$5 CVS Challenge June 21- June 27

I haven't done these challenges in a while. But let's give it a try here:
Thanks to The Thrifty Mama for coupon links. Check her CVS post!

1. First Transaction

Buy Soyjoy $4 for 4, get $4 ECB.

Buy 5, use $1 off 5 coupon here.

Pay $4 OOP, get $4 ECB back

2. Second Transaction.

Buy Crest toothpaste multipack, get $3 ECB

Buy 2pack for $4.99 (listed as starting price, may cost more)

Use $1 off 1 Crest coupon (from PG Year of Savings)

Use $4 ECB from #1.

Pay $0 OOP, get $3 ECB back

3. Third Transaction.

Buy Thermacare 1 ct neckwrap for $2.49 get $2.49 ECB (limit 2)

Buy 2 neckwraps, use 2- $1 off 1 coupons here

Use $3 ECB from #2.

Pay $0 OOP, get $4.98 ECB back

Would have spent $14.97

Total OOP $4. Plus get $4.98 ECB to use next week!

This CVS $5 Challenge is hosted by Keeping the Kingdom First. This would be a great scenario for newbies. And even if you do not have the coupons, the Thermacare and Soyjoy are already FREE after ECBs. You could also buy all of these in one transaction. You will pay more out of pocket ($15 or $11 with coupons) but will still get $15 ECBs for your next purchase.

Walgreens Shopping Plan for June 21- June 27

UPDATE: Hip 2 Save just posted this tip: Lysol Disinfectant Spray is 2 for $7. Use two $2 off coupons and get $2 RR. Cost is only $1 for 2! Hurry though, the coupon expires 6/29. I'm definitely getting this!

Here is my Walgreens shopping list for this week's deals. Check out all the other deals and
shopping scenarios at Money These are the deals I like Money Saving Mom, Mummy Deals, The Thrifty Mama.

Buy Accucheck $14.99, get $5 Register Rewards (RR)

Free with Manuf Rebate and $5 Moneymaker

Buy Aquafresh $3, get $3 RR

Use $1 Manuf coupon to get $1 Moneymaker
(I plan to buy 4 during the week to use up 4 coupons I printed here)

Buy Sunweet Apricot $1.99 with in-ad coupon

Use $0.50 Manuf coupon from Publix summer savings magazine

(I got this at CVS last week & we ate up 1 container in a few days!)

Buy Chex mix 3/$4 with in-ad coupon

Use 3- $0.50 Manuf coupons (internet coupons not available anymore)

Buy 4 Royal Pudding for $1 with in-ad coupon

(This will be for my Accucheck filler, read below.)

Buy 2 Lysol Disinfecant Spray $7, get $2 RR
Use 2- $2 Lysol spray coupons from 5/3/09

This is the order of transactions for my shopping plan:
note: OOP means out of poket
1. Buy 4 Aquafresh, pay $9 OOP with coupons, get 4- $3 RR.
2. Buy Accucheck & 4 Pudding, use 5- $3 RR (one last week).*
Use in-ad coupon for pudding. Pay $0.99 OOP plus tax, get $5 RR!
3. Buy 3 Chex and Apricot, Buy 2 Lysol spray. Use $5 RR, pay $2 OOP, get $2 RR back

Total out of pocket cost $12.
After Accucheck Rebate ($14.99), $4 Moneymaker!



*(It turns out you need the same number of items at least for the number of coupons you're using. We learned this when Hubs went during his lunchbreak and bought 2 batteries with 3 RR coupons. It would only take 2. He called me and I said he needed to buy some candy so he would have 3 items. And it worked! So, hence, the pudding will be the filler items. At $0.25 each, they would only add $1 to this transaction.)

FREE Redbox Rental

Fill out this simple survey about your Redbox experience and get a FREE rental code. It is good only for 6-22 and 6-23. Thanks to The Thrifty Mama for this tip. I just did it and got a code. They didn't ask me for any personal info at all. Now that's a survey I like!

If you would like other FREE codes, visit this link from Inside Redbox. The codes work for one movie per credit/debit card used.

FREE Strawberries at Target!

UPDATE: New coupons can be found here. They expire 7/18/09.

