Walgreen's 2/27 and sweet kids

• Disney Princess plate, on clearance for $0.50
• Walgreen's No-Rub contact solution, on sale for $1.99 (will send in for ESR # 5, making this Free!)
  
• Reynolds Wrap, $1.69 x 2 (used Wags coupon making them $0.89 each, used $1/1 x 2 man coupon making this purchase a profit of $0.22)
• Garnier Fructis Wonder Waves shampoo, $3.99 (used $1/1 man coupon, will send in for ESR #3 making this purchase a profit of $1.00!)
• Revlon Age Defying Spa Concealor, on sale for $9.99 (used $1/1 man coupon, will send in for ESR #2 making this purchase a profit of $1.00!)
• Thermacare heat wrap, travel size, on sale for $2.49 (will send in for ESR #6 making this purchase Free!)
• Hershey peanut butter cups, $0.50 x 2 (used Wags coupon buy one for $0.89, get one free)
• Snicker king size bar, on sale for $1 x 3
• Walgreen's chocolate nutritioinal drink 6-pack, on sale for $4.00 (will send in for ESR #14 making this purchase Free!)

Total before coupons and rebates: $31.81
Total after coupons and rebates: $3.64
Total saved: $28.17 or 89%!

Isn't the Disney Princess plate cute? I'll save it to put in Nadia's Easter basket.

So beyond the chocolate splurges (what? Sometimes a girl needs some chocolate!), everything was free! There were a couple other items I wanted to get but were not available. If I would have gotten those, I actually would have made money on this transaction. Oh well!

Here's a cute photo I snapped of the kiddos the other day watching TV together:

For a moment, I think they were even holding hands. Sometimes they are just too darn cute! I also find it funny how Viggo has deemed that the red chair is his and the blue chair is Nadia's. Anytime Nadia goes to sit in the red chair, Viggo tells her she can't and then usually will bring over the blue one and say "Here Nana, this your chair". He is also into bossing her around a lot lately. I don't think she puts up with much of it though (that's my girl!).

How far will $5.10 go at Target?

How about this:

• Goldfish, $1.79 x 2 (used $1/1 Target printable x 2)
• Dora sticker book, $1 at The One Spot
• Satin care shaving cream travel size, $0.99 x 2 (used $0.55/1 x 2 man coupon)
• Head & Shoulders travel size, $0.97 x 2 (used $1/1 x 2 man coupon)
• Bausch & Lomb eye drops travel size, $0.99 x 2 (used $3/1 x 2 man coupon making this purchase a money maker of $4!)
• Boys t-shirt, on clearance for $2.50
• Girls pants, on clearance for $1.98!

Total before clearance and coupons: $23.92
Total after clearance and coupons: $5.10
Total saved: $18.82 or 79%

You can get your Target printables on their website or at A Full Cup. I just registered today at A Full Cup and I love their site. There is a TON of information on there for saving money at almost any store. It's free to join so go get yourself an account!!

I thought the Dora stickers would be a good thing to put in Nadia's Easter basket so I'll save those. And those green pants are so adorable - I couldn't believe they were only $2! They are way too big now but in the future she can wear them. They'd even make for cute St. Patrick Day pants.

Lots of times you can buy travel size items and use a manufacturer coupon which will make them free. Unless the coupon states "excludes trial size" it's fine to use them. So getting those eye drops was a big score because I "earned" $4 using those two coupons. That money got absorbed by other items in my cart and it made my money go even further. Always remember if you are going to use a coupon that exceeds the value of the product you are buying, put something else in your cart to absorb the overage. A pack of gum, a pencil, whatever it takes to get you as close to $0.01 as possible. The store is NOT going to give you money back, the register is NOT going to show a negative total.

When I was shopping I almost bought a refill for the Kandoo soap that the kids use. We have one dispenser that is just about empty. It's the foam soap and I really like that better because it's easier for the kids to wash their hands up. However I started thinking there's got to be a cheaper way to do this - even beyond using a coupon.

So I went online and did a Swagbucks search (and won Swagbucks!! - see to your right on how you can too) and found a really awesome website. It's called Instructables and I learned how to make my own foam soap refill! There are instructions on this website for just about anything. Just another great reference if you're looking on how to do something.

