Thursday, October 29, 2009

Why I Love to Shop...

... Smart that is... The pictures tell the story.


Stop #1 Walgreens
  • Spent $6.48
  • Saved $11.68
  • Recieved $8.50 in gift cards for next time

Stop # 2 Target
  • Spent $14.83
  • Saved $18.12

Stop # 3 Smiths

  • Spent $46.07
  • Saved $76.42 (62%)
  • Recieved $1 gift cardfor next time

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Late night Drug store Run


Walgreens
  • Spent $10.39
  • Saved $10.15
  • Received $9.50 in gift card for next time

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Mail Call - Heathy Choices Edition

I was thrilled with the mail today! We got free samples for VitaSpelt pasta and Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal. Both healthy options! Plus there was a 40 cents off coupon peelie for the VitaSpelt and 5 high value $1.50 off coupons + 1 FREE box for the Kashi cereal! Yeah!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

How to make wipes look interesting?





I tried several different ways... but perhaps the best way is to say that I got these for only 14 cents each. Sounds good to me! They are flushable wipes - good for my toilet trained girls, but I find them just as good for my baby in diapers. Quick and easy to throw in the diaper bag!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Walgreens less than a dollar!

You heard it right! I got all of this for under a dollar! Only 97 cents to be exact, Plus I got a $4 voucher for my next purchase as well!
Cha-CHING!

In this picture are :
  • 1 box Honey Bunches of Oats
  • 2 boxes Kashi Go-Lean
  • 2 cans Lindsay Olives
  • 1 Powerade Zero
  • 1 Softsoap Nutriserum Bodywash
  • 1 box of 50 envelopes
  • 1 bag of YUMMY Coconut M&M's
  • 6 boxes of Movie Theaters Candy - Cookie Dough Bites

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Date Night Deal

Tuesday nights are date night for my honey & I. Often times we are just relieved to be out of the house and away from all the immediate responsibility that we don't know what to do with ourselves. Needless to say, we could use some help in the date-planning dept.

Tonight I was determined to use coupons for our dinner since our budget has gotten smaller and we tend to overspend on dinners out. When I got in the car I mentioned that I had lots of different restaurant coupons but that I should have printed out the free burger w/entree at Red Robin I got in my email. My honey said, "no worries, we'll go somewhere else". So we narrow it down to Black Angus which has a multiple course dinner "deal" for 2 for $37 - not much of a deal to me, still sounds expensive, but I know my husband and steak... OR Olive Garden (much closer to our house). We got there, noticed it was pretty packed (lets face it, it's one of the only good restaurants on our side of town) so we reconsidered Black Angus and rationalized we'd probably spend close to the same amount for less at Olive Garden. So we headed off to Green Valley to Black Angus, a 10+ minute drive, only to find it dark, I mean with no signage - it's closed! Ugggh. And here we come full circle - we're right in front of the Mall where the next option is.... Red Robin. And me wthout my coupon, who knew we'd end up there?! My dinner was crummy too. That's my fault for trying something other than my usual.

Okay - that was not the deal!

After a dismal dinner, we were headed home and I mentioned to my dear husband that I wanted to stop in at CVS for a minute. I didn't really have any deal lined up, and hadn't even looked at the ad, but I thought "I'll take a look when we get in there." Truthfully I could have done better - Really but I won't go into how now- too long. I also didn't want to be greedy with my date night time, and my husband would have been bored out of his mind if I'd kept him in there much longer. Here's what I got:

Herbal Essences Shampoo 12 fl oz
Herbal Essences Hairspray 8 fl oz
Bic Soleil Razor w/ 2 refills + bonus pkg of 4 refills
2 pkgs of Sharpie highlighters

after coupons I spent $5.97

I got $6.99 back in Extra Bucks (like a gift card for next time)

which means they pretty much paid me $1.02 to take all those items out of the store!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

This deal made me giddy @10:30pm

I hit up Smiths after my family was in bed. This is what I bought for $14.14!

(I saved $12.38 or 46%. Sure, it could have been better, but I was happy with it!) Plus the cashier, Cynthia made me smile when she asked if I shopped for my family and friends, and if I would shop for her. She really hasn't seen anything yet! I'm just getting my sleeves rolled up!

Walgreens DEAL$

I spent $53.68
Saved $104.71
(savings of 66%!!!)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Stocking up!

I've gotten some great deals this week, but here are some of my favorites!

  1. Huggies / Pull-Ups flushable wipes 42 ct After coupon $0.14 each! (I bought the last 4 on the shelf)
  2. Arm & Hammer 32 load concentrated laundry detergent $2.50 each (I bought 12, won't need laundry detergent for quite awhile!)
  3. Cranium Cadoodle - On 75% off clearance at Target only $3.75 however I had $5 off Hasbro games coupons, so I made $1.25 on each of these (I bought 3)
  4. Padded mailing envelopes, after coupons they were total $0.13 each (I bought 10)
  5. 100 tab multivitamins $1.24
  6. Clearanced 1 GB Scan Disk camera memory card only $5!

