Economic Endeavors

Believe it or not, I did not get to CVS this week at all (gasp!). My stockpile is pretty big right now, and the only thing I really needed is diapers, so I thought I'd have better luck at Walgreens because of the great deals this week combined with the $10/$40 coupon that was available.

I gave Walgreens a shot a few months back, but wasn't that thrilled overall with the experience. I wasn't happy with the 2 cashiers I saw, one of whom even went as far as mumbling something about me "photocopying coupons" and "something shady going on here". Of course all of my coupons were 100% legit, but I wasn't fond of being regarded as a criminal, so I haven't been back since. I've been sitting on a gift card that was loaded with my rebates from that month, so I decided to give it another try today.

I was pleasantly happy with my trip all around. The cashier was great, all of my coupons went through without a problem, and unlike last time, they had a lot of the items I was looking for in stock.

I did 2 transactions. I was planning to spend only the amount of money I would get back in rebates. Then, unexpectedly, I added on an unplanned item - a Halloween costume for my 2-year-old that I knew she would love- which was $19.99. So after adding that on, I wanted to spend no more than that $19.99.

Here's what I did (off the top of my head):

Transaction 1:

2 packs of diapers (B1G1 50%, $11.98 for both)
3 Dimeatapp ($3.99 each, earning $10 RRs)
2 Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubbers for $3.79 each and 2 Scrubbing Bubbles Wipes for $2.49 each (earning $5 RRs)
A roll of wrapping paper for $2.99 (needed for my nephews birthday party this afternoon)
A birthday card for $1.99
2 Herberts chocolate bars for $3

total was over $40

Used $3 off 2 Herberts coupon from Easy Saver book
Used $10 off $40 printable
Used 3 $2 off Dimeatapp coupons
Used 2 $2.75 off Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber coupons
Used 1 B1G1 Scrubbing Bubbles Wipes coupons

Total was $15.xx, paid cash.
Earned $15 RRs


Transaction 2:

Princess Halloween Costume for $19.99
Chemistry Hair Product for $7.99 (Free after monthly Easy Saver rebate)
Pert Plus shampoo for $3.99 (free after monthly rebate)
Revlon Nail Polish for $4.49 (free after monthly rebate)
2 Chex Mix bags for $0.99 each
Hannah Montana lip balm for $1.99 for my daughter
Gummy Candy for $0.99 for my other daughter
2 Herbert chocolate bars for $3

Total was over $40

Used $3 off 2 Herbert chocolate coupon
Used $10 off $40
Used $2 off Pert Plus coupon
Used $2 off Revlon coupon
Used 2 $1 off Chex Mix coupons

Total was $25.xx

Used $15 RRs from previous order and paid $10.xx with my gift card.
Will get back $16.47 in rebates + 10% for loading it on my gift card.

All in all, I only spent $15 oop.
And will earn back $5.50 of that in rebates (after subtracting the $10 spent on my gift card today). Great trip. I may be rethinking my original bad opinion of Walgreens!

Do you have current magazine subscriptions you'd like to renew? Or have you been thinking of subscribing to a magazine (like All You, for example) but have been waiting for a good deal to come along?

If so, then please take the time to consider subscribing through the fundraiser program for my oldest daughter's middle school. Not only are the magazines offered at discounted prices, but you'd be helping out a terrific cause (40% of all orders go directly to the middle school) AND helping my daughter win a cool prize.

Also, everyone who subscribes (or renews) through my daughter's referral will be entered to win a $40 gift card to CVS! (winner will be drawn randomly on Sept. 26.)

To browse all of the available magazines, click on this link and enter the school #: 425000601
(that should register you with West Middle School). There are hundreds of magazines available, including All You ($16 for 12 issues, $24 for 18 issues), Smart Money (24 issues for $24), Family Fun ($15 for 20 issues), Readers Digest ($19 for 24 issues), Women's Day ($20 for 34 issues), Good Housekeeping ($20 for 24 issues), ESPN the Magazine (26 issues for $19), TV Guide ($20 for 28 issues), and lots and lots more!

I really appreciate all of you who take advantage of this great opportunity to save money on your subscriptions while donating to a great school!

When ordering, enter my daughter's name (Autumn Smallwood) so she can get credit for referring you. Then, submit your info in the form below to enter the giveaway for the $40 CVS gift card. (Regular post comments are disabled for this post, you must use the entry form below to enter the giveaway!)

Thank you so much for your support!

Yankee Candle is having a sale for 50% off of their votives and tarts for a limited time.
Normally they're priced at $1.99, but with this promotion they're just $1 each. Many scents to choose from!

Click on this link to visit the site and the promotion code will be automatically applied. If you visit the site without using the above link, you can enter promotion code XF809B2 to apply the discount.

Also, to save the cost of shipping, print this coupon to take with you to your nearest Yankee Candle store and use it to get the same deal offline as well!

I recently blogged about the hidden gem that is Swagbucks. If you're not familiar with Swagbucks, or you are familiar with them but aren't using them as your current search engine, let me tell you why you should be.
























If you click on the above images to see them larger, you'll notice that both of those payments were emailed to me within the last 2 weeks. $80 in 2 weeks for doing nothing more than searching the web, which I would be doing anyways.

Now, I don't want to be misleading. The average person who uses Swagbucks without referring anyone will typically make anywhere between 1-5 Swagbucks per day (usually 1-2) if you're doing regular searches. Even at that rate, you should be able to score a $5 Amazon gift card (which costs 45 Swagbucks) or a $5 Starbucks gift card (50 Swagbucks) every month. Not bad for doing something you would be doing anyways.

However, if you take the time to refer people (on your blog, or by posting a bulletin on Myspace or a note on Facebook, etc), you will earn every swagbuck your referrals earn, up to 100 for each referral. For example, I referred my mom, and for every Swagbuck she earns, I earn the same amount in my account. If you have a bunch of referrals, it really adds up! And there are other gift cards available as well - Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Subway, even Southwest Airlines!

It's a win-win for you and your referrals. Who wouldn't want to use a search bar that pays you for your searches over one that doesn't, especially when the results are from Google and Ask.com, both excellent sources?

So please, use my referral code to go sign up, and you'll get 3 Swagbucks for free to start you off. And then you can add the search bar to your browsers toolbar (easy to do, just one simple click) and use it every time you search. And then let all your friends know about it, so you can start earning those Bucks even faster!

If you have a McCormicks and Schmicks restaurant in your area (I have never even heard of them!), USA Today has advertised that you can enjoy $20 off of your next seafood dinner by making an online reservation here and dining before Sept. 30, 2008.

If you have a Costco membership, you can purchase M&S gift cards at a 20% discount, making your meal cost even less!

This restaurant is normally much pricier than the restaurants we typically dine at (average meal price is over $15), but with the coupon and give card savings, it doesn't seem like as much of a splurge!

Sample dinner menu here. (Menus may vary by location.)

Fine Print Details: One coupon per table, no minimum order amount, must purchase a dinner item.

**If you're new to the CVS game this post won't make much sense to you. Go here first to read my Beginner's Guide to CVS and learn everything you need to know. Then read the rest of this post for tips on how to make the game work for you, too!

Here's what I see for the week of 9/14:

Money Maker!

Excedrin:
$3.99 Excedrin Express Gels (earns $3.99 ECBs, limit 1)
-$2 Excedrin PM printable
Profit of $2 after coupon and ECBs!

Just for Men Haircolor:
$7.99 Just For Men Haircolor (earns $2 ECBs, limit 1)
-$7.99 Try Me Free mail-in rebate here
Profit of $2 after ECBs and rebate!

Free!

Aleve:
$3.99 Aleve D Sinus & Cold or Sinus Headache (earns $3 ECBs, limit 1)
-$1 Aleve D printable here or here
Free after coupon and ECBs!


Nearly Free!

Purex laundry soap:
$2.99 Purex (earns $1 ECB, monthly deal, limit 5)
-$0.50 Purex (from 8/10 SS)
$1.49 after coupon and ECBs!

Nail Color:
$3.99 Sally Hansen nail color (earns $2 ECBs, limit 1)
-$1 Sally Hansen printable
$0.99 after coupon and ECBs!

CoverGirl Lipcolor:
Buy $10 of Cover Girl products, get $3 ECBs
$5.49 x2 Outlast lipcolor ($10.98, earns $3 ECBs)
-$5.49 B1G1 Cover Girl lip product (from 8/31 P&G)
$2.49 for both after coupon and ECBs!

Other Deals!

Buy $10 of Hellmans, Lipton, Skippy, Ragu, earn $3 ECBs
There are lots of coupons for these products from the 8/17 RP insert

$6.99 Jumbo Pack CVS brand diapers or training pants

______________________________________________
Here's what I see for the week of 9/21:

I have not seen the actual ad for this week, but this information is from reputable sources!

Money Maker!

Rumored to be in the ad, from an excellent source:
$11.99 L'Oreal Advance Revita Lift Anti wrinkle serum 1oz (earns $11.99, 2 DAY SALE, SUNDAY AND MONDAY ONLY)
-$3 LOreal Revitalift (from 7/20 SS)
Profit of $3 after coupon and ECBs!

Baby Wash:
$4.99 Johnson and Johnson Softwash (earns $4.99 ECBs- 2 DAY SALE, SUNDAY AND MONDAY ONLY)
-$1 Johnsons wash printable
Profit of $1 after coupon and ECB!

Mens Body Wash:
$4.99 Nivea for Men Body Wash (earns $4.99 ECBs)
-$1 Niver for Men Body Wash (from 7/20 SS)
Profit of $1 after coupon and ECBs!


Free!

Deodorant:
$4.99 Adidas Deodorant (earns $4 ECBs)
-$1 Adidas Deodorant (from 7/27 RP)
Free after coupon and ECBs!

Nearly Free!

Sports Drinks:
5/$5 Gatorade 32 oz, or Propel 1 liter bottles (earn $3 ECBs on 5)
5/$2 after ECBs!

Toothpaste:
$2.99 Crest Pro Health 4.2oz (earns $2 ECBs)
$0.99 after ECBs!


Other Deals:

Sunday and Monday only, VO5 15ox Shampoo or COnditioner will be $0.65 each.

Buy $30 of Kimberly Clark, earn $10 ECBs.
Includes Huggies, Kleenex, Kotex, Depends and Poise, and Viva towels.

Buy $15 of listed Candy, earn $7 ECBs.
Includes select Hersheys, Mars, Brachs, Nestle, and M&Ms candies.

Pepsi 12 pack 4/$11 (earns $3 ECBs on 4).
4/$8 after ECBs
$2 per 12 pack!

If you've been a long time reader of my blog, then you are familiar with the many computer problems I have been having sporadically over the past few months. We have one computer right now, a laptop that is quickly approaching the last of it's days. We have had it a few years, and it has survived more than it's shares of bumps and bruises, including a juice spill recently (thanks to my 2 1/2 year old) that put it's keyboard out of commission. I am now typing on a separate keyboard connected to the laptop through USB.

Which leads me to the source of my current excitement: I just ordered a new notebook computer! My husband and I have been hemming and hawing over it for a couple of months, as we do with every big-ticket purchase we consider. Today, we decided together to just go for it.

We decided on the Dell Mini 9, a budget computer in every way, including size. It's so tiny and cute, I just love it. I'm already daydreaming about my latte trips to Starbucks, just me and my little Mini, blogging and emailing and catching up on my favorite blogs.

Hubs loved the price, and the high reviews about it's functionality, but as far as a mini notebook with low memory and only 8G of hard drive space, he was unimpressed in a way that only the snobbiest of computer geeks would understand. He said he'll just stick with the old laptop for as long as he can (he's thinking of buying a laptop that runs Linux with next year's tax refund, to use for work). That's fine with me, because that means I'll have my Mini all to myself! :)

Because I ordered it online, it has to be built and will be shipped in a couple of weeks. My birthday is on the 27th this month, and Hubs said to consider it an early birthday gift. The most expensive birthday gift I've ever gotten, even at it's budget price. I usually get a nice dinner out for my birthday, so this is really splurging! It is so rare that we spend money on big purchases, so when we do, I'm like a kid on Christmas.

/giddy rave :)