Ice Cream Craving Fulfilled! Got 1 Ice Cream & 2 boxes of cereal bars for $0.75!

I had a sudden craving for ice cream. I made it my mission to get some today. I also wanted to get cereal bars because they're on sale at CVS this week.

Here's what I got for $0.75:

1 Dreyer's Ice Cream = $3.50
1 South Beach Cereal Bars = $2.50
1 Planters Nut-rition Cereal Bars = $2.50

Total without coupons/discounts: $8.50 (food isn't taxed in CA) Coupons I used:

-$5.00 Extra Care Bucks
-$2.00 off 1 box of South Beach Cereal Bars
-$0.75 off 1 box of Planters Nut-rition Cereal Bars

Total after coupons/discounts: $0.75!

Plus I earned $1.00 Extra Care Buck from it being my 4th green bag tag & $1.00 Extra Care Buck for buying 2 boxes of cereal bars.
I earned a total of $2 Extra Care Bucks! $8.50 total without coupons/discounts - $0.75 total with coupons/discounts = $7.75 full price eliminated!

Mailbox Monday - $312.10 Check from Plastic Jungle!

Happy Mailbox Monday! I can't believe February is almost here.

My favorite items that came into my mailbox this past week are the checks from Plastic Jungle and Renpure Organics.

If any of you received gift cards you can't use over the holiday's, you can sell them at Plastic Jungle and get a check that you can cash for money! I received a nice $312.10 check that I'm going to put into my 2011 Backstreet Boys/New Kids on the Block tour fund.

Here's a picture of everything I got:

January 24th
-$10 DSW Rewards certificate
-2 Sobe coupons from their Instant Win Game that is now over
-2 Hall's coupons from their Instant Win Game that ends 3/31/2011 http://popadrop.gethalls.com/

January 25th
-$312.10 Plastic Jungle check! I sold a bunch of gift cards that I didn't want for money. If you haven't tried Plastic Jungle try it here:



January 28th
-Soap Opera Digest
-Entertainment Weekly
-Lowe's Coupons from Vocalpoint

January 30th
-$4.99 Renpure Organics Rebate Check

If you have any freebies you've received in the mail lately feel free to share them with me and the other Mailbox Monday participants at http://www.afrugalfriend.net.



Also, if you haven't already, please publicly follow my blog by clicking the "Follow" button under the "Followers" section on the right hand side of the posts. Thanks!

Yipee for Skippy! How I spent $5.41 on items worth $41.61!

I'm a sucker for peanut butter. I went to Safeway Thursday night and got a copy of their "Joy of Football" coupon book. When I flipped through it at home, I saw a manufacturer's coupon for $1 off any 1 Skippy Peanut Butter. Since I saw that coupon, I went back to Safeway on Friday and got a few more copies of the coupon book.

For those who don't know, if there's a manufacturer's coupon found in a store, you can use it at other stores too. The keywords here are "manufacturer's coupons" because it means the coupon is produced by the maker of the product and not the store.

It basically means that even though I found the manufacturer's coupon for Skippy in Safeway, I can use it at CVS. That's exactly what I did today!

Here's what I got:

9 Skippy Peanut Butter's = $15
1 Physician's Formula Powder Palette = $14.79
2 bags of M&M's = $5.00
1 Advil Liqui-Gels = $4.99

Total with 9.25% CA tax and without coupons/discounts: $41.61

Coupons I used:

-$5.00 off a $25.00 or more purchase
-1 Free Advil Liqui-Gels coupon that deducted $4.99
-7 $1.00 off 1 Skippy Peanut Butter manufacturer's coupons from Safeway's Joy of Football coupon book (I tried to use 9 but the cashier told me that the register wouldn't take anymore Skippy coupons.)
-$10.00 off 1 Physician's Formula Powder Palette coupon I got from the CVS coupon machine
-$7.98 Extra Care Bucks
-$1.00 off 2 bags of Mars Valentines products which was used on the 2 bags of M&M's I got

Total with 9.25% CA tax and with coupons/discounts: $5.41

Then I used the CVS gift card I earned from My Points to cover the remaining balance after coupons.

