Cheap Barilla Pasta at Safeway (Update - GIANT has Barilla for free)

For those of you who don't have HT and couldn't do "triples," Safeway offers you the next best thing.
Barilla Pasta will be on sale through May 10th.

The Piccolini pasta is on sale for $1.50/box.
The Whole Grain Pasta is on sale fjor $1.75/box.

This past Sunday's SS insert had a few Barilla Qs.
1) $.50 off 1 Barilla Piccolini pasta (x4/30/09)and
2) $.50 off Barilla Whole Grain pasta (x4/30/09)

Most Safeway stores double all maufacturer's Qs up to 99c.

After Qs you pay 75c/box of Whole Grain pasta and 50c/box of Piccolini (these are mini sized pasta. Perfect for small children - NOTE: you may still need to chop these up for the wee ones).

Cheap pasta!

*UPDATE*
Better than cheap, Barilla is on sale this week at Giant for $1/box. Giant doubles Qs up to 50c. It looks like the Piccolini's are definitely $1. I'm not sure about the whole grain. If someone goes to Giant and finds out, please post a comment letting us know what worked!

Where Does All the Money Go?

If you are serious about reducing spending, you must know where your money is going!
Most of us know how much we spend on rent/mortgage, electricity, phone, etc.
This post is a plan of action to find out how you spent the $40 you pulled out of the ATM machine. (It doesn't really disappear - we spend it somewhere). If you are not already budgeting, join me as I track our family's daily expenses on the front of my refrigerator!

There is no time like the present. Tomorrow is the first of the month. Begin tracking your April expenses tomorrow!

All you need to get started is a blank calendar. If you don't have an extra calendar page, you can print one for free on a number of online sites. Tape it to the refrigerator. When you come in from the store, the gas station, a date, etc., write down what you spent and where you spent it. Make sure your significant other is recording his/her purchases or ask them to bring home receipts so you can record them yourself. It doesn't have to look pretty, it must be functional! (Don't forget to record your online shopping.)
Some time between April 1 and April 30th get a blank notebook to record your monthly expenses. Keep it in the kitchen close to your calendar. At the end of the month record your spending in this notebook under budget headings such as groceries, entertainment, education, gas, household, clothing, etc. When you know where it is going you can figure out where to cut back. You can also set yourself a realistic budget in each category.
Easy peasy!

Domino's Deal

Just deleted the post for the free Dominos pizza because the code is now expired. Hope those who got in on it while it was still active enjoyed their pizza!

Time-Saving Tuesday

Each Tuesday we'll be bringing you time-saving tips.

This week's tip was mentioned in yesterday's Meal Plan Monday. Cook once, use twice (at least!) If you know you're having BBQ grilled chicken on Sunday, put extra plain (or lightly seasoned) chicken breasts on the grill and plan to have salads topped with grilled chicken or chicken fajitas later in the week. It doesn't take much more time in prep, and no additional cooking time to make extras, and now you've saved yourself the time and energy of cooking at least one other night of the week. Typically most of us have a little extra time for cooking on the weekends so if we can do it then it will make the dinner hours during the week much more calm and peaceful.

Other ideas for cooking once, using more than once:
-turkey breast or roasted chicken one night becomes chicken/turkey and rice casserole, chicken/turkey pot pie, enchiladas, chicken/turkey pasta salad, noodle soup, fried rice, baby spinach and strawberry salads topped with chicken/turkey, fajitas, soft tacos, white chicken/turkey chili, chicken/turkey pesto pizza--the possibilities are endless!

-make a large flank steak one night, serve thin slices over salad another night, or make fajitas

-a spiral cut ham becomes ham and potato casserole, ham and bean soup, ham and broccoli quiche

-Making something with ground beef? Brown twice the amount needed and freeze the extra. Now chili, tacos, or sloppy joes will only take minutes to prepare on a busy night.

