remember that HORMEL coupon?

ummm yeah.. on Monday I went to Dominicks to grab another pork tenderloin for $4.99 or $3.99 with the $1 Hormel coupon HOWEVER I realized when I got there I forgot the coupon BUT THEN after getting home found the coupon in my purse... yeah.. not so good... so today I went to Dominicks to grab 4 99cent Ragu's (I know a few weeks ago WAGS had a super deal on them and I didn't jump on it) so I decided to check out their clearance meat and GUESS WHAT WAS THERE? The HORMEL pork tenderloins for $3.99!! ha ha ha and I still had that trusty $1 coupon with me. I got a pork tenderloin for $2.99!! whoo hoo

too good to NOT share! video and a 20% off Ulta coupon!!

okay guys FrugalSuz posted this video and said it was her twin.. I've watched this video like 4 dozen times because first of all the lady looks like someone I know.. secondly, my husband and I have actually done that before because some of the deals I swear they are going to stop me on the way out. Anyway.. check this out!!

frugalsuz's twin

ALSO I got a coupon for 20% off your transaction total at Ulta emailed me to me today. It's good from Jan 15th-19th. It's a friends/family deal that includes one salon service but does not include clearance or Chanel fragrances. Anyway.. it was emailed to me and I can't figure out how to post it, so instead here is a link to slick deals where it's posted Enjoy!!

SMELLING GOOD W/ FREE FEBREZE & BUTT WIPES

sorry this is going to be a fast post. It's already almost midnight and all I've done today is work, work late, ran to 2 CVS's, got gas for the car, made dinner at almost 8pm, cleaned up the kitchen, started some laundry, fed my cat, took the pics and posted. *sigh* working is sure getting in the way of hounding! ;)

1ST TRANSACTION
2 FEBREZE CANDLES CLEARANCE $1.99 USED $2 COUPONS
2 XMAS SEPARATED DISHES CLEARANCE 49 CENTS EACH
1 CVS MOIST WIPE 84 COUNT $4.29 USED $3 OFF CVS COUPON
1 J&J STRESS MELTAWAY LOTION $5.99 USED $1.50 J&J CVS COUPON AND $1 MANU
$3/$15 $2.59 ECB
PAID 58 CENTS OOP

2ND TRANSACTION
1 XMAS BABY BIB 99 CENTS CLEARANCE
2 XMAS BOXERS $1.75 CLEARANCE
1 COIN PURSE 49 CENTS (TOO CUTE TO PASS UP)
3 PET BLANKETS 75 CENTS CLEARANCE (TO BE DONATED TO SHELTER)
1 CVS MOIST WIPES $4.29 USED $3 OFF CVS COUPON
1 CVS HAND SANITIZER (THE CASHIER HAD TO TELL ME ABOUT THE BUY ONE GET ONE 50% OFF DEAL SO I GRABBED THE CLOSEST THING TO ME) 59 CENTS
1 BAG ALMONDS $3.49 USED $1.50 CVS COUPON AND $1 MANU
$3/$15 CVS AND $7.49 ECB
PAID 19 CENTS OOP


3RD TRANSACTION (DIFFERENT STORE)
3 FEBREZE CANDLES $1.99 ON CLEARANCE USED $2 MANUS
1 COTTONELLE BUTT WIPE PACK $5.98 GOT BACK $3 ECB PLUS TRIED TO USE A $2 MANU FROM LOCAL GROCERY STORE BUT THEY WOULDN'T TAKE IT BECAUSE IT HAD THE GROCERY STORE LOGO ON IT.. GRRR
2 CVS FEMININE WASHES $3.29 AND $1.64 (B1G150%) USED $3 CVS COUP
$3/$15 AND $3.99 ECB
PAID $1.61 OOP


****Also I wanted to know.. the 6 pack of water at CVS where you get a $2 ECB does it have to be a specific type of 6 pack?****

DO NOT ASK HOW THIS HAPPENED!

Okay this post could go a few ways.. don't ask how I got so much and don't ask how we got on this subject BUT a girlfriend and I somehow got on the topic of how much tea we have in our house. Seriously, how does this happen because the more people I talk to about it the more people flip open their cabinets to reveal just how much tea they have too! lol! So funny! So I decided to gather what tea I have in my house and take a pic.. somehow I decided to add in all the little cold tea packets I have, hot chocolate, coffee (I don't drink coffee but somehow I wound up with some), and juice mixes. Most of this stuff has been hounded so I figured it ties in with my blog! lol!


here goes

50 pack box of singles to go from Walgreens clearance I think I paid $2 for them
9 boxes of Crystal Light Peach tea singles $1 each on clearance at K-Mart during their first double coupon days
Kool Aid packets I bought so I could get other freebies like the Crystal Light tubs!
Miscellaneous teas/spiced ciders/coffee/ singles I have gotten through hounding, samples, gifts.