I got back $7 Extra Care Bucks from buying 1 Physician's Formula product, $5 Extra Care Bucks from buying $15 worth of Skippy Peanut Butter, and $1 Extra Care Buck from buying 2 bags of Valentine's M&M's.

That's $13 Extra Care Bucks total! $41.61 total without coupons/discounts - $5.41 total with coupons/discounts = $36.20 full price eliminated!

Mailbox Monday 1/24/11 - Nike Shoes from Dr. Oz & a CHI curling iron!

Happy Mailbox Monday everyone!

Last week's mail was amazing! I received a ton of fabulous prizes from different contests I entered.

My favorite freebies I received are the Nike Shoes from the Dr. Oz Show and the CHI curling iron from Allure magazine.

Here's a picture of everything I received:

January 17th
-Nike shoes I won from being one of the first 2,011 people to enter Dr. Oz Show Nike Shoe giveaway. I selected the Nike Free XT Everyday Fit+ Women's Training Shoe in Pure Platinum. These shoes are worth $100.00!

January 18th
-Weightloss Kit from Atkins
-Mousepad from nickcarter.net for joining Nick Carter's fan club
-14 Sobe coupons from Sobe's Instant Win Game that is now over
-Tide detergent and washing machine samples plus a $1.00 off coupon from P&G
-John Frieda Luxurious Volume Bountiful Body Mousse I won from being one of the 1st 500 people to enter Allure magazine's August 2010 giveaways
-Venus Razor I won from being one of the 1st 500 people to enter Allure magazine's August 2010 giveaways
-Enfamil coupons

January 19
-All You magazine
-Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lip Colour I won from being a runner up in Lucky magazine's Katy Perry sweepstakes. I was one of the 1st 50 people to enter. I was sent the same color lipstick that was used on Katy Perry's cover look for Lucky magazine.

January 20th
-Entertainment Weekly
-Wired Magazine

January 21st
-Soap Opera Digest
-7 Sobe coupons from Sobe's Instant Win Game that is now over
-CHI curling iron I won from being one of the 1st 250 to enter Allure magazine's August 2010 giveaways. According to Allure magazine, the full price is $143.97! I cannot wait to use it on my hair.

January 22nd
-7x7 Magazine
-OK! Magazine
-Make Me Chic bracelet I won from being one of the 1st 10,000 to enter Seventeen magazine's giveaway

If you have any freebies you've received in the mail lately feel free to share them with me and the other Mailbox Monday participants at http://www.afrugalfriend.net.



Also, if you haven't already, please publicly follow my blog by clicking the "Follow" button under the "Followers" section on the right hand side of the posts. Thanks!

Super Sunday Savings @ CVS - Spent $6.08 on items worth $28.36!

I'm addicted to soda. I know it's bad for me but I love the sting I get whenever I take a swig from a can. This week at CVS there's a buy five 12 pack's of Coke for $15. I took advantage of that deal and picked up other items too.

Here's what I got:

5 twelve packs of Coke = $15
2 bottles of Xtra Detergent x $1.49 each = $2.98
2 bottles of Crest mouth wash x 3.99 each = $7.98

Total with 9.25% CA tax and without coupons/discounts: $28.36

Coupons I used:

-$5.00 off a $25.00 or more purchase coupon
-$1.00 Extra Care Buck
-$7.00 Extra Care Bucks
-$10.00 Extra Care Bucks
-$1.00 off 1 Xtra Detergent coupon
-$1.00 off 1 Xtra Detergent coupon

Total with 9.25% CA tax and with coupons/discounts: $6.08

Then I used the CVS gift card I earned from My Points to cover the remaining balance after coupons.

I also earned $7.98 Extra Care Bucks from getting 2 Crest Mouth Washes and $5.00 Extra Care Bucks from getting 5 twelve packs of Coke.

I earned a total of $12.98 in Extra Care Bucks to use in the future.

$28.36 total without coupons/discounts - $6.08 total with coupons/discounts = $22.28 full price eliminated!

Mailbox Monday 1/17/2011 - Eliminated full price @ swirl.com & toryburch.com

Happy Mailbox Monday everyone!

My favorite items I received in the mail are my orders from swirl.com and toryburch.com which I eliminated full price on.

