pot--$10.99
There's a $3/1 printable here
Free plus $3 overage

NeilMed Sinus Rinse Starter--$4.99
There's a $3/1 printable MIR here
(This MIR only needs a copy of the receipt - so I can keep it with the other purchases)
Free plus $3 overage

Simply Saline Sinus Kit--$6.99
Free after rebate

Children's Advil 4 oz. Liquid--$3.99
There's a $1/1 printable here
Free plus $1 overage

Theraflu 8.3 oz.--$3.99
There's a $1/1 printable here
Free plus $1 overage

Excedrin Express Gels 20-ct.--$3.99
There's a $2/1 printable here
Free plus $2 overage

Triaminic Strips 14-ct.
There's a $2/1 coupon here
Free plus $2 overage

Simply Saline Baby 1.5 oz.--$3.99
Free after rebate

Children's Throat Cooler Pops 6-ct--$2.99
BOGO coupon here
TWO Free after rebate

Little Colds/Noses 1.7 oz. mist or 1 oz. liquid--$3.99
Free after rebate

Hyland's 125-ct. or 4 oz. liquid--$3.99
Free after rebate

Bee MD Drops 21-ct.--$2.49
Free after rebate

Softlips 1 or 2 pk.--$2.99
Free after rebate

Lizard Lips--$0.99
Free after rebate

Lypsyl 1-ct.--$1.99
Free after rebate

Separate Transaction
Sucrets 18-ct.--$2.99
Additional $2 MIR here
Free plus $2 overage

Separate Transaction
Chapstick True Shimmer--$1.99
MIR in this Sunday's (10/12) Red Plum insert - free up to $2.99
Free after rebate x2!!!

Rite Aid Game Plan

There really isn't anything I want or need at Rite Aid this week. I may look for my rainchecked toothpaste for last week's rebate. But I still plan to make a trip this week - even though I missed my regular Tuesday trip.

Why?

Next week is the big 4 pages of (mostly RA brand) cold and flu prevention and treatment FAR Single Check Rebates! I need to sit down with my rebate book and my RA brand coupons (you can get them, too, for registering on their website!) and plan my attack. As I've said before, Tuesday is my Rite Aid day usually. But I also know that many times they're out of the one-week-only deals by Tuesday. Yes, you can call or fax in your info and they'll fix it, but I'd like to not have to go through that extra step. So... I think I'm going to go on Sunday. It's crazy - insane actually. But I think if I go this week with my list of what I'm looking for and make myself a map of which aisles I need to go to for each product, I could be in and out of there very quickly.

So, that's my plan. Are you planning to hit Rite Aid as well? What are you looking for?

How Exciting!

FrugalHeart just posted that Walgreens is doing another month of FAR Pert 2-in-1! Plus, I just got my $5 rebate back from the Pert and school supplies deal last month, and the check came with 2 coupons - $1/1 Pert and $1/1 Sure. So there's another money maker... AND a shampoo that we already use and love!

I just picked up last month's FAR Pert at Rite Aid yesterday, too (raincheck and I have to fax it in, but it will work). So YAY!!! for free shampoo =)

Free to my good home

Things have been busy here with some company coming for a few days (and then recovering from my really dumb sunburn - you'd think I'd learn by now). But I wanted to get a post up of things that we have gotten free or ridiculously cheap in the last week. Of course, this picture was taken on Sunday and then I went shopping today... and there were a few things not in the picture to begin with. I'll try my best to add them in and explain them all...



Let's start with not pictured: a bottle of Walgreens acid controller complete, 2 boxes (8.9 oz, I believe) Cheerios at $.49 each, 8 packages Bic pens (4 blue, 4 black, 10 pens each), 6 Glade Plug In Scented Oil Warmers with Vanilla Lavender oil, 3 Preparation H travel wipes (10 individually wrapped packets each, $3.03 overage), $10 of my purchase at Walgreens (using that $10/$40 coupon).