9 BOXES of Celestial Seasonings teas all FREEBIES at Wags a few weeks ago
9 boxes of Swiss Miss hot chocolate and 2 store brand
9 boxes of Lipton Pyramid teas all FREEBIE

♫ ♫I wanna love you, squeeze you, wrap my arms around you♫ ♫

Yeah yeah yeah!!! I just had a great errand run.. and I know I'll have more tomorrow.. whoo hooo hooooooo!! Okay so the other day when I mentioned that I wasn't as organized as I could have been.. that was because I went to Jewel to get in on the spend $30 on specific products get $15 RR back.. um yeah.. I get there and realize I have coupons for the wrong protein bars! oops.. so I got all flustered and walked out.. because I knew I couldn't get another good deal together in a few minutes.

Okay two things.. I don't have my receipt up here with me, which I should, and my flyer blew away from Jewel so I don't have everything exact in front of me.. bear with me here.
♥6 Progresso chicken stocks $1.66 ea used $1 coupons
♥2 Progresso soups $1.66 ea used $1.10 coupons + THINGS TO WATCH FOR there was a peelie on one of them to save 50 cents if you bought that soup and one Progresso chicken stock
♥2 Lipton teas $2.50 ea used two 60 cents coupons + two e coupons $2 off EACH!! FREEBIE
♥4 Green Giant veggies $1 each used $1/2 IP coupons
♥2 Cubs reusable bags 2/$4 (realized I need 2 more the other night)
♥2 Banquet breakfast sausage BOGO $2.29 no coupons
♥2 Halloween napkins 50 cents each
♥Halloween headband 50 cents

My total came out to $17.38 (I think) and I got back $15. so minus out the bags, Halloween stuff, and the sausage I paid roughly $10 for all the buy $30 worth get $15 RR's!! Not a bad deal for all that. Plus I can ROLL these RR's I've heard. Also, this deal is based on SHELF PRICE not sale price and all items are on sale! whoooo hooo!!


BzzAgent sent me this!! whoo hoo! I can't wait to try it out!! Yeahh for BzzAgent.. but they also sent me these...


a whole book of $5 off coupons and buy 3 get one free refills! whoo hoo

last but not least I stopped at WAGS just to grab more FREE GUM and got this box of 50 Raspberry water mix ins for $2.50!! My total was $2.55, used GC!! Yeahh!!

I don't ♥ couponing today.. CVS run

Okay as posted below I figured out I had a $5 ECB expiring so I wanted to run and just spend that.. which is what I should have done because I wound up spending that $5 ECB a $5/$30 coupon I got from the scanner, then another $5 ECB and $4.98 ECB PLUS a $10 ECB I got from the scanner for doing a CVS survey! OOOOOOOhhh boy.. so now I have NO ECBS at all!! 0!! If I want to jump back in I'll have to earn them.. wow! First time since June I've had none! I usually try to keep $20 worth of them to roll.. but as one of the girls commented, my stockpile is so large right now there is really nothing I need. I have so much for Christmas gift bags for adults and kids alike.. although I have this weird feeling I'll get done putting them together and find that I bought nothing for the boys or nothing for the girls.. anyway.. here is what I wound up with over at CVS!


Had to use my husband camera phone again, but I did get a comment that his cell phone does take great pictures. It's pitch dark outside right now and I do my pics in the garage because a majority of my stockpile is there. I've found it's just easier to unload the car onto that little table, take the pic, and figure out where everything should go. Anyway... this pic didn't come out as great as my first one earlier today, I turned it on night mode and if I dare move the camera while it was taking the photo it came out really blurry! Oh well.. you get the jist of it.

CVS had some great clearance as well.. and I think everything I got except the candy for my son was actually clearance. All stuff I actually WANTED and some I NEEDED! So in the end I'm happy with what I've bought and have no pressure with ECBS in the coming weeks except now I'll find 100 deals that would have worked if I had a few ECBS to spare. oh well.