Strawberries are $1 at our local Target (Perdido) and maybe yours too! As of yesterday, there were still a lot but they moved them to the end cap left of the bananas. Use this coupon above to get it for FREE! This coupon is good only through tomorrow, 6-20-09. Print multiple copies from A Full Cup's Target Coupon Generator. Please be warned that the store has a right to enforce the 1 coupon per transaction policy. So take no more than 4 packages and pray your cashier is in a great mood!

Grocery Deals for the Week, June17-23

UPDATE: I have all the store info below. Happy Shopping!

I still have to see Barnes and Food World's Deals. But it looks like Greer's Food Tiger is the best value. Stop by there this Friday or Saturday for their awesome 2-day sales. I might go there after we visit the Hot Air Balloon Festival. Check out the Festival event schedule. You'll find lots of good family fun.

These are the best deals I see for this week. Click on each name to view my post:
Publix
Winn-Dixie
Greer's Food Tiger
Barnes
Food World

To view the ads yourself, click on the store name:
Publix (for New store, you can choose a different store if needed)
Winn-Dixie
Greer's Food Tiger
Food World

Hook Line and Sinker Fishing Seminars

You can spot me in this picture: far right corner, black hair coiled in a bun sitting next to my husband. That night we were here, we won 3-night hotel stay!



This is a great Father's Day treat for all the dads who love to fish. Visit Flounders Monday June 22 at 6:30 pm for an appetizer buffet followed by a Fishing Seminar. Arrive earlier to get a seat (I would suggest getting there between 5:45-6pm). These fishing experts will talk about catching King and Spanish Mackerel both offshore and inshore. They also have fun door prizes true fishermen will appreciate: Oakley polarized sunglasses, boat engine motor oil, fishing lures and poles. Bring the kids along. They'll love the playground. It looks like a ship!

The Hook, Line and Sinker Seminars are offered each month. Their schedule is listed below or you can learn more from here.

July 13: Bottom Fishing for Snapper and Grouper
August 10: Redfish/Speckled Trout
September 14: Wade fishing and tips for land-locked anglers
October 12: Flounder Fishing/Gigging

Hot Air Balloon Festival This Weekend

This weekend is the 5th Annual Balloon Festival. It's always on Father's Day Weekend (June 19-21) and always great fun! Go here to see the Event Schedule. Tether rides are Friday and Saturday 7pm-9pm. And competition flights are Saturday and Sunday 6am.

The kid's village is awesome! They open at 8am with bouncers, arts and crafts and more. And it's all FREE!

I Bought WIC at Publix!

The real reason I went to Publix yesterday is to get my WIC items. Special K was BOGO so I got 4 boxes instead of just 2. Heather also told me that Cabot cheese is WIC approved. So I got healthier cheeses: 2% Kraft Cheddar and 75% Fat Free Cabot cheddar. Publix milk is also All-Natural and the cows were not treated with rBST artificial hormone.

I would have spent $30.59 for these but intstead I got it FREE with WIC. To find out if you qualify, check out their income guidelines. For example, the max income for a family of 4 is $40,793. To learn more about the program itself, see their website. And I only go every 3 months to the Dept of Health to pick the WIC checks and every 6 months to get the kids' check-ups. They are very professional and courteous. I will be very sad in October when our youngest turns 5 because then we will no longer enjoy WIC benefits. So it's definitely worth to sign-up if you qualify.

Publix Super Shopping

I'm glad to visit Publix with all my coupons in tow because these deals I could just not pass up. My husband asked me a valid question, "Why are we getting more cereal?" To which I replied, it's Kashi! With coupons, 3 of these were only $1.50 each. But he did make me look closely at our pantry. Living in an apartment really makes you evaluate purchase vs. storage space.

I spent $14.86, saved $18.70, or 56%. I would have spent $33.56. I found peelie coupons for Kashi at Wal-Mart for $1 off U or Vive. The Orange Beach Publix had an Organic coupon booklet with $1 off 4 Stonyfield. And the Oreo cakester coupons ($2 total) were from this Sunday's paper and internet. Thanks to I Heart Publix for letting us know about the Kraft printables redeemable at Publix. I'm not sure if these can only be used at Publix or will work elsewhere. But I do plan on stacking them with manufacturer's coupons and using them at Publix.