-make twice the amount of mashed potatoes your family needs on Sunday night and serve the "planned overs" with dinner on Tuesday night

-make extra rice to serve later in the week or freeze the extras for nights that you need a quick side dish

-extra shaped pasta used for a dinner one night quickly transforms into a cold pasta salad for lunch (or add cooked chicken or pepperoni) for a quick dinner.

We'd love to hear any ideas you have for cooking once and using twice! We're always looking for new recipes to try as well, so please share your time-saving tips!

Walgreens -- Soft Soap Body Wash

Purchase an 18 oz. bottle of Soft Soap Body Wash at Walgreens ($3.99) and a catalina coupon for a free bottle prints out at the register. Use this on your second 18 oz. bottle to get it free.

If your SS coupon insert came with the $1/1 Soft soap body wash, use it on your first purchase and you will get two bottles for $2.99!

Food Lion - cheap Electrasol Gel Pacs

At my FL the Electrasol 32 count Gel Packs are $6.49 ea. Right now they are BOGO. So, you pay $6.49 for two boxes, or $3.25 each. This offer expires 04/07/09.

Free Eucerin Sample

Periodically Walmart offers free samples through their site. I've gotten free diapers, razors, soap, granola bars--all sort of things through them. Today they are offering a free Sample of Eucerin lotion. We love this stuff for my son with eczema!

Free Reusable Grocery Bag from Earthbound Farm

Earthbound Farm is offering a free reusable tote to the first 10,000 people to their site who learn more about eating healthier and protecting the environment. You can learn more by visiting their site. I just signed up and it said my bag would be here in 6-8 weeks!

Free Movie Monday from Redbox

Each Monday Redbox puts out codes for a free 1 night DVD rental. Today's code is 89ZQJ3. To find locations of Redbox kiosks look here: Redbox

Meal Plan Monday

One of the easiest ways to begin saving money is by planning your meals in advance. This helps ward off last minute runs to the store to get "just one ingredient" where you come out with 10 extra things, or trips through the drive thru.

I've just gotten serious about this again because I know doing it makes my life so much easier. I don't have "what's for dinner?" hanging over my head all day and it helps me to avoid my "pregnancy paralysis" (which is my seeming inability to make even the smallest decisions while pregnant without stressing over them and all the options entirely too much!)

This week starts a new challenge for my family--balancing sports schedules, music lessons and family dinner. It's also what forced me to write out a dinner calendar for the whole month of April. I marked out which nights have:
-Tball games (which means I need to feed my tball player before the game and have something easy to eat at the ballpark for the rest of us),
-Tball practice (which needs a meal that can be ready for us to eat as soon as we all return home from Tball practice)
-and nights that have piano lessons (which is something that either I can put in the oven before I take my daughter to lessons while my husband stays home, or if I'm staying home something that's easy to prepare but can sit a bit if need be after it's finished to accommodate them getting home a little later.)

Also, since my morning sickness and can be known to be "all day sickness" I'm trying to cook with "planned overs" (not leftovers) in mind, so I can spend less time in the kitchen. You'll see examples of that this week.

And--the best thing I found while planning my month long menu--aside from fresh items like milk and produce--I only need 8 additional things from the store to make my entire month of meals! I planned my meals based on meats and frozen veggies I had in the freezer and other items I already had on my pantry shelves. April will be a month of huge grocery store savings for us!

For this week we have:
Sunday: Burgundy Pork Tenderloin (modified--no celery, used half red wine, half beef broth and topped with sliced onions and mushrooms), mashed potatoes (made double for the previous night's dinner), corn, homemade rolls.

Monday: Mom's night out with friends! (woohoo!) Dad and kids are having frozen pizza, carrots and apple slices.

Tuesday: Pork lo mein (using half of planned over pork tenderloin from Sunday night, remaining pork will be chopped and frozen for fried rice later in the month.)