♥ 5 photo cubes 99 cents each.. couldn't resist! great "mom" xmas gifts
♥ 4 mini nail polish 49 cents each for the little girls on my xmas list (oops he charged me for 5)
♥ 4 flood lights I'VE BEEN LQQKING 4 ALL WEEK $1.99 each
♥ Witch braids $1.99 an easy "hand out candy costume"
♥ package of pumpkin Luminaria (sp?)$2.49 my path was quite dark
♥ 1 glow in the dark nail polish FOR ME 99 cents
♥ layered candle jar $4.99
♥ peeps 49 cents (ate them on the way home)
♥ Halloween plaque $2.49
♥ Halloween "caution" tape 49 cents
♥ pumpkin spoon rest $1.99
♥ 5 tic tac chills $1.79 each used $1 coupons

$5/$30, $5 ECB, $5 ECB, $4.98 ECB, $10 ECB $3.93 OOP.

Weekend shops, sorry no pics

I didn't do that well so I didn't take pics.

I went to Ulta, found a $5/$10 coupon that I had from getting the magazine deal.. which was good because I got the store and asked for a flyer for the coupon and the refused to give me one.. they had one but it was blacked out! whatever! geez. I couldn't find one from my Sunday paper, not sure why I didn't get one.. didn't get one in the mail either. oh well...

I got 6 Bonne Bell Lip Smackers $1.59 each used 3 $1/2 coupons (I just noticed she only scanned 2 of them ughh) and that $5 coupon. My total was $2.74. Not good, could have been less.

I ran to Walgreens just to use that $5/$25 coupon here is what I wound up with

2 bags of socks on clearance for $3.19
1 bag of socks regular price $6
1 KY Intrigue $19.99 used $5 IP and two $5 ESC (oct & nov) $4.99
4/$10 M & M's (figure left overs could be used for Christmas bags) used two $1/2
$5/$25
$8 RR

Total OOP $14.67 got nothing back. I might be able to claim the M&M's on Nov rebates for $5 back? I gotta look it up.

$4.12 OUT OF POCKET FOR ALL OF THIS! WOOT!

TODAY WE ARE GOING TO TALK LIKE 'DIS!!! lol!
Okay I like to play moron here and there.. so check it out!!

Okay I guess for all you double dippers out there who like to say I spent xx on GC and then $4.12 from my purse and then got back a $5 RR so really I made 88 cents.. but I don't look at it like that.. I look at it like my next trip will be $5 less.. so today OOP was $4.12

Two stores..

Walgreens
3 Bertolli dinners used 2 $1.75 Bertolli coupons
9 pizza breads 44 cents each on clearance
2 pizza fries $1.79 on clearance
1 B/B lipsmacker (I had grabbed 2 but somehow only paid for one) used $1 coupon which she let go through.. not sure how it was a $1/2)
1 Scrubbing Bubbles refill $3.79 used $1 coupon and will apply for $1.50 ESR

Total $25.25, $25.18 on GC and 7 cents from my purse. Received $5 RR for the Bertolli dinners and will get back $1.50 ESR.

not bad for 7 cents huh? oh and they wouldn't let me do the no nonsense sock deal with the packs of socks.. they said it was for "singles" only. whatevs!

***OMG I JUST POSTED THIS, WENT ON I ♥ WAGS AND OF COURSE THERE IS A $5/$25 COUPON TOMORROW AND SATURDAY!!! DOH!!*****

Jewel
2 gallons of skim milk $1.99 each

Total OOP with tax $4.05


MY "made from the stockpile" lunch from yesterday/today



2 chicken breasts I got for 99 cents a lb
1 can of kidney beans from Aldi 54 cents
1 can of diced tomatoes from Aldi 54 cents
green/red peppers I got for 99 cents a lb and had chopped and froze
onion I got on clearance for 79 cents for 3lbs
grilled summer squash I had cut up and frozen because I couldn't finish it
red pepper flakes
chili powder
parsley cube


I wanted to make chili but didn't want to use my ground beef.. so I used chicken instead..I HAVE SOO MUCH OF IT!! it came out sooo yummy and filling. It was nice because yesterday was such a cold/rainy day here in Chicago... it was nice to have something warm. I was thinking I could do this same recipe with different beans, seriously anything would work, and no chicken breasts. That way I could have meatless meals with plenty of protein! You could always add a little shredded cheese on top or even a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.. booo yahhh!! yummooooo

hmmm what I *thought* was a fun Target run turned out to be not good!

grrr.. I'm so angry right now.. anyway.. I went to Target to try to cash in some of my $1 cat litter coupons. They have my cat litter for $1.77 but for some reason they have all stopped carrying the type I normally buy and I've had to resort to the one type of that brand I don't like and have way too much of. grrr.. So of course this store only had the type I don't like so I decided since I had time, my coupons, and tons of clearance I would walk around and check out some deals.