What is pictured?
2 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch
2 boxes Kashi Go Lean Blueberry Waffles
1 12 pack Mountain Dew
1 package Giant Chewy Nerds
3 packages Kotex Lightday Longs Liners
1 South Beach Living Tide Me Over drink mix (7 servings)
1 South Beach Living Pepperoni Pizza ($.72)
1 L'Oreal Revitalift Anti-Aging Serum
1 Orajel Toddler Training Toothpaste (about $.50)
2 Wishbone Bountiful Salad Dressings ($.02 overage)
1 Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste
1 Arm & Hammer Essentials Multi-Surface Cleaner Starter Kit ($1 overage)
3 Soyjoy bars (strawberry)
3 packs Trident Xtra Care gum ($.24 each or $.72 total)
1 can Amy's Organic Lentil Soup
1 can Amy's Organic Medium Black Bean Chili
1 bottle Chemistry shampoo
1 roll Duck Packing Tape
2 Oral B toothbrushes and
1 Scientific Calculator (for my coupon binder!)

Some of these things I'm waiting on rebates - some were free outright with a coupon, store sale or combo.

Today's additions:
Bi-Mart
2 bags lightly salted Kettle potato chips

Walgreens
4 cartons Whoppers
1 can Arizona Iced Sweet Tea
1 Excedrin Migraine 24 count (plus $1 register reward for next trip!)
1 Hershey's Syrup

Safeway
1 Cocoa Puffs Combos (I WON THIS in a giveaway from Our Blessed Arrows / Frugal Heart)
2 more Cheerios at $.49 each
2 more Bountifuls dressings

RiteAid
1 Pantene Expressions Shampoo (SHOOT! I forgot the in-ad coupon - I'll have to see if I can return it and use it then!)
1 Crest Plus Scope Whitening Toothpaste
1 Oral B Stages Toothbrush ($.39)

So, it has been a good week in our house. We are SO stocked on toothpaste now. Seriously, I don't think we'd have to buy any for a couple years. But I like having it on hand, not only for our use, but should there be a toiletries drive through any of the local organizations, etc.

Trying to figure it all out

So I headed over to Rite Aid today. They were out of the one thing I **really** wanted to get (Pert Plus) - not just for the coupon/rebate overage, but because it's actually a product we use with or without extreme couponing. But, I did get a few great deals there. I'm waiting to sit down with my receipt and rebate book and double check before I say anything - I'm still kinda new to this and want to make sure I'm saying the right thing so you don't follow my advice - and end up looking dumb =)

One thing I did get there that I know was a great deal was my calcium supplement, Posture D. I noticed last week that it would be on a BOGO sale (due to ad previews on hotcouponworld), and when I was in the store on Friday they only had two on the shelf. So that was where I first headed when I got there - and they still had those two boxes! PLUS, they were each with an additional 25% - so I basically got 2.5 bottles for the cost of 1 ($10.99). I have NEVER seen that one on sale, so YAY!!!

Next was a quick stop over to Bi-Mart for lucky number Tuesday. The numbers weren't lucky, but they were having a great sale on Bic pens. I checked with a manager to make sure they accepted coupons, and they did. Bic pens were on sale 4 10-packs for $1 - limit 8. I had 2 coupons for $1/2 Bic products. So I picked up 8 packs of pens for $0 oop. I bought a birthday card for a friend while I was there because I don't feel comfortable with getting that kind of $0 oop deal yet. I asked if they had a school supply donation box this year - and they didn't. So I quickly ran across the street to Walgreens and donated EIGHTY pens to the drive

While in there, I quickly looked to see if the had the last vacuum bag in that I've been waiting for - and they didn't. I looked at the Glade scented oil warmers there (I had a couple great coupons, and the refills were part of the Rite Aid deals today). They were BOGO! So I got all excited, went out to the care, got my two great coupons (a manufacturer's BOGO and a $4/1), and went back in. It took clarifying it with a manager, which I don't mind waiting for - I just stayed polite and patient, but I left with 4 of the warmers, each with one bottle of the oil, for $.79 oop!!!! Then, just before starting this post, I caught up on some of my other frugal mamas that I regularly read. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun JUST a bit. It seems that, had I waited until Friday to do this, I could have gotten a $4 rebate on them as well. That's okay... Live and learn. I still got a great deal on them.

Then I got home, plugged one in on the lowest setting in the kids'/guest bathroom, and remembered why I don't use them. GOSH they're strong! So I'll either have a nice little housewarming gift to give to someone or will have a Glade products give away on this site in a couple months. Hopefully, by then, I'll have a bit more of a readership!