Wednesday: Tball game Turkey, bacon, guacamole, cheese, salsa, and baby spinach in sun dried tomato basil wraps, chips, and grapes. (turkey breast is on sale at Giant for $4.99/lb. this week and grapes are $.99.lb.)

Thursday: Piano practice Cheesy chicken and rice with broccoli, remaining homemade rolls from Sunday. (Make extra rice for tomorrow night's dinner)

Friday: Red beans and rice with corn bread and baby spinach salads. (Recipe: mix 2 cans undrained kidney beans with one can undrained stewed tomatoes--chopped. Add .5-1 tsp dried basil and a couple of dashes of Tabasco sauce. Heat on low for 15 minutes or until heated through.

Want more dinner ideas? Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie where you can find tons of Meal Plan Monday ideas! (We're number 234!)

Staples B1G1 deals will help you & a friend get started organizing coupon inserts!

This week Staples has B1G1 free & B2G1 free deals.

I see 3 great items to help you and a friend get started filing your Sunday coupon inserts.
First, the Letter/Legal Tote for $14.95 is BOGO. This comes to $7.47 for one. (This is a plastic hanging file box with a lid)
Also, the hanging file folders and the 3-tab file folders are BOGO at $8.99. You won't need a whole box. Split these, too.
$23.94 divided by two is $11.77 each.

My Harris Teeter Triples shopping trip

This morning I bought 3 different papers: The Charlottesville Daily Progress, The Culpeper Star Exponent, and the Richmond Times Dispatch. I only bought a few of the Richmond paper because it was the priciest. This turned out to be the paper with the best Qs for triples. This paper had the 75c/1 Nestle Chocolate morsels (tripled to $2.25 off) and the 35c/1 soft soap hand soap. I didn't see the Washington Post, but Frugal Momma told me it didn't have all the Qs I mentioned earlier. Also some of the Q values were $1 and therefore don't qualify for tripling. Coupon values vary by region.

Here is my shopping trip:

-$ 0.75 for 3 rolls of VIVA paper towels (SP 2 for $4) = $6 - .75 x 3 x 3 (or -6.75) = -.75
-$0.15 for 3 Birds Eye Steam fresh veggies (SP 10 for $10) = $3 - .35 x 3 x 3 (or -3.15) = -.15
+$0.27 for 3 Barilla Piccolini pasta ($1.59 ea.) = 4.77 - .50 x 3 x 3 (0r -4.50) = +.27
+$0.19 for 2 Softsoap hand pumps (SP $2.29 BOGO) = 2.29 - .35 x 3 x 2 (or -2.10) = +.19
+$0.94 for 1 Duncan Hines cake mix($1.99 ea.) = 1.99 - .35 x 3 x 1 (or -1.05) = +.94
+$1.92 for 3 Fleischman's yeast ($1.99 ea.) = 5.97 - .45 x 3 x 3 (or -4.05) = + 1.92
+$1.80 for 3 Nestle Morsels ($2.85 ea.) = 8.85 - .75 x 3 x 3 (or 6.75) = +1.80
+$2.55 for 6 cans Dole Madarin Oranges (SP 2 for $5) = 7.50 - .55 x 3 x 3 (or 4.95) = +2.55
=$6.77 + tax OOP

(.55 x 3 x 3 means one 55c Q x 3 (tripled) x 3 coupons - 1 per item = a savings of $4.95 off those three items).
Above, SP = Sale price.
When an item is on sale during a triple coupon event the register automatically deducts the full triple value of the Qs even if it drops below the price of the item. If your item is not on sale and your tripled Q value is greater than the price of the item, you get the item for free, but no "overage." I tried to purchase items I needed that gave me "overage" and coupled them with other items where I owed $ so that the overage from the first items' Qs would be applied to other items in my cart. The paper towels and the veggies gave me overage.

