Hitting the Bullseye

So there are some pretty great deals going on at Target this week. One thing I love about Target is that they have items that go on clearance every day. I read that there is even a designated team that puts items on clearance each day. Clearance deals vary at each location and they are only available until they’re all bought up. Here are my clearance finds that I felt were definitely worthy of my time and money:

*Pantene Pro-V Styler/Hairspray twin packs.

 Regular price: $6.99             Clearance Price: $4.88

 Team this great price with a Buy 1 Pantene Item get 1 Free (up to $4.99) coupon found in the PG insert from 4/29 and get 2 twin packs for only $2.44 each! That’s only $1.22 per bottle!

*Halls Defense Cough Drops

 Regular Price: $1.39       Clearance Price: $0.68

 I didn’t have a coupon but the price was too good to pass up. Fifty-One percent savings? YES PLEASE! I wish saving was always this easy!

*Veet Spray on Cream Hair Remover

 Regular Price $7.79       Clearance Price: $3.88

 Combine this already great deal with a $2/1 printable coupon from veet.com and pay only $1.88. I was already planning on purchasing Veet when I went to the store so I had the coupon already printed. When I saw this on clearance I about did a backflip! :)

 

Always check the clearance sections at Target found in several locations throughout the store. Target doesn’t have a specified “clearance section”. They have clearance shelves next to the area where those products are normally found. Some are even among the rest of the products in regular placing on shelves. You never know what great deal you will come across.

Another way to save is through purchasing promotional items that will earn you a Target gift card after your purchase. Target offers these kinds of deals often for various items. Here are a couple scenarios that I did to get amazing savings:

*Buy 3 participating Nivea Creme Lotions, Receive a $5 Gift Card

 I bought 3 Nivea Extended Moisture Hand Crème 

1.7 oz Originally priced at $3.99, reduced down to $3.59. I used 3 - $2/1 coupons from RP 4/29. I paid $4.77 out of pocket and received a $5 Target Gift Card meaning I actually made 23 cents for these three lotions! There are other lotions available but at different prices. But anyway you do it, you’ll get a great deal!

*Buy 2 participating Aveeno sunscreens, receive a $5 Gift Card

 I bought the Continuous Protection Lotion SPF 55 

4 oz for $7.04

 I then used 2 - $2/1 coupons from SS 4/15 AND 2 $1/1 printable Target coupons. I paid $8.08 out of pocket and received a $5 Gift Card meaning each sunscreen was only $1.54. What a steal!

I don’t know about you, but during the summer I soak up the sun like a sponge on water. It’s great to be able to get sun essentials for only a pinch out of my wallet. :)

To make my Target shopping experience better (in case you didn’t think it could get any better than this), I split up my items into three separate transactions.

*Transaction 1: Nivea Deal: I did this first because it was the least out of pocket and I received a gift card

*Transaction 2: Aveeno Deal: I used the gift card from the Nivea transaction to lower the cost of the total amount.

*Transaction 3: The rest of my goodies. :) I purchased the rest of my necessities and applied the $5 gift card from the last transaction. This way I paid the least amount out of pocket. :)

AND let’s not forget the money I save by using my Target RED card. When you use your Target RED card at Target stores, you save an additional 5% off your total transaction. It’s free to set up and you can connect it to your normal checking account so you have no worry of another credit card that could possibly get you into debt. My REDcard savings this year alone is $22.81. That’s a week’s worth of gas! Or a movie night with the hubby. Or even money to go towards a new pair of shoes! Why not maximize your savings?!?!

Local Deals ending Tomorrow!

