Monday, December 8, 2008

a little help from my "hounding" friends...

I NEED EVERYONE'S HELP ON THIS!!
Okay.. I'm not listing this as a challenge because frankly I have nothing to give to a "winner" and nobody could actually be a "winner" because everyone's ideas are valuable to me. Anyway.. here is my idea. Last night I was laying in bed thinking about Christmas being so close. My husbands family has decided to do away with getting gifts for everyone, the family was just becoming too large especially now with the three of the 4 boys getting married in the last year (my husband being the 4th we got married 10 years ago).

Anywhooo just for fun the last couple years we've been doing one of those white elephant type games where everyone brings a small/cheap gift, wraps it, and we do a little game of rolling dice, picking gifts, and stealing from one another until everyone has rolled a 6 in the final rounds. This year they changed it up and said everyone must bring 3 $1 gifts... hmm well AS WE COUPONERS KNOW $1 can goooo a long way.
elf help books Pictures, Images and Photos
So I started thinking of items I've hounded that I either hounded so many of I'll never use them all OR items I've hounded that I haven't found a home for yet. My husband and suggested using the universal remote from CVS Black Friday deals as one of the $1 gifts because for that entire shop I only spent $1.33 OOP. We don't need it, we have all the universal remotes we need right now. I thought it would be a good back up if we needed it..?? but okay.. I'm game.. I got it for free.
gift Pictures, Images and Photos

So I was trying to think of 5 other items last night. I came up with some nail polish, batteries, soap, shampoo, cereal, etc. But then I started thinking bigger. So here is where I need your help. I'm going to go to CVS and do the biggest shop I can do where I only spend $1 or less out of my own pocket. Everything that I shop in that one transaction will be going in one big box along with the receipt as PROOF and one person will get to open that box and keep the entire contents.

Okay so what I want you to do is leave me a link to a shop you've just done, a shop you've just outlined for upcoming weeks, leave me a comment just outlining a shop that could be done easily or even leave me a comment of just ideas that could help me out.

I'm not sure how many people from the family read the blog, I think maybe 2-3 tops because I do have it linked to my FB. Either way, for the people that don't read this is going to be fun.

Here are my personal CVS details to date to help you with your ideas.
♥I have roughly $46 in ECB's.
♥I would really like to keep all of those $46 ECBS if possible maybe even making more.
♥I have several $10/$50 coupons and $3/$15 coupons I got in the mail from CVS.
♥I get regular papers so I do have multiple of most coupons unless I have used them.
♥I just bought more toner so if you suggest IP's I'm good in that dept
♥I have until Jan 3rd to do this because my husband's family is waiting until after the holidays to celebrate this year. This gives me an extra full week PLUS after Christmas sales.
♥Items must be products that you know will be stocked well. I have only 3 CVS's I can hit and most of them are not well stocked because apparently there are several other hounders out there that "clean the shelves" pretty early.

14 comments:

Heather said...

ok...you have got me hooked! I will work on that this week and see what deals I can spark up :) (I want to play that game with your family! :)

Anonymous said...

CVS has 17 free after ECB deals going on for December 21 and 22. Check out their flyer on iheartcvs.com. I'm sure you'll be able to get some great deals then. Happy shopping!
--amanda

Melissa said...

http://mybrainisinsideout.blogspot.com/2008/12/sneak-preview-cvs-1221-1227.html just keeping this here for safe keeping.. I couldn't find the one on CVS!! but thanks Amanda for posting!!

frugalsuz said...

I don't have it posted yet, but pubbler has the CVS freebies for 12/21 & 12/21 posted on her blog:

http://lovesavingwithcoupons.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-free-cvs-deals-1221-1222.html

We're doing a Secret Santa at work with a $15 limit. I can't wait to see how much I can give for under that $15. I'm probably going to grab a bunch of things I've already bought (Russell Stover chocolates from Walgreens last week, Glade candles, etc) and give away a bag of my freebies. :)

Anonymous said...

if you have a shaws near you, you could do this: fyi: i sent this to friends and family first, so i may read a little different to you. good luck.

