The Commissary is for Brave People

I have not been inside a commissary for years. And I don't remember it ever being quite so insane. The checkout line wrapped around half of the store perimeter. I kid you not. It was Thursday after lunch. So, there's no reason for the madness. Almost everyone had carts filled to the brim like a hurricane is going to hit tomorrow. It didn't help that the aisles were as tight as the parking lot. We could hardly maneuver the cart without knocking shelves and shoppers down. At one point, my friend parked the cart at one end of the aisle and we just walked to down to get our items because it was that crowded.

Coupons plastered on products made me want to buy everything. Not to mention all the great sale prices. The variety itself is amazing. I could never find Sue Bee honey. Now I know every single one is at the Commissary. Did you know Cascadian Farms makes jams and jellies. It's only $1.86 there, so $0.86 with the $1 coupon that comes out often. They also have Earth Grains bread from $1.99-$2.41 with a tearpad coupon for $1 off produce when you buy bread. During checkout, we realized that as long as you bought some produce, be it a bunch of $1 turnip greens, the coupon will work. So we didn't need to have the same number of different produce for the number of bread.

There was even an announcement over the intercom about a deal on Kraft cheese: "Buy 6 get $3 off. Only $0.75 each with the coupon. Aisle 13, limited number of coupons." I turned to my friend with my eyes bugging out. Go ahead, she says. First I was on a mission to find Aisle 13. I saw the cheese ahead and asked every shopper around, "Where is the coupon they announced on the intercom?" They stared at me with blank looks, "What are you talking about. We just ignore those announcements." So I walked around and around looking at everyone's hands for the coupon. This little old lady I interrogated had one and she pointed to the endcap where it was. A lady stood there in nondescript clothes with two coupons left stashed in her back pocket. It was her I needed to find and not a tearpad. Wow, they must crack up seeing people get all bent and twisted up looking for coupons.

When we paid, to avoid the line that wrapped around half the store, we did self-check. That was a circus show all by itself. In the end, I paid $11 for 5 loaves of bread, 6 packages of cheese, and mustard greens. Not bad. Even with their low prices, I still saved 42% with the coupons. But, for now, I'll stick with Publix and Target where more elbow room makes for saner shoppers.

Wal-Mart Cheap Seasonal Fruits

Every extreme couponing convert soon stops paying Wal-Mart a visit. There are too many deals to be had elsewhere. But when it comes to produce and meats price-matching, Wal-Mart is still the one-shop wonder. My shopping trip came out to $30.50 which is more than I spend at Publix on one trip. I do miss eating real food and it's hard to find coupons for fresh fruits and veggies.

Best deals to price-match:
eggs, $0.99, Winn-Dixie
green grapes, $0.88/lb, Winn-Dixie
10-lb bag of potatoes, $2.50, Barnes
green onions, $0.50, Barnes
Roma tomatoes, $0.69/lb, Barnes
peaches $0.79/lb Publix
Vidalia onions 3lb bag, $1.99, Barnes*
*I got yellow since they didn't have Vidalia

Wal-Mart had their own great deals:
huge seedless watermelon, $2.50
Rainier cherries, $2.28 (really great price!)
strawberries, 1lb, $1.88
cucumber $0.50 each
classic Pringles, $1 (-$1off 4 from 6/6 PG)
CWP canola oil, $2.12 (some no-name label, but oil is oil right?)
Great Value 1 lb butter, $2.08

Also, look for Woolite in the endcap. It's in a plastic bag package instead of a bottle. Only $5 for 30 loads and they have a $3 coupon peelie. So only $2 for great detergent!

Target 50% Off Black Dot

UPDATE: Clearance is now 75% for Black Dot. Thanks Jen!

Okay, so I had fun with this shopping trip. I'm very thankful my kids were super duper nice and deserved all the free popcorn they got later. Plus I finally got that elusive Vanish Drops. I used two B1G1 manufacturer coupons. It's supposed to stack with the Target B1G1 but the cashier gave those back to me, saying that she didn't need those. From the receipt, it looks like the coupon made each item free instead of B1G1. So I wonder if the Target coupon would do the same. Anyway, I spent $1.53 on brownies and tuna and splurged $10.20 on Dollar Spot including $1.25 on a black straw hat!

Thanks to my friend Misty for the heads up since I love me some Target Dollar Spot clearance! It's 50% off since Tuesday, so it will likely go down to 75% very soon. Even the Rayovac batteries are only $0.50 and FREE with overage using this $1 PRINT. If you buy 2 packs of batteries and used two $1 coupons, you'll get these and two other items FREE because of the overage! I didn't even think about it until I saw the picture and receipt at Hip2Save. Some have reported problems using this coupon for the batteries in the red package because it says Heavy Duty. But logically, these should also be alkaline because what else is there if it's not lithium or rechargeable?

Since Target has these dollar items on clearance, I've only been to the Dollar Tree once or twice a year. Why pay $1 when you can pay $0.25 on 75% clearance? If you are a homeschool or classroom teacher, they have lots of teaching supplies like name tags, weather charts, lesson planners, perpetual calendars, award certificates and more. This timer is $2.50 and shaped like an apple. How cute is that!

I also found Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix for $0.69 and the Supreme Brownie Mix for $1.89 (cheaper with $0.75 off 2 PRINT). Starkist tuna pouch for as little as $0.84 were by the endcap instead of with the other tuna. If you subscribe to All You, use the B2G1 from July and $1/2 from May to pay $0.64 for all 3. Check other Cheap Finds from Totally Target for more deals! In my case, the cashier would only give me $0.84 instead of $1/2 and I decided to let it go. For some reason that is how the coupon rang up.

Do you have a gardener in your life? Check out the 75% clearance for some nice gardening accessories:
Canvas aprons $2.48
Canvas bucket organizer $3.24
Leather gloves (very pretty!) $3.98
Kneeling pad $1.49
Hand Rake $0.74
Plastic Pots 6" wide $0.48 (50% off)
Plus lots of chair pads and cover-ups too!

Before I head out to Target, I always check out Totally Target's site because I hate wandering around the store looking for deals. It used to be my favorite form of exercise but now that I've been training as a shopping ninja, I try to go through the store lightning speed. It's very rare that I have time on my hands to just meander about and find new deals myself:

50% off select comforters, table cloths, curtains.

Get $5 GC wyb 2 Always or Tampax (at $5.49 each)
Use two $2/1 from 7/4 or 6/6 PG
Pay $7, get $5 Gift Card
=Only $1 each after Gift Card!

I Have Not Fallen Off the Earth!

I can't believe it's been a month since I've been on here. Everyday, I aim to blog but the summer sun has gotten the better of me. Well, it's really been the family. We've enjoyed lots of family time, 2 VBS weeks, summer camps and date nights after finally finishing First Grade and Preschool homeschooling! Yay!

I plan to be back on a fairly regular basis this weekend. See you then.

CVS: 2 FREE Coppertone Sunscreen

I love that the CVS manager looks out for me. I had that $2 ECB print from the scanner (scan yours, many are getting this). She told me that some customers are using this for the Coppertone deal along with the $3 off $15 suncare. I looked and looked everywhere for the $2 manufacturer's peelies. Instead I found a couple of $1.50 CVS coupons. When the coupon hunt gets the better of me, the only chance of escaping my OCD tendencies is to pray that God will help me walk away. Otherwise, I would be there forever going down every aisle looking for coupons (which I was very tempted to do). Then I felt this urge to roll the Coppertone stand. There I found the last $2 peelie! Thanks to Coupon Chix, too, for a link for $1 manufacturer's.

*The CVS coupons are expired but I took a chance and asked if it's ok to use them. It's a store coupon after all. She said yes. So I suggest putting on your politeness pants. Hunt for your $1.50 CVS coupon and ask if you could use it.


Buy 2 Coppertone Continuous Spray ($10.49 or more)
-$3 off $15 suncare Q from price scanner
-$2 ECB from price scanner (most are getting it for no reason)
-$2 x2 Peelie (or $1 PRINT or $1 PDF)
-$1.50 x2 CVS Q peelie*
=$21 -12 in coupons
=Pay $9 and get back $10 ECBs
=2 FREE sprays and $1 Money Maker!

Make this deal better with the $5 off $15 that's been printing on the some receipts. With this coupon, you'll have $6 overage!

Thrifty Tip Tuesday; Get FREE Coupon Inserts at Wal-Mart

I was reading over Money Saving Mom about "dumpster diving" for newspapers. Well, I wouldn't call it that, since she was finding coupons in a recycling bin meant only for newspapers. But the comments posted lots of other ideas I never thought about, like asking gas stations for the coupons in their unsold papers.



Here's my Thrifty Tip: Ask Wal-Mart for Coupon Inserts!

If you've been extreme couponing for a while, you might not even step inside a Wal-Mart except to get a gift card to get 3 cents off gas. But, this might change your Sunday driving routine.

Since Wal-Mart sells newspapers for $0.99, I sometimes buy papers there. One Sunday morning, I checked out at Customer Service and noticed a huge stack of coupons. After my heart stopped beating fast, I asked if I could have some. They gave me two of each SS & RP! I still bought a paper. After that, I just stop in on the way to Church, ask for coupons and leave! Sometimes, I get ornery CS reps who only give me one, because "It's for the employees" they say. Most of the time, I get at least two of each insert FREE! I feel like Wal-Mart is paying me back for all those years they've been taking my money before I learned to coupon.

Get there early Sunday because it runs out by noon. How does it work? Well, each register needs to have a copy Sunday ads. So, they separate those for the registers and collect all the coupon inserts in another pile. Since they can't sell the incomplete newspapers, they give away the coupons. Check your Wal-Mart this Sunday and get your free coupons!

CVS Deals June 6-12

This week's deals abound. I found my coupon match-ups at Hip2Save. Of course, doing multiple transactions will cost the least out-of-pocket. If you are a newbie, I hope you'll enjoy this video: 3 transactions, pay $4.97 and get $5 ECBs back.

Below is the breakdown. Just so you know, with the economy as it is, CVS is better than Wall Street when it comes to your return on investment! And the IRS will never hunt you down for your CVS earnings. Food for thought.

FIRST TRANSACTION
Dove: Buy $15 Get $5 ECBs
Buy 6 deodorants:
$2.50 x 6 = $15
-$5 off $15 CVS coupon (from receipt not scanner)
-$8 Manuf coupons*
=Pay $3
=Get $5 ECBS back

*($1.50 PRINT & $1 PRINT- not available)

SECOND TRANSACTION
SC Johnson: Buy $10 Get $5 ECBs
Buy 4 Windex- Multi Purpose
$2.50 x 4 = $10
-$1 x 4 coupons PRINT or 5/16SS
-$5 ECBs from #1 transaction
=Pay $1
=Get $5 ECBs

THIRD TRANSACTION
Gillette Pro-glide: Buy at $9.97, Get $5 ECBs
Buy 1 at $9.97
-$4 from 6/6 PG
-$5 from #2 transaction
=Pay $0.97
=Get $5 ECBs

Total $4.97 out-of-pocket. But STILL have $5 ECBs for next week.Without coupons or ECBs the total would be $34.97!

Publix: Super-Stacking Coupons

I had a DUH moment when I read this simple reminder at I Heart Publix: use the $5 off $50 Retailer Gift Card from Winn-Dixie's ad at Publix. Again, duh! Why didn't I think of that? Afterwards, my brain started waking up and I came up with this ultra-fabulous (praying it works!) scenario:

A Lowe's gift card will earn me lots of brownie points for Father's Day!

Thanks to Frugal Fairhope, with the help of Julie, I found out that Publix now takes Apple Market coupons.

First up: Apple Market's $5 off $50- a competitor coupon.
Then, please scan my $5 off $50 retailer gift card coupon. (it should be considered a store coupon, not a $xx off $xxx.)
Third, throw in $5 Walgreen's RR - a Manufacturer's coupon!
Finally, I have $15 in a Publix gift card to make it cheaper.
With all these coupons, my total should be $20 for a $50 GC!


In case they give me trouble, I'll add a banana for a filler item.
Will it work? Stay tuned.

On top of that, I might even get a $10 off $50 Lowes coupon to further sweeten the deal. This Saturday is a Build and Grow Clinic at Lowes. The project is a picture frame for Dad. They will most likely give a Father's Day coupon (maybe $10 off $50) along with the Certificate like they did for Mother's Day. So take your kids or your neighbors'!

CVS- Baby Clearance Alert!

If you need baby stuff, check out CVS for 75% clearance on diapers, wipes, pacifiers, formulas. You might snag yourself a few deals!

I was hoping for Huggies diapers because they were $4.49 and with the $3 PRINT, only $1.49 for Jumbo sizes. But all they had were Pampers for newborns at $2.99. Maybe yours is still on sale. Ours went back up to $8.99 on Sunday (would have been great with $1.50 from P&G). But even now they still have lots left, including $2.49 for Good Start and Similac Advance to Go. I paid nothing since I paid with my ECBs. I *love* CVS! Here is a video showing some of the deals I found Saturday:

Go to YouTube if you can 't view it here. And thanks to Money Saving Mom for the heads up! I knew the CVS brands were 75% off but she pointed out the $2 ECB deal last week. So I got a Jumbo pack for $0.24... so now I just need to figure out who'd use it! We're thankfully potty trained around here. But I just couldn't pass up these deals. There's bound to be a baby shower or two this summer!

CVS- Dove Chocolates Only $0.50!

Yup! You heard right, that bag of wonderful Dove chocolate was only $0.50! These are on sale this week for $2.50 and I got a coupon for $2 off from the price scanner. Sweet! Make sure you check your card (and your hubby's and neighbors') because I also got $1 off Dove plus B1G1 FREE Godiva Gems (up to $4.99).

Is June chocolate month?

On to other deals:
Dove items are on sale & Buy $15 Get $5 ECBs

I bought 6 Dove Deodorants for $15
-$1.50 x 4 PRINT (Thanks Hip2Save!)
-$1 x 2 PRINT (from awhile back)
-$5 off $15 CVS (from last week's receipt)
Paid $3 and got $5 ECBs
=$2 Money Maker!

Gillette Gamer razor on clearance, $4.99
-$4 from 6/6 PG
-$0.99 (used ECBs)
=FREE!

Here's a helpful tip: When they ask if you want to donate to some charity they're showcasing, use you ECBs to donate! I had to use up some ECBs but instead of pricing them down*, I asked if a portion could be used to donate and they said YES. Thanks to my smart cashier who figured it all out for me! I ended up paying nothing but tax and got $5 ECBs plus $1 from my green tag. Already, that donation came back to me. You really can't outgive God!

*(If you are paying with ECBs and they are more than your total before tax but you can't find a cheap filler item, the cashier can decrease your ECB amount, meaning price it down. So you will lose the value of your coupon but if it's less than $0.50, I usually don't worry about it.)

Beulah Berries

What a fabulous time we had last week picking blueberries. North of Pensacola, Beulah Berries has deliciously large berries. With a simple and inviting atmosphere, it's the best U-Pick I've ever been. It's not far from the Publix at Pine Forest. Instead of heading into Publix, make a right on Nine Mile and before long, you're there. Directions are posted on their website as well.

After five minutes of picking, it started raining heavily, so we sat in the picnic shelter and shot a video explaining more of what you can expect to see there. After that, the rain eased-up a bit and my husband and I picked berries under our huge umbrella. Our kids stayed in the shelter, playing on the porch swing and giggling a lot. Picking in the rain was the best because it wasn't humid or hot anymore!

I've also learned since then that it's okay to pick some of the flowers (they're FREE!) plus you can nibble on a few berries while you're picking free of charge. After about 30 minutes, we filled up the bucket and headed back to the shelter. We even stayed for a picnic lunch. What a lovely and memorable family outing!

Visit YouTube if you cannot see this video.

Frugal For You Channel On You Tube

Hello all! Yes, I am still alive. It's been a long while since I've posted anything here. End of school has kept me away from the computer and super involved with the kids. Also, we've been busy making some videos for you. I especially hope these will encourage the newbies. Check us out at You Tube and let me know what you think!

The Frugal For You Channel has the videos we've done so far. Enjoy!