Rite Aid

The people over at Hot Coupon World are awesome at helping you figure out deals. They helped me make a great deal today! I bought:

Befine warm clay mask packet - $1.99
St. Ives Elements Olive Cleanse - $6.99
St. Ives Elements Olive Cleanse - $0.00 (RA BOGO)
Rite Aid Epsom Salt 6lbs - $3.99

Coupons
Befine $5.00 (RA Coupon book)
St. Ives Elements - BOGO ($6.99)

Total - $.98!!!!!

So, I got both St. Ives for free (Rite Aid paid for one with their sale, St. Ives for the other with their coupon), and the $3.01 overage on the Be Fine coupon paid for most of my epsom salt! The cashier was so funny. She looked at me and said, "I don't know how you do it!" I just said that I'm really careful with my family's money. She joked that if her register was short, she'd come looking for me. No need to look... I'll be back on Tuesday =)

How is it working so far for our household?

I've only been at this about a month now. MAYBE 5 weeks tops. So I sat down and looked at receipts just from Rite Aid this month to see how this is working out for us. Here's what I was telling Ali (seriously, the worlds coolest best friend EVER) the other night on AIM.

While I was going over the rebates this evening, I did some figuring over what I've purchased so far at Rite Aid, how much I've spent, and how much I'll be getting back in rebates.

The only other thing I plan to buy yet at Rite Aid is a bottle of Pert Plus - Geof's shampoo. That rebate is for next week only, so I have to wait. But when they have those "this week only" rebates, they usually WAY discount the cost of the product for the sale week. It sells for about $4 now, the rebate is for $2 (and the new sale flier says it will be $2.99). I have a $2 off coupon - so I may actually MAKE $1.01 on it!

But not counting the bottle of Pert next week.... I've purchased about $56 in merchandise this month - and after rebates, depending on what I get for those Rice Krispies rebates, I'll have spent about a total of $8-12 out of pocket for a trunk full of stuff! And that's not even counting the huge mix up they made last week with my Mr. Clean magic erasers where they ended up crediting me over $2 more than they should have (and couldn't take it back when I pointed it out to them). So, really, probably about $6 total.

And that's just the ONE store! I have about $50 coming back to me at Walgreens, too! And $10 from Kelloggs and $5 from Pert and 2 pedicures!

Ali asked a great question:
Do you think you are going out shopping more frequently for all of these deals or is it about the same number of trips? Just wondering how gas costs figure in and stamps too. I know it's a minute part but it does all add up.

I definitely go out more frequently. Before the rebate madness, I never shopped at Walgreens or RiteAid. However, I do both of those on Tuesday, which is the same day that I do Bi-Mart (magic number Tuesday - check your member number on their sign to see if you won prizes), which I did anyway. So gas wise, it's two extra stops... but they're all within 2 blocks of each other

Stamps - Rite Aid and Walgreens I can submit online every month - so no stamps there. The others (this month is was 2 RK, Pert, Kel, 2 peds) - the two offers that I had two of - I put both in one envelope. So this months mailings were 4 stamps. We did have to buy this last book of stamps because I didn't know where mine were, but before my mom had her stroke, she ordered (I'm not kidding) 25 books of forever stamps. I used some at Christmas/funeral thank yous, and we still probably have about half of those. So we're set on stamps for awhile. And envelopes were purchased about 3 years ago now at Sam's Club - and we still have a couple good handfuls left.

Happy Tuesday!

Of course, Tuesdays are my main bargain hunting day. Lucky number Tuesday at Bi-Mart wasn't lucky for us this week, so I sat in the car in the rain making my final lists for Rite Aid and Walgreens.

Rite Aid was kind of a disappointment today. They were having their Post cereals BOGO, so I thought I'd add my $1/2 to that and get a great deal. Only, their one you had to buy was close to $5... so no thank you. That seemed to be how most of the deals there went today - lots of BOGOs that were still out of my price range. What I did get, though, was a bottle of Sauve body wash (I'm just about out of mine, so I went with what I could find cheap - no one was having much sale-ing on body wash this week), Crest toothpaste, box of 18 Ziploc gallon freezer bags and box of 15 Rite Aid gallon freezer bags. Don't forget the 10% off with Rite Rewards (RR):

Crest Extra White - reg $4.49, sale $3.19, coupon for $.75/1, rebate for $3.19
FREE plus $.75 overage
Ziploc Freezer bags 15+3 free - $3.59, RR $.36, coupon for $.40/1
$2.83
RA Freezer bags - $2.59, RR $.26, RA coupon for free RA brand with purchase of Ziploc
FREE plus $.26 overage
Suave body wash (50% more free) - $2.69, RR $.27, RA coupon for $1/1
$1.42

OOP - $6.43
After rebates - $3.24

Then Walgreens. They **finally* got one of the two space bags in, and I had to hunt down some of the other sale items, but I found everything I was looking for... even my rain check items.