Walgreens on 2/17

• Hershey Kisses, on clearance for $1.25 each x 8 (used $2/2 x 2 man coupons and sent in for the February Easy Saver Rebate #35 making all these bags of candy a total of $1!)
• Yes to Carrots lip butter, on sale for $2.76 x 2 (used $1/1 x 2 Wags coupon, used $2/1 x 2 man coupon making these a profit of $0.48)
• Revlon Creme lip gloss, on sale for $9.99 and BOGO (used $2/1 x 2 man coupon, sent in for the Free after rebate on one of these making this purchase a profit of $4!!)
• Schick Quattro Titanium razors, 4 pack, on sale for $8.99 x 2 (used $3/1 x 2 Wags coupon, used $2/1 x 2 man coupon)
• Walgreens premium diapers, 30 pack, $8.99 x 2 (used $3/1 x 2 Wags coupon, special promotion this month of $2 off when you buy 2 packs - no coupons needed, the register will deduct)
• Glade Sense & Spray air freshener, on sale for $8.99 x 4 (used BOGO x 2 man coupon, used $4/1 x 2 man coupon, will send in for February Easy Save Rebate #28 for $12 back making this purchase a profit of $2.02!!)

Total before coupons and rebates: $112.45
Total after coupons and rebates: $17.49
Total saved: $94.96 or 84%!!!!

So the candy will definitely need to be scattered amongst people. There's no way I'd even contemplate eating 8 bags of Hershey kisses.

The Yes to Carrots lip balm is a fun score. I've never tried this brand before. Hope it's good!

The Revlon lip gloss was a HUGE score - a profit! This is another reason I don't run out and get the FAR items as soon as they're available. You never know what kind of sale is going to come up and this was a great chance to get TWO lip glosses for free and even make some money on it.

Damian needed the razors so that was a bit of a "splurge". Still I think I saved pretty good on them although I don't know for sure. I haven't priced compared them using a coupon at say, Target or Walmart. I'll have to look into that and make sure this is a good deal.

The Walgreens diapers....well, I bought the premium ones since they didn't have the regular ones on the shelves in the size I needed. Walgreens diapers are about the only generic diaper we will use since we've tried every other kind known to man and we don't like them (with exception to those Kirland diapers I mentioned in my previous freebies post). I haven't used these premium ones yet so I don't know the difference in them vs. the regular ones. I hope they are just as good or better. I don't like that they have fewer diapers then the regular pack because they are "premium" but I thought I'd at least try them and see what I thought. They came out to $4.99 a pack which comes to $0.17 a diaper. If you were to buy, say Pampers, in the same premium version with a $1/1 coupon (which is pretty typical) they'd come out to $0.30 a diaper. As you can see, buying generic is quite the savings. I don't recommend these for night-time wear but they are a great alternative for day usage.

The Glade Sense & Spray air freshners was another great example of how you can match sales with coupons with rebates. I got 4 of these and made $2!

This was a fun trip!!

Walgreen's is my Valentine

Ok, not really. Damian is definitely my Valentine! We had our little date out last night. We went to dinner at Harry's in Lakeville. We love their food and they have a gigantic menu, whatever you're in the mood for, they have it. After that we decided to run over to Best Buy and pick up the software to do our taxes. We perused the movie and Wii selection. Then I spoted a drum set they had out for the Xbox game Rockstar (or something....don't quote me on that). Anyhow, I started pressing various buttons and before I knew it the thing started playing a song for a game. I sat down and decided to give it a whirl. OH MY GOSH - SO FUN!!!

After the first song I had stripped off my jacket and threw it and my purse at Damian so I could rock out. Poor guy straggled off into the computer section carrying my things. The problem is, now I want one. We don't have an Xbox but we do have a Wii and apparently they have this for the Wii too. But by the time you buy the drum set and game you'd be broke. So I'll just have to check ebay or craigslist occasionally or sadly live off my one shining moment in Best Buy.

After my performance, we went to see Slumdog Millionaire. It was really good. Believe it or not I managed to not cry even though there were a couple moments had I wanted to blubber I could have. It was also a great Valentine movie to see since it is very much a love story. We had a fun night and even got home early enough to watch some tv together.

Today I went to Walgreen's and got in some of the last second shopping for the week (new sales always start on Sunday's). I was dissapointed in what was left, a few of the items on my list weren't on the shelves. Here's what I came home with:

• Altoids, $1.99 x 2 (used Wags BOGO coupon)
• Scrubbing Bubbles toilet gel, on sale $3.50 x 2 (used $1/1 man coupon x 2, will send in for February ES Rebate of $1 each)
• Schick Quattro disposable razors, 3 pack, on sale for $4.99 x 4 (used $2/1 IVC x 4, used $2/1 x 4 man coupon)
• Dawn Dish soap, $1.99 (used Wags coupon making them $0.99 each, used $0.25/1 x 2 man coupon)

Total before coupons and rebates: $36.67
Total after coupons and rebates: $11.68
Total saved: $24.99 or 68%

Pretty good deal. I actually used $4 in register rewards but since I have already counted them in a previous deal, I can't double count them. I also paid with my gift card rebate money so none of this came directly out of pocket. That's what is great about doing the rebates with Walgreen's - if you have it put on a gift card you get 110% back since they give you a 10% bonus because you choose having your refund as a gift card instead of a check. I always do that because you can use it to either pay for more deals, photos or even a prescription! There's always something you can use the card there for.

