It's all about the coupons

As a fairly passive observer in this whole frugal living process, there are some observations that I make that just crack me up. Several months ago I would have been shocked to see Thriftynester up before 10 on a Sunday. Now I'm shocked if she isn't up by eight. Her motivation? The Sunday paper.

No, she's not a current events or news hound, she's a coupon addict. The Sunday addition of the local paper is like a drug, she's got to have her fix. Inside it's teeming with glossy pages full of colorful dollar signs to lure her in -- akin to an X addict and their brightly colored light sticks.

She steals for it, too. If she doesn't have $1.50 in quarters, she runs around the house, searching high and low for my coin stash, tipping up sofa cushions and even begging the cat. "I only need one more!" I hear her yell as she's frantically dashing from room to room.

When she finally gets her fix, when she's sitting on the once up-turned sofa cushion, she's calm and collected. The shakes start to subside as she opens the pages to reveal this week's must have deals. Order is restored, the coffee's brewing, and Sunday can finally begin.

Indulge your Pumkpin Spice addiction... frugally!

So for all my pumpkin spice latte' lovers out there, here is a way to indulge your addiction while keeping frugal minded... is Starbucks Pumpkin lattes draining your bank account? While I love Starbucks and it will always be my #1.. Dunkin Donuts is running their happy hour promotion and this season includes the pumpkin latte's.

Here's the deal. Monday through Friday between the hours of 2pm and 5pm, head over to Dunkin Donuts for a small latte for only $0.99! That's right.....a buck will indulge the addiction. For the non pumpkin lovers (if there could ever be any!) you can also get the other flavors like caramel, mocha or a plain latte. Hot or cold, your choice. Check it out, and enjoy!

Free Joe

Ok, we're not talking about another distressed whale here, but rather a great frugal find for teachers. Since the two main contributors of this site happen to be teachers, this certainly applies to them. Starbucks is offering a tall size cup of Pike's Place Roast coffee every Monday in September, from the 8th through the 28th, for free. Just show your district badge and you'll be caffeinated for free. (And who doesn't need that on a Monday?)


Nothing's more frugal then free. Take advantage before the offer ends. Only two Monday's left! For more info, go here.

Beware of the coupons

So I finally decided I just couldn't be a passive bystander in this whole money saving scheme and wanted some of the action for myself. With my eight ECBs I had earned on a previous purchase, an Aleve $1 off coupon and a CVS $2 off $10 coupon, I was set. I walked in proud to make my first attempt at CVSing solo, sans Thriftynester, that is, but quickly learned I wasn't quite ready to pull it off.

I purchased Purex laundry detergent, Excendrin pain reliever and Aleve-D Cold and Sinus. The deal, with my coupons, should have cost me just under a $1 as I was going to have to add a 99 cent filler to use my eight ECBs. I was also going to earn about nine ECBs with this transaction.

The deal should have looked like this:

Aleve-D 10 ct.: $3.99 less $1 off coupon = $2.99 (earn three ECB)
Excedrin: $3.99 (earn 3.99 ECB)
Purex: $2.99 (earn one ECB)
Glade air freshener: 99 cents
- CVS $2 off $10 coupon
- eight ECBs from before
For a grand total of 96 cents.

Here's where I went wrong -- the Aleve coupon. There are two different coupons available from Bayer (the maker of Aleve) right now. One is for a dollar off any Aleve product 20 count or larger, and another for a dollar of a Aleve-D Cold and Sinus or Aleve Cold and Headache 10 count. The 10 count Aleve-D was on sale, plus you could earn 3.99 ECB, so, in the end, the Aleve-D would have been free. I printed the wrong coupon, the 20 count or larger one, and not knowing I arrived at the store and purchased the 20 count package. No ECBs, no sale. All I saved was a buck from the dollar coupon, and I ended up paying nearly three times what I would have paid for the 10 pack w/o earning ECBs. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

This is how the deal really went down, or should I say, failed:

Aleve-D 20 ct.: $10.99 less $1 off coupon
Excedrin: $3.99 (earn 3.99 ECB)
Purex: $2.99 (earn one ECB)
Glade air freshener: 99 cents
- CVS $2 off $10 coupon
- eight ECBs from before
Grand total of $6.96. Not what I was planning.

I still saved about $10 on the entire transaction and earned 4.99 ECBs, but instead of walking away with a super deal under a buck, I ended up spending just under seven. It was a lesson learned to be careful of the coupons I print, and to not let the 20 people in line behind me intimidate me and rush the deal. I still walked away saving money, but it could have been oh so better.