I love triple coupon events!! :o)

Please post your triples savings here, I'd love to read about them!
If it's your first triples even focus on your savings, eventually the savings won't matter to you it will become the oop expense. Your savings is your victory! This means that couponing CAN and WILL make a difference in your weekly/monthly grocery budget. In the above transaction I saved 33.19 in coupons and $10.60 in VIC card savings (store sale prices). A total savings of $43.79. This purchase should have cost me $50.56 plus tax.

There are two days left to take advantage of the HT triples coupon event. If you don't have Qs this time, HT will be hosting another triple coupon event in about 3 months. One thing I have come to learn about couponing; don't fret over missing a deal, there's always another deal around the corner.

Walgreens

Reynolds wrap (the 20 sq. ft. size) is $1.69 at WAGs.
There is a WAGs store coupon that makes these 89c/each.
I had some maufacturer Qs for $1 off. These are no longer available (sorry).
I "earned" 11c for each roll I purchased! This "earned" $ was applied toward my other purchases in this transaction.

Kroger 3/29 - 4/4 Highlights + a great deal on butter!

Some highlights this week at Kroger...

Red globe, black or white seedless grapes 10 lb for $10
Fresh Asparagus $1.99/lb.
Cantaloupe 2 for $3
Sweet Yams 49c/lb.
Strawberries 16 oz. $2.88
Easter Lillies $6.99 and up
Tyson whole chicken 59c/lb
Land O Lakes 16 oz. Butter $1.99 (reg. price $3.79)
Kroger sliced American cheese $2.99/lb.
PictSweet or Kroger vegetables 10 for $10
Ore Ida potatoes 2 for $5
Pillsbury Dough Products 4 for $5

I went to Kroger to stock up on butter. Land O Lakes butter is on sale for $1.99/lb (the four stick pack) in today's SS there was a Q for 50c off 1 pkg. of 4 sticks of Land O Lakes butter.
Kroger doubles coupons up to the value of 50c. I bought ten packages.
$1.99 x 10 = $19.90 - $10 (10 50c Qs - doubled) = $9.90 + tax for 40 sticks of butter!
Great price!!

Rite Aid Free $25 Gift Card

In today's Rite Aid flyer there are 2 coupons for a free $25 gift card (GC) when you transfer your prescription (RX) to Rite Aid. If you already have a prescription at Rite aid, transfer it to CVS, bring the coupon and most CVS pharmacies will honor it. I have used these coupons (they come out pretty regularly) rotating RX's around from pharmacy to pharmacy picking up gift cards along the way. This has helped in considerably reducing my OOP (out-of-pocket) expenses on diapers, laundry detergents and personal care items.

If your RX co-pay is less than $25 you make $ to switch your RX!

If you don't have a RX to transfer cut out the coupons anyway, the expiration date on these is 4/30/09. You may be able to use them before then.

Couponing 101 (part 1)

Are you just beginning?

Does it seem overwhelming? Most new things do. However, if you are committed to slashing the grocery/baby/personal care items budget, it is well worth the investment of time to keep as much of your cash in your account and out of the cash register.

To get started :

1. Begin collecting coupon inserts. Buy extra copies of the newspaper, ask friends, family and neighbors for their coupon inserts. There are two that come out nearly every week, Red Plum (RP) and Smart Source (SS). The Proctor & Gamble (P&G) comes out once/month. Occasionally General Mills (GM) has an insert. You can find out which papers carry which inserts here: hot coupon world inserts link



2. Create a file system to keep old coupon inserts. File them by Name and Date (i.e. RP 3/29). Often retailers publish a coupon first, then a few weeks later they put the same item on sale. Sometimes they work with retailers to offer cash back coupons that print out $ off coupons on your next purchase in that store when you buy their product. When these sales/promotions are offered you have several copies of the coupon for that item. If it is an item you use regularly (TP or paper towels) you will want to "stock up" at the lowest price possible to help keep your costs low.

