How do manufacturer's coupons work?

Erica at I heart CVS posted an interesting article about the process of submitting man. coupons. It'll take about 1 minutes to read, and it's very interesting. Check it out here.

Publix 6/25-7/1

Publix will have new a new set of sales starting on Thursday. Here are a few highlights...

BOGO
Tostitos chips - tear pad for a free tostitos salsa wyb 2 bags of chips.
Kraft BBQ sauce - $1/1 print...use 2 and get them free
French's Classic yellow mustard - $.50/1 print...use 2 and pay $.69/2
Post Cereal (Grape Nuts, Trail Mix Crunch) - $2/1...print 2 and get them free
McCormick Pure Ground pepper - Qs in RP insert of our papers
Ragu Pasta Sauce - $1/2 printable (it's spanish, but it still will work)
Land O Lakes spread - $.55/1 printable
Kotex Pantyliners - BOGO Q Publix Baby club mailer (both are free) or there were Qs in the paper or printables

Don't forget about the Food Lion printables for $3/$10 deli/bakery purchase, $2/$5 produce Q, and your $5/$50 Albertsons Q (if you got it in the mail)

Leave a comment with your shopping trip deals!

All info was taken from Hot Coupon World. Check out Hot Coupon World and/or Fiddledeedee for links to online coupons.

Free Photobooks at CVS week of July 12

Hello ladies. This is a head's up of an incredibly opportunity at CVS in a couple of weeks that will take some planning NOW on your part. 6" x 8" Hardcover Photobooks will be Free after Extra Care Bucks the week of July 12. There is a limit of 5. These are a nice gift for grandparents, or keepsake of your own family memories. I'm planning on spending some time this week and next getting together picture for my 5 books. The photobooks are $7.99 with $7.99 ecb back. So, try to keep a few ecbs unused over the next few weeks for as little out of pocket expense as possible (I just looked, and I have $7.98 in ecb...woohoo...I'm excited about that!).

Anyway...I'm rambling, I'm sorry. I just wanted you to get a heads up so you are prepared in a couple of weeks:-) If you would like more info on this deal check out this thread on Hot Coupon World or check out I Heart CVS (I can't link for some reason right now)

Meeting Notes & Field Trip & some WONDERFUL deals

We had a small, but fun meeting last night. There were lots of good deals to talk about this week and preview of next week. Here's a quick rundown...but as always, check out our favorite blogs, fiddledeedeemom, It's hip2save and Hot coupon world for an extensive list of deals and links to coupons (all links are found on our right side bar)

Publix (This week...sales ends Wednesday)
****There is a new coupon book with over $75 in savings. Click Here for a list of coupons. Pick of several when you see them. Once they're gone...they are hard to find****

FREE kid's yogurt
Dannon Daninon and Danimals are BOGO this week, regular price $2/1. There is a $1/1 Q in the new Publix book. Use two coupons and get both for FREE!!!!

Hebrew National Hot dogs, printable Q (look at Fiddledeedee). Buy 6 and be eligible for a $10 Publix Gift card (Teri...details please).

Morning Star Farm Entrees...printable mft & Target Q makes these FREE. (Fiddledeedee)

Yoplait Yo-Plus or Fiber One yogurt. Bogo with two $1/1 printable Qs makes these $.25/1!!!

Digornio Flatbread pizza on sale for $5.00. use a $1.25/1 printable AND a $2 off Food Lion printable

Edwards Pie or Cheesecake slices BOGO. use 2 $.75/1 Q and pay $1.35/2

CVS
Soyjoy bars $4/4 with 4 ecbs (makes them FREE). limit 5 deals (up to 20 bars....you must buy in increments of 4 to get the 4 ecb) There are $1/5 printables and maybe even a BOGO if you got a paper from up north. Makes these a great moneymaker and easy way to roll almost expired ecb

Sobe Lifewater is BOGO...there is a BOGO printable Q, which makes both FREE. This is a good way to help get your total up to use a $5/25 or similar Q you may have.

Thermacare neck to arm heat wrap. $2.49 with $2.49 ecb (makes it free) Limit 2. There are $1/1 printable and newspaper Qs out there. Nice little money maker

Always Infiniti pads (Large box) Regular price $10.49....unadvertised sale at $4.99!!! Use the $4.00/1 Q that was in the paper I believe 2 weeks ago and get them for $.99!!!! There are no ecb, but it's a GREAT DEAL if you need pads!!!!

Walgreens....OK, the truth comes out, I wasn't listenting. Teri...can you help please?