I'm saving my FAR items to see if a special coupon comes out this month. Sometimes Walgreen's will put out a $5/$20 purchase or something of the sort. If you save up your FAR items (free after rebate) buying until the coupon comes out, you'll earn even more money when you group it with manufacturer coupons!

Just in case anyone missed it, I am hosting a Mom Night Out for our MOPS group on the 26th of this month at 6:30 at my home to teach you about this type of shopping. Anyone is welcome, even if you aren't in MOPS! If you want more information, let me know!

Recent Target Scores

• Johnson & Johnson naturals body wash - on clearance for $2.14 each (originally $4.28 ea)
• Johnson Buddies soaps - $0.97 each - used $1/1 man coupon making both soaps free!
• Blue hoodie - on clearance for $2.24
• Valentine Dora book for Nadia - no coupon or sale but this was for her Valentine's gift
• Suave kids body wash - on sale for $1.50 - used a coupon for a free Suave product up to $3 but instead of just getting this for free, she took $3 off so I earned money!
• King size quilt - on clearance for $34.98 (originally $70!)
• Matching shams - on clearance for $7.48 (originally $15)
• Potholder set - on clearance for $4.18
• Bamboo towel set - on clearance for $4.98
• Microfiber towel pack - on clearance for $4.98
• Always pads - come on people, this was a necessity
• Lightening McQueen socks - $1 from the One Spot, a Valentine gift for Viggo
  
• Bath rugs - on clearance for $4.24 for the large ones, $2.24 for the smaller purple one
• Bath toilet covers - on clearance for $2.24

Some really great sales on bath and linen items! I love that quilt, so pretty. We have a queen size bed but I always buy king sized quilts so they fit better and Damian and I aren't fighting over who has more covers. :) I LOVE microfiber towels. They absorb water so well and are awesome to use when drying dishes. I've never had bamboo towels so I'll have to give them a whirl. I've always heard people say good things about bamboo so I thought since they were on clearance I would see if I like them.

Now I don't really need all those bathroom sets at the moment. But, at 75% off I figured I could store them until we do need to replace some and I will have brand new, super cheap sets ready to go. I usually end up replacing a set once every 3 or 4 years because that rubber backing starts to get gross.

Freebies!

I love getting stuff in the mail! Here's a photo of some of the most recent items I've gotten:

• Sample of Crest Whitening strips with a $10 off coupon
• Two Kirkland diaper samples from Costco
  
• Free sample of Orville Redenbacher natural pop corn with coupon
  
• Gold Bond lotion sample with coupon
• Glad storage bag with coupon
• Coupon for a free can of diced salt free tomatoes
• Coupon for a free bottle of Dr. Pepper
• Coupon for a free pack of Kids Essentials nutritional drink

Ok - so the whitening strips are a neat sample but I'm not sure how someone is going to be able to see whiter teeth after just one application. Guess I'll give them a try and see.

The Kirkland diapers are awesome - I love these! I would compare them to Huggies, very similar. Since there's no nearby Costco for us I don't think we would be able to buy them since I haven't seen them anywhere else before.

We love the Orville Redenbacher natural popcorns. Our favorite is the butter garlic kind. Very tasty and this particular sample seems to pop up a lot so we've gotten several packs of free popcorn before. Goes great with our Netflix movie night.

The lotion sample is kind of funny since there's barely enough there to even moisturize my hands. Oh well, it was free!

The Glad storage bag isn't that exciting. It's a plastic storage bag - woo-hoo?

I already got my free can of tomatoes and used them with a Tastefully Simple marinara mix and it tasted great!

I also got the free Dr. Pepper. I love Dr. Pepper. I love a FREE Dr. Pepper even more!

The Kid's Essentials drink pack was the biggest score! The coupon was valued up to $14.99! I got these at Target and I had a Target $2 off coupon as well so I actually got paid $2 to try this 6 pack drink. It's like a nutritional substitute and it even has a probiotic straw - how neat is that?! Viggo loves them. It's a nice thing to have in the house because some nights he doesn't want to eat what we are having for dinner and I can give him one of these drinks and not feel so bad that he's missing out on food.

I linked all the freebies that I believe are still available - go get some free stuff!