Some people keep their inserts whole and only cut out the coupons they need as they use them, others find a more specific system helps keep them organized. Check out the Couponizer here:






3. Make sure you have store savings cards for your local grocery stores and Pharmacy (CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid). These cards often give you instant savings. Some store cards can have ecoupons loaded via the internet so you automatically get a coupon discount just for swiping your card (no clipping involved)! CVS registers print out Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) that are specific to your card.

More to come...

CVS this week

Good Deal Alert for CVS:

Sunday and Monday deal:
The PAAS Easter egg dye kits are $1.99, get $1.99 back in ECBs. I picked up 1 for us, then used that ECB to pick up an additional kit to donate to the local food bank.

Also, jelly beans are $.50 a bag if you need something for the kid's Easter baskets.

Harris Teeter

I'm getting ready for my HT shopping trip. I've been checking out the Express Lane (EL) on the HT web site. I found out that the HT eco-friendly bags are buy 2 get 3 free!! This comes to about 59c/bag. You'll need some bags to carry all your free groceries home! :o)
I'll be posting about my trip soon!

Cheap Leapster Games at Target! 3/29 - 4/4

The Leapster games will be part of Target's toy sale next week. They will be on sale for $15.00 (This was the Black Friday price if I remember correctly).
Last week you may have received coupons in the mail from Target (if you have a Target account). There was a store coupon for the Leapster products Spend $35 and get $5 off. AND, right now at coupons.com there are $5 off Leapster games coupons! You can use store coupons with manufacturer coupons. This is called stacking.
So, three games at $15 each =
+ $45
- $5 Target store coupon
- $5 hasbro coupon
- $5 hasbro coupon
- $5 hasbro coupon
= $25

After you have printed one coupon from coupons.com, you can hit the back arrow and print a second coupon. Only two coupons will print per printer. If you need more than 2 coupons ask friends and family members to print their coupons for you.
There are several other toy coupons at coupons.com if you are not interested in the Leapster game.

Shoprite Spend $50, get $25 back

Starting 3/29, Shoprite stores are offering a promotion where you spend $50 on participating products and you get a catalina coupon for $25 OYNO (on your next order.)

It appears that all Unilever and General Mills products are included. Neither of us have that store here, but it was the grocery store I always shopped at when I lived in NJ. You can read more about that promotion at hotcouponworld.com

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/shoprite/226024-shoprite-3-29-4-4-2009-ad-discussion.html

Land's End Custom bathing suits $12.99 shipped!

Women's Bathing Suits $12.99 shipped! These suits are normally $99 from Land's End.

Land's End has a few Women's Bathing Suits for $12.99. Use the below code for free shipping.

Code: FREESHIPPING
PIN Number: 00006021

http://www.landsend.com/ix/overstock-liquidations/Women/Swimsuits/One-Piece-Suits/Custom-Swimsuit/index.html?seq=1~2~3~4~5&catNumbers=83~134~135~1014&visible=1~2~1~1~1&store=le&sort=Price:+low+to+high&pageSize=12&tab=8

Safeway Moneymaker

Bertolli Sauce packets are on sale for $2 each. At many Safeways there are $1/1 blinkie coupons (the little machines that spit out coupons) right above the product. The sauce packets are also part of a promotion Safeway is having where if you buy 10 specially marked items you will get $5 off instantly.

So buy 10 pouches X $2 each - 10 $1 coupons = $10 - $5 instant savings for buying 10 = $5 oop (out of pocket)
BUT these sauce packets are spitting out coupons at the checkout (called Catalina coupons). For every 2 you buy you get one $2 off your next purchase coupon.

So, you spend $5 oop and you get five $2 off your next purchase coupons ($10 total) making this a $5 money maker. So, you get to walk out of the store with 10 pouches of bertolli sauce for free essentially with $5 extra you can spend on any other items in the store.

If you want more sauce you can then use those $2 off your next purchase coupons to go back and buy more sauce. The second transaction of 10 packets would only cost you $1 oop (using 2 $2 coupons and 10 $1 blinkie coupons) and then you would get another five $2 catalina coupons. You'd walk out of the store with 20 packets of sauce and a total of $6 (plus tax) oop expense and 8 "$2 off you next order" catalinas.