Tonight, however, Thriftynester crafted a deal for me at CVS for another package of Aleve-D, this time with the right coupon, and a bottle of Tylenol PM. With the Aleve coupon, a Tylenol PM coupon, CVS $2 off $10 coupon and my 4.99 in ECBs, I spent a whopping 73 cents. It felt good -- like I had been slightly avenged for my gaffe last night. Great savings and another five ECBs... yes, I think I can get into this!

Tonight's deal:
Aleve-D 10 ct.: $3.99 less $1 off coupon (earn three ECB)
Tylenol PM: $6.49 less $2 off coupon (earn two ECB)
- $2 off $10 coupon
- 4.99 ECB
For a grand total of 73 cents! Now that's more like it!

Walgreen's Keeps Paying Me...

I am starting to get addicted to that feeling of watching the coupons go in, the total go down, and then walking out the door with bags full of stuff for literally pennies to nothing. It's an amazing feeling! Here is my great deal at Walgreen's tonight.

4 boxes Kraft Mac'n'cheese @1.49/box (for the nights supportiveheels has to feed herself)

2 Glade Scented Gel Plug In's @ 1.99 each

1 Glade scented gel refills @ 1.99

1 Glade 2 in 1 candle @ 1.99

2 Colgate Total Maxfresh toothpaste @ 2.99 each

3 Pantene products (shampoo, condition, hairspray) @ $4 each

Coupons Used:

*Wagreens mac'n'cheese for .69 so -2.58

*Walgreens Colgate coupon -4.00

*2 Colgate manf. coupons .75 each -1.50

*used 2 BOGO Glade plug in coupons (i think this will be based on your cashier!)- so got BOTH free! -3.98

*-1.00 glade candle manf. coupon

*-0.55 glade refills manf. coupon

*Used a $10RR from last week

Total OOP: $5.45, received $2 RR for next purchase and will get $4 back in rebates.... to make this deal a money maker of $0.65. *EDIT* I now realized after filling out the rebates online, that the Pantene qualifies for $5 rebate, so I actually made $5.65 on that deal!

ALL of that stuff in that picture was free and they paid me almost a dollar to take it! WOW..... I am kinda loving Walgreen's right now!

I save $34.28 today! I would have paid to record the cashier's face when she kept watching it drop down from almost $40... she was shocked, and very impressed!

Another Wags Success!

I got all this for $5.48 plus a $10 RR! Profit of almost $5.

This week was a bit crazy, and I lost my motivation for the deals. I knew they were out there and knew they were good, but a busy schedule, tiredness, and lack of motivation kept me from pursuing. I am left with $6 ECB's from my last CVS transaction on Monday night and am happy with that to start for next week. My last trip to Walgreen's granted me $10 in RR's (Register Rewards-- good towards your next purchase) and with all the good deals and some good coupons, I drug myself there today and refound my motivation! I scored really well!

Transaction #1

3 Progresso Light Soups (used wagreens 3/$4, -1.10 on 3 manf. and a -.50 manf.)
1 Visine (used -2.00 manf. and -1.00 sept. easy saver coupon)
2 Walgreens chapsticks BOGO
2 Butterball chicken broths (used walgreens 2/1.00)
1 Jiff Peanut Butter (used walgreens 1.99 coupon and -.55 manf.)
1 pk Bottled Water (used walgreens 2.99 coupon)

Total After Coupons: $11.61
Used -$10 RR from last trip
OOP: $1.61

Transaction #2

3 Robitussin CF @3.99 each
Used 3 -3.00 manf. coupons
OOP: $3.78, Gained $10 in RR for my next trip!

Chaos Becomes Organization

This is what my kitchen table looked like last night. I was considering going to bed and decided I would have nightmares about coupons eating me so I stayed up to organize them.

I browsed several different blogs and googled the phrase "organize coupons." I am sad to say that I didn't note where I got all my good ideas, but most of them confirmed that I would stick with my accordian file I keep in my car. However, after reading, I changed the tabs in it and I think the new tabs will be much more useful!

The new tabs are:

dairy aisle, snacks, breakfast, canned, freezer, pantry foods, baking needs, laundry,medicine, oral hygiene, makeup/toiletries, household, and cleaning products

I have another smaller accordian that I use for coupons and deals to restaurants and retail shops I go to.
Check out my kitchen table now!