This is what I thought I walked out with...

3bags of Beggin strips little on sale for $2.10 had $1 off coupons
2 bags of Goodlife treats $1.73 had $1.50 coupons
1 bag of Iams cat food $7.49 with a $7 off coupon
1 cat litter air filter 94 cents
5 sunshades on clearance for $1.98 each
1 bike lock clearance for $2.98
1 bike wind up headlight clearance for $4.98
1 combination lock $2.08 but rang up as 74 cents
various back to school items all under 40 cents each
pack of wash clothes $1.48 on clearance

my total after coupons was $39 and I didn't even think about it because I had multiples of many products and I forgot to use my $5 gift card from a few weeks ago.. plus most of this stuff is Christmas gifts so I thought I was doing good.. umm yeah.

So after my CVS trip (which I'll post about next) I came home, spread out my loot to take a pic of it for my blog (which is very helpful). So I'm looking at everything just trying to make a mental note of what I should have paid for certain things and my total is nowhere near $40.. I'm at like $28 and that was with a cushion. I look at my receipt and realize the cat food rang up as $11.49 and the Goodlife treats $3.99!! umm yeah there is my difference!

I called the store and explain the situation. Most stores just say "bring your receipt back and we'll get it worked out" ooh no the operator tried to tell me that sometimes people decide they don't want a product and put it down anywhere in the store.. UMMM no I bought these things from the specific shelves. there were many other products and I even usually will READ what the tag says to at least verify that it's in the right place. She said she didn't know and basically acted like too bad... so I asked for a manager. Some guy comes on the line and is telling me I have to come into the store NOW and when I tell him I don't live close (I wanted to check out the new CVS by that Target which is the only reason I went there) he said "TELL ME WHAT DAY AND TIME YOU WILL BE HERE SO I CAN NOTIFY CUSTOMER SERVICE" umm what??? what happened to "when you have time" or "next time you are in the area" wtf is that!!

So I explain the situation again and he says I have to come back when the prices are the same.. omg whatever.. TELL ME HOW LONG I HAVE AND I WILL TRY TO GET BACK THERE WITHIN YOUR TIME FRAME so he tells me 2 weeks and takes down my name.. what is that going to help? seriously.

So I get off the phone and my husband is standing on the stairs and he's laughing at me and says "you get so angry" OMG the man who gets angry about everything is telling me I get angry when I'm being treated poorly? hello.. so I tell him what they said and he's still laughing at me like I'm in the wrong!!! WTF not a good day here guys!

I ♥ Butera clearance

Okay.. have I not told you guys about Butera clearance before? Seriously.. every time I go there I hit their clearance sections because they change every day. In the produce section they normally have a full cart of produce that has been wrapped and greatly reduced in price.

Today I got 4 huge peppers (red, yellow, 2 green) for 79 cents. Nothing wrong with any of them.. I cut them up and threw them in my freezer.. DONESKI (that's done in Chitown polish if you didn't figure that out) Also I go by the bakery and look at their stuff.. most days they have brat buns, hamburger buns, or dinner rolls marked down to 99 cents. that is what they had today so I got some hamburger buns. Other days they have garlic bread marked down and sometimes those awesome sugar cookies with all the frosting on them.. yummmm The garlic bread I normally take home and throw right in the freezer.

I know Butera is a small little grocery chain in the Chicago area. They are family owned and operated. They boast an amazing produce section normally priced well below the other area grocery stores.

grocery brag

Okay I don't have a pic because by the time I got home with these deals all my neighbors were outside and wanted to talk. I finally remembered I had groceries to put away including ice cream so I quick took them inside.

I don't ever get great grocery deals and to everyone else who is a grocery gamer I'm sure this isn't that impressive considering somehow I always read you have a balance of like $5 and you use a GC which I have no clue how you get. I don't have the same stores, not one store in my area ever does double coupon days, and we never get $5/$25 or anything like that ever in our area. I've seen Jewel do $5/$150 a few times.

♥ 5lbs of boneless/skinless chicken $5.99 $1.99/lb
♥ 2 lbs of bacon $1.99 each
♥ cilantro 2/$1
♥ tub of onions (on clearance rack) 89 cents
♥ skim milk $2.79 (this is a high price for me but we needed milk)
♥ 3 8oz bricks of cheese $4
♥ dozen eggs 99 cents
♥ edy's slow churned ice cream $2.89 used $1 manu coupon
♥ banana's $1.39
♥ 2 bakery garlic breads 79 cents each

$24.57 OOP total.

**side note for myself** I don't do a really good job keeping track of my savings like others do, however, I have started keeping a small spreadsheet just to keep track of how much I've spent. It's helping me stay on budget more than anything.

As of today I have spent $125.69 this month in groceries/wags/cvs/target/meijer runs. My budget for groceries is $300 per month so I'm doing very well as you can see. $300 includes all my groceries, paper products, toiletries but does not include eating out which comes out of my entertainment allowance.

My savings to date is $519.16 but that is a rough estimate because some stores break down your savings like adding in sales prices (what you would have spent if you hadn't gotten certain products on sale) other stores don't even give a "savings" amount so on those I count up my coupons and just put that in as my savings.

My *****BEST****** WAGS trip ever!!!!! I ♥ Wags 4-ever!!!

OMG I AM SOOOO EXCITED TO ACTUALLY POST THIS.. CHECK IT OUT!!

okay the rundown of my goodies.... sooo sooo soooo excited, can you tell??
buy 7 get $10 RR
5 Scrubbing Bubbles scrubbers $3.79 each used $2 coupon for each
1 windex $2.49 used 75 cent coupon
1 shout wipe box of 12 $2.40 used 75 cent coupon

buy 3 get $4 RR
3 Benadryl $3.99 used 3 $1 manu coupons

rebates
1 excederin $3.79 used $2 IP coupon
1 crest pro health toothpaste $3.79 used 75 cent coupon

clearance
3 aqua noodles $1.49 each (my dad brings these to our house in AZ for the pool)

stacked deals
2 oust spray $2.99 each used BOGO coupon 1 $1/1 manu coupon plus $1/1 ES coupon which gave me $2 off ($1 off each one)
3 twizzlers used coupon from flyer 99 cents each
2 Dove bars used 2/$3 ad coupon 2 $1/$1 manu coupons 1 easy saver coupon
2 Herbert Choc bars $1.99 each used ES coupon took off $3 so I paid 49 cent each?
1 Visine $4.79 used ES $2 plus $1 manu

no deal
2 gallons of milk $2.99 each

used $10/$40 WAGS coupon good only yesterday/today
used two $10 RR I had

Originally she said my total was $88 or something.. handed her coupons my total was $15.21. Used my GC so paid NOTHING OOP and got back $10 for the cleaners and $4 for the benadryl which I needed desparately. Plus I will get back $8.34 in rebates next month! Woah.. I'm spent!

The bottom of my receipt says
WAG COUPON SAVINGS: $ 6.51
WAG ADVERTISED SAVINGS: $23.83
MFG COUPON SAVINGS: $52.24
YOUR TOTAL SAVINGS: $82.58

THHHHHHHHATTTT RIIIIIGHHTTTT!!

early Sunday WAGS run

well it was early for me.. 8:10am is really early for me since I've been unemployed.. anyway... I went specifically for the Scrubbing Bubbles shower deal which was $19.99 on sale with a $5 manu coupon plus I used my $10 RR from last week and got another $10 back! My WAGS has always had exactly 3 of these on the shelf at any given time.. not sure how I know this but it's true so I wanted to be there bright and early to cash in on this deal. I basically only had to spend $5 OOP for this (considering I don't count RR's I earn until I use them) but I had my GC so my total was 0 oop!! yeahh!!

anyway.. I was there and my buddy Julie was working and of course I decided to look at clearance stuff since I brought no other coupons than my RR and manu with! amazed? I was too.. I think Julie thought I couldn't walk without that coupon box, it holds me up ya know!

anyway.. this is what I walked out with.


My total after coupons was $59.88 but I paid with my GC no wonder my GC goes so fast every month! lol! Most of the stuff I got is for all the kids I buy Christmas gifts for. The BBQ set was $5.19 and that is for my brother/sister in law, the desk lamp is for my father in law and the wind chimes are for all the ladies I have between my and my husbands family.

So I'm going to start listing out the people I buy for and figuring out what is for whom and what else I need to buy to fill the gaps. Either way I think I'm in pretty good shape!