I posted my pictures and deals from CVS and Publix (small runs, but great deals) on my blog. Click here to see (preview...I paid $.59 oop for 4 packs of Always and a large bottle of Tide....yeah, it was THAT good;-)

OK...share your deals please:-)

Common Couponing Mistakes

Teri here.
I came across this post on my feedreader and wish that I had read it a year ago when I started couponing! I myself made a few of these mistakes along the way. Read it if you get a chance. It's great advice!

Today I have a very lovely post by Angela Russell from the Coupon Project that I think will be useful to many of my reader, new to couponing or not. Enjoy!

When I first realized I could be saving a lot of money by matching coupons up with store sales and promotions, I got excited. I mean REALLY excited. I sent countless emails to friends with my finds. I “scouted out” the local Kmart a couple weeks before the rumored double coupon event to strategize. I’d fall asleep piecing together Walgreens scenarios in my head. I began seeing barcodes everywhere I looked.

In all the excitement of finding the good deals, I’ve learned a few lessons along the way. If you’re new to couponing (or even if you aren’t), please learn from my mistakes…and don’t repeat them! After doing some soul-searching, I’ve come up with a list of five mistakes I could have avoided. So here goes:

1. Trying to do EVERY deal. When my eyes were open to the world of couponing, I couldn’t believe ALL the deals I was finding…diapers, oatmeal, ground beef, canned vegetables, razors, soap, shampoo…and for some reason I felt the need to get every last one. It could be that I’m a bit of a perfectionist, or my mom would likely argue that it’s because I’m a firstborn, but whatever the reason, this shopping approach is completely unnecessary. Don’t kill yourself trying to make 18 shopping trips in a week. Deals come, deals go, other deals come. If you miss a deal, there will be others. Focus on a few that make sense for your family that week. Let the others go.

2. Feeling the need to use high value coupons – even if there is no sale. Remember, the key is to manage your out-of-pocket expenses on items your family needs and uses. When I first started clipping coupons, my heart would skip a beat when I’d find a $4 off coupon for some new-fangled room air freshener product. I MUST have that! Then I’d begin the desperate search of trying to find a sale to match it with. Sometimes I’d be successful. Other times, not so much. Bottom line: a $4 off coupon is still not a good deal if the item is $17.99 and you have no intention of using it. I’ve since learned to relax and let coupons expire if I can’t find a sale. Even good $4 off coupons.

3. Not paying attention to deadlines. So in April – the final month of the Walgreens’ Easy Saver Rebate Program, I decided to wait until the last minute to enter a rebate receipt. Guess what? I missed the deadline! And I had $10 worth of rebates. What’s more, because I didn’t submit it, the system automatically processed my rebates and sent me a check – instead of letting me select the Gift Card option which would have yielded me an additional 10%. Watch out for deadlines, keep your receipts and coupons organized. You don’t want to lose out. I still shudder to think how far $10 at Walgreens could’ve gotten me this month….!

4. Not paying attention to expiration dates. Guess what? Non-perishables are actually perishable! So when you purchase enough cans of tomato soup to last you two years, you better make sure those cans of soup will actually be good two years from now. I now check the expiration dates on everything from milk to cough drops to cans of soda. Especially pay attention if there is a REALLY good sale going on a certain item. I can think of a recent instance where a store (which shall remain nameless) was offering extremely high value coupons for a certain type of candy. When I visited the store, almost every last package had expired by more than a month! Yikes.

5. Buying stuff your family won’t use. Sure, it’s great to pick up some stuff for donations to the church pantry or homeless shelter, but remember the main purpose of couponing (at least for most of us) is to save money on your family’s grocery bill each month. So make an effort at coming home with items your family will actually eat, use, and enjoy. I can recall some of my first shopping trips where I’d come home with say, 5 boxes of allergy medicine, 2 bottles of children’s cough syrup, and 3 packages of Tucks Medicated Pads. This is great expect for the fact our family uses none of these items. Again, picking these things up is nice if they are free after coupons and you have a place in mind to donate them to, but it’s even better to focus your energy on things your family needs right now.

Learning how to shop and save wisely will take some trial and error. What I’ve noticed is that I tend to make more mistakes when I fail to see the bigger picture. Don’t get hung up over a coupon or a deal – focus instead on your monthly saving and spending goals or rounding out your pantry. And if you do make a mistake, don’t let it go to waste. Learn from it!

Angela is the author of The Coupon Project, a blog chronicling her real life couponing adventures. Her goal is to encourage and educate other newbie couponers how to enjoy amazing money-saving success through easy-to-follow posts.

BIG CVS Moneymaker....$8.00 NO LONGER WORKING!!!