So there are a few good deals going on at the local grocery stores that do end tomorrow.
Price Chopper has a great deal on Kool-Aid packets for only 8 cents a piece! They normally sell for 20 to 25 cents a piece so this is a great deal without having a coupon. The cheapest price I have seen Kool-Aid for in my 3 years of couponing is 5 cents a packet and that was only once so I say stock up! I bought 200.... You can never have too much Kool-Aid! :)
Another deal is the Kemp's Ice Cream for $1.98 for 1.25 quart. There is a coupon for $1/2 from SS 4/1 making each one only $1.48 a piece. A good enough price to buy a couple for a yummy after dinner snack.
For those of you near Foods Festival (I-35 and Chouteau) they have Post Fruity Pebbles on sale for $1.79 a box. There is a $1/2 printable coupon from www.coupons.com making each box only $1.29 each. I will always Fruity Pebbles and they don't go on sale as often as General Mills or Kellogg's cereals, so I'll be buying a few boxes.
Now for my FAVORITE deal happening at Foods Festival: Robert's Half Gallon Chocolate Milk for only $1.59 each. There was a coupon in this Sunday's newspaper for $0.50/2 in the smartsource insert. Festival Foods doubles coupons up to and including 50 cents making each half gallon of chocolate milk only $1.09 each. Normally Robert's puts out coupons for their half gallons for 40 cents off one, so this coupon wasn't as good as I was expecting, but I'm still going to buy way too much chocolate milk! I love the stuff! :)
Well let me know if you find any other great deals going on. Or if you just want to brag about how much money you save, write a comment!
Also for those of you who think you don't have time to coupon, I totaled my hours spent on couponing last week and it was a grand total of: SEVEN HOURS!!! Now I have been doing this for a while, so for you newbies, it may take longer time AT FIRST. But you will get the hang of it and can you honestly say that you do not have at least 7 hours to save hundreds of dollars?!? I don't think so.
I'll start logging this week how many hours I coupon and how much money I save so I know my real hourly wage for couponing. ;)

Attention coupon virgins: This is your week!

So for all you newbies out there, you need to read up because this post is just for you! If you are new to couponing or have just been pushing it off (bums!) then this week is perfect for you to get started. I say this because most of the deals I got, I used online printable coupons only. If you haven't been clipping coupons from newspaper inserts and want to find a good way to motivate yourself to be an extreme couponer, this is the week for you!
Target is my favorite place for using printable coupons because they have their own database of Target coupons at www.target.com/coupons. These coupons are great because you can use a manufacturer coupon AND a Target coupon on ONE item! :) Which equals double the savings! Another way to get Target only coupons is to sign up to receive free text alerts which will send you a link each month to Target coupons on your mobile phone. When you are ready to use your coupon, you'll pull up the link on your phone and the cashier simply scans the bar code on your phone. To sign up for this, go to www.target.com and click on mobile and there is a "coupon alert" spot where you enter your mobile phone number for this.
NOW, on to some deals for you newbies. :)
Target is having some wonderful deals this week until Saturday so head over there!
-There is a deal going on if you buy 3 select L'Oreal items you will receive a $5 Target gift card.
  Here is the scenario that I did, but you can vary it up a bit depending on your needs.
  I bought one L'Oreal Everstrong Shampoo and one conditioner and also one Eversleek styler each priced at $5.99. I used three $2/1 coupons from $2.00/1 – L’Oreal EverStyle, EverCream, EverPure, EverStrong or EverSleek Product – (lorealparisusa.com) (you will need two computers to print off all three coupons since there is a limit of two prints per computer). And I used three $1/1 Target coupons from Target.com/coupons for the specified items. I paid $8.97 out of pocket and received a $5 gift card making each item only $1.32. A total savings of $13!
  If you need some cleaner all you need to do is head over to Facebook to print off your coupon for Clorox Green Works Cleaners. They are on sale this week at Target for $2.74 a bottle. Print off a $1/1 coupon from $1.00/1 – Greenworks Products – (facebook.com) and pair it up with a $1/1 coupon from Target and you only have to pay 74 cents for a great bottle of cleaner!
 Now if you're still reading, you're in luck because this is my most favorite deal. 4x6 photo prints are on sale this week at Target for only 10 cents a print. On Target's website they have a coupon for $1 off 10 4x6 photo prints which equals FREE PICTURES! Remember you can only print off two of the same coupon per computer, so more computers = more free pictures. I love when this deal goes on so I can catch up on printing off all my beautiful photos. :)
 Another thing I love stocking up on is pasta and pasta sauce. If some kind of world tragedy were to happen, I think my husband and I could live off our pasta supply for 6 months or more. It's great to have and you don't need anything to cook it except a pan and water. This week at Target, they have their brand Market Pantry Pasta and Pasta Sauce for only $1 each. If you head over to your new favorite website target.com/coupons, you will find a coupon for a $1 off your purchase of Market Pantry pasta AND pasta sauce. This makes your items only 50 cents a piece! What a steal!
  Another deal going on for you newbies, or anyone wanting to save some money, head over to CVS. CVS is running a promotion until Saturday for Hallmark Cards. When you buy 3, you receive $3 Extra Care Bucks(ECB). If you aren't hooked on ECBs yet, you soon will be. Pair this great deal with an online coupon at $3.00/3 – Hallmark Cards, $1.49 each or more, CVS Coupon – (cvs.com) to receive an additional dollar off each card you buy. To figure out your price, just look at the cost of the card and deduct two dollars because that is how much you save with this awesome combo deal. I love stocking up on cards because I am always in a rush and hate having to go to the store last minute to pick out a birthday card for someone. I have a pretty good stack on hand. :)
Well this is what I have for now. I will posting again soon after I go to Hyvee and Price Chopper for their deals this week through Tuesday. Thanks for reading and always post comments, questions, or findings!
Happy couponing!