There are a few things this week I'm looking at, quite a few free after RR or ECB items. I'm buckling myself down to a weekly shopping budget, I've never done this before, but right now it's a necessity. I have done pretty good so far, but I think I can do better!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Mail Call

I didn't take a pictre, but today I got 2 great theings in the mail!
  • $35 rebate check from Coopervision for my contact lens fitting & contacts
  • M&M Mars FREE Chocolate coupon #4

Plus yesterday I got a great freebie from Scott brand tissue

  • A roll of toilet paper, sample packet of flushable wipes, and $1 off coupon

In my book - those are 2 nice days in a row!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Gr8 Deals

CVS Trip

  • 2 Boxes of Post Trail Mix Crunch
  • 1 Box of Post Cocoa Pebbles
  • 1 bottle of 2x Ultra Tide 32 loads
  • 1 bottle f dried onion flakes
  • 1 bottle of Cayenne Pepper

I used $10.35 in coupons and $6.61 on a gift card

My total out of pocket was $6.07

Plus I got $5 Extra Care Bucks back + have a $4.99 rebate to mail in for the shampoo!

Target Trip

  • 2 pkgs of 24 Solo Bare cups
  • 1 pkg of 15 pkg Solo Bare plates
  • 3 pkgs of frozen corn
  • 2 Pictureka! card games
  • 2 loaves of bread
  • 1 20 oz Sprite (freebie)
  • 3 pk of Gerber Graduates Puffs
  • 1 box 10 ct Instant Oatmeal
  • 1 Degree deodorant

I used $17.39 in coupons
My total out of pocket was $18.80

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Mail Call

Today in the mail I received 2 great freebies that almost made me look the other way at the $199 power bill I also received. They were:
  • Trial size Degree Deodorant
  • Fisher Price Precious Places promo DVD with short film (my girls were super-excited to open that one up!)

Plus yesterday I received:

  • Alexia Snacks coupons & rebate form
  • Free American Baby magazine (with coupons inside!)
  • P & G coupon insert

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Watch out!


I love this picture because it reminds me that some deals are not always as great as you originally think they are. I have realized that I need to be more careful of what I need and don't really need when scouting out deals. We've eaten way too many goodies these last few months just because I get the food really cheap or free. I can feel it around my middle! Is that a good deal or a not so good deal? I tend to lean toward the latter on this one (literally! haha!)

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Reviewing

Lately I haven't had the time to take pictures of my deals or upload ones that I have taken. I looked back at my smartshopping blog today and realized it was almost all about coupons I've gotten in the mail! So really I need to get to work.

A couple weeks ago I went to a coupon class that presented grocerysmarts. This free system I've been using for awhile and just stumbled upon is actually turning into quite an entrepreneurship for the women that do it. I knew most of the tips and tricks but wanted to go so I cold order additional Sunday newspapers. If you get the paper already, adding each additional Sunday paper is just $0.75 per week or $19.50 per 6 month subscription. So I added 4 more Sunday papers so that I could have one per person in my family. Plus this gave me the opportunity to earn a freebie $20 gift card to Smiths - which really I believe just paid for my 5th subscription!

I've now started receiving the 5 papers per Sunday and am excited to start saving BIG BIG! It really does help to have multiples on hand when an item you want goes on sale and you want to stock up.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Mail Call

Today's mail call was simply fabulous! Here's what I got:


  • FREE chocolate coupon from Mars
  • FREE Hot dogs coupon from Oscar Mayer
  • 3 customer appreciation coupons from Krusteaz for all those yummy Cranberry Orange muffin mixes we buy!
  • 2 high value customer appreciation coupons from Heinz/Smart Ones for all the yummy Smart Ones we buy!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Mail Call

A Variety of great things in the mail!


  • Redplum coupon insert
  • Oreida manufacturer customer appreciation coupons - great values too! For all those bagel bites we buy!
  • Easy Saver rebate check for $11.99

Monday, May 25, 2009

Mail Call

Great coupons in today's mail!


  • 3 high value customer appreciation coupons from Pepperidge Farms! Hello Goldfish!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Mail Call

Two great freebies in the mail today!


  • Schick's New Quattro Titanium Trimmer
  • Coupon for FREE tube of Crest Pro-Health toothpaste

Friday, April 24, 2009

Mail Call

I LOVE getting mail! In today's mail call I received some great freebies:



  • American Baby free magazine
  • Parents Choice formula sample - full day!
  • Pantene shampoo & conditioner samples
  • Head & Shoulders shampoo & conditioner samples
  • $50 refund check for overpayment of a medical bill - gotta love that!
  • Walgreens competitor's transfer prescription deal to get a $25 gift card
  • Crest white strips sample & coupon

Saturday, February 21, 2009

A New Start

I decided with the economy being the way it is right now, it was high time I re-dedicate myself to shopping smart! I've decided to start a blog to record my success and keep all my fav links together to make preparing for shopping trips more streamlined. I've always enjoyed getting free samples and coupons in the mail but this goes beyond that. I've found some really awesome sites and blogs to get me started on even more savings. I am so excited!