*******Update*******
It just came through on I heart that this deal is no longer working. Soo sorry to those of you who wasted your time trying. It stopped working sometime this morning, apparently. :(

Hey ladies,
Go to CVS sometime between today and Saturday. You could "make" up to $8.00. How??? Well, let me tell you:-)
This was taken from www.iheartcvs.com

Lens Cleaning Cloths 6/14-6/20

for the week of 6/14-6/20...

adult sunglasses Get $10 EB wyb 2 LIMIT 1
Style Science and sun covers Lens Cleaning Cloths for $.99 are counting towards this deal!

---

so...
lens cleaning cloths $.99
lens cleaning cloths $.99
=$1.98 oop (+ tax)
received $10 eb
=$8.02 profit! ♥

confirmed upc codes are:
8 83019 00550 7
0 30048 47128 9
0 30048 47129 6

the cloths have been found hanging at the bottom of the sunglasses and reading glasses racks and in the eye care section (contact lens solution, visine).

also reported working...

Car Cleaning Cloths $.99

Style Science Glasses Cases $1.99

Style Science Eyewear Retainer $1.99 (the cord you wear around your neck to keep from losing your glasses)
upc 8 83019 03398 2

Style Science 'Style Equipment' Glasses Case $2.99
UPC 8 83019 03027 1

Sun Covers Eyewear Case $2.99
UPC 8 30048 31212 4
********************************************************************
FYI....There may only be one left at the Pine Ridge/41 CVS. They may restock tomorrow. Teri did not find any at the CVS in Golden Gate City.

I found several at the CVS on Vanderbilt & Airport....However....they did not have a UPC code and therefore wouldn't ring up. If you try that CVS, let me know and I'll let you have one of my little packets to take in there, maybe they'll ring it up for you?? I don't know. Teri and I have not scoped any other CVS. Leave a comment if you find them somewhere.

Monday Meeting

Hello ladies,
If you went to the meeting last night, I'm pretty sure you noticed that Teri wasn't there...and you may have noticed I wasn't either. We are both so very sorry. Teri knew she couldn't go because her husband has been studying ever so diligently for a very difficult and important test for work (pray for him...it's next Monday I believe). I was suppose to cover for Teri and give you ladies the run down of all the sales and deals for this week, however I needed to choose between going to the meeting, and being a good wife to my dear husband when he desperately needed me. Of course, he totally won out:-) I'm so thankful for a loving, faithful and supportive husband. When he comes home from work and says, "Can we put the kids down early tonight, I really need to talk about my day." That's my cue to drop everything and be there for him. I'm so thankful I was able to. Stacie stopped by my house and picked up my handy cheat sheet. Although I haven't spoken with her yet this morning...I'm thankful she was able to help out and I'm sure she did a great job. THANK YOU STACIE!

Next week...both Teri and I will be back (and you ALL know how inspiring Teri is:-)

OK...so, since we missed, I wanted to post up a few deals and links for you.

Publix...this week (taken from Hot Coupon World Forum, here)
BOGO
*Ragu Pasta (the big plastic containers) $1/2 printable (it's a Spanish printable, but it'll still work, haha) price will be $2.35/2
*Pompian Olive Oil (smaller jar) $1/1 printable (print 2) price will be $3.99/2
*Wishbone dressing $.75/1 printable (print 2) $1.19/2
*General Mills Chex Mix $1/2 Target Printable & stack with 2 $.50/1 man.printable $.55/2 (one my hubby's favorite lunch snacks...great deal!)

Sales
*There is a -$3/$10 Deli/Bakery FLIP (Food Lion Internet Printable) Our Publix stores DO take food lion. So if you are going to spend $10 or more on Deli or bakery items, print this Q.

*There are a couple of organic items printables, including Horizon milk, and Stonyfield yogurt
*Organic strawberries are 2/$5 (you don't have to buy 2 though to get the sale price, you can just get one if you want)

CVS
There aren't any free after extra care buck deals this week, but there are some good deals with little out of pocket (I'm thinking Aveano lotion). I would suggest going here to see the best deals

Target
There are some good deals at Target this week with gift cards offered. I'm most interested in the Breyer's Icecream (does anyone have any Qs to share for this if you aren't going to use them?) We are having a sleep over soon with the college ministry, so I thought this would be a fun midnight snack. I'll end up spending $2.50 for 5 containers of icecream. Check out the Target deals here.

Staples...Cheap-o paper. So...those of you new to couponing are probably beginning to wonder about the cost of paper for all these Internet coupons your are printing. Here is a sweet deal to stock up. You can get paper for almost free (you'll have to dish out a little out of pocket, but there are some great rebates in return.)