The Safeway buy 10, save $5 mix and match sale ends 3/30.

Get paid to use diapers

I mentioned in a previous post that I was actually *paid* to diaper my kids for over a year and a half and we've had some questions as to how that worked. CVS made it possible for a very long time. By using the ECB program in combination with coupons and well as the free $25 or $30 gift cards I would get for filling my prescriptions there, I was able to accumulate large balances of ECBs that I could then use on diapers. Periodically CVS has ECB earning sales on their diapers. Starting April 5th they will be having another one for Huggies. (Spend $25 and earn $10 in ECBs.) {more info on making the most of this deal will be coming soon!}

So I would use the ECBs I earned for free from other products and then "roll" them into diaper deals. Then I could submit those Huggies receipts to Caregivers Marketplace and receive cash back from them, in essence getting paid to buy diapers.

There's an easier way though. There's a company called Arquest. They organize diaper studies. Currently they are looking for children who wear size 4 diapers. The process is very simple. All you need to do is call them, provide the age, weight and sex of your child and if there's still space available, they will FedEx or UPS a package of unmarked diapers for you to try for a week. These are often store brand, but not always. You use them for a week, fill out the questionaire they provide and at the scheduled time you determine they will call you and ask you to read your questionaire answers to them. Then they mail you a check for $10. So--you get a free bag of diapers and $10. Not too shabby.

If interested, call today. I think they are starting the sizes 4s next week - 1-888-342-7372 ext 634 for boys (Cheyla), and ext 646 for girls (Georgia). Give your name, number, size your child is wearing and they will call you back.

Food Lion

Here are a very few of the deals Food Lion (FL) has this week:

$2.47/gallon milk
$1.79/lb boneless skinless breasts
Scott paper towels BOGO (buy one get one free). Price for one pkg is $4.09.

Like most chains, FL has a customer card. FL's is called the MVP card. When an item is on sale it shows up on your receipt as MVP savings.

FL also emails 4 coupons here after referred to as FLIPs (Food Lion Internet Printable coupon) every week (on Wednesday's when their new ad comes out) to customers that have registered their email addresses at Foodlion.com. If you are not already signed up do it today!
You can use these store coupons with a manufacturer's Q to get an even better deal. Use them both together when the item is on sale & you've got a great deal!

Tonight I bought:

Hyacinth bulbs $3.33 - $3 flower Q = $0.33
Hyacinth bulbs $3.33 - $3 flower Q = $0.33

FL deli provolone cheese $2.39 (not on sale) = $2.39
deli turkey $4.89 - $1.96 (MVP)=$2.93

2 Zucchini $1.25 - $0.44 (MVP)= $0.81
Gala apples $3.02 - $1.06 (MVP)= $1.96
1 5lb bag potaoes $3.99 - $1 (MVP) = $2.99

6 boxes of Wheat thins $21.54 - $9.54 (MVP) - $6.00 (3 Qs at $2/2) = $6.00
4 pkgs Scott 2 count Mega Roll paper towels $16.36 - $8.18 (MVP) - $4 in Qs = $4.18

In addition to the Manufacturers coupons listed above, I also used 2 FLIPs: (1) $2 off a $5 deli or bakery purchase and (1) $2 off a $5 produce purchase.

+$60.11 was my total after taxes

-$20.94 My MVP savings
-$20.00 coupon savings

=$19.17 out of pocket (OOP). 15 months ago I would have paid $60.11!!

If you are interested in the FLIPs I used tonight I can send you a link to print them now. Just leave me a comment.

CVS-- Crest update and Free Giveaway!

UPDATE--I just bought the toothpaste today and noticed that at the bottom of my receipt (where they post all the information about the current ECB deals you've done) shows that the limit was not reached. That means that I will be able to use that $3.49 ECB they gave me and buy another tube of Crest, and it will print out a different $3.49 ECB. So TWO tubes of free toothpaste (or money making toothpaste if you have coupons).