I'm a Serial Shopper!

I just got back from HyVee and the police need to head over there because I just killed those retail prices! Muahaha! That will be my cheesy joke of the day. But on a serious note, I did score a great deal. Right now until Tuesday, HyVee is running a deal that when you buy 4 General Mills (GM) cereals, you get $4 off your purchase instantly and you get a coupon for $4 off your next purchase. There are coupons for $1/2 GM cereals at coupons.com or you can use the $1/3 coupon from SS 3/11. So I went in with coupons in hand to see what the starting price on the cereal will be to determine if this deal was really worth it. Some cereals like Lucky Charms, Kix, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (and probably more that I didn't notice) were $2.99. So I bought 4 boxes of Lucky Charms (which is the only kind I wanted to buy) at $2.99 a piece, used the $4 off instantly coupon in the HyVee ad (which you can get at HyVee or most of the cashiers have the coupon ready at the register) and used TWO $1/2 printable coupons, paid $5.96 + tax, and received a $4 coupon for my next purchase. Giving me a grand total of 50 CENTS per box! I was not expecting to get this great of deal. I did it a second time (just broke up my transaction into two since there is a limit of one coupon per transaction) and used my $4 voucher to pay part of the cereal on my second purchase. I am definitely printing off extra coupons to go do this a couple more times! If you choose to go with other cereals and have the $1/2 coupons, just deduct $2.50 from the retail price to give you the total price you pay for the cereal. :)
Happy shopping!

Whip it good!

I just noticed this great deal going on this weekend at Sunfresh. Until Saturday, they have the regular size Cool Whip containers on sale for 69 cents. Definitely cheaper than anywhere else! Sunfresh also doubles coupons up to and including 50 cents. In the SS 3/25 insert, there is a coupon for $0.50/2 tubs of Cool Whip. After this coupon doubles, each tub will be only 19 cents!! Cool Whip is great to have around and freezes for long storage. You never know when you want to whip it! :) There is a limit of 3 on this deal so you will need to break up the transactions for every two you buy. They are normally pretty reasonable about doing this. If anyone reading this needs any extra coupons, I have a few. Just ask. :)

To buy or not to buy: That is the question.

I just got home from one of my favorite stores: Target. Tonight's shopping trip was a bit of a struggle for me. There were so many great deals, I didn't know which one's to get! I know this seems like a silly problem, but it's honestly a serious one. One of my deals was for Huggies Diapers. When I shop for diapers, it has to be an amazing deal because I don't have kids yet. I only buy diapers when the prices are rock bottom so when we do have kids, our financial burden of having to buy diapers will be lifted. This week there is deal going on at Target for every two Huggies Jumbo Boxed Diapers you receive a $10 Target gift card. Normally the prices on these are around $28. Some select sizes were on clearance for $23.78. I was able to use two $2/1 Target coupons and two $2/1 manufacturer coupons from SS 3/18. So I payed $39.56 and received a $10 Gift Card making each box only $14.78. I've gotten diapers for cheaper but this was still a pretty good deal that I went ahead and invested in. If you currently have to pay for diapers, you should probably run to Target for this deal. Even if you don't get the clearance items, it would still only be less than $20 per box. A penny saved is a penny earned!
Now being the bargain hunter that I am, I am always scouring through the clearance aisles for remarkable deals. I was in the girls' section and found this beautiful white dress, size 12. I immediately thought, 'That would be a perfect baptism dress.' I looked at the price tag. Was: $50 Now: $12.56. I don't like buying kid's clothes before we plan on having kids, but I couldn't pass this deal up. It has beautiful beaded embroidery and since the size is a bit bigger than I believe an 8 year-old would wear, I felt confident buying this. :)
