Donations Needed

I got an e-mail from my midwife today that there is a family in need of a few items. If you have something you'd like to donate, contact me (Michele) or Teri.

Items needed...
*Infant Car Seat
*Bassinet/crib
*infant clothes
*diapers/baby wipes

Thanks ladies:-)

Free Qs in The Banner

Hey ladies,
For those of you who didn't get a paper on Sunday, try to find The Banner. It's a free newspaper, generally found in some grocery stores, and public places (like the library). Inside there are Proctor and Gamble Qs from this weekend AND the Red Plum insert. Woohoo!!!! I didn't get a paper this weekend, so I was happy to find these papers.

K Mart Doubles!!!

Hi Girls!
We had a great meeting tonight! Thanks for all who came and participated. You all make it SOO fun!! :)
As promised, here is the link for the Kmart doubles brought to us by commonsensewithmoney.com.

Thanks so much for the info, Jen!

See the doubles here.

Newspaper Inserts

Tomorrow (Sunday) there will be two newspaper inserts. One is Proctor and Gamble...which is generally NOT found in the NDN. So, pick up a News-press or two. If you want to know what coupons we have potential for, check out The Coupon Clippers (linked to the right). Remember...we won't get all, and may only get less than half, but maybe, just maybe we'll luck out and get a good one in there. Oh...we usually get all of the P&G Qs...which is nice. Anyway...happy clipping. See you Monday Night.

Michele

Coupon Basics and More at It's Hip to Save

Hey girls,
if you are new, or semi-new to the coupon clipping world, check out a little post at It's Hip2Save.

I was going to copy and paste the first paragraph to give you a sneak peek, but I can't. So, head over to here to read her little article.

She also has a couponing 101 post that is good. Find it here.

btw...I'm really hoping we can start a discussion on our own blog about ways we like to organize, clip, and file our coupons. Maybe soon:-)

6/1/09 Meeting Notes

Last night we had a nice meeting at Chic-Fil-A, however we did miss our fearless and exciting leader Teri:-( I think she'll be there next week to pump you up! However, we were still able to hit some hot coupons deals for this week at our favorite stores like Publix, CVS, and Target. I'm not going to run a list of the deals ...but here are some of the highlights from the meeting.

1. I gave out a 1/2 page laminated sheet of the official, corporate coupon policy for Publix and Target. At the bottom it also has a few coupon guidelines for CVS. This sheet will hopefully come in handy as I'm sure you'll encounter a misinformed cashier (and even manager) every once in a while. The sheet has been 3-holed punch, so it should fit nicely into your binder. If you weren't there...never fear...we have more. Get it next week if you can:-)

2. Donations of overstock items. Some of you are acquiring quite a stockpile and may be feeling a need to let a few things go. The middle and high school student choir of First Baptist Church is going on a mission trip to Immokalee in two weeks. They would love to have any items you would like to donate.
a) If you have a ministry or organization that you know has a need, please feel free to share it. We will occasionally recommend a organization or ministry to donate over stockpiled items to.

3. Beth is having a clothing swap party on Saturday from 10-12:30ish at her house. Bring some clothes you don't want anymore, but you think someone else might. Come and "shop for free" and get some new, used clothes that other women have brought. There will be maternity clothes there (but only if you get there before me...hahaha!) Contact myself or Teri if you want her address.

4.Check out one of our new favorite blogs www.hip2save.blogspot.com This lady is awesome. She posts several times per day with crazy deals for almost any store imaginable.

5. CVS this week is not to exciting, however there were a few deals some were interested in (Hawaiian Tropic can be a moneymaker, Nivea for men facial products, and softsoap ensemble) If you want more of a run down on the deals we talked about last night. go to Hip2save and click on CVS on the right side bar. That was where we got the info.

6. Once again I forgot to talk about Organic sales at Publix this week. So sorry...I was to excited about the bad for you(I'm sure) Kraft Mac N Cheese and Hershey's candy bars to be thinking to organically. Hopefully when Teri takes control again next week, she won't forget:-)

7. I'm glad some of you like this blog and have found it useful. Please leave comments if you have questions or something to add. Note that I have a quick link to Publix deals (top of right column) so you don't have to find the post. I'll put a link up for other stores if there is something unbelievable that week.

8. If your on facebook, make sure you are part of The Clipper Chicks groups. I want to join facebook JUST so I can see what you all are doing...but alas...I won't.

9. Man, I wish I could come up with one more thing so I could make a list of 10.

10. Thanks for coming to our meetings. I hope they are helpful and that you are seeing a change in your grocery shopping habits.