From swirl.com I got a Dav Umbrella worth $32 and 2 notebooks worth $11.00 for $1.08! A few weeks ago swirl.com had a $20 off a $20 order plus free shipping promotion. The promotion is now over but I'm glad I was able to take advantage of it. The Umbrella was on sale for $10 (original price was $32) and the 2 notebooks were $11.00. After the promotion codes and tax were added my total was $1.08 for everything!

From toryburch.com I ordered a cosmetic case worth $55.00. I had a $50 gift code and used it to bring the price down to $5.00. After shipping and tax my total was $13.46! I was very impressed by how it was packaged. It came wrapped with orange paper and was sealed with a sticker.

Here's a picture of everything I got in the mail:

January 10
-Luna Milk Chocolate Bar
-swirl.com order with a $32 Dav Umbrella and 2 $11 Orla Kiely notebooks I got for only $1.08
-Tory Burch order with a $55 cosmetic case I got for only $13.46

January 11
-Biore Makeup Removing Towelette sample and Biore coupons

January 13
-Marie Claire Magazine
-Entertainment Weekly

January 14
-OK! Magazine
-Soap Opera Digest

January 15
-Secret Waterproof Deodorant from P&G

If you have any freebies you've received in the mail lately feel free to share them with me and the other Mailbox Monday participants at http://www.afrugalfriend.net.



Also, if you haven't already, please publicly follow my blog by clicking the "Follow" button under the "Followers" section on the right hand side of the posts. Thanks!

Mailbox Monday

Happy Mailbox Monday everyone!

My mail was light but I loved that I got $10 total from Magazines.com.

Here's a picture of everything I received:

January 3rd
-Mike & Ike's Candy
-7x7 Magazine

January 4th
-Shape magazine
-Free Excedrin coupon

January 6th
-Soap Opera Digest
-$5 Magazines.com Check
-Entertainment Weekly

January 7th
-OK! Magazine

January 8th
-$5 Magazines.com Check

If you have any freebies you've received in the mail lately feel free to share them with me and the other Mailbox Monday participants at http://www.afrugalfriend.net.



Also, if you haven't already, please publicly follow my blog by clicking the "Follow" button under the "Followers" section on the right hand side of the posts. Thanks!

Weekend of Eliminating Full Price - Spent $12.80 on items worth $77.01

On Saturday, I kicked off my weekend of eliminating full price at CVS in Milpitas. I got a coupon for $3.00 of 1 Tums product from the CVS coupon machine. Then I had a manufacturers coupon for $1 off any Tums I found online.

Here's what I got:

1 Tums x $ 3.99 each = $3.99

Total with 9.25% CA tax and without coupons and discounts: $4.36

Coupons used:

-CVS coupon for $3.00 off 1 Tums product which the cashier had to adjust down to $2.99
-Manufacturer's coupon for $1.00 off 1 Tum product

Total with 9.25% CA tax and with coupons and discounts: $0.37

$4.36 pre-coupon discount - $0.37 post coupon discount = $3.99 full price eliminated!

Then I earned a $1.00 Extra Care Buck for buying the Tums.

After shopping in CVS Milpitas, I went to CVS in San Jose.

Here's what I got:

1 pack of Atkins Vanilla shakes x $9.49 each = $9.49
1 pack of Atkins Vanilla shakes x $9.49 each = $9.49
1 box of South Beach bars x $3.99 each = $3.99
1 pack Revlon emery boards x $3.29 each = $3.29
1 Covergirl powder for my mom x $8.39 each = $8.39

Total with 9.25% CA tax and without coupons and without discounts: $35.73 Coupons I used:

-$5.00 off a $25 or more purchase
-$9.49 off 1 pack of Atkins shakes
-$5.00 Extra Care Bucks
-$3.00 Extra Care Bucks
-$1.00 Extra Care Buck
-$3.00 off any 1 Revlon tool
-$2.00 off any 1 box of South Beach Bars
-$1.50 off 2 packs of Atkins shakes

Total with 9.25% CA tax and with coupons and with discounts: $4.26

Then I used the CVS gift card I got from My Points to cover the $4.26.

$35.73 pre-coupon total - $4.26 post-coupon total = $31.74 full price eliminated!

*

On Sunday, I went to CVS in San Jose again because my mom wanted me to get soda.

Here's what I got:

6 boxes of Diet Pepsi x $3.33 each = $19.98 + $3.60 bottle deposit fee = $23.58
1 box of Herbashine hair color x $8.29 each = $8.29
1 Dove chocolate bar x $0.89 each = $0.89

Total with 9.25% CA tax and without coupons and without discounts: $35.73 (What a weird coincidence that my pre-coupon/discount total from Saturday night was the same as Sunday night.)

Coupons I used:

-$5.00 off a $30.00 purchase
-$8.29 off 1 box of Herbashine hair color
-$1.00 Extra Care Buck
-$2.50 Extra Care Bucks
-$10 Extra Care Bucks
-$0.50 off 1 Dove chocolate bar

Total with 9.25% CA tax and with coupons and with discounts: $7.68

$35.73 pre-coupon total - $7.68 post-coupon total = $28.05 full price eliminated

Then I earned $10 Extra Care Bucks from getting $20 worth of Pepsi, $1.00 Extra Care Buck for it being my 4th green bag tag scan, and $1.00 Extra Care Buck for the Dove chocolate bar. I was supposed to get a $0.89 Extra Care Buck for the Dove but it didn't print so the cashier had to manually print it for me. The $0.89 automatically rounded up to $1.00.

I earned a total of $12 Extra Care Bucks during this transaction.

*

I also went to Walgreens because I tried to see if there were any $1 off 2 12-packs of Pepsi coupons. There weren't any coupons so I didn't want to feel like I wasted my time. I looked through the weekly ad and saw there was a $0.49 coupon for Mentos.

The regular price of Mentos was $1.19 but after the coupon it was only $0.49.

1 Mentos x $1.19 each = $1.19 pre-coupon total

$1.19 - $0.70 coupon = $0.49 post-coupon total

$1.19 pre-coupon - $0.49 post-coupon = $0.70 full price eliminated

*

My pre-coupon/discount totals add up to $77.01.
My post-coupon/discount totals add up to $12.80.

$77.01 - $12.80 = $64.21 saved!

Mailbox Monday - Happy New Year!

Happy 1st Mailbox Monday of 2011 everyone!

I decided to combine my post from last week and today's post since there wasn't a link up for last week.

Here's what I received from 12/27/10 to 12/31/10:

December 27
-Vaseline sample from Walmart
-Starbucks sample from Walmart
-Dove sample

December 29
-Burt's Bees Lotion
-Entertainment Weekly
-$20 DSW Rewards Certificate

December 31
-OK! Magazine
-Wylee Velvet Heart Necklace that I ordered from Wylee Bags. The necklace wasn't free but Leighanne Littrell, the creator of Wylee Bags, has a promotion going on where any order over $10 gets $5 off with the code CHIRP. The necklace was $14.00 plus $7.55 shipping. The total was $21.55 and after the $5 discount my final total was $16.55.

The following covers over 3 weeks of mail in December 2010. Going on the Backstreet Boys Cruise has made me slack off on doing my mailbox Monday posts. If you're bored you can read about my Backstreet Boys Cruise experience by clicking here.

Here is everything I received in the mail from 12/7/10 to 12/23/10:

December 7
-Gucci throw blanket I ordered from DSW.com. It wasn't free but I eliminated full price on it! The full price was $950.00 but it was marked down to $99.95. I used some DSW coupon codes plus DSW made a mistake on a prior order I made so I was able to get the Gucci throw for only $57.32!

December 8
-Nestle Tile

December 9
-All You Magazine
-CVS $50 gift card I earned from My Points.
- 2 iPod Shuffles I won from Comcast's "The Family Moments That Matter Giveaway" that is now over.
-Gucci Shoes I ordered from DSW.com. They weren't free but I eliminated full price on them. The full price on these shoes was $475.00 but they were marked down to $99.95. I used some DSW coupon codes plus DSW made a mistake on a prior order I made so I was able to get the shoes for $45.25!

December 10
-OK! Magazine

December 11
-Mike & Ikes
-Hot Tamales
-Sobe Coupons
-Soap Opera Digest

December 13
-Cereal from Vocal Point

December 14
-Marie Claire magazine

December 15
-Sephora.com order. I received a $15 gift card from Sephora. I used it to buya Murad Clarifying Cleanser and a Murad Acne Spot Treatment that cost $10.50. After tax and shipping the total was $17.42. After the $15 Sephora gift card I only paid $2.42.

The order also came with 4 free samples:

-DDF Blemish Foaming Cleanser
-Dior Capture Totale sample
-Murad Energizing Pomegranate Moisturizer sample
-Tarte Park Ave Princess Matte Waterproof Bronzer sample

December 16
-Entertainment Weekly

December 17
-Wired Magazine
-Eat Better America 2011 Calendar
-$9.24 rebate check from Zegerid OTC
-$10 Book Cash I won from Nestle's Share the Joy of Reading Program Instant Win Game

December 18
-Free Excedrin coupon

December 20
-Soap Opera Digest
-Free Excedrin coupon
-Gucci perfume sample
-Dolce & Gabana perfume sample
-Salon Texture from being one of the 1st 500 people to enter Allure magazine's August 2010 giveaways

December 22
-P&G coupons
-Redken Wool Shake from being one of the 1st 500 people to enter Allure magazine's August 2010 giveaways

December 23
-Tell Harlequin Panel Holiday Gifts that includes a Harlequin novel entitled "Dakota Child", a pin, and coupons

If you have any freebies you've received in the mail lately feel free to share them with me and the other Mailbox Monday participants at http://www.afrugalfriend.net.



Also, if you haven't already, please publicly follow my blog by clicking the "Follow" button under the "Followers" section on the right hand side of the posts. Thanks!

Sunday Savings @ CVS - I brought the total down to $0.67!

I successfully eliminated full price at CVS again! I brought the original total of $36.44 down to $0.67. Then I used the CVS gift card I got for free from My Points to cover that.

Here's what I got:

2 Revlon Nail Clippers x $2.99 each = $5.98
2 bottles of Listerine Zero x $5.00 each = $10.00
1 package of Vanilla Atkins Shake x $9.49 each = $9.49
1 package of Milk Chocolate Atkins Shake x $9.49 each = $9.49

Total with CA 9.25% tax and without coupons and discounts: $36.44

Here's the coupons I used:

-$5 off a $25 purchase
-$9.49 off because the Atkins shakes are buy 1 get 1 free this week
-$8.99 Extra Care Bucks
-$4.00 Extra Care Bucks
-$2.00 Extra Care Bucks
-$2.00 Extra Care Bucks
-$2.00 off 1 bottle of Listerine Zero
-$2.00 off 1 bottle of Listerine Zero

Total with CA 9.25% tax and with coupons and discounts: $0.67

Then I got back $5 Extra Care Bucks from buying $10 worth of Listerine products and $7 Extra Care Bucks from buying two Revlon products.

Total Extra Care Bucks received: $12.00

$36.44 full price total - $0.67 after coupon total = $35.77 full price eliminated!

New Year Savings @ CVS

I did my first full price elimination of 2011 at CVS. I brought the price of everything to $1.05. Then I used the CVS gift card I got from My Points for free to cover the $1.05.

Here's what I got:

-2 boxes of Excedrin Extra Strength x $5.39 each = $10.78
-1 box of Excedrin Migraine x $5.49 each = $5.49
-1 box of Excedrin PM x $4.99 each = $4.99
-3 packages of Extra gum x $0.67 each = $2.01
-1 Renpure shampoo x $5.24 each = $5.24

Total with 9.25% tax and without coupons: $30.96

Coupons I used:

-$5 off a $25 or more purchase
-$5.59 free Excedrin Migraine coupon (It was supposed to be $5.49 but I think the cashier made a typo.)
-$5.39 free Excedrin Extra Strength coupon
-$10 Extra Care Bucks
-$2.50 off 1 box of Excedrin PM
-$1.00 off 1 any box of Excedrin

Total with 9.25% tax and with coupons: $1.05

$30.96 full price - $1.05 after coupons = $29.91 eliminated

Then I got back $10 Extra Care Bucks for getting over $20 worth of Excedrin coupons and a $1 Extra Care Buck for getting 3 Extra gums.