My last deal that I was very excited about at Target was the unexpected moneymaker on the Lysol No-Touch Starter Kit. I went into Target thinking that the price was $9.99. I would then use a $3/1 Target coupon from SS 3/11 and a $3/1 manufacturer coupon from SS 2/26 or SS 3/18. In store I would pay $3.99 and then submit a $3 mail-in-rebate from the April All-you magazine making the final price for this 99 cents. When I got to Target to pick up this great deal, I saw another option available. The normal starter kit with the cucumber melon scent costs $9.99. There was another starter kit with aloe vera and it was only $6.99! I don't know the reason for the price difference but I'm not complaining! So I only paid 49 cents in-store and after I submit my mail-in-rebate, I'll make $2.50! I love this special surprise!
So those were the highlights of my night. Posted are some of my bragging pictures. Sorry about the quality, they were taken from my phone. :)



Happy couponing! Let me know if you have any great deals!

A New Year Resolution

This past month has been hectic! With Christmas, my birthday, and looking for a new job, it's been hard keeping an eye on the dollar. But now with my feet on the ground and coupons in hand, I'm ready to save! My New Year's declaration is save more, spend less, and become debt free! Because of this, our wallet is becoming a lot tighter and my goal of a $25 weekly grocery allowance must be achieved. For this, I am looking for deals that are $1 or less, or is a large percentage of savings of regular retail value.
I am very excited about using the $5 off any one size bag of Purina One beyond dog food from last Sunday's (1/15) Smart Source insert. Target has the 3.5 pound bag on sale for $5.99 (normally around $6.50) and after applying the $5 off coupon, I'll get each bag for 99 cents! Although the bag is smaller, it's much cheaper to buy the small bags at a dollar each rather than buying the large bag and only being able to use the five dollar coupon once. This is a great way to keep my dog (and my budget) healthy.
Some people don't know that there are coupons for fun things, not just for everyday household items. Hasbro.com has some great coupons on toys, that if put to good use, can equal free toys! The Hungry Hungry Hippos travel game sells for $5 and there is a $5/1 coupon from Hasbro's website. Also there is an $8 coupon for a Kre-O Optimus Prime Transformers Construction kit which you can find at Target for $8 making this toy free. Whether you have kids or not, this is a great deal to get to give to relatives or your local charity. There are many kids who have nothing and you can supply them with a fun and a chance to have a more normal childhood just by paying attention to the great deals that are out there.
I'll also be picking up a copy of Planet 51 on DVD that's on sale at Target for $4.75 and use a $3 coupon from Sony for this DVD making another great gift for a little one in your life. But hurry because these deals end today!
One of my favorite finds this week is a great score on Robert's chocolate milk.
 If you know me, you know that I absolutely L-O-V-E chocolate milk! But it can be rather pricey especially to the majority of us on a budget. Festival Foods (located in North Kansas City) has Robert's half-gallon chocolate milk on sale until Tuesday for $1.78. There is a 40 cent coupon off the purchase of Robert's flavored milk online to use towards this deal. Festival Foods doubles coupons everyday up to and including 50 cents making each half-gallon of chocolate milk only 98 cents!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I was doing flips over this deal and my fridge will be stocked with chocolate milk by tonight.) Robert's half-gallon orange juice is also on sale for $1.78 and there is a 50 cent off coupon from the January 8th SmartSource insert. After this coupon doubles, each half-gallon will only be 78 cents!
While on the topic of breakfast deals, I must mention my joy about finding Fruity Pebbles at a great deal. People may mock me for my taste for Fruity Pebbles, but the sugary kid in me doesn't care. This tasty treat is on sale at Hyvee for $1.48 a box until Tuesday. In last Sunday's Smart source insert there was a coupon for 55 cents off one box of Fruity Pebbles (or other Post Pebbles) making each box only 93 cents.
Ah, the power of coupons! I can keep my goals without having to restrict what I buy.
If you found any deals that you want to brag about, please comment!
Happy Savings! :)