go to www.coupons.com and print out all the betty crocker coupons that you can, then mix and match according to this week's shaws sale paper to get stuff for free or pennies!!

remember, shaws will double coupons under $1, so this week, betty crocker sugar cookies and other betty crocker cookie mixes will be free with coupon, the cake frostings will be about 10cents each, the blue berry muffin mix will be about $1.10 each and the bisquick pancake mix will be about $1.29 each.

spend $10 (before coupons) and use the $2 coupon in the sale paper. this is actually a chance to make money (not to take home) but to use against whatever else you're buying.

here is what i'm gonna do:
6 bags of cookie mix at 2 bags for $3 - 6 .75 off coupons which double to $1.50 off = 6 free bags of cookie mix, but $9 toward the deal
also buy one tub of frosting at $1.20 each - .55 off coupon which doubles to $1.10 off but is good for $1.20 toward the deal.
this equals $10.20 toward the spend 10 get $2 off deal.

but i only spent $0.10 and will still get a $2 off coupon. hahahahaha

work the deal any way you want, but be sure to use the $2 off coupon from the shaws paper before you use your manufacturer coupons. I REPEAT, USE THE $2 OFF COUPON FROM THE SHAWS SALE PAPER FIRST. remember, they are not going to give you cash, so buy something else and you'll save money on it. add a box of bisquick and a package of blueberry muffin mix, use the coupons, and your total will be, roughly... $0.60 plus tax. ahahahahahahahahahah i love this stuff!!!!!

here is a link to the shaws sale paper:
http://shaws.shoplocal.com/shaws/default.aspx?action=browsepagelarge&storeid=2397632&rapid=633107&pagenumber=10

-Tom

Anonymous said...

The flyer about the CVS deals is at www.iheartcvs.com. look on the right side for the post about the 12/21-27 sale, and that post contains scans of the flyer plus all the deals. I find www.iheartcvs.com and www.iheartwags.com to be a huge help when I'm planning my trips.
--amanda

Queen said...

you;ve gotta do the CVS two day sale!! almost all of those items have coupons and CRTs!!

and thanks for that link above! :D

PB said...

I just got 7 Hershey's Bliss Candies at CVS for $0.50 oop if you have a chocolate lover....

Or... I got 6 boxes of cereal at Walgreens for $1....

See (http://frugalici0us.blogspot.com/) for my details.


ps.. this whole game idea sounds like so much fun! Great idea!!

andrea said...

oh my goodness! how fun!!
i'd love to see your family members reaction when they open your gift!!

Lisa B. said...

Gillette deal going on this week that I did. You spend $6 in ECB and get $5 back. You need 3 $4 venus coupons...
I bought 3 Gillette Venus 1 count razors $5.99 each, used 3 $4 VocalPoint coupons, threw in a .50 filler (peanuts), used a $1 & $5 ecb. My OOP was .49 and I received a $5 ecb back for purchasing $15 of Gillette products. Hope this helps.

Lisa B. said...

Roll a $8.99 ecb recvd from Complete contact solution into $11 worth of ecb's and $3.46 OOP...
purchase 3 rolaids plus soft chews 12 count $2.49 each(its two 6 count rolls in a box), 1 gillette venus 1 count razor $5.99, 1 gillette fusion phntm razor $9.99.
Use 3 $1 off rolaid coupons, 1 $4 Venus coupon, 1 $4 fusion phntm (P&G insert)receive a $6 ecb for rolaids and a $5 ecb for gillette products.

Lisa B. said...

Also, what about making up an oral care basket with free battery operated toothbrush, free toothpaste, free floss and flosser picks and free mouthwash. I cant remember when I got the free battery toothbrush or where, do you?

Annie's Antics :-) said...

Where is everyone getting these Venus Gillette Q's?! That's my FAVORITE razor and I seem to have everything but that one! LOL!

Don't forget to get the "freebies" at CVS - the J&J to go kit, the Essence of Beauty things that are under $2 (use the RIB $2 Q), and I'm drawing a blank on any others.

This will be fun!

Anonymous said...

Sorry no suggestions but that is a very cool idea. Someone is going to get a really neat gift.