Dove Skin Revitalizer - regular $12.99, sale $9.99, coupon for $3.50/1
$6.49 + $3 Register Reward (RR for Walgreens)

I did that as a separate transaction so that I could use my register reward right away on the next order. I paid the $6.49 with what I had on my rebates gift card.

Cheerios - sale $1.99 a box, $1 off per box coupons from the Cheerios Challenge
4 for $3.96
Bic Permanent Markers (24 pack) - regular $14.99, sale $6.99, $3/1 coupon
$3.99
Vacuum bag - $5.99, rebate for $5.99
FREE after rebate
Scott 4 pk TP - rain check for 2 at $1.99 each. Coupons for $1/1
2 for $1.98
Pencil box - regular $1.99, sale $.50
$.50
Pure Silk shave cream - $1.99, Walgreens coupon making it $.99
$.99

Total $18.41. Used my $3 register reward immediately, and finished up my gift card, too (there was only $14 and change on it). I $7.79 oop - or $1.20 after rebate (extra 10% for gift card)!

Tomorrow's preview: Grocery Outlet and Safeway, Safeway has a great deal on All Laundry Detergent. I have a $1/1 manufacturer coupon to add to their super coupon of $2.99 per bottle!

Rite Aid (with possibly more info than you want to know)

My Rite Aid finds this week -

Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner - $5/2 minus $2/1 coupon = $3 for one shampoo and one conditioner. Plus main-in offer for a free manicure or pedicure (hello cute toes!) makes this deal totally worth it!

Durex condoms - regular price, $12.99 for 12, on sale for $6.99, rebate for $5.00 - limit 3 rebates per household. Supposedly there was a $2/1 coupon two weeks ago, but I sure don't have it. Plus, the boxes at our Rite Aid were 50% more free (18). So, after rebate, 3 18-count boxes for $5.97.

Astroglide X - regular price, $11.99, on sale for $7.99, rebate for $7.99 - free after rebate

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers - buy 1 at regular price, get Rite Aid brand free. I had a coupon for $.50 off the Mr. Clean brand erasers. The cashier had to write in the price for the store brand erasers, but couldn't read that far up the receipt. I offered to go check the shelf. It had $1.99 on the shelf, $1.69 hanging off the shelf as a special, then the BOGO hanging off on top of that. She suspected, as did I, that it would be $1.69, rang it up, all done... until I saw that the receipt had it ring up for $1.99 originally. I pointed it out, expecting they'd just give me my $.30 back. But oh no. They had to return both erasers, the register doesn't recognize coupons in returns, so they gave me the full $4 something back - plus my coupons to use again. Then they rang up the order again, this time changing the price on the Rite Aid erasers to $1.69. I SO ended up making money on that deal!

Today's bargains

Nothing monumental today, but the bargains that I did find are worth noting.

Do you have a Grocery Outlet in your area? If so, you HAVE to check it out... and regularly. The different things they carry change often, but if you stumble upon a great deal for your family, it's like you've hit the jackpot!

Today's super find - Geof LOVES Famous Dave's. We don't have one here (and with my celiac disease, it's a no-no for me now), but it was our "special" dining option in South Dakota. And for Mr. Spicy... What's spicy?, Devil's Spit was the sauce of choice. 2 trips ago, they had Dave's Bold and Sassy sauce. Another flavor showed up last trip. This trip - Devil's Spit for $.79. I picked up two bottles for him =) Also, quite a good sized bottle of Bertoli's EVOO for $7.99. I'll be returning the bottle I bought at Safeway the other day... 1/3 the size for $5.49.

Then it was back over to Rite Aid for the other box of Rice Crispies with Strawberries.

Finally to Safeway for a couple items, including a free 2 liter of A&W Cream Soda from a register print out last week. Also a bottle of Mott's Apple Juice for $.99. I've NEVER in my life used an expired coupon, and I didn't notice this one was until the register wouldn't take it. I asked my favorite cashier to just put it back for me, but he said he'd make it go through for me - and let me know that Safeway was starting to really crack down on expired coupons. That was really sweet of him - and totally unexpected!