Please check the bottom of your receipt after buying one to make sure you have not reached your limit prior to buying a second tube!

To make the deal even better I found tearpad coupons that offer a FREE tube of Crest Pro-Health toothpaste when you buy 1. I have 5 available. So, for the first 5 people who leave comments our blog I will mail you this MIR coupon for the free tube of toothpaste!

Harris Teeter Triple Coupon Event 3/25 - 3/31

If you are new to couponing and live close to a Harris Teeter (HT) you can take advantage of their Triple Coupon event using the following coupons from this coming Sunday's (3/29) paper. (I cannot guarantee that these exact coupons or coupon values will be in your paper. The coupon inserts vary from region to region. Also, the individual HT prices vary from store to store) There should be two coupon inserts in this Sundays paper: Red Plum (RP) and Smart Source (SS).

Suave Anti-Perspirant & Deodorant - Invisible Solid Fresh - $1.47
.50/1 Q coming 3/29 RP x 3 = free!

Steamfresh - Broccoli, green beans, mixed veggies, corn - $1
.35/1 Q coming 3/29 SS x 3 = free!

Barilla Piccolini - $1.50
.50/1 Q coming 3/29 SS x 3 = free!

5 oz. Mahatma Yellow Rice - $0.89
.75/2 Q coming 3/29 SS x 3 = 2 free!

Colgate - 4.16 oz cavity protection - $$2.17
.75/1 Q coming 3/29 (SS or RP) x 3 = free!

7.5 oz Softsoap - $1.14 buy one get one free (BOGO)
.35/1 Q coming 3/29 SS x 3 = .09

I live 20 miles from HT in Charlottesville. I'm only going once, so I'm waiting until I clip this Sunday's coupons. If the shelves are empty of the items I'm planning on getting I just go to the Customer Service Desk and ask for a Rain Check and hand them my coupon. They give it back stapled to the coupon and I can come back when they are in stock and the will honor my coupon at triple the value. Your HT may not have the same policy. It's worth checking out.

HT allows each customer to use three of the same Q in one transaction (so buy at least 3 papers)and there is a limit of 20 coupons per customer. Since we live so far away sometimes I drag my husband or one of my girls to fill up a cart with 20 items. :o)
For more information on Harris Teeter's coupon policy check out their web site.
I will post my transactions next week.

Upcoming deal at CVS--Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber

Starting Sunday, 3/29 the Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber will be on sale at CVS for $2.99. There is a coupon on the Scrubbing Bubbles site for $2.75 off, making the cost for this tub cleaning powerhouse only $.24. We both tried these for free a couple of months ago when they first came out. (There was a mail-in-rebate that made them free.) And both agree that for scrubbing a tub, these things can't be beat for ease of use and end result. My kids actually *argue* over which kid will get to scrub the tub, and that's something I'd be willing to pay several dollars for, but thanks to CVS, now I won't have to spend any more than $.24!

Here's the link to the printable coupon. (Note--often with printable coupons if you hit the "back" key on your browser you will be able to print the coupon a second time.)

http://www.scrubbingbubbles.com/coupon/2008-07-SB/

Shoppers Food Coupons

For the NoVA/DC/MD savers in today's Washington Post there are coupons for Shoppers Food. They are valid through Sunday and can be found on page A15. One coupon is for $5 off $25 purchase and the other is for $10 off a $50 purchase.

Don't have a Shoppers nearby? That's okay because Giant Foods stores are now accepting all competitor coupons so you can use these coupons at your local Giant!

Cheap Razors at Target - this week only!

Target advertised in Sunday's sale flyer "Free $5 Target Gift Card with the purchase of any 2 of these razors or cartridges! Razors are on sale for $6.99. Those included in this offer are Intuition Plus, Quattro for Women, or Quattro Titanium.
In this past Sunday's newspaper (March 22) there were 2 coupons for razors. One for $4.00 off one Schick Intuition and one for $4.00 off one Schick Quattro for Women.
I went last night and this is how it worked.
I did 5 back-to-back transactions (Yes, I bought five Sunday papers. If you are interested in saving $ with coupons start buying extra papers and filing the coupon inserts away now)
Transaction #1
+$6.99
+$6.99
=$13.98
+$0.45 tax
-$8.00 in Qs (two $4 coupons)
=$6.43 this is what I paid out of pocket
Then, the cashier handed me a $5 Target gift card.
2 razors (nice ones) for $1.43. Not bad! Probably worth digging through your recycling bucket or getting coupon inserts from a neighbor.

I took it a few steps farther. I have three teenage daughters! :o)
Transaction #2-5
+$6.99
+$6.99
=$13.98
+$0.45 tax
-$8.00 in Qs
=$6.43
-$5.00 gift card
=$1.43 my new out of pocket total

So,
Transaction #1 cost me :
$6.43
Transactions #2-#5 cost me:
$1.43 x 4 = $5.82

My total out of pocket expense was $6.43 + $5.82 = $12.25 for ten razors AND I still have a $5 gift card from the last transaction!
$12.25 - $5.00 (value of GC) = $7.25 for ten great razors. That's $0.73 per razor!

BTW, I haven't used a cheap store brand disposal razor since 2007. I found out it's really cheaper to buy the expensive ones on sale, with promotions and coupons!

Note: My cashier was very nice. He very happily handed over each gift card. And, the person I was holding up didn't express any frustration as I handed over Qs (coupons) and payments (five times) and received recipts and GCs (five times). She simply said, "Wow! How'd you do that?"

Save money on diapers

Did you know there's a way to get money back on each pack of Huggies you buy? Just sign up at www.caregiversmarketplace.com and for each receipt you mail in showing you've bought a bag of Huggies, they'll give you $.75 back!

CVS this week--Make money to brush your teeth!

Admittedly our favorite place to make money, umm we mean save money, is CVS. Each week CVS offers deals for customers who are part of the Customer Reward program, called the Extra Care program. Signing up is easy. You just need to ask for an Extra Care card at the store and begin saving. A great way to make money this week:

Crest Pro-Health Enamel Care is $3.49 get $3.49 ECB (extra care bucks)

-$1.00 Crest 4.2 oz or larger paste or liquid gel - 03-15-09 Proctor and Gamble )P&G) insert
-$.75 Crest Paste or Gel, 4.2oz+ 3/1/09 P&G
-$.50 Crest Toothpaste or Liquid Gel, any 4.2 oz + 2/22/09 V or P&G 3/15/09

So if you have the coupon from the recent coupon inserts you make money to buy the toothpaste. If you have no coupons--that's okay--it's still free toothpaste!

They way the ECB program works is you pay the listed price for the item and at the end of your receipt you will find your ECB, in this case stating that you have $3.49 to be used on a future purchase.

Welcome to Living Large for Less

It was August 2007 when two pregnant sisters learned that you could get free diapers and be paid to take groceries home. For the past year and a half we've refined our "skills" at our (now) favorite stores like CVS and Safeway and have decided that this knowledge is too important to keep to ourselves! So what did we decide to do--start a blog of course!

We are two stay at home moms with 13 (well in August anyway) 13 kids between us. One has 8 kids and the other is pregnant with number 5. (Her husband assures her that this baby thing isn't a competition!) One of us has diapered at least one child--and at times 2-- for the past year and a half without paying a single cent. Actually she's gotten paid to diaper her kids with Huggies--but that's another post!

We've slashed our grocery and household goods budgets and we want to share what we've learned. Please continue to watch this space for great deals on our favorite shopping spots like:
CVS
Target
Safeway
Giant
Food Lion
Walgreens

We look forward to sharing with you!

Happy Savings!