The coupon queen at her best...

Wow, what a great shopping day!! The day started with my dropping off the car at the shop: tires, brakes, ac...I'm not looking forward to the bill!! Then I had a staff meeting at work. You may think this isn't a good way to start your day, but I work with great people...and they bring food and coffee. That helps. (See Jodi, it does make a difference!!) Cake for breakfast is always a plus.

Several have asked me what a typical shop week looks like. This is hard to answer. There are MANY good deals this week, so it was big shop week. I try to plan on Sunday afternoon or evening. Usually I grocery shop on Mondays...but this week the sale ads weren't spectacular and I didn't really need much. I was going by Aldi on Sat, so I stopped in. I got $52.00 worth of stuff, which will cover me for the week. Some weeks, I only go to Aldi. Some weeks I hit 5 stores. So here's this week's shop, a big one...I'm going to be using a lot of abbreviations in this post...if you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, read the link to "understanding the terminology" on my blog site.

First the computer deals.  Office Depot is having some serious freebies this week. If you have not signed up for rewards cards with Office Depot, Staples and Office Max, you need to take some time to do so. All 3 offer periodic offers in whcih you get the entire purchase price back. Last summer I got a $50.00 Swiss Army backpack for free! Truly, you should not have to actally pay money for many office supplies. And you don't even need to be near a store! All have free shipping on $50.00 or more. Last month I got $80.00 worth of stuff from Office Max, delivered to my door for free. I used the rewards to purchase a new shredder, which I've been wanting. It was a high end one on sale. It should arrive tomorrow. So...check out the freebies at Office Depot here: http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/04/office-depot-freebies-thru-424/ .
Since I live close by, this one will be a live shop.

There is also a great deal on paper at Staples, which I did online this AM. Two cases of copy paper for less than $5 each. I have lots, so I will donate these ones to our local PCC. Check it out here:
http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/04/staples-2-cases-of-copy-paper-5-each/ I actually did even better than this. I had $42 in Staples rewards to use, so I put (2) $1.29 packs of pencils in my cart along with the 2 cases of paper to make my total over 50 (free shipping) and so I could use my $42 in rewards AND $10 off code. I paid 60 cents total and I'll still get the $32.00 rebate, PLUS $3.49 in rewards on each box, PLUS I went through ebates, so I get 2% of my total added to my ebates account. Sweet deals!!

If you think you really don't need office stuff, think again. Who doesn't need paper, scissors, envelopes, batteries, and pencils?? It's worth your time, believe me.

On to CVS. I had a really old ECB card...so last week they sent me a new one in the mail, along with a $10 off $50 purchase coupon. I also had $20.00 in ECB from last weeks deals. (If you haven't read about getting the most out of CVS on my blog, and you are new at this and  really want to save, you need to read this). Mike and I both have CVS cards (this was when the program first started...it was one per customer, it has changed to one per household now, but we are "grandfathered" in and my checkers let me use both.) Sooooo...

On my card I bought: 1 thermacare neck wrap, (2.49 FAR) 1 colgate toothpaste (2.99), 1 schick shave gel (2.79), 3 bumble tuna (49ea), 1 olay regenerist (24.99) 1 covergirl mascara (5.99) 1 CVS lotion (1.49) 1 green bag tag (99FAR) one Halle travel perfume (4.99 FAR) and 1 CVS tissue (1.29). I used my $30.00 in ECB from last week. Then I also had ECB 99 cents on CVS paper product to use on the tissues,  ECB 99 cents on CVS lotion, $3 coupon on olay, and $1 coupon on covergirl.

On Mike's card I got: 1 Olay cream (18.99), 1 olay cleanser (7.99), 1 halle travel fragrance (4.99), 1 green bag tag (99) and one thermacare neck wrap (2.49) I used 4.49 in ecb from last week and 7.99 coupon for the olay (BIGI)

So, thus far I have saved $63.57 with sales and coupons and spent $43.05. Not so great you say. BUT it gets so mcuh better....I also have $44.76 in ecb to use next week...and I'm sending in for the $20 off $50 Olay rebate. So, theoretically, I was paid $21.71 to buy these products. How cool is that???

On to Walgreens. I bought windex, a glade oil refill, glade warmer unit, nice and easy root touch up and kotex pads. I saved $8.87 in sales and coupons and spent $13.78. I got back $4.50 in RR and will send for a $5.00 SC johnson rebate, making my total out of pocket $4.28.

Then Rite Aid: 2 purex 3in1 strips (B1G1), 2 Hawain Tropic sunscreen (B1G1) one kotax pads, 2 fruit snacks and one peeps candy. I had a $5 off$25 from the paper and coupons on purex and sunscreen. (Even if items are B1G1, you can use coupons on both items at RA) Saved: $31.14, spent $15.64...will get back $3.49 in SCR, making total out of pocket $12.15.

When I was at Walgreens, I noticed some bundle packs (the kind where there are 2 boxes wrapped together) of Always and Tampax in the clearance section for $3.49...half off. I have coupons for B1G1, so I'm going to head back over later before they are all gone.

So, there's my shop this week. It took about 1.5 hours all told. And I even rode my bike since my car was in the shop. Check out http://www.southernsavers.com/ to learn more about how to put these deals together.

Happy shopping!!