Walgreens Shopping and Using Register Rewards

On my way to get WIC at the new Publix, I stopped by Walgreens to get these. I paid $20.64 out of pocket and got $14 in Register Rewards (RR). I don't mind because the St. Ives are FREE after the RR and the Ragu is only $0.75 each. I might go back and do this deal again. They have Energizer lithium batteries on sale for $7.99. I'll use the RRs to buy these. It turns out that alkaline batteries are worthless for using cameras.

Register Rewards get complicated for me. This is another reason I shy away from Walgreens. Walgreens RRs are same as cash, except you generally cannot use them to rollover the same deals. For example, this St. Ives bodywash is $2.99. When you pay for it you will get $3 RR. If you buy another St. Ives bodywash and use this $3 RR, you will get it for FREE but you will not get another $3RR to print. So you have to buy something else. It could be something else that will give you RRs (like Ragu) but just not the same product. It takes more work and planning to use up these RRs and they expire in 3 weeks.

* I prefer to buy most of my toiletries at CVS. At CVS, their ECBs also work as cash. And it is ok to rollover deals. Once, I've done 5 separate transactions because I've needed to rollover the ECBs (I think I only had $5 to begin with and could not buy more than one item at a time). I typically go early Sunday or late on Monday when there are hardly any customers and this would not be a problem.

Barnes Weekly Deals, June 17 - June 23

I love Barnes Supermarket! They have great deals on meats and produce. But I've never shopped there before. I just use their ad and price-match the best deals at Wal-Mart. Price-matching at Wal-Mart saves me time and money. To learn more, read this post I wrote.


If you would like to visit Barnes, here are their locations in Pensacola:

1301 N 9th Ave
Pensacola, FL 32503
(850) 438-3191

1612 N Pace Blvd
Pensacola, FL 32505
(850) 433-0762

Here are the best deals I see in the ad:
$1.99/lb ground chuck
$0.69/lb vine-ripen tomatoes
$1.19 each cauliflower or broccoli bunch
$3.29 Russet potatoes, 10 lb bag
$1.49/lb green grapes

$2.50 Tropicana OJ, 64 oz carton
$5 Gatorade, 5 pack
$2 Crystal Farms butter, 4 sticks (price-match with Great Value)
$1 Betty Crocker Brownies, 18.3 -19.9 oz
$1 Knorr/Lipton Side dish (may be cheaper at Wal-Mart)
$2 Hot pockets
$2 Yo! Crunch yogurt, 100-cal 4 pack
$0.50 each Dannon Fruit on the Bottom or Light and Fit
$1 Gerber graduates or 2nd Foods organic 2ct
3/$5 Borden shreds, blocks, singles

$7.99 Kingsford Match Light 13.5 lbs (for FREE Pork)

Greer's Weekly Deals June 17 - June 23

Greer's is on Hwy 98 at Bauer Road, before Lillian AL. Call them at 850-455-2719 for directions. I've been there once or twice. It's a small, clean, and tucked away grocery store. Their vegetables and meats are typically a great value.



However, I usually price-match their sales at Wal-Mart instead of shopping there. Print their weekly ad if you plan to do this. Their ads sometimes do not make it in the Weds newspaper. The cashier may give you a hard time if they do not have a copy of the weekly ad to verify.


It maybe worth finding this store and buy meats, veggies and other staples this week. They have lots lots of loss leader items.

$1.19/lb pork spareribs (Fri and Sat only)
$0.99/lb beef spareribs (Fri and Sat only)
$2.69/lb whole boneless ribeye (Fri and Sat only)
$1.19 Boston Butt Pork Roast, Swift Natural, sold whole
$0.79 Dozen medium eggs
$1.99/lb boneless chuck roast
$2.39/lb boneless chuck steak
$1.39 Carolina Pride smoked half-ham
$2.19/lb fresh boneless chicken tenders
$1.38/lb turkey breast

$2.50 Gallon milk
$0.99 half a gallon Dairy Fresh orange juice
$1.50 russet potatoes, 5lb bag
$1.50 yellow onions, 3lb bag
$0.99 lettuce
$0.99/lb vine-ripe tomatoes
$0.50 each bell pepper
$0.98/lb peaches

$1.25 each Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits